Reviews of Island Marketing vs. Coral Breeze for Altun Ha?

[CapeFearCruiser]

Hello,

 

I have scoured the internet trying to find reviews of both Belize Excursions and Coral Breeze Tours. I am booked with www.belizecruiseexcursions.com (aka Island Marketing LTD) for a Altun Ha Tour in the beginning of December.

 

I have found a few recent reviews that have me concerned. One was a flat tire (which is beyond their control) but the other was their van broke down and is very old. I feel we have plenty of time in case of an issue but would like the best experience possible.

 

Has anyone recently taken a Altun Ha Mayan Excursion through them? If not, has anyone use www.coralbreezetours.com for their Altun Ha Excursion?

 

Thanks for taking the time to read!

 

Tara

[Jay B]

We took the Altun Ha excursion through Island Marketing (Belize shore Excursions) a couple months ago. Here is "Belize" segment of our Carnival Legend review:

 

Thursday – Belize City. We previously reserved a tour in Belize on line through Island Marketing called Altun Ha Ruins and City Tour for $42.50 each. The tour was to start at 11:30 (ship time). We went to the theater to see about getting tickets for the tender to get off the ship and we were given tickets on tender 2. We were off the ship at 9:30 and found the Island Marketing representative who took us to a small office where we paid for our excursion. We were told to come back in a half hour because if everyone on the tour shows up early, we’ll leave early. Everyone showed up early but we didn’t leave until 11:30 – the scheduled departure time for the tour. In the meantime, we walked around the shops in the port area and had a Beliken beer.

 

There were 18 of us on the tour and we were on an old school bus – it was nicely air conditioned and comfortable. Jenny was our guide and she did a very good job of explaining the sites around Belize City and the area north as we drove toward the ruins. The last 15 miles were on a very dilapidated and narrow road, full of potholes, and with a muddy shoulder that the bus would have to pull onto if there was oncoming traffic. Once we got to Alton Ha, Jenny guided us through the area for a little over an hour. The ruins weren’t as spectacular as some we have seen in Mexico such as Coba or Tulum but were very interesting anyway. We then got back on the bus and went to the Mayan Wells restaurant for lunch – very good rice with beans and roast chicken. They also gave us bottles of water and lemonade. The weather so far was very nice – overcast and not too hot or humid. Once we got back on the bus, the rain started.

 

At the rate we were going, I figured we would get back to the port about the time the last tender for our ship would depart. I asked Jenny if there were any contingency plans in case we all missed the last tender – a flat tire on these roads was certainly a possibility. Jenny just said that their tours always get back to the port on time. We got back at 3:45 – 15 minutes before the last tender departed. We enjoyed the tour but got a little nervous about missing the ship.

 

The ship departed at 5:00 and spent the first two hours going around in circles – don’t know why. For dinner, I had smoked duck (good), tom ka gai soup (good), spinach and portobello mushroom salad (outstanding), rack of lamb (good but it had a rather unappetizing green crust), and bitter and blanc for dessert (like a bread pudding and excellent). The wife had potato soup (excellent), spinach and mushroom salad, beef stroganoff (excellent), and diet coconut cake with butter pecan ice cream for dessert. All of the diet cakes we had were outstanding. The maitre d led a conga line through the restaurant after dinner.

 

Entertainment in the theatre was a Motown singer. He was just okay. We skipped the deck party and went to bed.

[CapeFearCruiser]

Thank you so much for your reply! I was getting nervous about Island Marketing but I think we will stick it out. Our meet up time is 9:20 Island time (so from what I have read our cruise time is still in Eastern standard time, 1 hr later).

 

I think we will have plenty of time to get back to the ship. I did not realize you had to get tickets to get a tender to the island. Thanks for the info!

The food sounded wonderful on your cruise and am very much looking forward to it. My husband and I have never been on a cruise before.

 

I was hoping to go into Belize City after the Ruins and walk around for a bit. I hear mixed reviews on how safe that is. I really hate to go to a port and not explore the city.

 

I really do appreciate all your help.

 

Thanks.

 

Tara

[ylimemh]

We used Island Marketing for our tour to Altun Ha as well, and I belive we had Jenny as our guide too! We departed at the stated time, I wish we could have left earlier. We had about 13 people and were in a 15 passanger van. As the previous poster explained, the roads are not pretty. It was about a 50 minute ride to the ruins. My husband got a little nauseous on the ride. We had about an hour at the ruins, then to Mayan Wells for lunch and a tour of the grounds which included a monkey, tucans, and butterflies. On the way back, we drove through the "middle class" area of Belize City. We got back to the port with an hour to spare, although we were so tired by then, we went straight back to the boat. I would recommend Island Marketing, they were great.

[CapeFearCruiser]

Thank you so much!

 

I will have peace of mind now. Your experience sounds exciting and I cannot wait! I will have to be prepared with heavy Ibuprofen for my back (had back surgery so a bumpy ride will be uncomfortable:eek:).

 

Thanks again for you input,

 

Tara

[crewsweeper]

I was hoping to go into Belize City after the Ruins and walk around for a bit. I hear mixed reviews on how safe that is. I really hate to go to a port and not explore the city.

 

I really do appreciate all your help.

 

Thanks.

 

Tara

Tara,

If you have time you canhang out on the North side of Belize City where the tourist village is. Hook a right on Fort street and follow it around. There you have the a park, the US Embassy, Fort George Light house, Baron Bliss Memorial and some museums. There's also the Harbour View and the Smokey Mermaid both with good food, if you're not inclined to visit the Wet Lizard at the pier..

If you hang a left out of the Tourist Village gate on to Front Street and go up about a 5 minute walk you'll come to Queen Street and what's called the swing bridge, a bridge across the creek that swing open in the middle to let boats up and down the creek (really a small river, but you know those Brits and their understatements:)). by the watert axi stands. Nice photo shoot. If you cross over the bridge on foot the street becomes Albert Street one of the main commercial streets in the city. One block over is Regent Street and between the two on Bishop and King Street are a number of shops and market stalls. Walk down either Albert or Regent Street to the St. john Cathederal. However, depending upon the time of day and how long you have, you may not be able to get it all in (I'd say it could take you a couple of hours if you stop a lot.

 

What ever you do enjoy your cruise.

[CapeFearCruiser]

Crewsweeper,

 

Thank you. You have been quite helpful! If we have time I most def. would love to go there and check things out. Bought to start driving the 12 hrs to Ft. Lauderdale and our cruise leaves Sunday. Very excited!!!

 

 

Thank you so much again!!

 

Tara

[princesk8]

I just made a reservation with them and now have to wait for confirmation. I'm glad other people have tried them.

[CapeFearCruiser]

PrincesK8,

 

We just got back from our cruise and loved Island Marketing. Our Tour Guide was Jenny and she was very informative. After the ruins you will go to lunch at a restaurant owned by a family from Texas that live on the grounds. The employee locals and the food is divine. I have been looking for Belizean recipes since then. Be forewarned that there is a stretch for 14 miles that may make you queasy (due to all the bumpiness). I ended up drinking my pepto bismul! If you can sit in the front of the van there is less bumpiness there. We got stuck in the back. We only had 6 ppl on our tour which was nice. There is a lot of art work you can purchase from locals at the ruins. We were very happy with our tour through them.

 

Enjoy!

 

Tara

[princesk8]

Thanks for the review! We are confirmed with this tour finally! I will let everyone know what our experience was with this tour group!!:)

[J&E07]

Glad to hear the great reviews! We are thinking about taking this tour is 2 weeks. Did it run 4 hours like stated? With only a 1 hour time difference now we should get back to the ship 1.5 hours before the last tender.