Lamani and New River Excursion Tips

[LuVermont]

Just came back from Lamani and New River Tour. Since I found these boards so helpful when planning my recent cruise, I thought I would lend some advice to those thinking about booking this excursion.

 

My first piece of advice is if planning to do this excursion is be sure to book through your cruise line. Our tour was over a half hour late in returning to meet our last tender. It is a very long excursion, and if you book this trip through the ship, they are guanteed to wait for you. If you book this privately, there is a good chance you will miss the last tender.

 

Also, understand that there are physical demands on this excursion. There is over an 1 1/2 hour bus ride (each way). You will need to go from a dock to a floating boat. One must have some level of agility to manuever this feat. Also there are rocky, root ridden paths to travese. There are mosquitos (it is a rain forest) and other insects present.

 

On my recent tour (12/04/08) it was full of complaining, ill-prepared participants. All they did was complain about climbing in/out of the boat, they were getting bit by fire ants at one of the temples (they wore SANDALS!) , they could not keep up with the tour guide (who was walking at a snails-pace to begin with (one guest even had to use a cane!)

Their constant complaining, slower than molasses pace was very inconsiderate to the rest of the group. They could not wait to light up a cigarette at every stop we made along the way. Out of the 28 people on our trip, at least half of them we not prepared to be on this excursion.

 

Also very frustrating was watching most of them not even tipping our guides at the end of the day. One guy was mad the trip was so long that he did not get a chance to shop in Belize, so I heard him say he was not going to tip the tour guide!

 

So, my advice is- be prepared. Research the physical requirements needed for the excursion. You need to wear sneakers or hiking-type footwear. You need to be able to walk independently through semi-rough torraine. It is a tiring day. It is a very long trip (over 7 hours) and you will not get a chance to shop. Being prepared will not only make for an enjoyable time for you, but the other guests as well.

Finally, be sure to tip the guides. The tour guide, the bus driver and the boat driver are all deserving of tips. They work hard and are very accomodating. Belize is a VERY POOR country. The $10 - $20 bucks they can get per guest means more to them/their survival than we can hardly imagine.

 

I highly recommend the trip for everyone who is well- prepared, for it is truly a beautiful, exciting, and educational excursion.

 

Hope this was helpful-

[fatcattravel]

Thanks for telling us all about your trip1

[Beckaroous]

I did this trip in October and we had a group of 6 WELL PREPARED people. We laughed at other groups with people with flip flops. Everyone knew it was going to be a REAL ADVENTURE which it was since Belize was COMPLEATLY FLOODED. We were also prepared to arive in time for the second to last tender. EVERYONE watched the clock and we had a GREAT time. But there is NO TIME TO SHOP so be prepared for it.

[Toyz711]

we lucked out, when we 1st got on the bus i thought there was 5 or 6 that would not make it. but they did, we didn't have any complainers. one guy has knee replacement and wanted to climb the site, he did with help from our guide's young assistant.

this young man joined our group at the boats, stayed with our group the whole way around lamanai. helped with climbers, stayed with our few strays...having him helped our regular guide keep a nice pace.

i, totally, agree...good shoes are a must (i had non-slip soles). we had a very wet path..very easy to slip and fall.

the walk is not that hard or long, but it's uneven and (at times) rocky or tree roots...DH was surprised i made it without an accident. :eek:

[punkmuse]

thank you for the post. we are thinking of doing this excursion and you totally confirmed my worry about whether or not to book through the cruise line or private tour. we will definitely do the cruise line!

 

thats just awful that people would not tip a tour guide because of something outside of the tour guide's control (ie the peoples' own stupidity at not reading the requirements for the tour)

 

i remember on our last cruise in the Meditteranean we did a volcano hike/hot springs swim in Santorini in the middle of July and someone brought like a VERY elderly grandparent. i was mortified!! i didnt hear any complaints but the elderly person had to stay on the boat we took there while everyone hiked up the mountain. i felt so bad. they should have taken a bus tour or something more suited to someone so elderly rather than dump them on the sail boat :mad:

[NSgal]

I have a quick question about tipping. Did you tip individuals or is there a "pot" that they all get a part of. Would rather only tip once than have to tip bus/boat and guides separately.

 

Thanks

[Toyz711]

on the NCL tour, we tip each one...the boat driver was there as we got off the speed boat and the guide and bus driver as we got back to port.

[NSgal]

great, thanks

[punkmuse]

in my experience on other cruise lines i would say the same thing. for excursions you tip yourself. some people may not want to tip/not know they should etc so we usually give a tip to our guides as we are leaving the bus at the end of the excursion :)

[CoJo]

We did this tour during our November 30 Spirit cruise. Booked through NCL (would not do otherwise) and I agree it is important to be prepared for a physical day. The proper clothing and shoes are needed and tour is not for those who have trouble with mobility. We enjoyed the day, however, and give special mention to our guide Elvis Usher - informative and fun.

[wdowns9]

We just returned from this excursion using NCL Spirt: having done my research I agree that you have to prepare. Some of our group were in sandals also and in some had difficulty traveling over the uneven terrian. Here is how the schdule broke down:

8a-meet in theater

820a - first tender to deapart

840a - arrive at pier

9a - depart for Orange Walk

10a - arrive and transfer to boat

1115a - arrive at Lamanai for lunch (30mins)

12p-215p tour ruins no free time to investigate

220p-depart ruins

315p-arrive at bus in Orange Walk

420p - arrive at pier

5p - last tender departs for NCL Spirit.

 

The boat ride on the New River was like being in a James Bond movie. We had 36 people on this tour so some people had to triple up in the seats. The climb to the top of the main Castillo was great and the rope helped out a lot. I would like to spend a full day to fully take in this site. It is a long day so do your home work before going.

[Toyz711]

i would have loved to look around, by ourselves. but i heard, with all the wild critters...even snakes...they don't allow it. last year, a couple of weeks after we were there, the monkeys are active and were throwing things at the tourists. then another cruiser came back and reports a very large snake curled up at the base of the mask temple.

our guide told me that she saw dangerous snakes a lot, but never tells anyone (as to not cause a panic).

that's one of the reason i would love to look around, see what types of critters i could spot :D. it really is a jungle.

[MaryL31]

Can anyone tell me how to pronouce Lamanai? Am going on this excursion in January...thanks to all for the tips.

[wdowns9]

Lam-an-I

[MaryL31]

wdowns9- Thanks. That's what I thought.

[2-laner]

A group of us really want to see Lamanai, but Carnival doesn't offer an excursion to this ruin. How much of a risk from a good local tour guide is there of missing the ship?

[crazymom107]

I am sailing on the NCL pearl in feb and am trying to figure out what to do in Belize. I will be with my daughter (9) ,husband and mother in law (71). My mil goes to disney a lot and walks all over the park but she has osteoporosis and arthritis. Will the Lamani and river safari tour be too much for her? Thanks for any advice.

[DonMar]

Sorry, double post!

[DonMar]

A group of us really want to see Lamanai, but Carnival doesn't offer an excursion to this ruin. How much of a risk from a good local tour guide is there of missing the ship?

 

There are a number of threads about going to Lamanai with a private tour. There is a risk of not making back to the ship (it is a long day), but I have not read on this board about one group that has not made it back.

 

We went in Feb 07 and were prepared to take the risk. I think since Feb 07 the private tour companies have been doing the tour more and more so they are getting more experienced.

 

We were so glad that we went!

 

I am sailing on the NCL pearl in feb and am trying to figure out what to do in Belize. I will be with my daughter (9) ,husband and mother in law (71). My mil goes to disney a lot and walks all over the park but she has osteoporosis and arthritis. Will the Lamani and river safari tour be too much for her? Thanks for any advice.

 

 

If your MIL walks all around Disney - then I do not think Lamanai will be a challenge. There is uneven, unpaved paths. Some paths were wet and a bit slippery and there are some tree roots and rocks in the paths. Most of the walking was on flat ground without obstructions.

 

You can choose to climb the ruins or not. Not all people do. We did and we are so happy we did. Remember going up is the easy part.

 

The boat ride is fast and fun.

[crazymom107]

Thanks for the advice.I want to go to see Lamanai quite a bit but I want everyone to be happy.Thanks again

[BobbieSu]

There are a number of threads about going to Lamanai with a private tour. There is a risk of not making back to the ship (it is a long day), but I have not read on this board about one group that has not made it back.

 

We had a friend who went with a private group the same day that we went with the ship's tour. There were differences. Their trip on the river out was shorter -meaning they didn't stop for all the animal sightings that we were able to see. We stopped at three temples, the residential area and the ball court, they stopped at only two temples. They got to Lamanai after we did and left before we did.

 

Private tours know you have to get back, and if the ship doesn't have an excursion then seeing this wonderful ruin may be worth taking the chance with a private tour.

 

Are there still people at the New Orange boat dock selling things? We didn't have much time there, really just a bathroom break, but I made sure to buy something from them there knowing we wouldn't have time at the port, now we have two beautiful wood bowls to remind me of our great trip to Belize.

[benicehavefun]

A group of us really want to see Lamanai, but Carnival doesn't offer an excursion to this ruin. How much of a risk from a good local tour guide is there of missing the ship?

 

We did this off Carnival Legend in September with Island Marketing and it was an OMG not to be missed experience. They left EARLY and gave us a great private (only 6 people) tour. We had about a half hour to spare when we got back, but REALLY got the full deal. Probably because there were so few people on the tour. They even provided traditional Belizean lunch which had been cooked early that morning and packed into ice chests by the owners wife! We were the ONLY ones at the ruins-beat the boat of about 30 that arrived as we were leaving. My favorite shore excusion ever! Do it!!! Price was around $70pp.

[wherenext]

We just booked the same excursion with Island Marketing and feel so much better the more we read of others doing this trip to Lamanai. We will still be prepared in case something goes wrong and we miss the boat but feel that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see these ruins. We also trust Island Marketing to do everything in their power to see that we have a great time and get to the ship on time, their business depends on this.

[Lard Greystoke]

There is some risk in dealing with a company independently. A good company will want to protect its reputation by not stranding people, so they will be well aware of the time. Your risk is the same as you have in getting around at home - traffic tie-ups, flat tires, i.e. the unpredictable. Fortunately Belize is not exactly crowded with traffic - four stoplights as I recall...in the entire country.

 

I also took an independent tour and got back with an hour to spare. Since there is a lot of travel time you can't really relax and dawdle at the site. It's a unique site, and once you see it you'll always remember it.

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

What type of clothing, other needs do you recommend? We will all have sneakers. One of us will carry a backpack for a camera, sea pass cards, bugspray and sunscreen. Should we bring a snack, water, anything else? Is there access to bathrooms during the tour? Any place to buy a small souvenier?

Will we be OK in shorts and t-shirts? The thought of long pants in the jungle does not sound appealing at all...

We are planning on doing this tour with RCCL in a few weeks. Anyone with a breakdown of times? (bus ride/boat ride/time at ruins, etc)

Thank you!