Which excurison to go on.

[Tikilyn]

Hi I'm pretty new to this site, mostly been lurking and learning. My dh and I will be taking our first cruise with Carnival on the Elation May 1,2005! We are both very excited.

 

Sinse this is our first cruise,we are planning on sticking with Carnival excursions. Just to be on the safe side. I would just freak if the ship left without us and my dh would blow a gasket!!LOL

 

Right now the two excursion we are concidering are: Altun Ha Mayan Site and River Wallace or Xunantunich Mayan Site. Can anyone tell us which one is best to go one. My dh is pushing for the Xunantunich excursion, because it includes a meal. Is the food good? What about Altun Ha, will there be some place to grab a bite to eat for lunch?

 

Any input would be great.

Thanks Sabrina

[pamelee]

We were in Belize last week and I honestly had a good time on our tour with Belize Native Tours.

 

my family and I chose and enjoyed our tour to Altun Ha or God of the Sun as it is called.

 

We took a short drive to Altun Ha from the Tourist Village, it took about little over an hour. When we arrived at the site it was very nice we walked about and our guide enlightened us with some history of the Maya and the temple and what it was for.

 

The kids especially loved it and couldn't stop running around. Our tour guide was roberto and he wsa great . After site seeing and walking around a bit we went to another nice place close by to get some refreshments and to relax a bit before hitting the road again for the Tourist Village.

I think it was called Maruba or something, it was a spa resort. Overall my whole family enjoyed a very interesting and educational tour that was affordable and fun.The food was great ,we taste some fresh fruit . If you're gonna be in Belize anytime soon, try www.BelizeNativeTours.com ,They offer lot of tour and the price was less then the ship 30$

 

it was a wonderful time and I 'm planing next year to do Lamanai again with them because they show you the professional work

good luck ;)

[KathieP]

Just got back from our cruise. Belize was our favorite port. We were a group of 20 - 4 families and a set of grandparents. We did 5 different activities and everyone had a blast. I went on the Lamanai tour with seabelize, another group went cave tubing with the same group, son and cousins and aunt went horseback riding, older son and daughter went atv riding in the rainforest and BIL and son did a tour of the zoo and monkey reserve and hand fed wild howler monkeys. Whatever you choose, you can't go wrong!

[tankersbabe]

I'm having the same issue. The Altun Ha tour includes the boat ride...however the Xunantunich ruins look more impressive. I have no idea what we are going to go with. I would love to go to Lamanai, but hubby and I know two words in Spanish, taco and enchilada, and if we got separated, got to the boat late, etc, I would be flipping out. It's too far to go and risk getting left behind.

 

If you figure it out, let me know, so maybe I can make a decision.

 

Happy cruising!

[judyf]

The Altun Ha tour which includes the boat ride was the best! We did this tour in April and we loved it. They serve a chicken rice dish at the location where the boat dropped us off to get on the bus and it was $5.00 I think. I didn't eat chicken only the rice, it was great and worth the money. I thought the river part of the tour was the best. We had more then enough time at the ruins. We saw all kinds of wildlife while on the river.

[Tikilyn]

Judyf, did you book this excursion through the ship or on you own? My dh really wants a meal while on the excursion. You said that you had chicken and rice, is there a restruarant there?

 

I'm so lost with all these excursions, it's makes me neriouse to pick one.

 

Thanks

Sabrina

[judyf]

Judyf, did you book this excursion through the ship or on you own? My dh really wants a meal while on the excursion. You said that you had chicken and rice, is there a restruarant there?

 

I'm so lost with all these excursions, it's makes me neriouse to pick one.

 

Thanks

Sabrina

 

This was a great tour, you can't go wrong for the price. I think we pd like $60.00pp. My Mother and I both loved it! We did the river first then the ruins and when the small boat docks there's a small craft area with a dining type hall and you buy the dish I think only one was available Belize rice and chicken and it came with a salad too. I just had the rice and salad I don't really do much meat. It was great and for onlyu $5.00. We saw dolhins, manatees, monkeys, crocs and many, many more. Plus you see the life along the river poor people, our guides were great. Then after we ate we did a little shopping then on a nice AC coach bus to the ruins. I climbed to the top and my Mother sat and talked with the guide and we both had a great time. The ruins were nice but I really enjoyed the river part the most!!!! Some of the tour do the ruins first then the river. Well worth the mooney and especially booking through the ship!

 

I did a review of our tour and posted it here on the Belize board and that would have been around April 15th or so???? Give or take a few days!

 

Also in Belize it's a good idea to do a ship tour. Not that you have to but I flet better being booked with the ship here.

[KathieP]

The Lamanai tour sounds very familiar to the Altun Ha tour. We did it through seabelize. There were four of us from our family(me, father in law and two sister in laws) and we were joined by a couple from Italy and a another family of four from Miami. We were met at the port, driven in a an air conditioned van to the Belize river (about an hour) and the driver talked the whole way, talking about his country. He spoke english fluently. In fact the official language in Belize is English. There's a definate accent but English neverthelesss. van ride about an hour.

 

At the river we met a a young man who was a Mayan desendent. He drove the speedy boat (I have no idea what kind of boat) and would stop along the river to point out different birds and wildlife. We saw numerous white heron, great blue heron, a crocodile and two turtles. He also spoke fluent english. Very correct english and easy to understand. Both men were very aware of time and our van driver said that he has never missed a ship. There was 30 miles of river to navigate until we got to the Lamanai site. This took about an hour and a 1/2 there, but less on the way back.

 

Once there we spent an hour with our same guide and he pointed out lots of different trees. When we got to the ruins he gave a great mini history lesson to explain what we were seeing. He kept asking us to ask questions and there was never one that he didn't know the answer to. The pace was just right for our group and he kept us moving. There were also several times offered for bathroom breaks during the whole tour, important to small bladder people! At the end of the tour I was lamenting that we had not seen any howler monkeys even though we had been hearing them. The guide had been looking for them and right them he found them, way up in the trees. We all saw them and watched until they scampered away.

 

After the site tour we got back in the boat and styrofoam containers were passed out to each person containing a typical Belizan meal. There was chicken with some sort of tomatoey sauce, red beans and rice, colslaw and a quarter of a grilled banana. There was also delicious potato salad and drinks. There was plenty of food but I'm a terribly slow eater and didn't have time to eat it before our guide said we needed to take the "express" ride back.

 

We went back very quickly, it was pretty exhilerating but the guide was a good driver and it wasn't scary, just fast.

 

We quickly got back to the drop off point and were met by our driver. He drove us back to Belize City and our port. My only regret was that we didn't have and extra 15 minutes to shop. I bought nothing!

 

After this over long post I should also point out that other people in our group also had an excellent time doing completely different tours! My youngest son did what I think would have been my other choice - he went horseback riding through the rainforest. Also had a boat ride and a native lunch. The ranch they went to was huge and they also coordinate the horseback ridings for the cruise ships. However, theirs was cheaper, smaller and accepted his younger 9 year old cousin. The ships have a minimum 11 year age limit. This was a huge bargain for only $45 for kids. If you really don't have time, my brother in law saw the zoo and baboon sanctuary which is misnamed and really has howler monkeys. He paid a guide $5 at the sanctuary and had an excellent tour. The whole tour with cab and zoo was quite a bit more but he said the monkey part was the best.

[judyf]

Sabrina, I just found my review and bumped it up to page one so you can read it.

[Tikilyn]

I just wanted to say thanks. You all have given me some good ideas what to expect.

 

Thanks

Sabrina

 

Judyf thanks for bumping up your old post. I'm going to go and read it now!

[dld27]

is it possible to do an atv/cave tubing tour?

[kplopjaison]

It's listed on http://www.unclelocal.org/BELIZE/BELIZE%20CITY/

[kplopjaison]

Looks like 'Belize native tours' is good...

It's listed on http://www.unclelocal.org/BELIZE/BELIZE%20CITY/

[driftwood]

. . . and you want to visit a Mayan site, go to Xunantunich, as it is the farthest inland (right on the border with Guatemala), and it is not always offered to cruiseship passengers. You will see all the different natural environments of north central Belize on the way, and the ruins are beautiful and dramatic. :eek: Don't fall down the pyramids, as you will make a mess. Trust your guide to take you to a good if perhaps rustic place for lunch.

 

Do not worry. Belize was previously "British Honduras," the "official" language is ENGLISH, most of the natives speak it better than you can, although almost all the natives can speak Spanish better than you can as well. (They like Mexicans especially). And perhaps three or four other languages. They just aren't as intellectually lazy as we are, so don't try to match wits with them. You WILL lose. Usually you will lose handily. ;):rolleyes:

 

This may be the safest and friendliest country to visit in the Western Hemisphere. Many Canadian, English and United States young women meet Belize natives, fall in love, marry and move to Belize permanently, and begin tour guide companies for whatever area they have married into. There is already a permanent German Mennonite community and a United States Embassy. Guaranteed tans and plenty of fun, and you can learn to cook rice'n'beans (and chicken) in no time. You won't need to know how to cook anything else, except maybe shrimp and lobster. Now that the corrupt government of Said Musa was swept out in the February elections, it is probably a good country to invest in, as well. Luxury accommodations for spoiled United States citizens are available on Ambergris Caye, and Francis Ford Coppola is plastering high-end resort getaways across the mainland as fast as he can build them. Four the last time I looked. Cellphones are more common there than here, and reception is usually better, also.

 

The cost of living is higher here than in any other Central American country, however, so DO NOT HESITATE OR FORGET TO TIP. :D