Just back - Altun Ha and River Wallace

[5668200]

We just got off the Valor last weekend. We did the Altun Ha and River Wallace excursion (through the ship) and loved it. We started with the river tour, about 2 hours. It is in a big speed boat with no top so you are able to walk around from side to side. It was very hot - we brought lots of water and wore hats. We say lots of alligators, iguanas, monkeys, and birds. We stopped at a little resort for lunch, not included in price. Then on to the ruins in an air-conditioned bus. The ruins were great. We were there about an hour and able to climb to the top of them. It was a great excursion, I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a little variety. It was a long excursion, about 6-7 hours.

[CML13]

I'm glad you had a good time! I'm thinking of either doing this tour or the Baboon Sanctuary. Did you see a lot of monkeys? We really want to see monkeys, and this tour sounds more interesting and longer than the Baboon Sanctuary.

 

Chris

[5668200]

We saw about five of them I think, swinging between the trees. It was a fabulous excursion. Just so you know, we were told that the Baboons in Belize are very small about 25-35 pounds. So if you are expecting something larger, you won't see it there.

[CML13]

We saw about five of them I think, swinging between the trees. It was a fabulous excursion. Just so you know, we were told that the Baboons in Belize are very small about 25-35 pounds. So if you are expecting something larger, you won't see it there.

 

 

Thanks, that sounds great. I have read that the monkeys at the sanctuary are howler monkeys, but in Belize, they are called baboons. They are not the baboons we are accustomed to seeing in movies and pictures. My kids and I will be thrilled to see any kind of monkey in the wild. The trip you took sounds like the way to go. Thanks for your help!

 

Chris:)

[5668200]

Have fun - remember to bring water and wear hats!

[geosgirl]

5668200 - I am so glad to see this review. My DH & I are really thinking of booking this excursion while we are on the Miracle in April and I think you just made up our mind!

[sharecruises]

Any feedback on the Carnival tour of the ruins WITHOUT the boat ride??

 

My bf has his own boat and we go out on river a lot, there is even an area in Ocala, a state park where we have some monkeys in the trees...leftovers from an old tarzan film that was filmed there years ago LOL

 

I have also seen plenty gators, have tiny iguanas on my porch and have seen big ones, and simply don't want to ride on a boat for 2 hours

 

Heat, sunburn, and bugs all play a factor in this choice

 

any idea how the "NON boat tours" went?

 

were the buses from carnival comfortable??? thanks

[rucruizin]

What were the food offererings/prices like at the lunch stop? Were any drinks included? Water, soda, beer? If they are gonna put tourists ona bus for an hour, don't they know they should give us beer?:D

[5668200]

We didn't experience any problem at all with bugs. The buses were very comfortable, large touring air-conditioned buses. Lots of people slept on the way back to ship from the ruins, about a 45 minute ride. Don't know about any of the other excursions in Belize. DD and her family just stayed on shore and shopped. The food at the lunch stop was fairly priced. DH had hot dog/fries for $4.50, I had a large plate of hot french fries for $4.00. They had lots of dinner choices for $8.50, several in our group had those and said they were good. Watch out for the soda/pop though, that cost us as much as our food. You can buy beer and drinks there. My DNephew had a couple beers, didn't complain about the prices so I guess they were o.k. There were also beverages to purchase at the ruins. Best deal of the day - bottled water for $1.00 at one of the little stands as you go into the ruins. We just loved this day.

[mainer208]

How much is the tour with Carnival? What time did the tour depart? Did you meet at the village area?

[5668200]

It was $69 pp, which we thought was a great deal. I think it left at 9:45. Yup, we met right in front of the shops, about 1/4 block from where we tendered.

[rucruizin]

Thanks for posting this. We actually changed our plans after I read your review.

 

For some reason I cannot wrap my little brain around the name of the ruins. Everytime I try to say it, I say Ahi Tuna. LOL! So I've given up trying, and now I just say the Ahi Tuna tour.:o

[ESR24]

Thanks for this information. We're debating what to do on our day in Belize and this review helps a lot!

[Joanns6569]

We just got off the Valor last weekend. We did the Altun Ha and River Wallace excursion (through the ship) and loved it. We started with the river tour, about 2 hours. It is in a big speed boat with no top so you are able to walk around from side to side. It was very hot - we brought lots of water and wore hats. We say lots of alligators, iguanas, monkeys, and birds. We stopped at a little resort for lunch, not included in price. Then on to the ruins in an air-conditioned bus. The ruins were great. We were there about an hour and able to climb to the top of them. It was a great excursion, I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a little variety. It was a long excursion, about 6-7 hours.

 

we are doing Belize in Feb, do you remember how much this was?

Thanks

[skings]

My sister and I are in our 60's but fairly active. We want this tour or Xanatunich. Think we would have more jungle feel if we do Altun Ha and River Wallace, the price is $86 for the Legend in November so you got a deal.:)

[STARFISH*4]

you do realize the post of this was 3 1/2 years ago-so naturally prices are higher!

[Shekim]

you do realize the post of this was 3 1/2 years ago-so naturally prices are higher!

hahaha, that's my biggest problem when I'm reading some posts--I don't check the date all the time! Yeah, I would say it's reasonable then that the price went up $20!

[erinmarie424]

If anyone makes it this far - here's a copy and paste of my mini-review of this excursion this past April - some pricing may be a little different by now, but a little more up-to-date:

 

Picked the River Wallace/Altun Ha excursion offered by Carnival. Started off with a ride down the river that lasted about two hours. Our guide was very good - pointing out all kinds of wildlife - trees and animals. One of the boat crew picked some mangos and cut them up for us and at one point we slowed down and a man on shore handed him a bag full of tamarind for us all to try.

 

We stopped at The Black Orchid for lunch. There were two choices for a meal and they were both $8.00. One choice was a chicken or beef cheeseburger and the other choice was a traditional Belizean meal of chicken (a thigh and a drumstick), rice and beans, cole slaw, and fried plantain. We each had the Belizean lunch and it was very delicious. They also have sodas for $2, local beer for $4 and local (cashew) wine for $3. I had a couple beers and DBF got some cashew wine. They also have wine sampling outside the restaurant and some local artists selling their work. We bought a few bottles of wine for $10 each and I got a handmade trivet for $4.

 

We were at the Black Orchid for an hour, then we got on a bus to go to Altun Ha. The trip there was about 30-40 minutes. We were at Altun Ha, and just walking around the ruins was not at all strenuous but we had the option of climbing to the top of one temple and it was NOT easy. It might not have seemed so strenuous if it wasn't in the upper 80s with super high humidity that day. We had about 10 minutes at the top before we had to head down. There were also a few vendors there with handmade items for sale, as well as soda, water, and snacks.

 

After about 45-50 minutes at the ruins we got back on the bus and it was about 30 minutes back to the port area.

 

The guides were very good, and shared a lot of information about Belize and the people that live there, as well as Mayan culture. The buses were air conditioned which was very nice.

 

A couple of things to know - Carnival tells you to bring bottled water, but they do provide a bottle per guest during the boat portion of the tour. The Carnival description indicated that the tour would be five and a half hours but we left on our tender at 8:15 and got back to the dock at 3:15 - technically the tour itself did not start until we got on the boats around 9, but it definitely took longer than we had expected.

 

Also, if you do not want to shell out the 8 bucks for a meal take some energy bars - it is a long day and most people will need something substantial to get through it - the meal we had was really not enough food for two adults to share and be full.

 

I hope I helped answer some questions that others may have had - if anyone has any more I should be able to help now!

 

Erin

[cherlynn11]

was the boat moving slow enough for you to get pictures of the birds, monkeys, etc...

[cherlynn11]

did you see much of the rainforest?

[airlink diva]

If anyone makes it this far - here's a copy and paste of my mini-review of this excursion this past April - some pricing may be a little different by now, but a little more up-to-date:

 

Picked the River Wallace/Altun Ha excursion offered by Carnival. Started off with a ride down the river that lasted about two hours. Our guide was very good - pointing out all kinds of wildlife - trees and animals. One of the boat crew picked some mangos and cut them up for us and at one point we slowed down and a man on shore handed him a bag full of tamarind for us all to try.

 

We stopped at The Black Orchid for lunch. There were two choices for a meal and they were both $8.00. One choice was a chicken or beef cheeseburger and the other choice was a traditional Belizean meal of chicken (a thigh and a drumstick), rice and beans, cole slaw, and fried plantain. We each had the Belizean lunch and it was very delicious. They also have sodas for $2, local beer for $4 and local (cashew) wine for $3. I had a couple beers and DBF got some cashew wine. They also have wine sampling outside the restaurant and some local artists selling their work. We bought a few bottles of wine for $10 each and I got a handmade trivet for $4.

 

We were at the Black Orchid for an hour, then we got on a bus to go to Altun Ha. The trip there was about 30-40 minutes. We were at Altun Ha, and just walking around the ruins was not at all strenuous but we had the option of climbing to the top of one temple and it was NOT easy. It might not have seemed so strenuous if it wasn't in the upper 80s with super high humidity that day. We had about 10 minutes at the top before we had to head down. There were also a few vendors there with handmade items for sale, as well as soda, water, and snacks.

 

After about 45-50 minutes at the ruins we got back on the bus and it was about 30 minutes back to the port area.

 

The guides were very good, and shared a lot of information about Belize and the people that live there, as well as Mayan culture. The buses were air conditioned which was very nice.

 

A couple of things to know - Carnival tells you to bring bottled water, but they do provide a bottle per guest during the boat portion of the tour. The Carnival description indicated that the tour would be five and a half hours but we left on our tender at 8:15 and got back to the dock at 3:15 - technically the tour itself did not start until we got on the boats around 9, but it definitely took longer than we had expected.

 

Also, if you do not want to shell out the 8 bucks for a meal take some energy bars - it is a long day and most people will need something substantial to get through it - the meal we had was really not enough food for two adults to share and be full.

 

I hope I helped answer some questions that others may have had - if anyone has any more I should be able to help now!

 

Erin

 

Great info!

I'm looking at doing something like this on my Dream cruise and just in the gathering info phase.

Thanks!

[erinmarie424]

was the boat moving slow enough for you to get pictures of the birds, monkeys, etc...

 

It was moving fairly quickly, and we did not actually try to take any pictures while we were on the boat. There were a few times when they would slow down or even come to a stop for a minute or two, particularly if they thought we would have a chance to see an alligator or something like that.

 

did you see much of the rainforest?

 

None of the tour was off the beaten path - the river goes right through a populated area with houses on either or both sides for most of the way, and the drive to the ruins was on main roads. If you have your heart set on seeing the rainforest I don't think this is the way to do it.

[BigDave1955]

When you're at the Black Orchid, be sure to try a local beer called Belikin, and ask them for a bottle as a souvenir. The logo on the bottle is the Mayan temple at Altun Ha.

[Griz_]

I'm looking at doing this tour through Carnival in November. I'm a bit disappointed that there is such a short time at the Altun Ha ruins. Did you think it was sufficient time? Also, how large are the boats for the River Wallace part of the tour, how many people on it?

[patannel]

I'm looking at doing this tour through Carnival in November. I'm a bit disappointed that there is such a short time at the Altun Ha ruins. Did you think it was sufficient time? Also, how large are the boats for the River Wallace part of the tour, how many people on it?

 

I wanted to ask about bathrooms on this excursion? At the Orchid, the ruins? I'd think after getting off the ship, making your way to the river and boat then two hours on it bathrooms is what most people are looking for.....Thanks so much for posting the details.