First Timers (sort of) Glory Review 03/25/2017

[podunkhum]

So we decided to go over to see the monkeys. I have always been fascinated by monkeys. Ever since I was a kid, when we went to the zoo, I wanted to go see the monkeys right away. They amuse me. Their faces, the way they swing around, their long arms, and the noises they make. I think it would be kind of cool to have one for a pet, but you can't find them at the pet store or the humane society. Also, there was that Travis the chimp incident back in 2009 and that gruesome attack on that poor woman...Yeah, maybe monkeys just weren't meant to be pets, but it sure was going to be fun to hold some of these critters. Yeah, I don't think we will have to worry about an attack from this little dude. You might want to be careful with loose objects though. This guy was pulling out strands of Suz's hair and putting them in his mouth. Hilarious.

 

 

 

 

Their facial expressions crack me up.

 

 

 

This is Johny the spider monkey. Anyone want to take a guess at why the handler is holding his tail? He has a good reason.

 

 

 

And last, here is a kinkajou. I didn't hold this animal, but Suz said she was super soft. Mohmar wanted to keep calling it a Pikachu. No grandma, it is not a Pokemon.

 

 

 

So I really enjoyed the whole monkey experience. They didn't have a ton of animals on the island, but the ones that they had were pretty cool. The handlers seemed to be taking very good care of them. The handler that was holding Johny the spider monkey's tail was doing so because I guess Johny escaped once. I seem to remember them saying that it took a few days to catch him. Oh I bet that Johny had a good time with that. Sweet sweet freedom. But keep in mind that many of these rescue animals have been domesticated to the point that they would not do well or even survive on their own out in the wild so they must be taken care of.

 

After monkeying around with the monos, we had lunch. Albert brought us our lunch to a shaded table near our stuff. It was a good plate of chicken, beef, shrimp, and lobster. It was accompanied by some rice, coleslaw, and plantains. All in all it was pretty good and it definitely left me satisfied. It was a beautiful setting for our lunch. Very peaceful and shaded. I must also add that we were not bothered in the least by bugs. I was told that we should bring bug spray, but I do not think that we needed any in the slightest.

 

After lunch, D, Moose, and I went on our guided snorkel tour. At one point they said we might not be able to do it because of the rough waters but the winds had calmed down enough after lunch. We got our gear, boarded the boat, and took about a 20 minute boat ride away from the island. The waters still looked pretty rough and I was somewhat worried about this. I still had a bit of a headache and a part of me was having second thoughts. I figured the rough water would only make matters worse. When we arrived at the designated spot to jump in I was a little hesitant and somewhat intimidated. I had done this before, but not in this type of setting. We were totally out in the open water. Well, I guess they aren't going to wait around for me so in I jumped.

 

The water was not cold at all and felt extremely nice. Our guide told us not to fight the current but to just follow him and that we would take it real easy. When I put my face in the water it was a complete shock to me. I was in awe at the transformation from the world above the water to the new world beneath. I had snorkeled before in the Bahamas, and it was a really cool experience, but this was something entirely different. The different colors and shapes of the corral and the quantity and diversity of all the different fish had me ooohing and aaaaahing through my tube. I couldn't help it...I was completely amazed. The sounds of my exclamations through my tube sounded very foreign to me. I wished that I could talk to someone. I wanted to point out so many things. The drop off seemed infinite. The water was so clear and I could not see the bottom in some places, and there I was floating on top of what seemed to be a bottomless abyss. It was so easy to float and the feeling of weightlessness in that warm Caribbean water was so amazingly peaceful. I kept looking around to make sure that I wasn't straying too far from the group, but there were only four of us. At times we had to swim in narrow channels where the corral was deeper because we were getting to some of the more shallow corral. Once D had a run in with some corral and he banged his knee pretty good. The guide dove down a couple of times to point out different things. He had it out with a couple of pretty big lobster that quickly scurried back into their hidey holes. We saw a pretty big puffer fish as well. The guides weren't too talkative, but they did a great job of taking care of us, and they took us out to a prime spot.

 

I kind of wish I had invested in an underwater camera, but at the same time I didn't want to be distracted taking pictures. I just wanted to enjoy the experience. It was phenomenal. This part of the excursion made the day totally worth it. The time flew by and before we knew it, we were done. All in all I think we spent about 45 minutes in the water. It was adequate, but I would have liked a little more time.

 

As it was, when we got back to the island, we had just over an hour left before we had to leave. Man, is the day ending that quickly? I guess I had better walk around the island to buy some souvenirs and take a few more shots with my camera.

[podunkhum]

This would be our most expensive excursion, but it will be one that everyone enjoyed and I am sure we will always remember it. I think I could have used another couple of hours here though. I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do. I didn't get to use this rope swing to jump off of out into the water. I had seen so many videos of people doing it and it looked like a lot of fun. I think I only saw one group using it. It seemed to be sitting unused most of the time.

 

 

 

There is a house on the island that has rooms for rent. The prices seemed pretty reasonable. One thing to keep in mind is that you can use the ferry to get back to the main island and use this place as your base of operations while you spend a week here on vacation. There are tons of things to do in Roatan. It is actually a pretty big island...a tropical paradise really. We didn't see the rooms, but I have seen pictures of them. They look to be really beautiful. The grounds here were immaculate. Everything was very clean. Even the monkeys were soft and clean. I thought that they would at least smell bad but they didn't. I think the owners are doing a fine job of making this resort into a good family getaway. They have a ton of add ons of things to do here so you won't find yourself getting bored.

 

What I loved about our two beach days...no waves. So easy to get in this water and swim around. It was like a giant swimming pool with fish.

 

 

 

The restroom and changing facilities were pretty nice. They have lockers to rent but I didn't feel that we needed them. Albert said that we didn't need to worry about our stuff, so I didn't worry about our stuff. The sand was fine and the grounds were clean. We brought water shoes but I don't think you really needed them here. Shellhead didn't seem to mind going barefoot.

 

 

 

Well LFK, you made my day.

 

 

 

I can't help but wonder if we'll ever see the place again. That would be cool. :cool:

 

[podunkhum]

We got back to the port in plenty of time to do some shopping. I almost wish we could have gotten out to explore some of the "authentic" local stuff on the way back. Maybe some other time. I like to get off of the beaten path sometimes. The port area is beautiful.

 

I took this picture at about 5:00. We were told to be back on board by 5:30. We wanted to do some shopping so we did. Were we pushing it? I don't think so. But look at how empty this place is. There was no one in the stores either. Mohmar and D were a little worried and wanted to get back to the ship. They didn't want to end up on someone's Youtube video as some dim witted port runner. I wasn't worried however. We weren't even supposed to leave until 6:00. So we stayed and shopped.

 

I love that shot of The Glory in the background. We may be having to leave a beautiful island, but at least we get to get back on that glorious ship. :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just taking a beautiful afternoon stroll. It's getting close to 5:30. Still not having to run just yet. Boy, are we pushing it or what?

 

 

 

Hey look, it's that shipwreck. If you look through the leaves you can just make it out. This would be the only shot I got of the shipwreck. For some reason, I never made it over to the other side of the ship to take pictures. Bummer.

 

 

 

And last but not least, I got this shot before getting back on the boat. I neglected to get a shot on the way in this morning because I was so darned focused on finding Larry before everyone else. I wasn't going to miss this photo opp, although I couldn't find anyone to take our picture together. Remember, we were the last ones getting on the ship so no one else was available. But really, how could you not get a picture here. It's like getting that picture in front of the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park sign. Ya just gotta do it.

 

 

 

OK. Now we can run back to the ship. "Nooooo, don't leave! Wait for us. We just had to get that last shot." I'm sure you can find us somewhere on Youtube, leaping onto the ship, just as it is pulling away from the island. Photo finish that was. We were just so darned reluctant to leave this beautiful place.

[podunkhum]

Ahhh back on the ship and what a day. I was so beat. It was a great time for a short nap before dinner. I should have gone up top and taken some pictures on the other side, but I must say, that was a great nap, even if it was a short one. Here is another shot from the balcony. I didn't get a shot of the beach that the sky ride takes you to. I remember looking at that beach with my binos and of course at that time it was empty. Does anyone know how crowded that beach got on this day, the 28th of March?

 

 

 

 

I took this shot later as we were pulling away from Roatan. I believe that this is the Norwegian Dawn. I seem to remember looking up what other ship would be with us in port that day, and that is what I remember. The Dawn was at Coxen Hole however.

 

 

 

 

So tonight for dinner we again dined in the MDR. We dined there every night, although both sets of grandparents would at least once take a night off. We loved eating in the MDR however. It was pleasant and very easy on the eyes. I liked the decor and I loved having the same servers every night. Tonight I ordered the NY strip steak off of the steakhouse menu. It had a $20 surcharge which I felt was worth it. There was a slight snag in the order however as our server gave my steak to someone else. He was falling all over himself apologizing and he gave me the filet mignon of the gentlemen who got my steak. I was totally fine with that as that would have been my second choice anyways. It was one of the assistants who made the goof, but it turned out to be a pretty good goof, because the filet was excellent. Very juicy and flavorful. Each bite hit me right in the taste buds. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now. I had a side of mashed potatoes and green beans. It was awesome. This would be the best meal I had in the MDR on the cruise.

 

After about 10 minutes the server brings me out my original order of the NY strip. It looked awesome. I couldn't believe it but I shouldn't have been surprised. This was the type of service that we were receiving on a daily basis. I was only halfway through with my filet but I made room for the strip. Man, this was a whole different world of flavor. Two different cuts of meat but unique in their own way. I rotated between the two and had to take my time because the stip was a big piece of meat. I used the sauce they brought out to dip the meat in and it just gave it a more intense flavor. Since I was filling up on all this delicious meat I thought of the scene from The Great Outdoors, where John Candy decides to take on "the old 96er", where if he finished the whole thing, dinner was on the house for everyone in the party. Back in the day I knew how to put it away, but there was no way I was going to be able to finish both steaks. I ended up sharing with some of the other men at my table. So these weren't the best steaks I have ever eaten, but I think that I could solidly put them in the top ten. It was a great night. I finished it off with whatever pie of the day it was with a scoop of ice cream.

 

After dinner on many nights we would head up to the deck and try to catch a sunset. Most of the time were fails but for we did nail it on this night. Here are some shots of the sun going down to bid farewell to a beautiful day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[beachgal58]

Great review! I've not been to Roatan yet, every ship I am sailing on has had to miss it, to windy, hurricane...do not know what we will be doing but snorkeling is #1 with me! Nice pix, thanks for yr review, looking forward to your next adventure!

 

Cindy:p

[KCMiller]

So looking forward to the rest of your review - we're headed to the Glory over the holidays this year!

 

KC

[podunkhum]

Great review! I've not been to Roatan yet, every ship I am sailing on has had to miss it, to windy, hurricane...do not know what we will be doing but snorkeling is #1 with me! Nice pix, thanks for yr review, looking forward to your next adventure!

 

Cindy:p

 

 

Thanks. It was windy, but it didn't really affect us at all. The only time it was annoying was when I was kayaking because the wind would push me when I just wanted to drift.

 

That would have been disappointing having to miss that port because I kind of planned my whole vacation around it. Like I said, I would have liked to have done more snorkeling. I might have chosen West Bay but that is like a 40 minute drive to the beach. I would be nice if the ship could spend about 2 more hours there. It really is a beautiful island.

[podunkhum]

So looking forward to the rest of your review - we're headed to the Glory over the holidays this year!

 

KC

 

 

Thanks for reading. To be honest, I think I want to go on the Glory again on our next Caribbean cruise. I also really want to sail the Magic, but it would be hard for me because the Glory now has a hold of me. I can't get her out of my head. Hey...ELO. Cool!

[podunkhum]

So after the sunset I believe that Moose, Suz, and Shell all went off to watch Suicide Squad. I wasn't feeling it so I went off by myself to the Ebony Cabaret lounge. There was no comedy show there on that night but they were doing some karaoke. The lounge is a decent size and it looked to be more than half full. I sat down to listen and get a feel for what type of talent was going to be on display. I thought about doing it myself as I had participated in some karaoke on my first cruise. I even remember the song I did way back when on The Big Red Boat. It was Bryan Adam's Summer of '69, and I completely butchered it. It was awful. I think I was trying to sing an octave too high and wasn't smart enough to bring it down one.

 

I like to sing. I sing in the shower, I sing at church, and I sing at work. At work it is just the occasional outburst or line from a song, and sometimes it comes out pretty good. Of course I'm just goofing around and I do it for a laugh, but I have had people compliment me on my singing before. I wanted to give it another shot, but I could see that there was quite a line to get up there and it looked like a good wait, so I sat it out this night. I stayed about 40 minutes though. How was the talent? Well let's just say we got the whole spectrum. But even those who couldn't belt it out very well were very well supported. I was impressed. Those who seemed to have a hard time or were a little bit shy got the most support. Awesome. There was one guy that couldn't sing a lick, but he knew it, and he let his energy put on the show. He was hilarious and everyone was getting into it. I thought to myself, I can do this. If that dude who can't sing can do it, then so can I.

 

So fast forward to the next night. I got there earlier and there weren't as many people. I think I mentioned this earlier in my review. I picked my song, another 80's song by Simple Minds, and kind of had a picture in my mind of how it would all go down. I figured I would kill it, because I always did in my car on the way to work. I can do this. Well, when I stepped up there and grabbed the mike, stagefright took over. I was surprised at how my voice sounded over the loudspeakers and then I was even more self-conscious. I didn't butcher the song this time, but it was not rock star quality by any stretch of the imagination. As you can see by this photo, I was shell shocked. My knees were shaking the whole time. Weird, because I'm not really that shy of a person.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards I felt I could have done better. I wanted to redeem myself. I actually had a really good Collective Soul song picked out but they didn't have it. That's okay, I have a backup. Journey's "Send Her my Love". Nope...What? No Journey. How could you not have any Journey? You call this karaoke. Well I couldn't think up another song on the spot so my karaoke stint on this cruise would be spent. It was still a really good time though and I enjoyed listening to everyone.

 

I loved all the different venues on the ship and if I couldn't find anything that I wanted to do, I would just wander. Shellhead and I would do this often. One night we stumbled onto one of photographers setups and we had our pictures taken. I loved them but Shellhead didn't like the way she looked, so we didn't end up buying any of those. It was still fun though. I think I would end the night with Pizza Pirate at least three times and it was always good.

[podunkhum]

Day 5: Belize City

 

This was our first early day. This would be our longest day as we had an excursion booked for Lamanai Ruins. We knew we had to be on the first or second tender to be able to maximize our time at the ruins so we were up early and had room service. We ordered room service to arrive between 6:30 and 7:00. I was up by 6:40 and no room service yet. I was the first to shower and by the time I was done there was still no room service. Everyone else was up and moving and by 7:05, still no room service. I was a little concerned so I called room service on the phone to ask them if they had received my order and they informed me that the food was on it's way. It was there in under 5 minutes.

 

It was great being able to use this option because it helped us out on our long day. We ordered simple things, nothing too fancy...cereal, pastries, bagels, juice, fruit, and milk. You really can't screw up cereal and the pastries were pretty standard. It was quick and easy and just what we needed, so I was thankful for this service.

 

Now I haven't said anything about our cruise director, Eric. I only ran into him once and he seemed like a nice guy. I remember listening to him on the loudspeakers with his daily announcements, and he always started out with his question, "Hey everybody, what's going on? What's going on?" Except he sang the second "what's going on". It was kind of cheesy but it always elicited a smile from me. It always seemed like he was involved in so many of the activities. He was doing stuff all day, and then he would be hosting deck parties late at night sometimes. When did that guy ever get a break and how many hours a day did he work? He always had that energy going on and was a pretty funny dude, a bit flamboyant with his dress and hairstyle, which seemed to fit his personality.

 

So we listened to Eric's instructions and we walked right on down. We were easily seated on the second tender. The seas were a little rough but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be on the ride over to the mainland. We booked with Lamanai Belize Tours with Elio and we met up with Javier just inside Terminal One. Very easy to find him and soon we were on our way. He snapped a picture of the fam before we piled in the van.

 

 

 

 

One thing I noticed right away about this port...it wasn't as tourist friendly as the others. It seemed to be much more run down. Every other port we went to had bright shiny shops and restaurants and everything was clean and orderly. This port seemed almost run down. I didn't feel that we were in danger or anything like that, but it definitely didn't feel as secure as the other places. Luckily, we didn't come here to shop. We would be traveling for most of the day.

 

Here is a shot of the port area that actually doesn't look to shabby.

 

 

 

 

So as we headed out our guide Javier gave us the basic rundown of the city and the country. We had a lot of questions, and he was eager to share information about his country and culture. He spoke pretty good English and I think he was worried that perhaps we weren't understanding him, so he would repeat himself and would speak slowly and deliberately. He did a good job and he gave us a good basic history, culture, and economics lesson of the country. We would have plenty of time to talk because the ride out to where we would get on the boat would be about an hour. The van was comfortable and air conditioned. The roads were somewhat rough in spots but decently maintained. What I found really interesting is that the Mayan culture has survived. Javier's own grandmother, a full blooded Mayan, still speaks the Mayan language. Javier can understand it but doesn't really speak it. The ride to the boat would have been really boring had Javier not had some interesting things to tell us about his country.

[podunkhum]

After just over an hour we arrive at the place where we get on the boat. I had read so many reviews about this portion of the trip and I was excited to see what it was all about. We paid the tour operator in cash and took a short break. This is where we also got geared up and slathered with sun screen and bug spray. Soon we were on the small boat and on our way.

 

Just leaving the boat dock. Starting off at a nice slow speed.

 

 

 

This is Javier. He was our van driver and now he would be our boat captain. We would get to be with him for the whole day.

 

 

 

Before too long we picked up some speed and we were cruising right along. Javier told us that we had somewhere near 25 miles to travel to get to Lamanai Ruins. I was hoping that we would get to see a crocodile and we were not disappointed.

 

 

 

 

This one wasn't even that big. They guessed it to be about 3 years old. Apparently there are much larger ones around here, like 14 footers or something. This dude I think was maybe about 5 feet long or so. Below are some pictures of what the locals call Jesus Christ birds. I'm pretty sure that this is not their official name. Can anyone guess why? This one is a little blurry.

 

 

 

This one is a bit better.

 

 

 

 

The ride was beautiful and interesting, but you really had to hold onto your hat. One of the girls up front had her hat fly off and I was able to catch it. It actually hit me right in the chest. I figure we were going about 40 miles an hour so there wasn't much talking to one another on the ride. It was much too loud. I didn't mind though. We saw a few other local fisherman and we always slowed down for those boats so as not to drown them in our wake. We stopped and looked at a few other interesting things along the way. We were making pretty good for time and we didn't feel rushed. We knew it would be a long day and getting out to Lamanai and back to the ship meant we would have to manage our time wisely.

 

 

I think we were on the boat for about an hour when we finally pulled into view of the Lamanai site. It seemed so remote, but later on I looked on a map, and there are actually some other roads and a village nearby. I wanted to see what I could see from Google Earth because Javier told us that only 5% of Lamanai has been excavated. We could see all the covered mounds and hills throughout the site, which as it turned out, were actually more buildings that were covered up by jungle. Lamanai at one time was a good sized city of about 30,000 in it's prime if I remember correctly. It was founded around 1500 B.C. and was occupied for more than a millennium. There is still so much of it that is left untouched. It makes me wonder what kinds of mysteries lies undiscovered in all of those mounds. I don't think that they are doing any more excavating at this site however. The Belizean government is pretty strict with their environmental laws.

[podunkhum]

Did I mention that it was hot and humid today. I hadn't really suffered too much up until this point. The humidity was also a factor...ohhh no, my hair. Oh wait...I'm wearing a hat. It's Shellhead who hates the humidity because of the frizz factor. Poor Shelly. Oh well, she wasn't complaining too much. No one was really. We stepped off of the boat and into a jungle. I was afraid that we would be swarmed by bugs but they really weren't bugging us at all. I think the only time we really dealt with bugs on this trip were the sand gnats at Ann Kolbe Nature Park in Florida. So here we are at the entrance...well, D anyway. Wait, who am I taking a picture of? D is actually photo bombing the shot. Ahh yeah, that is the girl who's hat I saved.

 

 

 

As we began walking up the trail we noticed an ominous sound in the background. I thought to myself, "I think I know what this noise is. It's five women fighting over a Kindle Fire tablet that happens to be the last one in stock because it is a Black Friday deal at Walmart. It sounded down right vicious. I was wrong. They were howler monkeys. I was almost right though because as it turns out, it was a territorial dispute. Real serious stuff. Javier explained to us that once they really got going, that you could here these guys from a mile away. Apparently, they used the sounds that they make for the movie Jurassic Park. Interesting. I pulled a real boneheaded move by not turning on the video. I got pictures, but was so enthralled by the whole scene that I didn't think to take video. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Yet another blunder. Not as bad as the gluten free pancake incident mind you, but still another one to kick myself over.

 

 

 

 

We continued walking through the jungle and came upon the Jaguar temple. It almost took my breath away. It just seemed so other worldly sitting out there in the middle of the jungle. What did the Mayans use these temples for anyways. They obviously went through a ton of trouble to build them. This one is the Jaguar temple. See off and down to the right, that is supposed to be the face of the jaguar.

 

 

 

 

Turns out, there was a temple that was much bigger, and we would get to climb it. Nice!

 

 

[tvlworm]

Really enjoying your review! We are doing this same itinerary on the Glory next March and was planning on these same excursions in each port so far :) only one I've been on the fence about was Roatan and debating between LFK or West Bay beach but LFK looks and sounds too good to pass up!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[easyboy]

Enjoying your detailed review and very nice photos!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[podunkhum]

Really enjoying your review! We are doing this same itinerary on the Glory next March and was planning on these same excursions in each port so far :) only one I've been on the fence about was Roatan and debating between LFK or West Bay beach but LFK looks and sounds too good to pass up!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

I had the toughest time trying to decide in Roatan because of all the options. Not at all sorry I chose LFK but I surely want to try out West Bay next time we are there. Don't worry, the year goes by fast even though it might seem like forever and a day until you board.

[podunkhum]

Before we got to the large temple in the last shot we stopped at the ball court. Javier explained the game to us and how they played it. How in the world could they have figured all that out? It seems like it was a pretty tough and brutal game to play. Just like soccer, the players weren't allowed to use their hands. Again, how could they possibly know this? This ball court is very small in comparison to other ball courts all over Central America. Similar ball courts exist at most of the excavation sites apparently but are much larger. I was intrigued. It would be pretty cool to go back in time and watch a match. This picture shows the center of the court. There was some sort of chamber underneath this stone and it seems that it was sort of a mystery as to what the real purpose of the chamber was. That's what makes this place so interesting. So many mysteries. Scooby Doo would've loved it. That would be awesome if this place was haunted.

 

 

 

So on we go to the main attraction. So did I mention that it was hot? And now you're asking me to climb this thing? Ouch. It looked brutal. However, we wouldn't be climbing up the front. I guess someone got hurt or worse a while back falling down the steps going up the front. Double ouch! They built some stairs around the side that led part way up the pyramid. After about halfway we were able to use the steps that you see on the front. It was steep but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I believe that this one was called the high temple as it was the top dog of all the temples in this city.

 

 

 

It actually didn't take too long to get to the top. Another bonus is that we timed it just right. There were many groups here this day and there isn't much room on the top. We got there just after a big group was coming down and right before a much larger group was coming up the trail. We had the whole place to ourselves and the view was pretty amazing. I was damp from head to toe as I was definitely sweating, but it really wasn't as miserable as I thought it might be. Still no flying insects. Weird. I took a few shots once we were up on top. Not everyone was feeling up to the challenge of the mighty ascent. I wonder what lies underneath my feet. Javier talked about there being a chamber and that there was some treasure found in the chamber. I'm pretty sure it was jade, and jade is nowhere to be found in this region. This probably means that there was commerce between the different tribes and regions.

 

 

 

The mighty victors! Yes, we did indeed conquer!

 

 

 

The descent was easy and we were off to the last temple. Here is a look coming down the stairs that I mentioned.

 

[podunkhum]

The last temple that we looked at was the mask temple. It felt very Mayan, especially with the mask looking thing here. This is what I think of when I think of the Mayans. Something that looks just like this.

 

 

 

There were a ton of people here right before we arrived. When we got there everyone cleared out. I guess they could smell me from my intense workout of climbing the High Temple. Nice. We didn't have to wait too long to get our pictures taken with the mask. Do you know what would have been cool. If the excavators and archeologists found a mask inside one of these temples that had magical powers like the mask from Jim Carrey's movie "The Mask".

 

 

 

 

We didn't get to climb this one. Man, this one would have been cinchy. I wasn't ready to climb another temple anyways. It would have to suffice to admire this one from the jungle floor.

 

 

 

So we slowly trudged back to the starting point. The entire loop that we walked was about .6 miles. A little bit of an exercise which was good, because I don't think I would have wanted to go too much farther in this heat. All in all, it was a good day. I did screw up again however. Once back at the starting point I sat down with M because she was having a little bit of a rough time. She even had to drop out at one point and the other guide helped her back to the gazebo and sat with her the whole time to keep her company. I sat down with her to see how she was doing and didn't think to go to the gift shop. Shellhead and Moose went over there to browse the store and everyone else bathroomed up in preparation for our trip back to the dock. I screwed up by not going over to the gift shop. Moosejaw scored a sweet Lamanai shirt for 10 bucks. It was quality and I would have loved to have one, but at least Moose got one. The shirt I bought yesterday at LFK was twice as much and not nearly as good of quality.

 

The ride back was quicker. We didn't stop much. We saw a group that lost their propeller on a log or something and they were stranded and waiting for someone to pick them up. It was a smaller group so I doubt it was a ship excursion. If they were on a ship, I hope they made it back on time. Like I said, we went with a private tour operator and there is always that risk that you don't make it back to your ship. We decided to go private for two reasons. Our excursion was $70 a person as opposed to Carnival's price of $110 a person. Plus, we were a small group of 10 where the Carnival group was much larger. We saw them while we were there and they were about 60 or 70 strong. I'm pretty sure we beat them back to the ship.

 

We had an outstanding lunch back at the boat dock where we first put in. It was a traditional dish of chicken, rice, and coleslaw with fried plantains. This was a family business so it was cooked by one of the wives of one of the tour guides. They were extremely friendly people. Very pleasant to be around. The pico was very spicy and tasty. One of my favorite lunches on the trip. It was a buffet style lunch so it was all you could eat. They treated us so well.

 

 

 

One last shot of the dock from where we launched.

 

[BALCONETTE]

Really enjoying your review! Thank you!!!

[tvlworm]

Who did you book the tour through?

 

 

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[bigmama9224]

Hey bighumps, will be on the Glory on 5/13, never been on the Glory, can't remember is there a BBQ restaurant.

I know that they took away the Fish an Chips on the 10th floor, what is there now. Thanks..

[aztekpm]

Really enjoying your review. Looks like you had a great cruise!

[podunkhum]

Who did you book the tour through?

 

 

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Lamanai Belize Tours. Elio is the one that I dealt with when booking the tour. I believe the price per person will depend upon how many are in your party. It was $70 per person for our group. We don't have any complaints about our excursion or our dealings with this company.

[tvlworm]

Lamanai Belize Tours. Elio is the one that I dealt with when booking the tour. I believe the price per person will depend upon how many are in your party. It was $70 per person for our group. We don't have any complaints about our excursion or our dealings with this company.

 

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

 

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[podunkhum]

Hey bighumps, will be on the Glory on 5/13, never been on the Glory, can't remember is there a BBQ restaurant.

I know that they took away the Fish an Chips on the 10th floor, what is there now. Thanks..

 

 

The BBQ restaurant is right where the Fish and Chips used to be. Up the stairs above the Sweet Spot. The BBQ place was actually pretty good. Everyone who ate there from our group really liked it. Plus, it was generally a good spot to escape the crowds and eat lunch in peace. There is now a for fee seafood spot down on 9 aft by the pool.

[podunkhum]

Thanks to everyone else who has commented on the review. If you all have any questions, just ask. I've never had a vacation that I can't get out of my head before until now. Money well spent if you ask me. :cool:

 

We are at Mohmar and D's house this weekend and the cruise experience has dominated our conversations.