Xunantunich Mayan Excursion

[tankersbabe]

Who has been on it, what is the price, and how was it!? Was it worth it, how does it compare to other Mayan tours?

 

Hubby and I are very interested, and since it is a long tour, we would rather go through the ship than through a local tour group. That way, if something happens, we won't miss the boat.

 

HELP!

 

Stef

[jbees]

My husband and I, along with a small group of 14 others, went to Xunantunich just last week. Now, this was our first cruise and our first trip to any Mayan ruins. I did a lot of research beforehand and felt the timing for the long trip, along with a lunch (one of our favorite meals of the entire cruise!), and the opportunity to see ruins that weren't competely excavated were all points that drew me to this excursion. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

We took our excursion through Carnival's tours. Our guides were excellent, extremely knowledgeable and friendly. The trip through Belize City was fun. And the drive through the country on the way to the Mayan Mountains, as the guide referred to them, was beautiful, and we learned some interesting information about Belize. The ruins themselves were breathtaking, we all seemed to think. El Castillo is 130 feet high and the view from the top is amazing, the mountains with the trees just kept flowing.

 

The price I felt was reasonable, well worth it--$69 per person. And that we had a small crowd, and less than 10 other people arrived while we were there, but took the tour the opposite of us, was nice!

[tankersbabe]

Thank you so much for making me feel better about this excursion...I couldn't seem to find much information on the boards about it.

 

You sound like me, I research research research like crazy before going ANYWHERE!

 

Also, how long were you at the ruins? And how long was the ride out? I'm nosey aren't I? :)

 

$69 isn't bad at all! I was figuring it would be more, that's great!

 

Thanks again!

 

Here we come!

 

Stef

[01Sweetpea]

I'd love to have that info also. We're trying to decide between this tour and the Altun Ha tour. With 3 kids, we'd like to pick one that doesn't have too long of a bus ride to and from the ruins.

[jbees]

I don't mind the questions. In fact, I still love talking about it so much, I'll gladly answer more. :)

 

On our bus, we had brought about 6-8 people that we dropped off at a resort (the same one we later ate lunch at) so they could go horseback riding. It only took a minute to drop them off. So, in all I'd say it was about a 2 hour drive, we had almost 2 hours at the site, 30-45 minutes at Windy Hill (it was very pretty there), and then the remaining 1.25 or so drive back to the city.

 

I'm not saying we didn't have any glitches. The only time I was irritated even in the slightest was that the air conditioning on the bus, which in the morning froze us out until we'd been on the road almost an hour, seemed to not be working at all on the way home. But, it was also a hot, humid day. Well worth the minor irritation.

 

And, I'm not sure of the policies with tours at other sites, but I sure wish we could have wandered around a little on our own, checked out some of the structures--I could see at least one--that we weren't able to visit. It could also have been timing and the need to get back. Although, I never felt rushed.

 

...yeah, you could say I enjoyed it. ;-}

[01Sweetpea]

Thanks Nightwing - I thing we are leaning towards the Altun Ha/River Wallace tour.