I am sorry to hear that your trip got cancelled at the last minute, that is very disappointing, but it might actually be a blessing in disguise. Belize was just hit with a major storm and even though the Aggressor could head for the best areas, it may be that the vis would be bad and there may be lots of wind and rain. Even when the sky is blue and sunny you can get winded out on the reefs and the water may be all stirred up for quite awhile.
We went to Roatan one time right after a big storm hit Cozumel. We felt so lucky that the storm had missed Roatan but when we got there the diving was disappointing. We had bad vis and wind, rain, and waves the entire time. We did some diving but not as much as we had hoped and it wasn't great. I'm not saying that's how it is in Belize right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is that way. And don't ask the hotels and dive ops for an update, they will tell you that everything is great.
But 10 days is a long, darn time on a liveaboard IMO. As much as I enjoy LOB diving I am ready to get off the boat at the end of the week. But I understand what you mean about not wanting to take 7 day trips, we don't do that anymore either. By the time you go through the hassle of travel and jet lag, packing and unpacking, and going through security and customs and immigration, we just want to take our time and enjoy ourselves. And you will have to spend the same amount of money on airfare whether you stay for one week or two.
So when we take a LOB trip we like to split it to spend time on both land and sea. We have done land and LOB combo trips in places like the Caymans, T&Cs, Saba/St. Kitts/St. Martin, Hawaii, Egypt, Belize, Cabo, and the Bahamas.
Of course it is more expensive to spend time on both land and sea, but there are ways to reduce the expense and the Aggressor will probably offer you a deep discount on a future trip because of the inconvenience (they should!) so the costs may work out.
Good luck to you and I hope you find a great trip!
