Belize-Lamanai Ruins

[wetnwildsm]

My wife and I are arriving in Belize aboard the Carnival Glory Dec. 15, 2010. The past two trips to Belize were spent diving and walking Belize City, so we thought we would like to do something different to see the country. In research it looks like a tour to the Lamanai Mayan ruins (including a river segment) is probably the best tour, but I am concerned at the distance this place is from the cruise ship port, and the risk of coming back late and missing the ship. The only tour Carnival offers is to a closer ruin, Altun Ha. Does anyone have experience with Lamanai? Is it doable? Risk of flat tire, whatever on the van's that would make us miss the ship?

If you recommend the tour....recommendations for a tour operator? I sent a note to Island Marketing and they said the tour was not available on the port date I specified.

 

Thanks for your insights!

[2112]

Lamanai is a wonderful excursion. Both the river and the ruins are fantastic. I went with Belize Cruise Excursions and thought they did a great job. Yes, it's a long trip. If you don't like being in a van for over an hour each way, then don't go. Likewise, being a long trip there is always an extremely slight risk of missing your ship if there was engine troubles or something like that (I've never heard of anyone missing a ship due to this tour but some have reported getting back with only 15 minutes before final tender). If you're not willing to take that small risk, then don't go because you will be focusing on it the whole trip and won't have a good time. But if you do go you'll see a wonderful ruin and hopefully get to see a bunch of Howler Monkey's like I did. Here are some photos of my trip:

 

http://www.pbase.com/2112/lamanai

 

Note that there is a page two with more photos.

[jeffstew]

Lamanai is a wonderful excursion. Both the river and the ruins are fantastic. I went with Belize Cruise Excursions and thought they did a great job. Yes, it's a long trip. If you don't like being in a van for over an hour each way, then don't go. Likewise, being a long trip there is always an extremely slight risk of missing your ship if there was engine troubles or something like that (I've never heard of anyone missing a ship due to this tour but some have reported getting back with only 15 minutes before final tender). If you're not willing to take that small risk, then don't go because you will be focusing on it the whole trip and won't have a good time. But if you do go you'll see a wonderful ruin and hopefully get to see a bunch of Howler Monkey's like I did. Here are some photos of my trip:

 

http://www.pbase.com/2112/lamanai

 

Note that there is a page two with more photos.

 

Fantastic pictures- thanks! I am going to Belize on the NCL Star next year when she moves to Tampa and was planning on taking this tour through the cruiseline. Since it's such a long tour and coupled with the fact that it is a tender port, I didn't want to chance taking a private excursion and getting back late. Your pictures have certainly sealed the deal for me- I will definitely book this shorex.

[Springwater21]

we did Lamani off the NCL Sun years ago. At that time they were working on the pyramid and no one could climb up. Your photos-except for the pyramid, are just a I remember it. We went in June and it was so HOT..you didn't even have to walk to sweat!

Its a great excursion, and yes a long trip but well worth it. We had not problems with the van, or the boats and got back just in time to stand in line for the tenders! I hope you get to do this..

Dona

[2-laner]

I am putting in another vote for Lamanai Ruins and Belize Cruise Excursions. Seeing the pictures brought it all back again. We had such a wonderful time. And the van ride over didn't seem so bad. Primarily because we were watching the people of Belize start their day. All the kids were in their school uniforms on their way to school, or sitting at bus pick-up areas. Store fronts opening up. It really made the time go by.

 

One recommendation I would have, thou, sit towards the front of the van. Our guide was talking about the country, but, we really couldn't hear him from the very back seat. I think the ride back seemed longer, but, the sun was shining in on us and sleeping just felt like the only thing my eyes wanted to do about then.

 

If you ask my kids what they liked best about the trip, they will usually reply that it was the climb to the top of the high temple that they liked the best. Awesome view at the top. The climb was alittle daunting at first, but then, I do not like heights. But, grab the rope if you need to, and just do it. You will be so glad you did. Have a great time.

[seahunters2000]

My wife and I are arriving in Belize aboard the Carnival Glory Dec. 15, 2010. The past two trips to Belize were spent diving and walking Belize City, so we thought we would like to do something different to see the country. In research it looks like a tour to the Lamanai Mayan ruins (including a river segment) is probably the best tour, but I am concerned at the distance this place is from the cruise ship port, and the risk of coming back late and missing the ship. The only tour Carnival offers is to a closer ruin, Altun Ha. Does anyone have experience with Lamanai? Is it doable? Risk of flat tire, whatever on the van's that would make us miss the ship?

If you recommend the tour....recommendations for a tour operator? I sent a note to Island Marketing and they said the tour was not available on the port date I specified.

 

Thanks for your insights!

 

 

 

I don't know why Carnival doesn't do Lamanai? Let me tell you about our experience. We booked this tour through the cruise ship in 2000 we were on the Seabreez through Premiere Cruiselines. Back then they had the Disney "Big Red Boats" which has since gone under due to Disneys own brand of ships. We were gald we did because on the way back down the new river from Lamanai one of the boats broke a steering cable which caused the boat to make a sharp turn flipping the boat over, causing everyone to go overboard into the river. They were all picked up by the other boats coming down the river. One girl hurt her lag so bad but she refused to go to the hospital and opted to be treated by the ships doctor and then went to the hospital when we got to Key West. Anyway due to the accident we were so late getting back to Belize City the captain of the ship had to hold the whole ship until we all tendered back. If we had booked this on our own we would have missed the ship.

[mm2raleigh]

We will be in Belize Nov 11th (Carnival Valor)from 6am-3pm local time. We'd like to do an excursion to Lamanai through Belize Cruise Excursions but are not getting a response from them wether we have enough time? Others have said Carnival does not offer this excursion, but it is the only site that one of our group has not seen.

 

Any experience on how long this trip takes through Belize cruise Excursions? We'd love to do it!

[Toyz711]

no matter who you go through, it's a long day. an hour to the boat docks, an hour up the river (with stops for wildlife viewing)....time to explore and walk around the site and then reverse the boat/drive time.

it's a great tour, but i did a ship tour...didn't have to worry about bus/car breakdown or boat breaking down. it's common for either tour to be hurrying to make the last tender to the ship,

[skings]

:confused:Hi, we wanted to do this tour also, but afraid of missing the ship. Now the decision is between Altun Ha/River Wallace or Xantunich. We were told that Xantunich has more impressive ruins and the photos we have seen seem to back this up. Any info on comparisons would be helpful? Think we should wait to book until boarding and seeing weather patterns?

[2112]

:confused:Hi, we wanted to do this tour also, but afraid of missing the ship. Now the decision is between Altun Ha/River Wallace or Xantunich. We were told that Xantunich has more impressive ruins and the photos we have seen seem to back this up. Any info on comparisons would be helpful? Think we should wait to book until boarding and seeing weather patterns?

 

Yes, Xunantunich is more impressive than Altun Ha. It is higher, prettier and less crowded. You also cross a river via an interesting crank ferry. From the top you can see into Guatemala. I would rate them as follows:

 

1. Lamanai

2. Xunantunich

3. Altun Ha

4. Cahal Pech

 

You can see pictures of all of them on my website:

 

http://www.pbase.com/2112/belize

[skings]

Great to have this list!:cool:

[skings]

Robert "2112" your photos are terrific, have bookmarked them, thanks:)

[wdowns9]

Jere are some more pics. I was worried about the same thing and I'm glad we took the chance. Got back to the port in plenty of time. Plan on doing them again.

 

http://wdowns9.smugmug.com/Travel/Lamanai/6971590_4qGBV#446235325_7jNS5

http://wdowns9.smugmug.com/Travel/Xunantunich-Ruins/3434004_FSUYS#192547985_DBVXF

[karen327]

We went to Lamani through a NCL tour. It was a fantastic excusion, but is a long day and we barely made the last tender, had to rush from the bus to the tender. Of course since it was a ship excusion, they would have waited for us.

[m steve]

They don't respond to calls. You have to book thru their web site and then you will get an email conformation. Try belizecruiseexcursions.com

[pbair90]

Wetnwildsm - we are on the Glory as well the same week as you, and are hoping to do this excursion - I've submitted my reservation request today. Hope to meet you and your wife in about 50 days!

[jtmalt]

Just wanted to add my opinion on this, and it's a negative one. I've posted this on a much earlier thread, but I'll paste it in here for the sake of convenience.

 

We were Belize on May 16th. We had booked a tour to Lamanai through belizecruiseexcursions (Island Marketing) who subcontracts to X-Stream. Our tour was supposed to meet at 7:20 for a 7:30 departure (local time, which was 2 hours earlier than ship time). It was pouring rain and the ship was having trouble getting tenders tied up, so the tendering process was running slowly, but we got up early and were on the first tender over, and met the representative at 9:15.

 

We waited at the X-Stream booth while they got their various cave tubing tours organized, enjoying the fumes from the fleet of buses parked in front of us. As 9:30 came and went, we were still waiting. We grabbed Richard, who appeared to be the head honcho there, and asked him what was going on. "We're waiting for two people" he said. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes".

 

At 10am, we stumbled across another couple who was also waiting. I asked Richard again what was going on. "We're still waiting for 14 people." he said. "I'm going to call a van and get you out there right now. We'll have them join up with you later."

 

At 10:30 he led us out of the gates, talking on his cell and constantly looking at his watch. He led us out of the cruise complex and around to a back gate, where he had us stand on the street. "The van will be here in a minute, it's on the way". He scooted through the gate and left us standing on the street.

 

Five minutes later, he came back, and ushered us through the security gate, saying "You can't wait here, you have to come inside." The security guard on duty was none too pleased, and started arguing with him, but inside this back area of the port we stayed.

 

He received another phone call. We heard his end of the conversation and realized that the van he had called for was not going to arrive...it had been stopped at a checkpoint somewhere.

 

At almost 11am, a troupe of 14 passengers joined us. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge this inconsiderate bunch who couldn't be bothered to get up early enough to be on the first three tenders:mad:. In fact, they all had stickers for tender 11 stuck to their shirts. Thanks guys!!

 

Now, Richard started scrambling to arrange a bus that would fit us all. My confidence in Richard's ability to get us there and back again was starting to become a little wobbly.

 

I expressed my concerns...we were now leaving at least an hour and a half later than we had contracted, and some of the passengers were from another ship that was leaving far earlier than we were. I could not see how we could possibly take the two hour trip to Lamanai, include the 1/2 hour for lunch, and the return trip, and still have a reasonable amount of time at the ruins. We demanded our money back, and received it, along with another couple. When we left them, the remaining 14 latecomers (thanks again, guys:mad:) were still waiting for a bus to arrive.

 

I don't know if I'm more furious at the 14 lazy jerks or Richard for waiting on them, but either way this would have turned out to be a very stressful day if we had gone ahead and taken the tour after already having lost so much time. To his credit, Richard gave us our money back without (much of) an argument, but we should have departed on time. I guess he couldn't face the prospect of losing 14 fares.

 

As much as I'm an advocate of independent tours, I don't think I would attempt Lamanai again unless it is either offered as a ship's tour or as a completely private excursion. I certainly don't think that X-Stream handled this properly at all.

[jcjky]

We went to Lamani through a NCL tour. It was a fantastic excusion, but is a long day and we barely made the last tender, had to rush from the bus to the tender. Of course since it was a ship excusion, they would have waited for us.

We had the same experience. For the price difference I would go with ships excursion on this tour for peace of mind.

[airlink diva]

Thanks for the info!

[carshal]

We just came back from a cruise with RCI and we booked the Lamanai tour through Experience Belize tours and it was wonderful. We had 6 people in our group and only one other couple joined us from a hotel in the city. We tendered off the ship as soon as we could in the morning. And we had plenty of time - we arrived back at the dock about an hour before the last tender. (Royal Caribbean started the individual tenders at 7am and the tour tenders at 8am. After 8am individuals had to get tender tickets to start leaving again at 8:30am. We had an hour to leave the ship before they started the tour tenders so we had no problem getting off the ship.)

 

LaHomma was a great guide and we had a city tour before leaving town and then the boat ride which was AMAZING. The ruins were very interesting and because we had an early start we had the ruins all to ourselves. We were literally the only people there and then as we were leaving - 4 boats full of people were pulling up. Then we had an amazing lunch of chicken and rice made by the boat driver/ruin guide's mom. Then we headed back to the ship with plenty of time to browse in the Tourism Village for souvenirs before reboarding the tender.

 

I would completely recommend going to Lamanai and even being brave enough to do it through a private tour!