NCL Lamanai excursion?

[lemstar]

We leave on 12/19, and I just can't decide what to do in Belize. My husband wants to see ruins, as does my 16 yr old. The two hour trip to Lamanai is a deterrent to me. Some people say its nice and you see wildlife, other say it is fast and windy and long. Is Altun Ha a better idea (isn't it closer)? Or is the trip to Lamanai part of the experience, and fun in and of itself? It looks like Lamanai is cool, and in the jungle.

 

Also, for those on NCL excursion, was it crowded? Do you go in a big bus, or vans? Is it comfortable?

 

We want to snorkel, but also don't want to spend a ton of time on a boat. I think we sort of like the idea of being on land on our port days.

 

For me, I like wildlife and nature best of all. We had planned on ziplining, but I can't do it because I had surgery recently, and am not ready for that. My husband is not hot on the idea of cave tubing, but could be talked into it.

 

Ideas or suggestion anyone? Thanks!

Jayne

[Toyz711]

i have photos, of the whole day of lamanai..check out the link in my signature.

as per the tickets, we met at the theater and waited until our excursion was cleared for the tender. got down to the 4th deck and right on the tender. the tenders are BIG boats, they hold 150 people and go fast. 15mins to 20 mins to get to shore. as soon as we got off the tender, the tour guides were there with their signs and directed us to the bus. a regular grey line bus. in our case, the bus was a little worn out, but ran great. the actual tour is run by Grey lines tour/bus for NCL.

 

our tour guide was "jewell" and she kept a good vocal going the whole way to the boat. she grew up in belize city, around the port area and gave her personal experience on everything. she was one of the top tour giude we have ever had and we have had some great ones.

the roads are a little rough in area, the bus driver tried to be careful going over the rough spots.

got to the boat docks, where we had a rest stop. got water from the bus, toilets and walked around to get the kinks out.

the only problem was stepping down to the boat (from the dock area) but the boat driver and another man were there to lend support. plus my hubby knows how much trouble i have and where/when to push. as you leave the boat dock, they go by some trees with iguanas in them. BIG ones..very interesting.

 

lamanai is a mile and 1/2 walk...around the main area it's paved, around the temples/sites it's natural. walking on packed earth. we had some mud..not much. there are tree roots and stone steps to get over. nothing too big, just have to watch where you step. the path is clearly marked..easy to go back to the main area (water, toilets, vendors, museum, benches) if needed.

we had a young man with us, he was the tour helper, stayed with the back of the group and watched if anyone was having troubles.

we had a older man, just had both knees replaced, he had a deam of climbing the site...the young man helped him to the top and down again. never leaving his side until the older man was safe on the ground. akso had a heavy set lady with a cane, she was the slowest..but she made it over the whole site without a problem.

the boat ride can be fast...in most cases, the boat driver knows what to look for and where to look..when he sees wildlife, he stops. but they need to keep a schedule, 1/2 the boat ride was fast (but not bumpy). the boat has cushions seats, open side but covered over the top.

 

i have 3 ruptured disc (or whatever they call them thses days), plus a bad neck that needs surgery. if i got uncomfortable on the bus, i just moved to another seat. the standing, waiting for the back of the pack to catch up, was the only time i was in pain. (they have benches in a couple of places, but other people needed them more then i did) i hurt when i stand in one place more then when i move around.

we had 25 people on our bus and about that many on another cruise ship tour. but we never saw the other group after following their boat to the site. it was like we had the whole place to our selves.

howler monkey live in the trees over the site..you hear them all the time.

when they get too loud, our tour helper would run to make sure everything was alright. but they stay in the trees. you do see the tops of the trees shaking, once in a while you see a black spot..but they stay high in the trees and are hard to see.

we didn't see any big crocodiles, only little ones. did see some interesting birds...a local fisherman in his dugout canoe..a local family fishing in their canoe...local farms. it was a GREAT day!!! would do it again in a heart beat.

 

i took a light sweater (didn't need it..temps were hot and humid under the jungle trees), extra bottles of water. do wear good walking shoes!!!

if you really think you can't do it, let your dh and son go while you enjoy the ship?

[Toyz711]

forgot, here's photo of the bus

[renroc13]

We went last year with Celebrity. Loved the trip. The ruins are well preserved and the trip there was great. The only full day tour we booked and we travel all of the time. If you go bring a rain poncho. We got killed with water on the boat to and from the day we were there. We kept running into storms but it was dry when we got there.

 

Enjoy,

Karen

[lemstar]

ok....we booked it...

[In2why]

I am envious! We were in Belize on the Carnival Legend, and I wasn't willing to risk that long of a private tour, and Carnival doesn't offer it. But if they did I would go in a heartbeat. Every review I see is outstanding. I hope you have a wonderful time.