Belize Cruise Excursions, anyone ever NOT make it back?

[mwhee75]

I have seen a lot of threads here about the Lamanai Riverboat excursion, and it seems like most people recommend it. Has anyone ever not gotten back to the ship in time doing this tour? Or know of someone who had a bad experience? I am so excited for the excursion but also very nervous about the time frame. We meet up at 7:30 Belize time, ship leaves at 3:00 pm Belize time, and it says it is anywhere from 6 - 7.5 hours long.

[TallGuy and the Redhead]

Did you book with an independant tour group, or through the ship? We are doing this tour too, but I am booking through the ship specifically because I just don't want to have to worry about it. I tend to be the worrier type anyway, and if I was booked with an independant I would spend the whole trip worrying about missing the ship and not enjoying the tour. If we're late coming back on the tour booked through the ship, they'll have to wait for us. Worry free trip for me.

We are going independant on several other ports, but this wasn't one I was willing to gamble on. I've read that lots of other people have done this tour with an independant and been fine... but I didn't want to have to worry about it.

[mwhee75]

Our cruise ship didnt offer it, Carnival Glory on the 17th, so we booked through BelizeCruiseExcursions.com. Seems to have gotten great reviews but it still makes me really nervous about missing the ship.

[EBallgrl]

I have seen a lot of threads here about the Lamanai Riverboat excursion, and it seems like most people recommend it. Has anyone ever not gotten back to the ship in time doing this tour? Or know of someone who had a bad experience? I am so excited for the excursion but also very nervous about the time frame. We meet up at 7:30 Belize time, ship leaves at 3:00 pm Belize time, and it says it is anywhere from 6 - 7.5 hours long.

 

When are you going? Would LOVE to hear your review when you get back!

 

 

I am also booked with this company for our October cruise...same thing with you, we are set to meet at 7:20 Belize time, and the ship departs at 3pm belize time. What I am worried about is that they are 2 hours behind our time, so we will actually be arriving in Belize at 6:00am Belize time. So I feel like if we could get off on an EARLY tender we should be able to start the tour sooner. I mean if we can be on the dock at 6:30 will they let us start the tour then so that we can either spend more time at the Ruins or get back earlier? Does that make sense? :confused: I may just end up emailing the company to ask.

[mwhee75]

If they respond let me know. I emailed the same question earlier and have not heard back from them yet.

[framerman]

If they respond let me know. I emailed the same question earlier and have not heard back from them yet.

We did this tour with Belize cruise excursions in march 08. No problems getting back in time. Get on the first tender. Take your confirmation from BCE as proof that you have an early independent tour and they will give you a #1 tender ticket......at least thats how it ran on the miracle in MArch

David

[framerman]

If they respond let me know. I emailed the same question earlier and have not heard back from them yet.

Here's my review from our March trip

Lamanai, March 12th w/ Belizecruiseexcursions(BCE)

 

We are just back from our cruise on the Carnival Miracle. Like everyone has said Carnival does not offer the excursion to Lamanai so we booked it on our own w/ BCE. We definitely were a little anxious about doing this tour because of the length and multiple means of travel to and from the site.

 

At the beginning of the tour I asked our guide about what time he had as the ship and Belize are on different time zones. He satisfied me with his answers and I told him I would'nt bring it up again as he said 'don't worry I'll get you back in time'.

 

Lamanai is a long tour and you should not expect to have a bunch of time left after the tour. We arrived back at the tender dock w/ 15 minutes to spare before the last tender left.

 

This excursion is a must do for us. We completely enjoyed the whole experience, Although we would of liked more time at the site and less time searching for Crocadiles and birds on the boat ride to the site. We saw at least 15 species of birds and at least a dozen crocs anywhere from 2-7 feet.

 

The Lamanai site is in a dense jungle area so its difficult to get the feeling of how the site would have looked and functioned at the height of the classic period of the Maya. It's not a ceremonial site like Chitchen Itza. It was more of a residential area. There still are pyramids to climb!! And did I mention steep? Very steep steps! But beautiful view from the top.

 

It got to be 2 hours before the last tender was scheduled to leave when I broke my silence and said to the guide that we needed to get going. He again assured me we were right on schedule. Boat ride back is 45 minutes and van ride is is about 55 minutes on the way back. There are no speed limits in Belize. Hold on! At 25 miles out from the tenders the BCE office called our guide just to check on where we were at and how long it would be before we arrived at the tenders. Pretty much the guides are in touch via cell phone in case anything happened.

 

We were the only two people on our tour. So we ended up with a private tour! Guide spoke excellent English and was very knowledgable about the site. I can't say enough about this tour. We highly recomend it.

 

Yes, there is some inherent risk involved because of the distance, van and boat travel but the reward is great. I believe that BCE guides have this down to a science and They would not be able to exist if they were unable to get people back in time for the last tender. Just think of this website alone and how these boards would chatter with bad reviews if someone didn't get back in time. Go to Lamanai and enjoy the longest occupied site of the Maya.

 

If you have any questions e-mail me at framart@bellsouth.net

__________________

David

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1996 Song of Norway

1997 Destiny

1997 Destiny

1998 Ocean Majesty(never again)

1999 Grandeur of the Seas

2002 Destiny

2003 SS Norway

2004 NCL Majesty

2006 NCL Majesty

2006 Celebration

2007 Holiday

2008 Miracle

2008 Holiday

2009 Miracle

[EBallgrl]

We did this tour with Belize cruise excursions in march 08. No problems getting back in time. Get on the first tender. Take your confirmation from BCE as proof that you have an early independent tour and they will give you a #1 tender ticket......at least thats how it ran on the miracle in MArch

David

 

 

I feel pretty confident I will be able to get us off of the ship fairly early...did the tour start at its scheduled time? or were you able to start the tour early?

[DonMar]

We went to Lamanai in Feb 07 with BCE. We made it back on time - with some time to do shopping outside the port.

 

I second a lot of what the previous posters said -

 

- Hold on to your hats on the van ride.

- Get on the first tender!!!!! We got up at an unbelievable hour to make sure we were on the first tender - but it was well worth it and I would do it again and again. Bring your paperwork with you.

- Enjoy the site. It will be fast, but you will have an outstanding, real experience.

- We too were the only ones on the tour. Since we were there so early we were the only ones at Lamanai!

 

Have fun!

[framerman]

I feel pretty confident I will be able to get us off of the ship fairly early...did the tour start at its scheduled time? or were you able to start the tour early?

Our tour actually started late as the meeting place we were told was wrong. We were told to meet inside terminal 1 opn our confirmation from BCE, but asked the locals hanging around and they redirected us. If you are in front of terminal 1, looking at the building, go to the left to the end of the building. There will be an alley, kinda wide, with shops and offices along the left side. The BCE office was half way down on the left, bout 100 ft. Have fun....great tour!!

[driftwood]

The "Lamanai/New River Tour" is a carefully engineered package. The boat dock is 49 miles north of Belize City, straight up the Northern Highway, which is in good repair all the way. Ideally all parties taking the tour--whether from the ship tours, independent tour providers, or taxi drivers--are delivered to the boat dock by 10 AM Belize time. The cruise down the New River is very leisurely for the first hour, as there are many birds, bats, crocodiles, trees and and other fun stuff to see. At the halfway point there is a Mennonite settlement named "Shipyard." The name must be some German drollery, as few ships will be seen in the New River. You do not get off the boat at Shipyard--for one thing there is usually a crocodile there sunning himself--, but at that point the boat doubles its speed and you are at Lamanai by 11:30 AM. The guides are hungry, and perhaps you are too, so about a half hour is devoted to dining in a very nice shelter on food that the tour guides have brought with them (and if you are helpful, you will give them a hand with the coolers. It does speed things up, they are not heavy, and it is a nice thing to do--as is tipping the guides at the end of the tour). Then the tour of the site commences--about two hours max. The boat leaves by 2 PM and takes under one hour to return to the boat dock. That gives your bus/van/taxi driver about an hour to get you back to the Cruiseship Terminal for a 4 PM tender back to your ship. Usually all ships are chugging off by 5 PM Belize time.

 

There is probably at least 45 minutes of slack time built into the system, so it is very unlikely that any sober person will have difficulty making it back to his ship. As usual, everyone is in contact by cellphone, and NOBODY gets mislaid. Even by independent tour providers.

[nitenurs2]

We have booked this for our Oct cruise. My question--we are to meet at 7:20 island time. What is that in ships time?

[apetnutbeme1987]

On our enchantment cruise ,we did wait for an excursion group that was late,but only because it was booked through the cruise line ,so that is something to think about.Have fun

[smarks]

Hi everybody, I just got back from the Carnival Legend that was in Belize on 5-08-08. We had booked with belizecruiseexcursion and had our confirmation and put down a deposit. After learning that Belize is 2 hrs. behind ship time, I e-mailed them to ask if the tour could start earlier. I got no reply. When the ship docked we got on the first tender and no one was there to greet us. We met a nice man that showed us where their office was. No one was there either. After about 30 Min's. or better, a man showed up and told us they could not take us to the ruins because there were only two of us going. I have read that they have taken just two before, but not this time. They sent me no e-mail or anything while we were on board. A young man told us to come back at 9:30 (11:30 ship time) and for $49 he would take us to an Island. We had to go back to catch another tender to the ship since we were dressed for the jungle. By the time we got back to the port we just decided to walk around. If you book with this company, have a plan B. I was really disappointed that we couldn't do the ruins and I didn't have a plan B mapped out. I'm still waiting for my deposit. With them going by Belize time, I just don't see how they can get you back in time. I'm not trying to throw a wrench into your plans, just let you know my experience and maybe that will help you. Looking forward to your reviews. Happy sailing.

[Froufie]

Hi everybody, I just got back from the Carnival Legend that was in Belize on 5-08-08. We had booked with belizecruiseexcursion and had our confirmation and put down a deposit. After learning that Belize is 2 hrs. behind ship time, I e-mailed them to ask if the tour could start earlier. I got no reply. When the ship docked we got on the first tender and no one was there to greet us. We met a nice man that showed us where their office was. No one was there either. After about 30 Min's. or better, a man showed up and told us they could not take us to the ruins because there were only two of us going. I have read that they have taken just two before, but not this time. They sent me no e-mail or anything while we were on board. A young man told us to come back at 9:30 (11:30 ship time) and for $49 he would take us to an Island. We had to go back to catch another tender to the ship since we were dressed for the jungle. By the time we got back to the port we just decided to walk around. If you book with this company, have a plan B. I was really disappointed that we couldn't do the ruins and I didn't have a plan B mapped out. I'm still waiting for my deposit. With them going by Belize time, I just don't see how they can get you back in time. I'm not trying to throw a wrench into your plans, just let you know my experience and maybe that will help you. Looking forward to your reviews. Happy sailing.

 

How far ahead of your cruise did you book with them? What type of confirmation did you get and how much was the deposit? Seems strange that they would accept the deposit and send the confirmation even tho at that time they were well aware that there were only 2 of you booking this tour?...only to tell you once you had arrived that they don't book for only 2 people????

 

I am also a bit concerned about ship time vs belize time - we will be there in November and I think there might be a 2 hr difference???? :eek:

[framerman]

How far ahead of your cruise did you book with them? What type of confirmation did you get and how much was the deposit? Seems strange that they would accept the deposit and send the confirmation even tho at that time they were well aware that there were only 2 of you booking this tour?...only to tell you once you had arrived that they don't book for only 2 people????

 

I am also a bit concerned about ship time vs belize time - we will be there in November and I think there might be a 2 hr difference???? :eek:

We also had a 2 hour time difference back in early March. And there also was just the two of us and they still took us. We had no prob getting on the first tender. No one was there to meet us either and asked around with the locals and they directed us to their office. It was at least an hour before we got on our way. Still had plenty of time for the tour. Although we ate lunch on the way back to the boat in the van. Arrived with about 20 minutes to spare.