Lamanai, cruise tour or private

[grngables]

My wife and I are going on our first cruise this January.:) We are planning to tour Lamanai when we dock in Belize and are wondering if it is better to book through our cruise line excursion or to book through an independent? Any advice is appreciated?

[Mike2131]

My wife and I are going on our first cruise this January.:) We are planning to tour Lamanai when we dock in Belize and are wondering if it is better to book through our cruise line excursion or to book through an independent? Any advice is appreciated?

 

First of all, I think you are in for a great tour. We took it last December through Princess and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Secondly, it is a very long day and I recommend the tour through the ship. We barely made the last (or next to last?) tender back. Other posters have indicated that the cost difference between the private and ship's tour is minimal. I think the peace of mind afforded by the ship's tour is well worth the small difference.

[grngables]

Thanks Mike,

 

I read that in one other posting, but wanted another opinion. I think we'll go ahead and book the excursion now. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much. We're definitely looking forward to our first cruise!

[Mike2131]

Thanks Mike,

 

I read that in one other posting, but wanted another opinion. I think we'll go ahead and book the excursion now. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much. We're definitely looking forward to our first cruise!

 

There is probably a lot of good information on these boards regarding your other ports of call and possible tours. If you have not done so already, I suggest you also join the Roll Call for your cruise. A lot of good tips are available there as well. In addition, you can get acquainted before hand with some fellow cruisers.

Have a terrific trip!

[Zeno]

I agree with Mike. We booked this tour through the ship and arrived back just on time to take the 2nd last tender. Also before I booked I investigated

pricing being offered by independent operators. The difference was less than $10 pp - so I opted to pay the extra money for piece of m

[CaribbeanBound]

Great tour! Definately recommend this one through the ship. Here's why...

 

We arrived into Belize a couple hours late to the consternation of those passengers who had booked private tours. On the way to our stop we sighted a mini paradise --- a small sandy island with a grass shack, a pier, and a few palm trees --- out in the middle of the ocean. We also spotted a group of 10 to 12 huge rays off the port side. We anchored well off-shore and required an 18-minute tender ride to get ashore. Tenders were provided by local Belize vessels of all makes and sizes. (We did not feel safe in our two-level wooden tender, but there were no incidents of any kind to report). We sat downstairs between 2 fans and a wall thankfully lined with lifejackets. Our tender held around 80 passengers. We were the first group off the ship. Priority went to passengers with excursions bought through Celebrity. All other passengers needed to secure tender tickets and wait in the Theater for their number to be called. Hint: if you are not on a ship excursion, get in line to get your tender tickets at least 1/2-hour before the announced time. Tickets are passed out early.

 

Once at the Belize pier we were greeted with a nice Welcome sign. There are only a handful of shops at the pier. I am guessing there were about 90 folks on this tour. We were herded onto 1 of 3 air conditioned buses. Whatever bus you get becomes your tour group, and included a guide that not only narrated the bus tour and answered our questions but also drove our boat on the jungle cruise and lead our excursion of the ruins. Our experienced guide was Vel, and he was breaking in a very pretty young guide-in-training that joined us for the duration of the tour. Our guides were very friendly, knowledgeable, and proud of their country.

 

Belize is a poor country with great natural and historical assets. One idiot on the bus asked "Why are there bars on the windows of houses?" during an otherwise interesting Q&A about the country. (Answer: they have a crime problem related to a "crack" problem). The housing and habitat reminded us a lot of Waimanalo on Oahu (sans the bars). We learned a lot about the city and country on our 1.25 hour bus tour over a paved 2-lane road to the boat dock. [side note: from visible signage along the road it appears Pepsi "controls" the less populated part of the country while Coca-Cola "owns" Belize City itself]. Each bus unloaded their groups into a large thatched roof building sporting restrooms and a couple of artisans. Within a few minutes we were loaded onto covered boats with comfortable seats and two powerful outboard motors.

 

We snaked South down the river to the Lamanai Ruin site. Our guide plying us with information and pointing out numerous birds (including King Fisher, Blue Herrin, Vultures, and Snow Egrets), baby crocodiles, and a huge green iguana, as well as various flora and fauna. We also found the huge termite nests in the trees to be of interest to all. One of the 3 boats experienced engine trouble which slowed us down a bit, but that boat was never abandoned. Our boat held back each time to make sure they were not stranded.

 

Once we arrived at Lamanai, we ate a hearty lunch of Mayan chicken, rice, coleslaw, coconut tarts, and bottled Pepsi and water. We started our tour in a small museum with interesting Mayan artifacts and continued on by foot through an impressive jungle featuring vines, "Jurassic Park"-sized palm fronds, medicinal trees, and Howler Monkeys. We spent about 1.5 hours exploring 3 large Mayan temples and the remains of a small Mayan town. Our guides provided an enormous amount of insight and kept us moving at a reasonable clip.

 

We returned to the boats, sped back up the river, and returned to the buses just before nightfall. We arrived back at the docks about an hour after the final tender was suppose to leave for the ship. Our guides, to their credit, had made the decision to give us the full tour --- not an abridged tour --- even though we had arrived late. After all, we were paying the full price of the tour and they weren't going to let us get anything less. It was clear, back in Lamanai, that we were not going to make the tender cutoff time. This began to cause great distress among some tour passengers. Just remember, that if you are on a Celebrity-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand 5% of their passengers in Belize. Sure enough, we were met at the pier with a nice large boat that easily and comfortably sped all of us back to the ship, which was beautifully illuminated out on the sea. Our only loss was an inability to shop for souvenirs at the pier as they were all closed. We arrived after first-seating dinner had begun and arrangements were made to seat first-seating diners in the second dinner seating.

 

Bottom line: take this tour.

[CaribbeanBound]

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