Anyone Done Mayan Ruins?

[3travelalot]

:confused:Looking for info on Mayan Ruins

Really interested in Xunantunich

Legend of the Seas 12-24-2005

[CaribbeanBound]

Yes, we did the Lamanai ruins. GREAT trip.

Complete details here:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/westerncaribbean.html

[jwitt2]

We went to Xunantunich 4 years ago off the Norwegian Sun. It was an all day trip. There was a good visitor center that we visited. Then we were guided to the ruin. It is a steep climb up the pyramid, but worth it. It was pretty warm there. Our 2 friends didn't attempt to climb, but my husband and I did it. We are all over 60. The view was beautiful and seeing what was in the pyramid was interesting. They were doing a lot of restoration work at that time, so maybe there is more to see now. We stopped at a local place for lunch which was good and then at a very nice store which had good quality crafts, not junk. We just drove through the city, didn't have time to stop, but there probably isn't much to see there anyway. I think it was a very worthwhile trip. We are going back on the same ship in Feb. and need to decide what ruins to visit next.

[Mike2131]

As CaribbeanBound said, this is a terrific excursion. Highly recommended.

[jd10367]

My wife and I just got back from our first cruise (12/5 Enchantment of the Seas), and we did the Lamanai tour through RCCL (done through Cruise Solutions). I would definitely recommend it, although it wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting a slow boat, putting along up a wide river, but I enjoyed the trip even more because it was in a smaller (about 30 seater?) boat and our guide hauled some serious butt at points. Since it was a hot day, it was a great way to cool off. :)

 

The reason I liked the Lamanai tour was because it was a little of everything. They have city tours, river tours, jungle hikes, and ruins tours, but with the Lamanai tour you get a little of all of it: we had an hour-long bus ride through the city and up the Northern highway, then a good 90-minute boat ride (we saw baby crocs, bats, iguana, birds), then a rice and chicken lunch and a decent hike into the jungle (where we saw a grey fox, and howler monkeys high in the trees), and then we saw a couple of pyramids, the tallest of which you could climb.

 

It was a nice overview of Belize, and our bus tour guide Mario was excellent. I also enjoyed our boat driver Mario, our boat tour guide Mario, and our ruins tour guide Mario, LOL. About the only thing the poor guy didn't do was drive the bus and cook the food!

[pazandak63]

We went to Altum Ha Ruins with the River Wallace tour. It is not as big or as far away but was alot of fun. Really liked the boat ride up the river and the tour we got on the way there.

Have fun...Karyn

[jcjky]

Great tour! Highly recommend this one. The trip there is a adventure in its self. Lot of wildlife when we went.

[jcjky]

Recommend to do this tour through the ship because it took all day.

[vermonter16]

Yes, we did the Lamanai ruins. GREAT trip.

Complete details here:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/westerncaribbean.html

 

 

Do you have any pics from your trip? Does anyone else have photos they would like to share? If you do please email me at: jblanchard@rocketmail.com and make sure you put cruise critic in the subject line. I am really stuck between these two "mayan" excursions!

[vermonter16]

Oh no....I don't see Lamanai on the shore excursions...only the xunantunich and Altun Ha...anybody have an opinion? Thanks.