Totally, absolutely, completely, off-topic!

[Chris C]

Sorry for the slow response! I've been away from the computer for a day or so.

You folks are the only ones who've suggested I even get off the ship. Most people have suggested if I'm not taking a sponsored excursion, to just lounge around the ship that day. Thanks for the tips.

[angib]

Belize is over 90% Christian, if that is any indication of how safe it is... (make your own conclusion)

At the risk of getting Ira all warmed up:

My experience (my job used to take me round a fair bit of the world) is that mostly-Christian is not a good reference for personal safety. I reckon absolute tops for safety comes mostly-Hindu countries, with a good second place going to mostly-Buddhist countries. Mostly-Christian includes some very unsavoury countries as well as some perfectly decent ones.

A friend served in a British army force in Belize at the time of its independence a couple of decades ago and loved the people, though the country itself was a bit backward then.

The Belize Tourist Board even have a specal web page for cruise visitors:
http://www.travelbelize.org/cruise_belize.html

Andrew

[Chris C]

Thanks, Andrew, I'll look through that site.

[Laredo]

Well, if you don't get off the ship, you'll always wonder what you missed. Having said that, let me make a couple of suggestions:

1. Once you're on the ship find out from the crew (activities director, etc.) if they plan any group excursions in Belize, and if so what those include.

2. Find someone to go to Belize with.

[Chris C]

Laredo,

I know what excursions are available and have a lovely traveling companion to be with. There were just so many off-ship excursions we could afford on this trip and decided not to do any in Belize...........thinking we could just wander around town. That's when people started telling us it was unsafe to do so.

[Laredo]

I see I phrased that badly.

Sigh.

What I meant was, will there be a walking tour or something similar in Belize for people who want to go?

And if there's not a formal one, could you find some adventuresome companions among fellow passengers for your own informal tour?

I do know about costliness. I was thinking more in terms of companionship or friendliness, I expect -- I've often been the "odd one out" on trips who was interested seeing/experiencing something other than the "beaten track".

That's how I ended up in LA riding city buses and walking the Miracle Mile on a weekday, seeing the LA county Natural History Museum and the Museum of Industry, spending a whole day in the downtown library, etc. during my one week in LA. I didn't see Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm; I have no regrets. I did want to see the ocean and the zoo, but ran out of time.

I'll give you the advice I got for that trip: wear good sturdy walking shoes and comfy clothes. Carry your money in the front pockets of your jeans, look like you're going somewhere on purpose, and if you need to look at your map to see where you are, step inside somewhere (this also worked well for me in NOLA in the late summer of 2004).

I was in LA in '97, without a cell phone, a tour guide, or a clue -- I'd been a last-minute addition to a training-seminar trip in hopes I could "audit" a couple of the classes being put on, only to arrive and find out I couldn't even go into the building if I didn't put up the $700 seminar fee (and I hadn't the money or the authorization -- I'd only been able to go because my husband had to go -- so he'd have a room, with or without me, and Southwest Airlines was doing a "Friends Fly Free" promotion at the time) and had a blast anyway. Didn't have a camera but did buy some gorgeous picture postcards.

Had three of the most memorable meals of my life that trip. One was a pint of milk and a pint of fresh strawberries bought at the farmer's market; one was a lovely supper at a quaint little restaurant plastered with aircraft memorabilita dating back to WWII at the end of a LAX runway; and one was my first trip to a real live kosher diner.

In the fall of '99 I went to Dallas for a training week, and finagled a walk around the West End and the historic parts of downtown (two different nights) with fellow students. We didn't spend much money -- DART fare to and from the hotel -- but we had a blast.

[Chris C]

Thanks for the tips, Laredo.