Enough time for Lamanai

[sciencemom45]

We will be in Belize in June from 8am to 5 pm. Our ship does not offer a tour to Lamanai. Will we have enough time to do a private tour? Or should we be safer and go on the ships Xunantunich tour?

[2112]

To answer your question, yes you have enough time to do a private Lamanai tour. I did it with the exact sample port schedule.

 

To answer your second question, yes it would be safer to take the ship's Xunantunich tour because you are then 100% assured to not be left behind. That said, the chance of missing the ship on a private Lamanai tour is small. Some people get back fairly close to last tender time, but I've never heard of anyone ever actually missing the ship. There is always a very small chance of it happening, but the tour operators do this everyday and are quite aware of the importance of getting their clients back on time.

[sciencemom45]

Thanks - Which site would you recommend? How long is the ride to Xunan...? Can you climb up he ruins at both? We will be there the end of JUne so it ill be the start of the rainy season. Have you been to Altun Ha? Sorry for all the questions but you seem to have great info and pics?

[2112]

Thanks - Which site would you recommend?

 

My favorite is Lamanai because of the setting, the howler monkeys, and the river trip, but I really enjoy Xunantunich as well.

 

Can you climb up he ruins at both?

 

Yes

 

How long is the ride to Xunan...?

 

I didn't do Xunantunich as an excursion from the port, but I think it is almost 2 hours each way from Belize City.

 

Have you been to Altun Ha?

 

Yes. I like Altun Ha as well, but when I was there quite a few of the structures had tarping on them. Altun Ha is also quite a bit more crowded than Lamanai and Xunantunich.

 

Sorry for all the questions but you seem to have great info and pics?

 

Not a problem. Enjoy your trip.

[Froufie]

No you may not have enuf time and miss the last tender as we did! Loved Lamanai but very late getting back and luckily Carnival had one more 'tender' which was hauling back some officers/chairs/water keg...and knew there were 11 of us arriving in a few minutes (they said if we were less that 7 people they would have left?).

 

Last tender was 'officially' at 4:15 - we were on a 4:40 tender and made it to the ship (and I mean 'flying' across the water) as they were honking the horn and pulling up the 'tender' ganglplank right as we got on - very nerve racking.

 

This last cruise we of course took a Carnival sponsored tour - River Wallace/Altun Ha - excellent tour - but Altun Ha not as 'exciting' as Lamanai.....but not as stressful either! We knew we would not miss the boat - and so did the other busload of Carnival cruisers who happened to experience a flat tire on their but - so they had to pull off the road and wait for the emergency bus to come get them - they must have been VERY HAPPY to be on ship sponsored tour!

[Cayoooga]

We will be in Belize in June from 8am to 5 pm. Our ship does not offer a tour to Lamanai. Will we have enough time to do a private tour? Or should we be safer and go on the ships Xunantunich tour?

We've done both ruins. Xunantunich with a ships tour and Lamanai with a private tour.

I totally agree with the poster 2112. The Lamanai tour is more exciting, with the river ride and the howler monkeys. But the ruins of Xunantunich are also impressive. We made it back in time from Lamanai to do a short city tour and catch the last tender, no worries. The tour operators are doing these tours all the time, they have it down like clock work.:D:D

[jcjky]

We will be in Belize in June from 8am to 5 pm. Our ship does not offer a tour to Lamanai. Will we have enough time to do a private tour? Or should we be safer and go on the ships Xunantunich tour?

Even if your scheduled to get into Belize at 8 am you still have to tender in to port . When we where there last week some people didn't get into port till after 10 am and miss their prepaid tours. Cruise lines will usually tender in their on tours first and everyone ease has to wait. So depending on number of ship tours, number of tenders and weather conditions you do not know when you will get to port.

We did Lamanai through the ship and had no worries even though we were late getting back.

[2112]

No you may not have enuf time and miss the last tender as we did! Loved Lamanai but very late getting back and luckily Carnival had one more 'tender' which was hauling back some officers/chairs/water keg...and knew there were 11 of us arriving in a few minutes (they said if we were less that 7 people they would have left?).

 

Last tender was 'officially' at 4:15 - we were on a 4:40 tender and made it to the ship (and I mean 'flying' across the water) as they were honking the horn and pulling up the 'tender' ganglplank right as we got on - very nerve racking.

 

This last cruise we of course took a Carnival sponsored tour - River Wallace/Altun Ha - excellent tour - but Altun Ha not as 'exciting' as Lamanai.....but not as stressful either! We knew we would not miss the boat - and so did the other busload of Carnival cruisers who happened to experience a flat tire on their but - so they had to pull off the road and wait for the emergency bus to come get them - they must have been VERY HAPPY to be on ship sponsored tour!

 

Wow, I'm curious as to which company you went with?

[Froufie]

Wow, I'm curious as to which company you went with?

 

The usual one: belizecruiseexcrusions.com (owned/run by Island Marketing)

 

More info here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=873220 (and the belize link referred to - post #93))

[JeremyK]

I am doing my first cruise on June 6th on the Valor, anyone know if I have enough time for Lamanai?

 

Thursday, Jun 10 Belize 8:00am 5:00pm

[Froufie]

I am doing my first cruise on June 6th on the Valor, anyone know if I have enough time for Lamanai?

 

Thursday, Jun 10 Belize 8:00am 5:00pm

 

Be careful - most people have had good experiences - I did Lamanai w/belizecruiseexcursions.com and almost missed the ship (do a search on the belize boards for morei nfo from others). Lamanai was amazing as was the tour - but there is certainly no excuse for making us late to miss the last tender.

 

On my recent Valor cruise I stuck to a Carnival sponsored tour knowing that we would probably not be left behind (see link to my review below).

[JeremyK]

Be careful - most people have had good experiences - I did Lamanai w/belizecruiseexcursions.com and almost missed the ship (do a search on the belize boards for morei nfo from others). Lamanai was amazing as was the tour - but there is certainly no excuse for making us late to miss the last tender.

 

On my recent Valor cruise I stuck to a Carnival sponsored tour knowing that we would probably not be left behind (see link to my review below).

 

To be honest, I have read many threads, many with tour posts saying the same. But I have not seen one person left behind yet, and the reward is worh the risk...I am booking!

 

I see others have done this same excursion from the Carnival Valor with the same time frame, so I feel safe enough.

[Froufie]

To be honest, I have read many threads, many with tour posts saying the same. But I have not seen one person left behind yet, and the reward is worh the risk...I am booking!

 

I see others have done this same excursion from the Carnival Valor with the same time frame, so I feel safe enough.

 

 

Carnival does not offer a tour to Lamanai so not sure where you have read about this? (unless it was many years ago?).

 

I would only suggest that you keep an eye on your watch and when it's time to go inform your guide! I know it took us 1.5 hrs from the port to Lamanai and assuming it took at least 1.5 hrs for the return (and wouldn't you want to add 15-30 mins as a buffer) was unsure as to why we were not 'leaving' at the appropriate time??? And then running into traffic, roadblocks, etc didn't help! I now wish I would have said something (but I trusted the guide and thought he must know something I don't....maybe a shortcut???).

 

You will love the tour! (just bring a credit card and passport along just in case! :D:D)

[JeremyK]

Carnival does not offer a tour to Lamanai so not sure where you have read about this? (unless it was many years ago?).

 

As in, from the Valor trip, not from Carnival.

 

I just think you are scaring a lot of people off from Lumanai because of your one experience, but even you were not left behind. No offense.

[Roswell_IcePrincess]

I took the Lamani tour with Norweign and the ship had to wait for us as we didn't make it back for the last tender time. Although a great tour, I would not chance taking a private tour, it's a long one.

[FamilyCruisers5]

My favorite is Lamanai because of the setting, the howler monkeys, and the river trip, but I really enjoy Xunantunich as well.

 

 

 

 

Who do you recommend to book this excursion with, since Carnival does not offer it.

 

Thanks

[FamilyCruisers5]

I am doing my first cruise on June 6th on the Valor, anyone know if I have enough time for Lamanai?

 

Thursday, Jun 10 Belize 8:00am 5:00pm

 

 

Who are you using to book the trip to Lamanai?

[driftwood]

Tours in Belize are no joke. Belize City is 30 miles even from the Belize Zoo; it is almost 60 miles inland on the Western Highway to Xunantunich, which is very near the border with Guatemala. Xunantunich is very beautiful and it makes a reasonable one-day trip. Access to Lamanai requires a bus trip of nearly 60 miles each way on the Northern Highway, a boat trip of 3 hours round-trip (if one of the boat's engines doesn't fail, as happened to us, adding at least another hour to the trip), a hefty hike on fairly irregular terrain. Belizeans love the Lamanai trip because it gives them a workout and it is fairly romantic--but they can count on their homes being there when they get back, even after dark.

 

Go to Xunantunich if you are not staying in Belize for an extended period. You may climb anything anywhere in Belize--so far!

 

Lamanai is a very ancient and significant Maya site, but it has a lot of structures spread over a wide area. You have to keep moving the whole time you are there just to keep up with your guide. Xunantunich is a more compact site with a shorter history but extremely impressive structures. "El Castillo" at Xunantunich is worth a visit all by itself; some visitors think the ferry at Xunantunich is worth the visit. There are guides who will attempt to get you a tour of Lamanai and return you to your ship on time: you may recognize them by their white knuckles, however. And some of them can't stop shaking.

 

My beautiful wife live2legs took this picture of El Castillo on our visit in January 2008. Other pictures we took of Xunantunich, Lamanai and other Maya sites in Belize and Guatemala are posted in Google Earth. If you want further suggestions you are welcome to write to me at realdriftwood@verizon.net and I will be happy to try to help.