Belize, river and ruins or city tour and ruins?

[MTdreaming]

We are heading out in Feb. older, but somewhat fit, want to see these ruins, not sure if the river tour is worth it? which is more informative city tour or river ride?Have heard the river tour is long and can be very hot and no shade? We will be using the Princess excursion due to the tendering and time issues. Any experiences? any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

[Colorado Kat]

I would go with the River tour over a city tour.

[JimAOk1945]

Are you referring to the Lamanai Mayan Ruins? We did that excursion on our December 2011 cruise and really enjoyed it. I'll insert a link below in case you're interested in seeing pictures.

 

Lamanai Mayan Ruins River Excursion

[wantocruisemore]

We did the Altum Ha and River Wallace tour in Sept. We really enjoyed it but the site is small. You can climb a couple of the ruins though.

 

The River excursion was hot. We had hats but my husband was not able to wear his ball cap because when the boat cranked up the wind would blow it off. I had a hat with a neck strap. If I had not it would have blown away since it blew back several times. There is no shade on the boat. I'm not sure I would do that excursion during the hot season.

 

On the River we saw crocodiles, iguanas, mosquito bats and even caught a glimpse of a manatee. Plus, a dolphin put on a show for us jumping out of the water.

 

We're in 50s, decent shape but need improvement. We were able to do things fine.

Edited November 1, 2013 by wantocruisemore

[MTdreaming]

Thanks for the recommendations and the pics as well. I think we will try the river ride (with hats ). :)

[Debe7ing]

Are you referring to the Lamanai Mayan Ruins? We did that excursion on our December 2011 cruise and really enjoyed it. I'll insert a link below in case you're interested in seeing pictures.

 

Lamanai Mayan Ruins River Excursion

 

WOW! What a GREAT slide show!! You got me to sign us up for this tour!!! You need to get Princess to buy you a drink your next cruise! ;)

[JimAOk1945]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the Lamanai slide show. We did that excursion while we were on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas when it used to cruise out of Galveston, TX.

My wife took the pictures and put the slide show together on her website.

You will have a great time.

[Canadiankaratemom]

Are you referring to the Lamanai Mayan Ruins? We did that excursion on our December 2011 cruise and really enjoyed it. I'll insert a link below in case you're interested in seeing pictures.

 

Lamanai Mayan Ruins River Excursion

 

Awesome pictures., we are going on this excursion next week.. thanks for sharing.. getting excited...

 

Don and Louise

[JimAOk1945]

Canadiankaratemom,

Glad you liked the slide show. The excursion was an awesome experience. You will enjoy it.

Happy cruising!

[Maxpilot]

We did the Lamanai ruins in November 2011, also on the Mariner of the Seas. Loved the excursion. It was a long day but worth it..

[QTPieRye]

Loved the slideshow! We are thinking of booking in January. Do you return via boat or vehicle and does anyone recall the start/end times of the tour. Thanks.

[JimAOk1945]

Loved the slideshow! We are thinking of booking in January. Do you return via boat or vehicle and does anyone recall the start/end times of the tour. Thanks.

 

 

Glad you enjoyed the slideshow. I don't recall the start/end times of the tour.

Belize is a "tender" port. After we got off the bus, we rode the tender to the ship. It was a smooth ride.

[dclark]

We did a private tour of Lamanai last summer.

The river was interesting but the time to get to and back from the ruins is long and we wished we had more time at the ruins.

When we arrived, we had the "traditional" belizian meal, which we thought was awful and wasted at 30 precious minutes that we would have rather spent at the ruins.

We loved the ruins, but felt it rushed. Also, if you wonder what happened to the Maya, they were wiped away by mosquitos! The mosquitos were so vicious that they bit us through our clothes! I wore a button down t-shirt they bit through that and my tube socks- wear repellent everywhere!

The ruins were not especially hot, the area is a jungle, you are shielded from the sun.