Lamanai Ruins

[Cayoooga]

We are interest in visiting Lamania Ruins on our Carnival cruise. Carnival does not have an excursion to this ruin site.

Are there any CC members willing to share their experiences using any of the many tour operators operating this tour, at the Belize port?

We are aware of the logistic's getting to the ruins. As this is all part of the adventure.

We've already seen Xunantunich, and Altun Ha.

[DonMar]

We went to Lamanai in Feb 2007 using a private tour company. There are many threads about this topic. Do a search and you will see a lot of info.

Here is what I wrote after my return based on a similar question.

"We just returned from a cruise which took us to Belize. I was set on exploring Lamanai. First let me say that we DID go to Lamanai and it was the very best thing I did on the entire 8 day cruise. It was also one of if not the most beautiful place I have ever been to.

Secondly, be warned, it is not a quick trip. There is a very high risk of not making it back to the ship. Because this was our last port of call we took the risk - bringing all of our travel documents just in case. We DID make it back thanks to our two tour guides - Richard for his Indy driving and Jr. for his expert boat handling skills on the New River.

A few things to know about if you want to go to Lamanai:

1. Belize is a tender port. You must get out on the first or second tender. I found that cruise ships like to get their excursion passengers off first so make sure to speak to the Purser's Desk and confirm the tendering procedure. On the morning of arrival, make sure to be in the gathering location early and be politely firm about getting off the ship.

2. You will need a print out of your confirmation with tour time - make it as early as possible! The cruise ship will ask for this as proof of an early tour.

3. Have your travel documents with you just in case you miss the tender. The ship leaves ON TIME.

4. The drive from the pier to Orange Walk is at least 1 1/4 hours. The you take a boat ride 24 miles down the New River. We traveled at about 22 knots the entire time so it took us about another hour or so. Then you have to do it all over again to get back!

5. Traffic in Belize City can be tough mid day.

6. If you go bring bug replant and wear good hiking boots/sneakers and pants. There is a lot of mud in areas and if you climb any of the temples you need to have really good footwear and pants.

That being said, I wish we had more time to explore this beautiful place. Because we left so early we were the only ones at Lamanai and it was WONDERFUL. This is a site that does not get a lot of cruise traffic - just what I like. I cannot wait to go back to Belize and spend a number of days at Lamanai.

I contacted the Belize Cruise Excursion company and they booked the trip for me. Even though they had all of our cruise info - they were not as cognizant of our time constraint as I thought they would have. Because we were nervous out the excursion, we e-mailed the company from the ship and moved the start time up one hour. (E-mailing from the ship is expensive so get your ducks in a row before you go.) Note: Belize cruise Excursions now does this trip more often and has a better understanding of the ship's time.

Richard our land based guide drove us to Orange Walk with the speed of a Puma. What a great job.

Jr. took us down the New River with a few stops along the way to see wildlife - including crocodiles. He was fantastic. Jr. also took us around Lamanai and was very knowledgeable. He encouraged us to climb the largest temple - so we did. Know that I am home I can say that I was glad that I did it. What a thrill!

This is not a fancy cruise tour. This is a real experience to be enjoyed.

Tip: Leave your backpacks on the ground but take a camera."

Hope this give you an idea of the experience. It is still one of the best things I have done.

[Silverscreencruiser]

We went to Laminai on the Glory in September and booked our tour through Belize in the Sun. We were extremely impressed with their knowledge, friendliness, and professionalism. This was probably the best tour I've been on in five cruises.

We had heard stories about some of the tour companies and their rather cavalier attitude towards schedules. Before our cruise, Gilbert, the general manager of Belize in the Sun, called us at home to explain what we needed to do to make sure we got on the early tender to get to the ruins on time. Our tour guide, Capt. Nicholas Sanchez, was waiting at the dock for us holding up a sign with our names. It took about ten minutes from the time we arrived until the van left and that included the time to pay the balance of the excursion cost.

Our guide was very knowledgeable and very friendly. He is a bit of a local character and he told us about his days traveling in Belize and the years he spent in the U.S. At the ruins, he even held a private ceremony at which he declared us to be "honorary" Belizean citizens. We also had a tour of the city on the way back as well and still arrived in plenty of time for our tender.

Laminai is a terrific experience which was made even better by the people at Belize in the Sun. If you go, tell Capt. Sanchez that Steve and Sandy say hi!.

[GoldenRose]

We actually booked Lamanai through a ship's excursion when it was offered (about 6 years ago), and to this day, it remains one of our favorite excursions ever. It is definitely worth doing.

We enjoyed the animal-spotting on the boat ride over; we saw many birds, and a few bats, monkeys, and crocodiles. The ruins were amazing; some of the most interesting we've seen. We didn't really have time to climb any of the large structures, although we saw others doing so, but we thought it was still a great experience.

On the other hand, I'm someone who definitely prefers to take ship sponsored tours for long days when I'm worried about missing the boat. And this is definitely a long day...

[rslex]

Here's a little taste of what you can expect. It was GREAT!

http://travel.webshots.com/album/575029834qQfcNx

[2112]

I just took the Lamanai excursion 2 weeks ago and it was great. They were well organized and very aware of time. At no time was I scared that I might miss the ship. If I had any complaint it was that Lamanai is a huge site and due to time constraints we could only see a portion of it (no time even for the museum). That said, it is matter of distance and even if you were to stay in Belize you might take a tour that saw no more of the site than we did. The tour was still worth it. Here are my photos:

http://www.pbase.com/2112/lamanai

[Cayoooga]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures.
We are really looking forward to this trip.

[anarresa]

Hi,
We took a Lamani-New River cruise tour through Royal Caribbean and were late returning to the ship. Our guide was aware of the time (a little slow on the river, she was an animal lover and there were lots of birds and some monkeys and lots of almost-seen crocodiles) but the problem was the bus overheating. It was in reasonable condition, but it was forcasted to be 88 that day and I think it made it that high or more. There was a rescue bus already in place ahead of us so they called before we even stopped to get it moving but between that delay and the general length of the tour were would have missed the last tender by ~15 minutes if we went independent. Of course, we were delayed by ~30 minutes waiting for a few stragglers to come off the second or third tender in the morning so if you're organized and focused you should be fine.
It was a great site!

[spoonful]

Originally Posted by anarresa

Hi,
We took a Lamani-New River cruise tour through Royal Caribbean and were late returning to the ship. Our guide was aware of the time (a little slow on the river, she was an animal lover and there were lots of birds and some monkeys and lots of almost-seen crocodiles) but the problem was the bus overheating. It was in reasonable condition, but it was forcasted to be 88 that day and I think it made it that high or more. There was a rescue bus already in place ahead of us so they called before we even stopped to get it moving but between that delay and the general length of the tour were would have missed the last tender by ~15 minutes if we went independent. Of course, we were delayed by ~30 minutes waiting for a few stragglers to come off the second or third tender in the morning so if you're organized and focused you should be fine.
It was a great site!

I just came off of RCCL and used and independent tour operator because i didn't want to be "with the massess" on and RCCL tour. though we could not get guest relations to verify the night before, they were more than happy to let us on the first tender without paper confirmation of our excursion even though the first two are reserved for RCCL people only. We didn't leave early because one person in our group was very late getting ready. as a result we got to belize late and our company ( belize cruise excursions) were wisked us off as soon as we paid. they didn't give any problems about the fact that two in our group couldn't make it last minute and didn't make us pay full fare. we didn't leave belize city until almost 10am

the van ride took about an hour, including bathroom and and roadside stand visit. the speed boat took 45min-1 hour. there were 6 people in the van (including my group and three others) and three others met us at the river boat pier so 9 in all. we toured the site and oddly arrived before any other tour group and were able to get pictures without anyone in the background. as we toured others started to arrive. we ate a FANTASTIC homemade lunch and hit the river back as hordes of people started to arrive. we were back in belize city by 3pm and since we were so early we were offered and accepted a little 20 mins tour of the city. the speed was totally because of the small group, fast van, and small speed boat. the larger buses and boats can't go as fast and take the same river shortcuts.

Just to be clear, if not for my friend and her lateness, we could have started the tour 30-60 earlier. i felt rushed at the ruin but they did that because my friends were adamant about getting back to port an hour before last tender (4:15). They were EXTREMELY professional and know what they are doing. they run this tour all the time it is clear they have it under control. you just have to be clear about your tender time and ship time as the operators though we were an hour ahead and he had to correct them.

they had every right to have left us on but they waited for us. the only reason i think the other people on the tour weren't mad at us for making them late is because their tenders were later and they hated the heat and were older and couldn't take the walking very well.