Ship excursion Altun Ha & River Wallace or Lamanai on our own...

[ShellDil]

We're on Carnival and they don't offer the Lamanai excursion. Some of our party have been to Belize before on a traditional (non cruise) vacation - myself being on of us, and I loved the country. I've been to some of the big sites, and have had a chance to see many ruins. I've even had to opportunity to get to Tikal, from Belize, which is probably one of the most amazing ruins there is. But I've been interested in Lamanai since our Belize vacation.

 

I guess my question would be for anyone who could compare Altun Ha to Lamanai... And then opinions on taking the Carnival excursion, which should be the "safe" bet to get back to the ship vs. an independent excursion to Lamanai. I'm looking at shoreexcursionsgroup.com and they say it's a 6 hour tour, which should be no problem. And they offer a guarantee to get you back to your ship or pay your expenses to get you to the next port.

 

Also, if anyone could compare the amount of wildlife seen on either tour that would be great too - my 10 year old daughter would be with us and that would help with such a long day on either tour!

 

Thank you so much!

[STARFISH*4]

Lamani is a long drawn out day with boat rides and bus ride and it being a 'tender' port i wouldnt chance taking a tour that wasnt thru my ship--to many things can delay you.

 

personally i enjoyed the ALTUN HA ruins better (shorter trip), but i wasnt into the jungle setting and climbing on the ruins-which is some of the draw for Lamani.-Altun Ha much easier to get around; Lamani lots of uneven ground and really need to watch your step.

i am glad i got to do both along with Tulum in Cozumel--all 3 are so very different.

 

as far as wildlife we did see a few monkeys on the boat ride.

 

there are several threads on the ruins here that you can check out.

[ShellDil]

Starfish - did your Altun Ha trip include a boat ride as well? The one on Carnival is listed as 5.5 hours, where Lamanai is listed as 6. And the Altun Ha also includes a boat ride and bus ride. So I think they both may be long days. It's good to know about it being harder to get around at Lamanai though. I hadn't heard that before. I'll keep researching! Thanks!

[crusinpsychRN]

I did Altun Ha River Wallace with Carnival. We were worn out! First a 2 1/2 hr. boat ride. He stopped at every flower, bird etc. Ruins aren't much to see. People who did the ruins first then the boat thought it was great. We thought it grueling.

[Islandbear]

We are really looking forward to Lamania Ruins. The comments and reviews on this trip sounded great. We are using Ecological Tours. :)

[coasterjan]

We're on Carnival and they don't offer the Lamanai excursion. Some of our party have been to Belize before on a traditional (non cruise) vacation - myself being on of us, and I loved the country. I've been to some of the big sites, and have had a chance to see many ruins. I've even had to opportunity to get to Tikal, from Belize, which is probably one of the most amazing ruins there is. But I've been interested in Lamanai since our Belize vacation.

 

I guess my question would be for anyone who could compare Altun Ha to Lamanai... And then opinions on taking the Carnival excursion, which should be the "safe" bet to get back to the ship vs. an independent excursion to Lamanai. I'm looking at shoreexcursionsgroup.com and they say it's a 6 hour tour, which should be no problem. And they offer a guarantee to get you back to your ship or pay your expenses to get you to the next port.

 

Also, if anyone could compare the amount of wildlife seen on either tour that would be great too - my 10 year old daughter would be with us and that would help with such a long day on either tour!

 

Thank you so much!

 

I've done both tours, Altun Ha/River Wallace through Carnival and Lamanai through Island Marketing. I definitely preferred the Lamanai trip - the ruins are much more extensive than Altun Ha and there were 2 temples to climb, both of them were much more interesting than Altun Ha's. We saw a good bit of wildlife on the river with both tours (manatees, crocodiles, iguanas, bats, howler monkeys, lots of birds, etc.), but Lamanai was definitely further away (which means there was more time to view wildlife during the jungle cruise portion of the tour...). On the way back, the boat driver had to put the petal to the metal - we got back in less than half the time it took to get there, but we made it before the last tender with a few minutes to spare. The tour operators were VERY aware of what time we needed to be back, so I wouldn't really listen to all the people that tell you that you MUST book with the cruiselines or you'll get left behind. Funny thing is, the only people I've known of to get left on the dock in Belize were on a *Carnival* scuba excursion, and the ship still left without them. (I believe Carnival paid to send them to the next port, but still!)

 

Coasterjan

[STARFISH*4]

Starfish - did your Altun Ha trip include a boat ride as well? The one on Carnival is listed as 5.5 hours, where Lamanai is listed as 6. And the Altun Ha also includes a boat ride and bus ride. So I think they both may be long days. It's good to know about it being harder to get around at Lamanai though. I hadn't heard that before. I'll keep researching! Thanks!

 

no we didnt do the one with the river ride but the Lamani one does include the river and bus and very long day...i actually liked the Altun Ha ruins better only because of the setting and the big draw for Lamani is the climbing i feel which i dont do...

[ShellDil]

We are really looking forward to Lamania Ruins. The comments and reviews on this trip sounded great. We are using Ecological Tours. :)

 

Islandbear, when is your cruise? I'd love to hear how you liked Ecological Tours! I've been looking at Shore Excursion Group, but I haven't booked yet. I'm pretty sure we're going to go with Lamanai - it seems more like what I'm looking for.

 

Thanks!

[vermonter16]

Doing this Lamanai trip next week through Eco-Tours. I'll let you know how it went!

[ShellDil]

Doing this Lamanai trip next week through Eco-Tours. I'll let you know how it went!

 

Great! I'll look forward to hearing about your trip! Have fun!

[Roswell_IcePrincess]

I loved our Lamani tour but we booked it through NCL and didn't make it back on time, the ship had to wait for us. I would be scared to book it outside the ship. This was an all day trip, no time for shopping. We saw lots of wildlife and the ruins were amazing.

[dbsue]

How was the Lamanai trip?