Carnival's Altun Ha/River Wallace shore excursion

[onceagain]

Has anyone taken this tour? We'll be there in Feb. and thinking we may try this one. If you took this excursion, could you describe, in as much detail as possible, about how it was, how much walking it involved, how long the ride was to get there, etc. Anything would be helpful. thanks!:D

[pazandak63]

Yep...took it when there on the Valor. It was wonderful!

You get right off the ship and on to the boat which takes you up the river. We saw dolphins, Manatees, monkeys. The guides give you a nice tour. Then you stop and there is a small resting place. SOme food, beer, a few stands to shop at. Then on a bus for the rest of the trip. After the ruins you ride the bus back to Belize. There is another group that goes the opposite and takes the bus to the ruins and returnsssss to the ship by way of the river.

We did get back late so were glad we were on a Carnival excursion or would have been watching our ship leave from the dock...

 

Karyn

[pazandak63]

Minimal walking. From where the bus stops at the ruins to the ruins was maybe 3 blocks. YOu can walk around the ruins or climb them. They give a short infor and let you go. At the ruins there are also several small stands for beverages and some minor suvinors...

Chcek the pics in my link below....

[onceagain]

Sounds just like what we're looking for. What kind of boat was it? How many people did it hold? How long was the bus ride after the boat? Pazandak63 - loved your pictures. I'm thinking we'll be booking this excursion. :D

[pazandak63]

WEll....just trying to figure but I think the ride up the river was at least an hour...then we stopped to rest and there was a small food hut and some tables ...you could also get beer/pop but the food line was long and it looded like something I did not care to eat...pack fruit or something to nibble on....

then the bus ride to the ruins was about 15 minutes. We were at the ruins about an hour. Then the bus ride back was about 30 minutes or so...we were late getting back and carnival was calloing the tour guides on the cell phone. So, I would only take this thru the ship or use caution for time.

The boat held quite a few people...you stepped down into it and there was plank seats. There was a roof for wome...bring a hat and sunblock.

Remember....half of the people who signed up did this in recverse so they bussed to the ruins and returned by river. I dont think this would have been nearly the trip without the river part...

[onceagain]

Thanks again. There will be 9 of us on the Valor in Feb. I'll alert them to this posting so they can read all about it. Bet there will others from our group that will go too. I appreciate the great information! :D

[onceagain]

I looked at your profile, we're from MN too - Farmington. How about you? Did you sign up for this excursion before the cruise or on the ship? What time of year did you go? I know I had one more ??, but just can't think of it now. :confused: Oh, well, I'm sure it will come to me as soon as I hit "submit reply."

[IKON]

I thought of one you didn't ask mom (onceagain): I saw your son ( Ipresume) in the pictures, I have a 10 year old DD, did he like it or was he bored and complaining???? Did you see lots of animals on the river trip and also, can you choose to do the river part first or after or do they tell you when you get going?? Thanks!

[pazandak63]

Well...hmmm....we booked prior to the sailing. I would not put this off too long....

Our sailing was in January....

Onceagain...I am from Anoka...

We took all 3 of our boys, (then:18,16,10)

They all liked it. Not sure if you can specify if you go to the ruins by way of the river vs returning from the river. On the river portion of the excursion we saw dolphins and Manitees at the mouth of the river, iguana and monkeys in the jungle. They were not bored at all. I would suggest bring some munchies as if is a long voyage and my boys did not appreciate the looks of the one food establishment available. There is pop for sale. Maybe just some fruit to tide them over from the ship...

[pazandak63]

Here is a video my DH made of our River Wallace tour in Belize

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5411993836725167671&hl=en

[onceagain]

Thanks so much for the great video - love the music. You've been most helpful! We leave in about 2 months - can't wait. We were in Belize about 7 years ago and weren't real impressed, we're looking forward to our trip this time.

[5668200]

Really, only one person has done this excursion?

[vermonter16]

Has anybody else done this through the cruise lines lately? Also - how long do you get to stay at the ruins? Do they let you go so you can look on your own? How many people normally go on this tour thru the ship? Thanks.

[gltrans1]

We just did this excursion from the Valor on 12/26/06. Our group filled one air conditioned coach bus. We went by bus first to the ruins. Another group took the river trip first and we switched with them at lunchtime. The bus ride to the ruins is quite bumpy. Our guide joked that Carnival doesn't tell you that the excursion comes with a free neck and back massage. When you get to the ruins the guide from the bus gives the entire group a walking tour of the ruins which ends with a climb to the top of one of the structures where you can linger for 5 minutes to take pictures. Then its back on the bus and off to the riverboat tour. There wasn't any time to walk around the ruins on your own. Its a pretty tight schedule because you have to get to the river boats and switch with the group that did the river first. After having lunch, they split our bus group into two groups and put us on two boats for the ride down the river to the port. We were provided with a second tour guide and we saw howler monkeys, iguanas, crocodiles, manatees and dolphins (near the port). We are a family of 5 (kids are 15, 12 and 10) and loved the excursion. I would highly recommend it.

_________________________________

 

Carnival Triumph 12/23/05

Carnival Valor 12/24/06

[vermonter16]

Approximately how long did your excursion last through the ship? Could you just break from the group and meet back up with them?

[nspm_1956]

we'll be on the Valor March 18th and would like to book this through the ship but I don't see it listed. Any ideas?

[judyzoo]

we'll be on the Valor March 18th and would like to book this through the ship but I don't see it listed. Any ideas?

 

nspm,

 

I'm having the same problem. I've been looking at the shore excursions for the same ship, same date. Not only is this particular excursion not listed, there are no excursions at all to any ruins in Belize, or to any of the wildlife places in Belize. Wonder why they offer it in February but not in March? Why are the excursions so limited? Unless something changes soon, I'll be booking something independently of the ship.

 

Have you checked in on our roll call?

[EricaLovesCats]

I am also going March 18th and wanted to do the Altun Hu tour...but didn't see it on Carnival's excursions list. I ended up booking it through SeaBelize(dot)com. It was a good price and the timing was short enough to where I am not worried about missing the boat or anything...

[sharecruises]

Just a thought...Carnival may be in negotiation with the tour operators and have not yet finalized March tours

 

Some tours in Belize seem to be fine to go on with private operators...ie, the cave tubing with yonny or x-stream seem good, the private ruins only tours...and horseback riding at smugglers run

 

However, the more "complicated" or combo tours seem to be best if booked thru the ship, cause Belize is a tender port and time is constrained. The ship will wait for your tour if it is late ONLY if booked thru the cruiselines.

 

The river/ruins tour and tours to the further out ruins, zip and cave combos etc are probably safest if booked thru the ship. You might try calling Carnival on this too...hth

[judyzoo]

Just a thought...Carnival may be in negotiation with the tour operators and have not yet finalized March tours

 

 

I thought that might be the case. Called Carnival to inquire but all I could get from them was a stock answer that sometimes when there are several ships in port some operators might not be available to other ships. So I booked an independent tour with Coral Breeze Tours.