Altun Ha/River Wallace or Private Island Beach Break

[steel123]

We are sailing on the Carnival Miracle. Which would be a better excursion for a family with kids? We have 9 & 11 year old boys. Do you think the boys would be bored viewing the ruins? They enjoy going to the beach, so I know they wouldn't be bored there. I was thinking it would be nice to see the ruins, since you it's something you can't find anywhere else. Would we be missing out if we don't see any ruins?:)

[mnsawyer]

We sailed the Glory last April and talked with some cruisers who did the River Wallace tour. They loved it and it has had excellent reviews on this board. If we sail again to Belize, we will be doing the River Wallace tour. Choosing tours are tough decisions. Not sure what your children would enjoy but bet they would like the river tour with all of the wildlife, etc. The private beach tour though has recently gotten good reviews.

[steel123]

Thanks for your reply. I found some great reviews of the River Wallace. It's nice to hear other people you met have enjoyed this excursion, too. We are having a difficult time choosing what to do, especially in this port, so I appreciate your response. It's hard to find something that everyone will enjoy.:)

[idlewood4]

We were on the Miracle last August and had a fantastic time. Great ship. Lots of fun. We did the Carnival River Wallace/Altun Ha tour. We were disappointed with the River Wallace portion. It was an extremely hot day, and we felt like we were roasting. The license on the boat said it expired in 2003, and this was August 2005.

 

I had eagerly anticipated this shore excursion, but it was so hot, we didn't see a single manatee. We did see a few birds, couple of monkeys, and an iguana. One crocodile. The water was brown. I mean brown brown. It was gross and disgusting. My 11 year old daughter was so bored and drove us nuts.

 

We did enjoy the chicken/rice lunch at the shopping stop. Then the bus went to Altun Ha. We did stop because the guide noticed a family of monkeys in some trees. That was really nice. Altun Ha was also extremely hot.

 

We went to Chaccoben in Costa Maya, and Tulum in Cozumel. If I was to choose a ruin to see while on the Miracle itineray, I'd definitely pick Chaccoben and do the David and Ivan tour. That was the high point of our cruise. We did their extended tour that included a Mayan meal, and it was fantastic!

 

We chose the Miracle because of the opportunity to see all the Mayan sites. Tulum was also amazing. Altun Ha was also nice, but wouldn't be my first choice.

 

Be aware if you do the River Wallace and Altun Ha, you have 2 separate tour guides, so you need 2 separate tips!

 

I'd be glad to answer any specific questions if I could.

[steel123]

Idlewood4--Thanks for your detailed description. We're still trying to decide what to do in each port. If we do ruins in one port, we'll try to go to the beach in another. I was hoping the river tour would be more interesting for the kids since it's more than just going to the ruins. Since you've seen all the ruins, it's great you can compare. Regarding Tulum, do you think the excursion is too long for the kids, since it is 7 hours and will be very hot? We are thinking of staying with Carnival tours since we don't have much experience cruising, so I don't think we will do the David and Ivan tour, though I've heard good things about David and Ivan. I'm not sure if the Carnival tour to Chaccoben is as good.

 

For Belize, we seem to be limited with excursions options for this port--we'd rather not do a city tour, we can't scuba dive, we haven't had much snorkeling experience and the kids can't do the cave tubing due to their ages. There isn't much left. If we don't go to the ruins here, we'll have to either do the Private Island Beach break or maybe try Sargeant Caye for snorkeling (hopefully this is o.k. for beginners).:)

[mared1]

Idlewood4--Thanks for your detailed description. We're still trying to decide what to do in each port. If we do ruins in one port, we'll try to go to the beach in another. I was hoping the river tour would be more interesting for the kids since it's more than just going to the ruins. Since you've seen all the ruins, it's great you can compare. Regarding Tulum, do you think the excursion is too long for the kids, since it is 7 hours and will be very hot? We are thinking of staying with Carnival tours since we don't have much experience cruising, so I don't think we will do the David and Ivan tour, though I've heard good things about David and Ivan. I'm not sure if the Carnival tour to Chaccoben is as good.

 

For Belize, we seem to be limited with excursions options for this port--we'd rather not do a city tour, we can't scuba dive, we haven't had much snorkeling experience and the kids can't do the cave tubing due to their ages. There isn't much left. If we don't go to the ruins here, we'll have to either do the Private Island Beach break or maybe try Sargeant Caye for snorkeling (hopefully this is o.k. for beginners).:)

 

We were in Belize this past January on the Legend and did the Altun Ha and River Wallace. The ruins are interesting - I like Tulum better. But this was still nice and you can climb to the top of one of the ruins which kids would probably like.

On the River Wallace part, we had a good guide who stood on the front of the boat and would point out wildlife, the pilot would than pull over so everyone could see it - we saw monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas and lot of birds. About 25 minutes into the trip, we ran into a rain storm - the boat did not have a canopy so the guide pulled out some tarps that we had to hold over our heads - it just poured - we got very wet as it rained all the way back to the pier. Some the boats did not have tarps for the people and I am sure those people were soaked. We did not see manatees but I think it was because we weren't to the part of the river where they live before the rain hit. Despite all that, I would recommend the tour. Be sure to take a hat to protect from the sun as it was hot until it rained and I would suggest bringing a rain coat - you can get cheap packable plastic ones at discount stores.