Day 04 - Tuesday - 3/18/25 - Belize
This morning was a very early wake up call at 5:30 AM. The ship was scheduled to arrive early into Belize and we had a 7 AM report time for our short excursion to visit the Xunantunich Mayan ruins. We had a quick breakfast and we were in the Arena at 6:45 AM and joined our group. Finally around 745 we were sent to go down and board the water shuttle or tender. We used shore side tenders so this particular tender held around 500 people and it took nearly 20 to 30 minutes to fill it. We then headed towards shore. The captain skillfully parked by backing in using just engine controls and no rudder. Midway through the disembarkation process, it was stopped, and the boat changed locations to utilize a higher exit point for the passengers. My perspective on this disembarkation process was it was probably one of the most unorganized disembarkations I've experienced in a long time.
Once onshore, we made our way to our group meeting point in a very crowded and busy terminal area. The Holland America ship, Eurodam was also in port, and their groups were staging alongside of ours. We also learned that it would be about a two hour bus ride to the ruins which surprised the number of people and they weren't too happy about that. Our group was the last group to board a bus and we had lots of spare room in the back of the bus, which is where we prefer to sit.
Our guide for the day, David, then proceeded to speak about politics and items related to the history of the country and to the ruins as we traveled along. Just before reaching the ruins, we stopped for lunch at a open restaurant and had a meal of rice and chicken and macaroni salad along with a soft drink of choice. It was actually quite good and especially enjoyed the addition of some hot sauce. We then drove a short distance to a landing, where we boarded a hand propelled ferry to cross a little river in order reach the ruins. On the other side of the river, vans were waiting to drive us roughly a mile up to a parking lot from which we then begin the walking tour up the hill to the ruins. It was a pretty short walk up the hill, but a van was available for those who had mobility issues.
Once at the ruins our guide was joined by a couple of local guides who proceeded to give history of the site and commentary throughout the time of our visit there. We ended up climbing entire ruins which is 130 feet high composed of 13 levels. The views were spectacular and the ruins were quite nice. We could see Guatemala! At the conclusion of the tour we reboarded vans back to the river and took the ferry back across the river. I should note that on both directions of that river voyage we observed several large iguanas which I was able to photograph.
It was than a two hour bus ride back to the terminal where we were dropped off and did a little shopping on our way to our water shuttle. It took a while to fill the boat but soon we were on our way and it's about a 20 minute ride out to the ship. Docking the water shuttle was a bit tricky given some wave action but the ship's captain was able to finally get us secured alongside the Sun Princess. We exited the water shuttle and were back onto the ship and passed through the security check quite easily. I would also comment that Princess seems to do a really nice and efficient job check-in process when you return from a water shuttle adventure.
We showered and changed into dry clothes. Since it was the day after St. Patrick's Day, we decided to eat in O'Malley's. Dinner service doesn't start until 6 PM but we elected to order soft drinks and chill out. Our waiter who is from Goa India check back in with us shortly before six to take our dinner order and it was promptly delivered just after 6 PM. Angela had the fish and chips and I had the burger. Both were excellent.
Tonight was the production show Stage Struck in the arena. We secured sheets on the left side of the stage about four rows up. The show chronicles, the life of a stage artist, and used very few props, but there was a lot of action by the cast members. It is probably the best stage show I've seen on a cruise ship in a long time. I especially appreciated the simplicity of the set, but yet the storyline was done really really well.
Afterwards, we enjoyed some ice cream at the gelato bar before going up to the dome where we watched the juggler, Mark Nizer, who I think we have seen before. The dome venue was really cool for that kind of performance.
Tomorrow is our last port day of this cruise. We have a snorkeling trip planned and we want to explore the port area before we head out on our snorkeling trip.
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