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Independent Lamanai ruins tour and getting back ot the boat.


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We are supposed to be using BCE for our tour to Lamanai. I have send them several emails, but only get a generic response. Do you have a direct email or phone number for them? The one they list is a business # and is for faxes.

How many people were in your bus and boat? We have 10 and were wondering if that would be enough for our own or would we have to wait for more people? Thanks, Amy

 

Slyfox - we asked a question regarding change of day given the Glory's 'unofficial' itinerary change (we are going in Novemer while carnival has only confirmed this change until October!) - and while we used the generic email (reservations@belizecruiseexcursions.com) we did get a 'non-generic' response from Mark:

 

Greetings from Belize,

 

The Carnival Glory has been arriving on a Wednesday instead of the advertised Tuesday for the past 2 months. Belize Port authority has been advised of a permanent Wednesday arrival. All passengers have been advised of the changed schedule upon boarding, and not in advance.

 

Our excursion organization is flexible, if the Glory arrives on the pre-scheduled Tuesday during your arrival week (very unlikely) your scheduled excursion will be rescheduled for the previously reserved Tuesday arrival. The tour time would be scheduled 1.5hrs following your arrival in Belize.

 

Thank you,

 

Mark

Island Marketing Ltd (Cayman)

 

We have since contacted him (we hope?) at same email asking about waiting for guests from other ships - and time issue as mentioned in this thread. Will let you know if and when we get a response.

 

You might try contacting Island Marketing directly as per info under Mark's name?

 

 

Good luck (but I do think with 10 you will be 'on your own' so timing will not be an issue!) From the website/Lamanai tour info: Small groups of up to ten people ONLY, make sure to reserve early!

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BCE's web site says 10 people per group. Our excursion group last week had exactly 10: 6 in our party from the Legend and 4 from RCCL's EOS.

 

PS BCE was almost prompt in replying to my emails....I "replied" using the email they had sent me RE: availability, etc. & they always got back to me in a timely manner, but they were not willing to make our tour departure time any earlier.

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Just wanted to let you know that we got a very nice response back from BCE saying they were shocked at the situation and are rectifying matters (they were unaware of the 2 tours being combined into one). They also seem to be very concerned with their reputation and are quite proactive in their customer service so I am feeling much better now about the tour itself. I will of course provide my own feedback when we get back!

 

And as Toyz mentioned - I am definitely hoping it is the 'Indiana Jones' experience I am looking for!

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Froufie,

That is great news...I am so glad BCE plans to rectify this....As I said before, we would have had no complaints except for the delay departing, the waiting at the New River dock and then feeling so rushed during the actual tour itself.

 

Hopefully my post will enable the rest of you to enjoy a more relaxing excursion to Lamanai. These CC boards have helped us so many times in the past -- I'm glad my review will help the rest of you.

 

Bon voyage!

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FYI: Just as a reminder....Be sure to take a photocopy of you confirmation email from BCE...Show your confirmation and that you have paid the deposit on this excursion...with the confirmation in hand, we had no problem being assigned to an early tender to the docks.

 

I imagine it depends on who is doing the check-in and passing out the tender stickers, but I overheard 1 family having a bit of a hassle because they had nothing to show that they had pre-booked an independent cave tubing excursion in Belize.

 

PS This was on the Carnival Legend

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  • 2 weeks later...
how far in advance did you book this tour?

 

 

I booked my tour with this company back in like April for my October cruise...I do not think it matters when you book as long as they arent booked to capacity already by the time you try to book!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

um heck yeah we have questions! :D Or at least I do!

 

  • Were you ever worried about the time?
  • Were you able to get off the ship early and leave or did you have to wait around for anyone else?
  • We will be on the legend also, what time did you go down to get a tender ticket and what time did you make it on a tender?
  • Did you see any wildlife?
  • How much time did you have when you got back to the port before the last tender?
  • Will you be writing up a full review of the tour and/or cruise, or are you just answering specific questions?

 

Sorry for all the questions :o I may have more, you never know! This is the only excursion that has me worried! :D

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um heck yeah we have questions! :D Or at least I do!

  • Were you ever worried about the time?
  • Were you able to get off the ship early and leave or did you have to wait around for anyone else?
  • We will be on the legend also, what time did you go down to get a tender ticket and what time did you make it on a tender?
  • Did you see any wildlife?
  • How much time did you have when you got back to the port before the last tender?
  • Will you be writing up a full review of the tour and/or cruise, or are you just answering specific questions?

Sorry for all the questions :o I may have more, you never know! This is the only excursion that has me worried! :D

 

I second these questions. ;)

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um heck yeah we have questions! Or at least I do!

  • Were you ever worried about the time?
  • Were you able to get off the ship early and leave or did you have to wait around for anyone else?
  • We will be on the legend also, what time did you go down to get a tender ticket and what time did you make it on a tender?
  • Did you see any wildlife?
  • How much time did you have when you got back to the port before the last tender?
  • Will you be writing up a full review of the tour and/or cruise, or are you just answering specific questions?

Sorry for all the questions I may have more, you never know! This is the only excursion that has me worried!

 

Ok...I can try and do both. You will have to be patient with me, I am not a vivid writer and I tend to ramble.:eek: We are a family of five, four of us went on this cruise. DH is 39, DS 13, DS12, and myself 40. My DH and I love to visit ruins, my boys not so much (after all who wants to LEARN stuff on vacation). We went down to the follies lounge at 8:00am to get a tender ticket. You have to have a printed conformation of your tour to get a ticket and everyone has to be present to get the tender stickers (numbers). We got tender #1 on were on our way to the gangway at 8:10am. I think that we were able to get a tender so fast because of the cave-tubing death that happened the day before. A lot of people had cancelled their cave tubing tour. The tender took about 15 minutes and once on the pier we dodged the carnival photographers to save a minute. We meet up with the BCE rep. and walked to their office. The manager told us we were early but since we were the only ones going to Lamanai he would find us an earlier driver. We ended up with one of the guides from the cave tour group. I will add that we also ended up with his OLD VAN with no (ok barely) A/C and nearly 200,000 miles on the odometer. I say this because it comes into play later in the day.

 

Onward to meet the river guide. The drive was slow we went about 50-55 miles an hour. The boat captain gets to the landing at a certain time so no need to get there earlier. There are clean bathrooms at the landing..take advantage of them:D .

 

Our boat captain/guide was Nate. Boys called him Nate the great. He did a wonderful job during our tour. On the boat ride to Lamanai Nate stopped several times to point out several birds, bats, and the meninite community. I river looked a lot like the Edisto river (I noticed you are from MB) if you have ever rode thru it. We pulled into Lamanai...by now my kids were excited:eek: ..what happened??? they were interested, questioning Nate, wooing him with their knowlege of the Mayan culture. I had made them research Lamanai and the Mayans before we went on the cruise.

 

Nate confirmed with us the last tender time so he could "get us where we needed to be" The walk though the forest was nice we saw the monkeys, a toucan, and some parrots. I was told seeing the Toucan was rare.

 

We visited the "mask temple" . Then we moved on to the Lag Temple. All I have to saw is it is HIGH ..straight up!! The kids had to climb it...DH and I had to follow. The climb up is not bad, the view from the temple top is unreal. You overlook everthing...beautiful!! Then you look down:o this is where I Have to add (ramble) that I have no problem climbing up anything...coming down is a whole different story. I was terrified..I thought I was going to die, I pictured my kids bouncing head first down the stairs. OK forgive me for that. We went down the stairs on our butts, you don't walk down these bad boys!! Kids and DH no problem at all and thought it was fun. They really enjoyed teasing me over my slowness ( I did not let my kids know that I was scared or I would still be hearing it today). Then we saw the ball court and the jaguar temple. Nate kept us moving (to stay on time) we ate a quick lunch and then back to the boat.

 

The boat ride back was quick and we jumped in the van for the ride back. Now this is the interesting part...car does not start...driver tries not to look concerned (does not do a good job)..looks at watch...tries to start car...repeat!! Ok, I look at DH...we look at watch (plenty of time) we start looking at the other cars in the parking lot. We decided to talk to Nate about taking us back, now our driver assures us there is nothing to worry about..."there's just a trick to start the van" Finally van starts and we are on our way back to port...at 90 miles an hour!! We are back at the port with 50 minutes left to shop!!

 

The short review is I loved this tour, we all did. We would do it again in a heartbeat. The guides did a great job making sure we stayed on time, they did several time checks with each other. The only time I was the least did concerned was when the van did not start, even then I knew we had plenty of time to work with.

 

just make sure you take your camera, sun screen, bug repellant, and water.

 

Enjoy your cruise:p

Denise

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Denise - thanks for the great Lamanai info/review - we are booked for this as well on our upcoming cruise and always interested in hearing how things went. Sounds like the timing was okay (with 50 mins til last tender?) altho the van not starting must have been stressful? Glad it did work out well.

 

So sounds like while the washrooms at river entrance were good - there might be something you are not telling us about the washrooms at Lamanai? :D - are they that bad? How was the lunch? Did you have water/drinks on van or boat? or only once you got to Lamanai? (want to be prepared...)

 

I have climbed the big pyramid at Chichen Itza - and felt just like you did - going up was not such a big deal - but geez once I looked down I sure did start to panic - I did make it down - eventually - but it was not easy - and I was so hot, tired and anxious - bet you got some great pics up there! While the Lag temple is 25 feet higher than chichen itza - right now I am determined to do that climb (yes maybe once I"m there I'll be singing a different tune?)

 

I am planning to bring bug repellant - can u confirm if this is really needed? Did you apply before getting to Lamanai? or would you say it is needed for the whole trip?

 

Any info greatly appreciated!

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Hi everyone,

 

My wife and I have booked this excursion as well; we'll be in Belize Oct. 16th aboard the Carnival Valor. This thread has done a lot to ease my concerns about taking this trip.

 

Like everyone else, we've been asked to meet at 7:20 local time for a 7:30 departure, which, during our visit, is 9:30 ship's time. I would feel a lot better if they would move it up an hour, but maybe we are waiting for people from another ship as well? Or maybe they don't want to start work at 6:20 am (local time) :)

 

Either way, I'll post my "review" as well in a few weeks - I sure hope I don't get that old van!

 

Regards,

 

Matthew

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Hey Froufie,

 

Timing was fine. I was only expecting about 30 minutes before the last tender, so the extra 20 was a shopping bonus:D

 

The washrooms at Lamanai were fine, we just didn't stop there untill after the tour..so if you need to stop let your guide know.

 

You really need the bug spray once you get to the ruins. Off bug spray has a new type out they say it "goes on dry" it is a lot nicer than the regular stuff. It is not sticky or runny and it still has the deet in it.

 

Lunch was good, if you are from the south (or cook southern) the taste will be very similar. There was a green salad, cole slaw, pickled(hot)onions, red beans and rice, stewed chicken, and fried plantain. The drinks were different fruit flavored drinks or water. I had a pineapple flavor and enjoyed it. There were not any leftovers when my boys were done.

 

As for water, take a bottle with you..it was hot/muggy (and we are used to hot/muggy) while we waited at the start for the van. The water was a blessing. Nate provided us with water before we started up the river and gave us another bottle before we started or tour. I am not sure how much water they normally provide, I had our van driver call Nate to request that he pick up some extra water for us.

 

As for the climb I'm glad that you felt the same as me...we normally tend to be a adventurous family...you name it, we have probaby done it...but i don't know what happened to me. Maybe the wisdom that comes with age has begun to seep into my brain

 

Finally, my husband said that I should not have mentioned the van. In his opinion it is by no means anything to be concerned about. (but then he didn't spend a year on these boards planning)!!!

 

I am going to try to upload a pic of the lag temple..view from top

 

IMG_2145.jpg

 

my boys

IMG_2141.jpg

 

the way down

 

IMG_2152.jpg

 

yep we are sweating...

 

IMG_2151.jpg

 

IMG_2143-1.jpg

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Wow - awesome pics - sure puts things in 'perspective' - looks like a heavy duty climb and I am now 'in training' for it - LOL :D

 

Thanks also for additional info on timing and water - will definitely plan to bring something with us - guess the bottled water is safe to drink (but no diet coke? oh well).....pineapple juice does sound good too!

 

Matthew (fellow canuck? where are u from?) - awaiting your review and thoughts on the 'lamanai washrooms' - ha ha ha :)

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Wow - awesome pics - sure puts things in 'perspective' - looks like a heavy duty climb and I am now 'in training' for it - LOL :D

 

Thanks also for additional info on timing and water - will definitely plan to bring something with us - guess the bottled water is safe to drink (but no diet coke? oh well).....pineapple juice does sound good too!

 

Matthew (fellow canuck? where are u from?) - awaiting your review and thoughts on the 'lamanai washrooms' - ha ha ha :)

 

Hi,

 

We are in Hamilton...I will let you know about the washrooms as long as I am not bitten by any snakes :) Or carried away by howler monkies :) :)

 

Really looking forward to this...2 weeks today we will be at Lamanai.

 

Matthew

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Hi,

 

We are in Hamilton...I will let you know about the washrooms as long as I am not bitten by any snakes :) Or carried away by howler monkies :) :)

 

Really looking forward to this...2 weeks today we will be at Lamanai.

 

Matthew

Wow - lucky you! We will be praying to the gods of Lamanai to spare you from any poisonous (or other) snakes, monkeys and things that go bump in the night.......wishing you a safe and wonderful trip and looking forward to your review when you get back :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I was set to maybe do a beach day since the funds are tight for this cruise, but wow, after reading and seeing the pics of Lamanai it seems it might be worth it to do this and save one of the other ports for a beach day.

 

Question: Do you tip your driver, boat driver, etc etc? And if so how much?

 

Thanks!

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Thanks to everyone for all the great information. DW and I are going to be on this excursion on Feb 5th of next year and the confirmation that BCE sent us says for us to meet them at 8:20 am local time. Does that mean we will have to meet them at 10:20 ship time? Any info would be great.

 

Thanks,

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Well Im completely bummed. Did all the research and got all excited about doing the Lamanai tour with BCE only to receive word from them that the tour isnt available on my date (I dont know if its sold out or just not doing it that day).

 

I've checked a couple other operator sites but they want 155 or more for the tour! A far cry from the $75 BCE wanted.

 

So if anyone can recommend a tour operator for Lamanai Ruins I'd appreciate it.

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