Belize Ruins

[lummy1]

Group of 8 cruising 3/7/10. Some would like to go the Mayan Ruins. First of all is it safe. Second, any suggestions on who to go with and how long a tour is it? Any help is appreciated.

[*Mach*]

You need to ask your question at the Belize Ports of Call board!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109

Best of luck!!

:)

[nobody000]

If your are doing a shore tour than yes I would consider it a safe place..some have said its not the best place to adventure on your own.

 

Now the tour lengths are gonna depend on what you choose to do. Have you looked at the Carnival website to see what may interest you and your party?

 

Another great place to post or check is on the link below.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109

[Scoop_MSU]

We did the New River Safari and Lamanai ruins last year via NCL tour (since it was an all-day affair). Can highly recommend. Here is a link to my pictures on Flickr - just choose the New River and Lamanai albums for views.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scoop_msu/

[NCTribeFan]

Click on my name, then the Statistics tab, then "threads started" and find my Miracle 12/14/09 review. I did extensive reviews of our excursions. Find the posts for Belize (near the end as it was our last port).

 

Also have a link to my Webshots which has many more photos than in the review.

[AdoptAtty]

I loved my tour of Altun Ha. We did a private tour, just 4 of us with our own guide and car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[catsy57]

Hi Scoop -

Your picture albums are great! My family (me + husband + 2 daughters 14 & 19) are going on the same cruise on the Spirit on 3/28. A few questions about your excursions....

 

Would you recommend both Chacchoben and Lamanai? I am pretty set on Lamanai - looks gorgeous - will Chacchoben pale in comparison?

 

What did you do in Santo Tomas? I am thinking about the Rio Dulce tour, but again, if I do the Lamanai and New River safari, would this just be more of the same?

[Scoop_MSU]

Catsy,

easiest for me to reference you back to my photo albums - we did Chacchoben and Lamanai and felt they were sufficiently different (had great private tour operator I can recommend for Chacchoben). We did the "Go with Gus" tour in Santo Tomas - unforgettable. The rivers are different in both countries.

You didn't mention Cozumel so guess you have that one planned out :). If I can find my old You Tube link, I posted a video of the Guatemala portion. Be sure to get a port side cabin for the sailaway down there.

[sunandsnow]

Scoop or anyone else,

Hope you can help us decide - DH, myself and 16 year old sons. DH and I have been to Tulum. Our twins want to go to some ruins on this trip (1 site will work for us, other things we want to do too) Can't decide between Chacchoben in Costa Maya with Native Choice, or Alta Ha or Lamani with Island Marketing. Realize Lamani is probably the best choice - makes a long day especially with not knowing how fast we can get a tender. Any ideas? If you have been to Tulum - how do any of them compare? Thanks! Will be in Belize in March on RC LOS along with three other ships.

[Toyz711]

lamanai is just different. it's been protected, by the jungle, all these years. none of the site is fallen down or shows much wear/tear. only 3 of the site has been uncovered, much more is still covered by the jungle.

many of the photos, of the other sites, show wide open spaces and being able to see from ruin to ruin. not so with lamanai, you have a small clearing around the one site, then a walk through the jungle to get to the next site. the area is very natural and not touristy.

being as lamanai is so difficult to get to, very few tours go through. most of the major cruiselines don't offer tour to lamanai. we had our tour and one tour from another ship..less then 60 people total. we followed their boat, on the river, but never saw them at the site.

lamanai makes you feel like you have step back in time. more wildlife then people.

if you go, make sure you wear good walking shoes..you will be walking over mud, stone steps, tree roots. the path is a dirt track about the a mile circle. 3 well preserved sites and a small ball court. there are a couple of huts for shopping, a open air thatched area for lunch (picinic tables), restrooms that are on the level of camping out. flush toilets, we had no TP, no hot water, open air from top to wall to ceiling.

the tour guides are on the alert for the monkeys getting too active and looking out for the wildlife. this tour is GREAT!!!!

on the river trip going to lamanai, we did see some wildlife..nothing too exciting. on the way back we saw many locals in thier dug-out canoes...most were fishing.

[OttoCal]

Hi Scoop -

Your picture albums are great! My family (me + husband + 2 daughters 14 & 19) are going on the same cruise on the Spirit on 3/28. A few questions about your excursions....

 

Would you recommend both Chacchoben and Lamanai? I am pretty set on Lamanai - looks gorgeous - will Chacchoben pale in comparison?

 

What did you do in Santo Tomas? I am thinking about the Rio Dulce tour, but again, if I do the Lamanai and New River safari, would this just be more of the same?

 

 

Hi we just did both on the same cruise: Chacchoben (pronounced like 2 whole words- Chac Choben) with Native Choice and Lamania with RCL ship tour.

Chacchoben/ Native Choice: Loved Native Choice, our tour guide was Veronika. Cost $50 pp, but I would have chosen to do the tour WITH the Mayan Lunch that was $25 more maybe? I think that would have been a smaller group. We had about 24 maybe, and did have a bus. Great tour, and easy walking. Great information about the ruins and mayan culture. Had enough time to also visit the town after the trip, which was a bit of a dissapointment.

 

Lamanai: given the legnth of this tour, I would always stick to the ship's tour. 1 hour by bus, 26 miles down a river, lunch, ruins tour, and then same transportation to return, and we returned with 15 minutes to spare til our stated 'last tender' time. The tour guide had excellent information about Belize and also about the wildlife- very specific bird information for bird watchers ;) but his very thourough information about Lamanai bordered on overly technical to the point of being over-informative. About 4 ruins excavated, and you can climb here.

 

I liked the tour better at Chacchoben, but the climb (great view of the lagoon) and river boat ride make Lamanai a fabulous stop.

Seen at Lamanai & on river:

Iguanas, crocodiles, howler monkeys, tree bats, snail kite, limpkin, 3+ kinds of herons, egrets, kiskadees, vultures, and teeny fish.

Seen at Chacchoben: spider monkey, butterflies, gekkos.

 

If you have a longer stop at Costa Maya, then I think doing both is a great idea. What would be your second choice at Costa Maya?

 

I also have visitied Xunantunich, which has a really fun set of temples to climb, but is a longer ride. Go for Lamanai to get the river boat ride.

[jcjky]

Scoop or anyone else,

Hope you can help us decide - DH, myself and 16 year old sons. DH and I have been to Tulum. Our twins want to go to some ruins on this trip (1 site will work for us, other things we want to do too) Can't decide between Chacchoben in Costa Maya with Native Choice, or Alta Ha or Lamani with Island Marketing. Realize Lamani is probably the best choice - makes a long day especially with not knowing how fast we can get a tender. Any ideas? If you have been to Tulum - how do any of them compare? Thanks! Will be in Belize in March on RC LOS along with three other ships.

 

Would recommend you do Lamani through ship tour if available because of the distance. All these sites are different would go with Lamani or Chacchoban.

[jcjky]

Hi Scoop -

Your picture albums are great! My family (me + husband + 2 daughters 14 & 19) are going on the same cruise on the Spirit on 3/28. A few questions about your excursions....

 

Would you recommend both Chacchoben and Lamanai? I am pretty set on Lamanai - looks gorgeous - will Chacchoben pale in comparison?

 

What did you do in Santo Tomas? I am thinking about the Rio Dulce tour, but again, if I do the Lamanai and New River safari, would this just be more of the same?

I agree with Scoop the tours are different enough so you could do all three.

[mom2two2]

Hi!

 

We just did the Lamanai tour a week ago. We sailed with RCCL on Jan 10 and one of our stops was Belize.

 

I was so nervous about this one. I had heard so many bad things. I needed not worry at all.

 

We did book through the ship, simply because of the duration of the excursion, I was nervous we would miss the last tender back otherwise.

 

While Belize does appear to be a poor country, we NEVER felt unsafe on our tour. Edgar was waiting right at the main building when you get off the tender with a sign and he whisked us all right onto an air conditioned coach. We rode for about an hour, through small villages etc. He did a great job telling us all about his country and pointing things out. He also handed out bottled water for us.

 

We got off the bus at a "station" on the river, there was a chance to stop and use the washroom and some small souveniers were for sale as well. We then boarded a little boat, piloted by Nate. Edgar accompanied us as well. Nate was just as great, slowing to see crocs and telling us about the birds and river and local area. We got off the boat at the Lamanai Reserve where women were waiting with a really nice lunch and drinks. We then were able to hike the ruins. Nate had so much information, he knew his stuff. It was something that I am so glad we did, despite the length of the journey. You should go.

 

I have heard not to wander around Belize City alone but honestly, we felt 100% safe on the guided tour. I would hate to think that we may have missed this.

 

Just my opinion....

[Scoop_MSU]

Scoop or anyone else,

Hope you can help us decide - DH, myself and 16 year old sons. DH and I have been to Tulum. Our twins want to go to some ruins on this trip (1 site will work for us, other things we want to do too) Can't decide between Chacchoben in Costa Maya with Native Choice, or Alta Ha or Lamani with Island Marketing. Realize Lamani is probably the best choice - makes a long day especially with not knowing how fast we can get a tender. Any ideas? If you have been to Tulum - how do any of them compare? Thanks! Will be in Belize in March on RC LOS along with three other ships.

 

If you decide to only do one, do Lamani. Belize is a tender port for everyone so much easier on the mind to do the tour offered by your ship. While Chacchoben is more "open" and actually has more ruins to look at (in terms of pure numbers), I will never forget the experience of climbing up that 33 meter pyramid at Lamani. Here is another reason I won't forget Belize - that's me with an uninvited guest about to join the tour!

[Charlatte]

Has anyone done the Altun Ha excursion through NCL? I am guessing the 3 1/2 hours duration includes the driving time? My friend and I would like to book this one, but are unsure as to how to plan the rest of the day. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Char

[rheathc]

Group of 8 cruising 3/7/10. Some would like to go the Mayan Ruins. First of all is it safe. Second, any suggestions on who to go with and how long a tour is it? Any help is appreciated.

 

We just returned from a cruise that stopped in Belize (Carnival). We took the Altun Ha/River Wallace tour. At no time did we feel uncomfortable with our surroundings. This particular tour only allowed us about 45 min. at the ruins due to the river tour and lunch.

 

We have previously visited Chichen Itza, Tulum, and now Altun Ha. I am glad we visited Altun Ha, but I would rank it 3rd in this list. It is hard to compete with the size of Chichen Itza and Tulum. When I visited Chichen Itza we were allowed on top of the pyramid. However, I understood the guide to say the MX government was going to discontinue that. Belize still allows you on the pyramid so you get a view/perspective there that you can't get at the other 2.

 

If this is your only opportunity to visit a Myan ruin site, then don't let the opportunity go by. I absolutely recommend booking through the cruise line. Our tour was late returning but the ship waited for us (30 minutes past scheduled departure time) because we booked through them. Sure it costs a little more, but the peace of mind is worth the added cost.

[cbressler76]

We just returned from a cruise that stopped in Belize (Carnival). We took the Altun Ha/River Wallace tour. At no time did we feel uncomfortable with our surroundings. This particular tour only allowed us about 45 min. at the ruins due to the river tour and lunch.

 

We have previously visited Chichen Itza, Tulum, and now Altun Ha. I am glad we visited Altun Ha, but I would rank it 3rd in this list. It is hard to compete with the size of Chichen Itza and Tulum. When I visited Chichen Itza we were allowed on top of the pyramid. However, I understood the guide to say the MX government was going to discontinue that. Belize still allows you on the pyramid so you get a view/perspective there that you can't get at the other 2.

 

If this is your only opportunity to visit a Myan ruin site, then don't let the opportunity go by. I absolutely recommend booking through the cruise line. Our tour was late returning but the ship waited for us (30 minutes past scheduled departure time) because we booked through them. Sure it costs a little more, but the peace of mind is worth the added cost.

 

 

We will be on this tour soon! Did you see anything other then crocdiles/alligators in the river? We live in Florida.....so we see them all of the time.....we are hoping to see something different.... Thanks!

[BeachChica]

Hello all - thanks for all the great pics that have been posted. We have been to Belize 4 times and this time we are looking to do something different. I have very intigued about going to Lamani after reading the reviews. However I will be on the Carnival Legend and they do not offer this tour through the ship. It definitely seems like a long trip with the 1 hour bus ride and 26 miles up a river - my question for those that have been there.... we will be in port for 9 hours (8am - 5pm ships time). Do you think this is enough time to do the tour and is it worth going through an outside tour company to see this amazing site. We typically book excursions on our own if we can... but they are to places that the ships tour visit as well (like cave tubing) so if there is a problem you will be able to get in contact with someone from the ship. With no ship tours going here I just wanted to make sure that if we book on our own that 9 hours would enough to see the tour and still get us back to the ship with plenty of spare time. Island Marketing (Belizecruiseexcursions.com) looks like they offer the tour.

 

Thank you! :)

Jessie

[PAcruiser116]

We will be in Belize in April and want to do one of the ruins tours. RCI offers tours to Cahal Pech, Altun Ha and the Old Belize River, Xunantunich, and Lamanai and the New River Safari. I gather from this thread that most people would recommend Lamanai over the others, however we don't know if we want to spend ALL day (sounds like a very long trip). Which of the others would be worthwhile if we passed on Lamanai?

[Scoop_MSU]

Hello all - thanks for all the great pics that have been posted. We have been to Belize 4 times and this time we are looking to do something different. I have very intigued about going to Lamani after reading the reviews. However I will be on the Carnival Legend and they do not offer this tour through the ship. It definitely seems like a long trip with the 1 hour bus ride and 26 miles up a river - my question for those that have been there.... we will be in port for 9 hours (8am - 5pm ships time). Do you think this is enough time to do the tour and is it worth going through an outside tour company to see this amazing site. We typically book excursions on our own if we can... but they are to places that the ships tour visit as well (like cave tubing) so if there is a problem you will be able to get in contact with someone from the ship. With no ship tours going here I just wanted to make sure that if we book on our own that 9 hours would enough to see the tour and still get us back to the ship with plenty of spare time. Island Marketing (Belizecruiseexcursions.com) looks like they offer the tour.

 

Thank you! :)

Jessie

 

Jessie - that is sufficient time to do the tour. All the reputable tour operators are aware of ships' schedules and plan accordingly. Their livelihood depends on it for the most part.

[BeachChica]

Thanks for the info. I emailed them to ask about the tour and they told me that this tour is not offered on my arrival date. Seeme like plenty of time to do the tour, maybe Carnival has been blacklisted because of their tendering too.... ?

I think we may just end up trying to find a snorkel tour in Belize and maybe try to do this another time :(

[Scoop_MSU]

We will be in Belize in April and want to do one of the ruins tours. RCI offers tours to Cahal Pech, Altun Ha and the Old Belize River, Xunantunich, and Lamanai and the New River Safari. I gather from this thread that most people would recommend Lamanai over the others, however we don't know if we want to spend ALL day (sounds like a very long trip). Which of the others would be worthwhile if we passed on Lamanai?

 

Am unsure of Cahal Pech but will attempt to attach some pics of both Altun Ha and Xunatunich. Personally, Xunatuhich "looks" more interesting; however, it is a much larger site and you might feel cheated because you will probably not have enough time to see all that is available. Altun Ha is similar to Chacchoban in Costa Maya - clean and open for the most part.

[2112]

We will be in Belize in April and want to do one of the ruins tours. RCI offers tours to Cahal Pech, Altun Ha and the Old Belize River, Xunantunich, and Lamanai and the New River Safari. I gather from this thread that most people would recommend Lamanai over the others, however we don't know if we want to spend ALL day (sounds like a very long trip). Which of the others would be worthwhile if we passed on Lamanai?

 

Xunantunich and Cahal Pech are all day excursions as well. If you don't want to do an all day excursion, your only choice is Altun Ha. My preference would be Lamanai, Xunantunich, Altun Ha and then Cahal Pech, in that order.

[hcat]

Just back from Navigator of the seas (Royal C)--

 

we took the Altun Ha ship's excursion that was called Tale of Two Cities.. we selected it b/c it was the shortest trip to the ruins.. had a nice ride to the ruins on an A./C bus..roads get a bit primitive once you get close to the ruins--glad we had no rain.. our bus got there first--no crowds at all... very accessible & can climb if you want-- they were similar in some ways to Chachoban (Costa maya) but those were more overgrown when we went (pre-hurricane)

 

Had a wonderful guide--her husb sold wooden bowls there at the site & we got some great ones for a good price..meant we did not have to shop at the tourism center..which we did not care for that much.. also bought a nice doll & book about the ruins...

 

the city part of the trip took us through Belize city--saw all the historic bldgs & many of the local neighborhoods (very poor & run down looking-- & many schools with children in their sparkling clean uniforms!!)

learned alot about Belize, impressed by the guide

 

Best to take a tour--next time we'll try the beaches & reef snorkeling... Enjoy!