Belize Lamani excursions on RCI

[africanqueen]

RCI has two excursions to Lamani. They sound very similar. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between "Lamani Ruins and River Boat Safari w/ Lunch" versus "Lamani Ruins and River Cruise?"

[milford_cruiser]

Not to specifically answer your question, but we did "Lamanai and the New River Safari" (BE62) back in 2009 and it was fantastic.

 

On that particular tour, we were on a fairly high-speed motorboat up the river to see the ruins. From what I can gather of the two descriptions, the "Riverboat" version (BEK9) involves a longer bus ride and a slower boat up the river.

 

The New River Safari *ALSO* involved a bus ride but I don't recall it being very long. Lunch was basic, but tasty: chicken, rice, beans, water.

[MeHeartCruising]

RCI has two excursions to Lamani. They sound very similar. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between "Lamani Ruins and River Boat Safari w/ Lunch" versus "Lamani Ruins and River Cruise?"

 

I thought I knew the answer to your question and then I tried to support it with documentation from Royal Caribbean's website. But after reading their description of their 2 Lamanai excursions, I don't know what to tell you. First, they use a different name than you do for the second one. And their description of each sounds virtually identical. And they both seem to include Lunch! One is an hour longer than the other one. They both seem to involve a bus ride portion of the trip. Are they both showing up in your particular cruise list of available excursions or are you just looking at the generic website list of Belize excursions? I wonder if one might be an older, expiring excursion and the second one is for newer cruises.

 

Either way, I took one of these on my NCL cruise. It was a great trip that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Edited January 16, 2017 by MeHeartCruising

[MeHeartCruising]

OK, I did some more Googling and comparing of descriptions.

 

From the excursion descriptions from Royal's website, I believe:

 

1. Lamanai Mayan Ruins & Riverboat Safari with Lunch - BEK9: This excursion takes you westward on a bus ride to the AyinHa Eco Park (which doesn't look like much more than a couple of buildings set up to embark on the rest of the trip. Royal might subcontract to this company, I'm guessing - http://www.ayinha.com for the rest of the trip. From AyinHa, you get on a boat that takes you on a little canal and then into the New River Lagoon going north. The Lagoon is quite wide at that point (almost like a lake). You'll ride in the lake up to Lamanai where you explore the Mayan Ruins. Then you reverse the trip. Lunch would be back at AyinHa. This excursion approaches Lamanai from the South on the New River Lagoon.

 

2. Lamanai and The New River Safari - BE62: This excursion takes you on a bus ride in a northerly direction. After an hour or so on the bus, you get on a boat which takes you on the much narrower and winding portion of the New River going south. You will be on the boat for about 90 minutes before you reach Lamanai from the north. Your boat will spend more time on the narrow winding portion of the river than it does in the wider, lake-like portion of the river. You will eat lunch either before or after the boat ride at the location where your bus drops you off to get on the boat. You then reverse the trip.

 

So they are both quite similar. If you're into fast boating, I think the second one might be more "exciting". I did this one and our boat was fast and it was exhilarating to sway back and forth thru the many curves of the river. With the first one, you may also be on a fast boat, but you'll just be going fast on a lake.

 

Either way, I think it would be a fun trip. I loved Lamanai and even the bus portion of my trip was interesting to see the countryside of Belize. You are on a bus and boat for much longer than you will be able to explore Lamanai. But I felt we had enough time to see the site. They do keep you moving along in order to meet the timeline of the long day trip.

 

Hope this helps. And I hope this is accurate. :-)

Edited January 16, 2017 by MeHeartCruising