~We are going on the Paradise June 1st , and we are very excited.
~Has anyone been on the Paradise? Have you been to any of the ports ( Belize City, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan) ?
~For the most part, we will just hang at the beaches, but we might splurge on a few excursions.
~ We are bringing our three daughters 7,9,and 11.
Thank you for any advice, or experiences you can share! Toni ( Tom's wife)

My wife and I will be sailing on the June 1st sailing as well. My parents took there 5th Paradise cruise in March to on the Western route. They throuroughly enjoyed it. I have some information on the tours that were available in March if you are interested.

My husbands Sister ,her husband , and their four kids will also be with us on the Paradise! They are from North Carolina too...( Greensboro). Any info you have would be wonderful!

My wife and I visited Grand Cayman and Cozumel last year. Both of these ports are very well developed. On Grand Cayman we arranged a trip to Stingray City. It was amazing! You can use their snorkeling gear, however, the sand bar is only about 5 feet deep. Everything you read about this trip is true. We also had time to roam the shops and sample the fresh rum cake in more flavors than you ever thought possible. You can also sample the local rum flavors. Shopping is non-negotiable with the typical tourist type merchandise.

It rained in Cozumel, however, we did go out Chankanaab Park. This state park is very diverse and much more relaxing than the shopping and retail areas. You may snorkel, lay out on the beach or under an umbrella, they have four dive shops on the premises that you can rent snorkle or dive gear. There is a nature trail that has replicas of Mayan culture. There is an iguana habitat and a dolphin cove. There are also restaurants and snake bars. It is a very beautiful area and I hope to go back this time if it is not raining.

In March, my parents sailed on Paradise on the itenaray that we will be on. They took they Belize City tour and said there wasn't much to get excited about on that trip. They said alot of people were talking about the Cave tubbing, but my father wasn't really up to the walking that had to be done on that. He was also not impressed with the tender ride from ship to shore. His complaint was that it was about twenty minutes to long and 40 miles an hour to fast. Sounds like a great thrill ride to me and I am looking forward to it. They also have a zoo and some beaches that they will take you to.

Roatan is the least developed port we will be visiting and while the ship offers several tours from beaches to snorkeling to other things, my parents said that there were tour operators on the dock, so we may try that. We had very good luck with Peat Taylor in Jamaica last year.

If you have any questions please contact me at jimowens321@aol.com. I will be glad to share any more knowledge I might have.

We haven't been on the Paradise but just returned from the Inspiration. We went to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. In Grand Cayman - a great trip is Stingray Sandbar, but don't book through the ship its too expensive. Go to the website for Captain Marvins - www.captainmarvins.com. The trip was cheaper than the cruise and lasted longer. There were also fewer people on our boat. We went out to the coral reef, the barrier reef, and then to Stingray Sandbar. It was a total blast. We talked to others who went on the cruise trip and they said it was miserable.

In Cozumel, we did the jeep tour then went out to Passion Island. It was nice because the beach wasn't crowded, but again it was a little expensive. The jeep ride wasn't very long and wasn't very scenic. I probably wouldn't do it again, but it was okay for one trip.

Have fun when you go. And REMEMBER THE SUNSCREEN!!!

We've sailed on Paradise twice, the last time on 2/23/03 for the inaugural sail for the Exotic Western Route. Our review of our cruise is posted on this site, and here's a link to our pictures:

http://community.webshots.com/user/judyjbest

Belize and Roatan are undeveloped as tourist stops, but we loved that untouched freshness of these islands. We did book cruise excursions for these, even though we mostly just hung out on beaches, just because we didn't know what to do there.

In Roatan, our van driver for our excursion informed us that we would have had a better time if we'd caught a cab to the beaches on the westend of the island. Sure enough, got back aboard, and friends we had made on the ship told us that was what they had done and how great it was. Our excursion was very nice and relaxing, but I wouldn't call it great!

Feel free to email with any specific questions you have! And, Happy Cruising!

I looked at your pictures, very nice, and liked the pretty beach you were on in Roatan ( Honduras
Parrot Bay Beach Resort). How did you get there?
Did they have restrooms...Was there a fee? Any food nearby?
Thank you ~ Toni

You can see a review of our entire Paradise Exotic Western cruise on this site at Cruise Reviews. Paradise anchored at the port of Roatan. We had booked the ship excursion to Parrot Bay Resort. We disembarked to a fenced in area of buses and vans, with signs on their side. We couldn't see the Parrot Bay Resort van, so we asked one of the many nice agents in the area, who immediately led us to the correct van -- which was not as nicely marked as some of the other vans. Once on we were well settled to travel to the Beach!