Private Tour Companies Belize - Ruins

[flgirl543]

We will be traveling on RCCL Nov 26 and would like recommendations for private tour companies that go to Xunantunich.

 

This is our first trip to Belize and are completely unfamiliar with what to expect.

 

Thanks in advance for your helps.

[sdeegster]

I'd like to 2nd flgirl543's request. Island Marketing is the only private company I'm aware of, and they aren't running the trip to Xunantunich the day our cruise ship is there. Please let us know what other companies are out there!!

[vmom]

We will be traveling on RCCL Nov 26 and would like recommendations for private tour companies that go to Xunantunich.

 

This is our first trip to Belize and are completely unfamiliar with what to expect.

 

Thanks in advance for your helps.

 

I would strongly recommend going with the cruise company's tour of Xunantunich. This tour is quite long and quite a bit inland. I think any savings in price would not be worth the risk of missing the ship.

 

I am a huge fan of private tours but when the timing is close and the distance is far, I just don't think its worth it.

 

On our last cruise stop to Belize, the ship was delayed an hour in leaving because at the end of the day, the cruise tour to Xunantunich was delayed in returning. The ship waited. The tour finally arrived back to the ship with a special ferry boat that the ship had waiting for them. If this had been a private tour, the late passenger's would be out of luck.

 

I think one of the reason that there are not many private companies that are willing to take cruise passengers to Xunantunich is because they don't want to risk being too late to get the passengers back to the ship.

[TMLAalum]

I 2nd vmom's post. We are independent cruisers, but on our upcoming Equinox stop in Belize we've opted for the shorex to Xunantunich due to tendering, distance and time.

[seeriteR]

I would strongly recommend going with the cruise company's tour of Xunantunich. This tour is quite long and quite a bit inland. I think any savings in price would not be worth the risk of missing the ship.

 

This confirms my research. My wife and I will be in Belize on Nov 22 and after what I read from all the tour companies going to Xunantunich, we decided to take the excursion offered by the cruise line.

 

Thank you.

[sdeegster]

Unfortunately our cruise line's excursion to Xunantunich was sold out several weeks before departure. Does anyone have any experience with getting into a sold-out cruise line excursion due to cancellations or additional spots opening up?

[Pssunshinegal]

I think one of the reason that there are not many private companies that are willing to take cruise passengers to Xunantunich is because they don't want to risk being too late to get the passengers back to the ship.

 

You may think this, but I know six GREAT private tour guides in BC pretty well and they are not interested in cruise business at all. It has nothing to do with getting back late. It has to do with the attitude of cruise passengers. They don't need the business, so they cater to country visitors who really want to investigate their country and are respectful. None of them are terribly hurting, but I tell them all the time how more money they could make with cruise business. They are not interested.

 

The same is also true of many more tour guides and friends I have in Alaska. Cruise business, they are not interested, in fact they wish the ships wouldn't even come to Alaska.

 

Belize is a beautiful country that doesn't really deserve the bad rep it gets. It is a small poor country, but if you are willing to investigate further you might find that you want to visit privately where you can snorkel, party, and just chill. Cruise visitors for the most part come to Belize City and since it is all that most see, they are very negative on the cruise boards further perpetuating some of the myths. Then because of the bad press, many cruise visitors are not really interested in seeing the beauty of the country, they just want to zipline, tube or snorkel. Since some already have an attitude when they come to this country, there are never going to be more excursions or better guides because they aren't interested.

 

I leave Saturday after almost three months in Belize and I wish I was just starting my summer not ending it. Good news for me, I am returning in November.

 

Janice

[vmom]

You may think this, but I know six GREAT private tour guides in BC pretty well and they are not interested in cruise business at all. It has nothing to do with getting back late. It has to do with the attitude of cruise passengers. They don't need the business, so they cater to country visitors who really want to investigate their country and are respectful. None of them are terribly hurting, but I tell them all the time how more money they could make with cruise business. They are not interested.

 

The same is also true of many more tour guides and friends I have in Alaska. Cruise business, they are not interested, in fact they wish the ships wouldn't even come to Alaska.

 

Belize is a beautiful country that doesn't really deserve the bad rep it gets. It is a small poor country, but if you are willing to investigate further you might find that you want to visit privately where you can snorkel, party, and just chill. Cruise visitors for the most part come to Belize City and since it is all that most see, they are very negative on the cruise boards further perpetuating some of the myths. Then because of the bad press, many cruise visitors are not really interested in seeing the beauty of the country, they just want to zipline, tube or snorkel. Since some already have an attitude when they come to this country, there are never going to be more excursions or better guides because they aren't interested.

 

I leave Saturday after almost three months in Belize and I wish I was just starting my summer not ending it. Good news for me, I am returning in November.

 

Janice

 

 

I think you missed my point. We had a cruise stop in Belize and I LOVED our stop there. We visited Altun Ha with a private tour guide and had a wonderful time.

 

Many cruise passengers visit a port and later go back to the island or port for a longer vacation, so I don't think your opinion about cruise passengers not caring about the country is quite fair. Also, many islands welcome the income and jobs that cruise ships bring into their country. A lot of money is brought in by tourism and cruise passengers tend to be willing to spend.

 

When responding to the original question the original poster asked, my concern is that since the cruise stop is for a limited time and the trip to Xunantunich is so far inland that the timing is so close as to be better to book with the ship's tour to avoid missing the ship. As I stated, the ship's tour was an hour late in returning on our last visit to Belize.

 

I had not heard before that tour operators did not working with cruise passengers. If that is true, then it is sad since we have had so many wonderful experiences both in the Caribbean, Mexico and Alaska with private tour companies.

[Pssunshinegal]

I think you missed my point. We had a cruise stop in Belize and I LOVED our stop there. We visited Altun Ha with a private tour guide and had a wonderful time.

 

Many cruise passengers visit a port and later go back to the island or port for a longer vacation, so I don't think your opinion about cruise passengers not caring about the country is quite fair. Also, many islands welcome the income and jobs that cruise ships bring into their country. A lot of money is brought in by tourism and cruise passengers tend to be willing to spend.

 

When responding to the original question the original poster asked, my concern is that since the cruise stop is for a limited time and the trip to Xunantunich is so far inland that the timing is so close as to be better to book with the ship's tour to avoid missing the ship. As I stated, the ship's tour was an hour late in returning on our last visit to Belize.

 

I had not heard before that tour operators did not working with cruise passengers. If that is true, then it is sad since we have had so many wonderful experiences both in the Caribbean, Mexico and Alaska with private tour companies.

 

No, I got your point, and I responded to your point about why there are not many private tour operators doing this, as well as other tours. I was not trying to be curt or nasty, I was just trying to tell you about the other side of the coin. You sound like a lovely cruise passenger and hopefully you will have great experiences. Further, it was not my opinion on whether cruise passengers are caring about the countries, it was the private Belizean tour guides telling me how they feel about this. You also did not hear me say that someone shouldn't book with the cruise company because if there is any possibility of some people missing their ship, it would create major problems for them and they may never want to cruise again.

 

While there are many countries that do solicit the cruise business, there is also a very dark side to that, as was witnessed earlier this year when the cruise companies (especially when oil prices were high) tried to beat the local tender operators out of their jobs. Another "cruise company approved nonBelizean company" was brought in and the locals were told, oh well, so what, we need different things. The cruisers were told it was over safety, but when you read between the lines, you will see, safety was not a priority at all. But no sense in talking over something that is currently fixed.

 

Since you really have not heard about the downside and why many locals have no interest in cruise business, if you are interested you may want to talk to locals about how they feel about it. Ask how there are no laws to protect the waters or polution the ships put out. Ask how the cruise companies create these TA with Diamond International, et al, and then scare all the cruise passengers that it is not safe to go outside the TA. You did suffer a delay on return, but it rarely happens and this is one of the biggest reasons that the cruise companies try to scare people into using their approved tour companies (who are not always local).

 

Prior to have a venue like CC, many people could not even find out about private tour companies and just went with the rest of the sheep.

 

But Belize aside, ask Alaskans how much money they make off the cruise customers. There are some jobs, although not many, and there is money spent by cruises, but mainly at cruise-approved with kick-back stores. They won't even allow their tour buses to stop at some of the small communities, where the truly Alaskan products would do so much to support a community. Not all Alaskans, but many wish the cruise business would go elsewhere. I hope it doesn't because I love cruising Alaska but there is definitely a downside when six ships with 2,000+ people each drop into a town of 5,000.

 

Hopefully the people with open hearts and a desire to learn more about the Belizean people will return and learn more about the country and its beauty.

 

Janice

[vermonter16]

I'm not sure anybody here is looking for the reasons why more private tours aren't offered to Xunantunich or the attitudes, etc. towards cruise ship passengers. What folks are looking for is information regarding specific sites and locations, etc. of travel companies that are offering tours to cruise ship passengers.

 

vmom - can you tell me who you used for Altun Ha?

[BeadBabe]

I've been to Belize many times. The local tour operators are gracious happy folks that are more than happy to take cruise ship passengers on excursions for a whole heck of a lot less that the ships charge, and they will get you back on time. Think about it....how much repeat business would they get if they weren't taking good care of folks.

I've use a few local operators....my favorite is Darwin at the Wet Lizard, right there at the far left end (as you get off your tender) of Pier Village. They have a website of tours, but are happy to arrange something custom for you. He's arranged me getting to Altun Ha, Lamani and Xunantunich. I had very comfortable air conditioned transportation, safe boats (Lamani), and courteous and knowledgeable guides.

These people love their country, and are happy to share it with you. :D

[vmom]

I'm not sure anybody here is looking for the reasons why more private tours aren't offered to Xunantunich or the attitudes, etc. towards cruise ship passengers. What folks are looking for is information regarding specific sites and locations, etc. of travel companies that are offering tours to cruise ship passengers.

 

vmom - can you tell me who you used for Altun Ha?

 

We had originally scheduled an excursion with a private company that was canceled at the last minute.

 

We wanted to see the ruins, so when we got to the pier, there was a booth with Tour guides/taxi drivers that were offering tours. They had two booths at the pier. It was explained to us that they were licensed by the country to be taxi driver-tour guides. We signed up for a tour. There were 5 of us in a mini van along with the driver. The driver was wonderful. Very informative about the Mayan ruins and also about the country of Belize including the economy, different building methods, wildlife, etc. We learned alot about the Mayan culture of the past and the country of Belize at the present.

 

I don't know if they still have these booths at the pier (inside the gated area, not outside). Maybe someone could comment about this. If I remember correctly, they were all wearing white shirts with a special patch to indicate that they were licensed drivers/guides.

[ibcnusoon]

This confirms my research. My wife and I will be in Belize on Nov 22 and after what I read from all the tour companies going to Xunantunich, we decided to take the excursion offered by the cruise line.

 

Thank you.

 

We also booked this excursion with the cruise line. We are in Belieze for 9 hours and Carnival states the excursion is 7 hours. No way would I book Xunantunich, a 2 hour ride each way from the port, with an outside company. Too risky, and Belize is not a country I'd like to be left alone in.

[Islandbear]

We are using http://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/ to do Lamania ruins.

[serene56]

Unfortunately our cruise line's excursion to Xunantunich was sold out several weeks before departure. Does anyone have any experience with getting into a sold-out cruise line excursion due to cancellations or additional spots opening up?

 

 

cruiselines only allow a limited amount of shore excursions to be offered online. THere will be a few spots left to book once you got onboard. (as soon as the excursion desk opens-- you want to be there)