mayan ruin (belize city vs costa maya)

[redhydra]

hi

 

i am planing a cruise for western carribean and i havent decided if ill take carnival or celebrity

 

both offer pretty much the same itinary exept that carnival go to belize city and celebrity to costa maya

 

both seem to offer shore excursion to visit mayan ruin

 

i read that belize has the ruin of xumantunich

 

the question is, wich of those two place has the best ruin to visit??

 

belize or costa maya

 

thanks for any awnser you can provide

[Dragonjojo]

I would really love to hear some opinions on this. Going on the Carnival Dream March 5th and stopping in Belize, Cozumel, Roatan and Costa Maya. Would like to figure out which offers the best Mayan excursion

[alexandra cruiser]

went to Costa Maya,,,because total time was 4 hrs...gave us time to walk around port area,etc...since total port time 7 hrs..in Belize...same port time and getting to ruins was much longer......so think about that in decision...loved Costa Maya ruins ,,,,and just enough to see and keep my interest,,,,1 hr.bus ride each way,,,2hrs.at site,,,but DO book something in Belize,,,I did airboat,,,hubby did zipline....not much to see,,,or safe,,,at port,per se...any other questions,,glad to help...got back in Dec...;)

[LiftLockCouple]

We did the ruins with Native Choice in Costa Maya and did beach / scuba in Belize through ship excursions. For either port, the alternatives have to be considered I guess. If you have any desire to go snorkeling / Scuba then I would choose Belize, and do the ruins in Costa Maya. I have been told though that Belize has better and higher ruins on which you can climb. cheers.

[Azure Moon]

Early 2009, Belize. My husband and I took the NCL ship-booked excursion New River & Lamanai Myan Ruins Tour. We booked through the ship because it was such a long excursion and we wanted to make sure we wouldn't get left behind if something happened. But I've read reviews where people have booked through other excursion companies to do this outing, too.

 

We took the tender from the ship to the port, then took a bus ride to the river, took a long boat ride up the New River (got to see bats, alligator/crocodile???, birds, and iguana during the boat ride), after arriving at the ruin site, we ate the lunch of chicken, rice & beans, etc., then headed off to look at the structures. Got to climb to the top of the Jaguar Temple. Awesome!!! Then we took the boat ride back to the bus, did a quick bit of shopping with the vendors who had set up at the boat dock area earlier in the day (people, including me, opted to wait to buy souvenirs until we'd come back from the ruins so we wouldn't have to carry our purchases). Took the bus back to the port, did a very brief bit of shopping then headed for the tender back to the ship. Like I said, a very long day, but it was well worth it!

 

Lamanai

 

Lamanai is the only Mayan site we've been to in Belize, but have read good comments about Altun Ha also.

 

I haven't been to Costa Maya yet, but I just booked an excursion last night with Native Choice to tour Chacchoben in July. Glad to hear previous poster enjoyed it :cool:.

 

Dragonjojo, when hubby and I sailed on Carnival Legend in the fall of 2008 we took a ship-booked excursion to Tulum when the ship went to Cozumel. LOVED Tulum. Can't climb on the structures anymore. There are many structures to walk around and see, the beach to either look out over or take the stairs down to the beach, swim a bit if desired. Very beautiful setting. It was a long day trip also, but well worth it, in my humble opinion.

 

Tulum

[OpalFaerie]

My family and I were on Disney Magic a couple of years ago and visited Costa Maya. We did the Mayan ruins there and they were beautiful. The guide was young and super-informative, but he talked ALOT and it was very, very hot to be standing around and listening for so long. However, the ruins were amazing as was the jungle around them. I might be going to Belize City with Carnival this summer, so I am looking forward to seeing what the ruins are like there. I'm sure whichever you choose will be really nice, and either will be very old and ruin-like!

[Warmer Climes]

We've done Kohunlich and Chaccoben ruins from Costa Maya and Lamanai in Belize. All are interesting but the ride up the New River to Lamanai added so much fun to that excursion.

 

I definitely want to see Tulum and Chichen Itza too.