Seeing Lamanai while on a Carnival Cruise

I am planning on seeing the Lamanai Mayan Ruins in Belize while there in January of 2010. I will be sailing with Carnival, and as of right now Carnival does not have any excursions going to Lamanai.

I have found a private excursion going to Lamanai that sounds fun, and they say it will take around 6 hours, and we will be in Belize for 9 hours.

For what I hear, this excursion company is reliable and many here speak highly of it. So what I am wondering about is if you think it would be a good idea to go ahead and do this tour, even if Carnival doesn't have such an excursion?

I'll be interested in what others post. I am also wanting to go to Lamanai. I am going June 2010 on the Legend. No cruise tours. I really don't like them but due to the length of the tour I'd consider booking it.

From what I see Island Markekting does Lamanai and I did see a post saying Belize cruise excursions does it also.

I did Lamanai with this company http://www.belizecruiseexcursions.com/Lamanai_Belize.htm

We really liked it and were back in plenty of time.

Not sure which company you are thinking about going with, but I also went with belizecruiseexcursions.com...we made it back to the LAST tender with about 2 minutes to spare. Otherwise it was a great excursion, the place is awesome. Unfortunately with all of the travel time, you do not get to spend a lot of time actually exploring the ruins.

It's a tough call. We were there 2 weeks ago. We went thru NCL because I didn't want to stress out all day. Here's our story:

Belize took longer than usual clearing our ship so no one was able to get on tenders until at least 45 mins past our scheduled time. Since we were on a ship's excursion we got off first, of course. The bus ride was about an hour. Not sure how long the boat ride on the river was but it was quite long. We had a nice lunch at Lamanai & were able to spend a decent amount of time touring the ruins. We were able to climb the biggest structure & the 3rd one. Our guide never rushed us & provided lots of info along the way.

Back on the boat, which was a shorter ride than the ride out. The bus ride was a little over an hour since we got stuck on the "highway" (a two-lane road - one lane in each direction) behind a slow truck. We arrived back at the port about 5-10 mins AFTER the last scheduled tender but I wasn't concerned since we were w/ NCL.

One thing to remember also is that the last tender is usually scheduled to leave the port an HOUR before your ship leaves. So, eg, our ship was in Belize until 6 PM. In docked ports you need to be back on ship about 1/2 hour before your leave time. But in Belize you will probably need to CATCH the last tender a whole hour before your scheduled leave time, which was 5 PM for us. Did that make sense??

For me, I would NOT go to Lam on a private excursion simply because I'd be worrying the whole day & not enjoy my time there. I have no idea if people have missed the tender because of private Lam tours. I am an CC all the time & haven't yet heard of a story like that. I know I contacted a reputable tour guide before our trip & he said he doesn't do Lam tours because of the time; he said he always says a prayer when he sees private guides taking cruise pax out there!

PS: Our trip lasted a little over 7 hours.

Thank you for the imput. I have used Belize Cruise Excursions before for cave tubing. They are reputable and we had a great time with them. I wouldn't hestitate to use them again. Due to the length of the tour I would take the ship tour but Carnival does not offer it. I'm sure Belize Cruise Excursions would do fine but one never knows what could happen, like the slow moving truck. I am not one who normally worries like that but reading others posts has put a little fear in me.

I'd be interested to see if anyone has missed the ship due to the Lamanai tour.

Thanks everyone for their informative replies!

I believe the one I was looking at was through belizecruiseexcursions, and I think I saw something on their site that says they take notice in what time the last tender leaves and does their best to get you back well before then. I guess I am looking for any experiences that people may have had with this.

I went to Altun Ha just a couple of months ago, and even though those ruins were GREAT, it would be nice to see another ruin. I am bringing my girlfriend with (her first cruise) and has never been to a ruin... so any ruin will work for her.

When we did Lamanai, we were on Valor and Legend was in port with us.

I don't recall why, but we were an hour late getting to Belize. So we stayed an hour longer. Legend was leaving an hour before us.

There were some people from Legend with us doing Lamanai.

The guides kept track of the time and made sure we were back in time so the Legend people weren't late.

Thanks for the info Ken. I'll keep monitoring this board and see what happens.

Carnival's crazy for not offering this tour anymore. It seems to me that there is interest in it.

I have never been to Belize and am here (on this board) for info about it. However, I do have some info about Carnival excursions that might help you. Just last week, I was on the Ecstasy, where I did the Uxmal ruins excursion through Carnival. I had wanted to do this particular excursion before I even booked the cruise. Needless to say, I was crushed when the Uxmal excursion did not appear in the list of excursions for my cruise. I booked a smaller ruins excursion instead, but I was disappointed and really wanted to go to Uxmal. Just a few weeks....2 or 3 at most....before sail date, the Uxmal excursion suddenly appeared on the list for my cruise date! I was able to cancel the one I had booked and change to Uxmal. If you love Mayan ruins and have never been to Uxmal, be SURE to visit this site!

My point is, just because the excursion of your choice is not appearing in the list for your sail date with Carnival, that does not mean that it will not appear later. Keep checking!

I hope it's OK to post these pictures here, that I took at Uxmal last week:

Nice pics, Grits53!

Uxmal really reminds me of Chichen Itza.

Lamanai is quite a bit different. It's in the jungle, not open like Uxmal.

Hmmmmm....I might have to make a trip to Uxmal!

I'd go there. The pictures look great. Was it a long drive to get there?

We were with belize excursions to Lamanai just last week. Totally enjoyed it, and never once thought we would be late. I loved the rain forest/jungle surroundings, and DID make it to the top of the large temple of the rain god. What a view!. It would have been nice to spend alittle more time there, but the river boat ride and Belizian meal was well worth it. I would do it again, no doubt about it.

Hint about climbing high temple: stradle and face the rope, and then hold on to it as you ascend and descend one step at a time. No butt bumping needed. The boat's driver gave us that advice, worked well.

We were with belize excursions to Lamanai just last week. Totally enjoyed it, and never once thought we would be late. I loved the rain forest/jungle surroundings, and DID make it to the top of the large temple of the rain god. What a view!. It would have been nice to spend alittle more time there, but the river boat ride and Belizian meal was well worth it. I would do it again, no doubt about it.

 

Hint about climbing high temple: stradle and face the rope, and then hold on to it as you ascend and descend one step at a time. No butt bumping needed. The boat's driver gave us that advice, worked well.

I assume you used Island Marketing (Belize cruise excursions) for the tour? How much time did you have left when you got back to the peir? I really want to do this tour but am nervous. I'm ususally not a scardy cat like this.

I have their business card infront of me, and it says Belize Cruise Excursions and Island Marketing on the top. So it sounds like they are one and the same. We got back to where they were tendering about 45 minutes before the last tender was to leave. We decided not to try to go through shops and just head back to the ship. My sister and I did quite abit of reading before we booked this, and everyone seemed convinced that being left behind was a slim chance at best. But, we brought our passports and credit card just incase we needed to taxi up to

Costa Maya (the ship's next stop).

I admit, I was alittle nervous, but once there and once in the capable hands of our guide and then his boat driver as well. We all felt totally at ease with the trip. Like I mentioned in my previous note, I would have liked to stay longer to walk through the info building at the ruins, and shop at the little nic-nak huts they had set up to sell local items, but our guide was very aware of the time and said that we needed to leave. So, needless to say, he was making sure we returned on time.

I really think you will like this excursion, if boating on a river (a fun fast trip on the way back - kids loved that) and walking through a really wonderful rain forest sounds appealing to you. Half our group at first didn't want to climb to the top of the high temple, but many changed their minds and were glad they did. The view of the neighboring 3 countries is great, and we could have stayed up there longer just to soak in the atmosphere longer.

Hope you enjoy whatever excursion you go on. :)

The companies are the same. I assume Island Marketing must be the parent company. I have a dune buggy tour booked in Cozumel. The confirmation came from Island Marketing. They have tour companies all over the Caribbean.

I'm glad you got back in good time. Some posters got back in the nick of time or less. So Scary. My next port is Roatan after Belize. I'll be keeping my eye on this board to see what goes by over the next few months. It will be interesting.

I am really interest in booking this excursion. For those that have done so previously, how hot/humid does it get? Do I have to worry about bug bites? My DH has asthma and is a little concerned about being able to breath. Also, how was the lunch?

I am really interest in booking this excursion. For those that have done so previously, how hot/humid does it get? Do I have to worry about bug bites? My DH has asthma and is a little concerned about being able to breath. Also, how was the lunch?

I haven't done this tour yet but you will probably have to worry about bug bites. This is a very humid area (rain forest) and there is lots of rain, therefore, bugs. It would be appropriate to bring something to deter them. Skin so soft seems to be a good choice. It's something that is mentioned alot here and had less chemicals that most bug repellant.

I came prepared big time for bugs and sun. Especially bugs. We sprayed down before we even got on the boat. But in April, bugs were no where to be seen. And our guide said they wouldn't be because we were here before the rainy season started. I will also tell you that my sister did the zip line while we were at the ruins, and she said they never even saw a bug the whole time they were on their excursion. So, I am keeping April in mind if we do venture down there again. I am not sure when the rainy season starts. but the high temple is the rain gods temple and they talked about it being close to the time the priest would be making his ascent up it for the sacrifices and ceremony.

The humidity was very tolerable as well. Very enjoyable, even when the rain came down once or twice (very light thou)

jnicktem, Could you tell me the name of the tour co? Belizecruiseexcursions says their trip is 7 hrs & I think that it cutting it too close. A 6 hr tour seems a lot more doable.

Took this excursion with belizecruiseexcursions/island marketing last november!

The timing can be a risk.....and before we went there were issues with a group (and it was posted here on CC) - I forwarded the 'link' to Island Marketing informing them that there were some problems with the tour and this group was late getting back!

I got an email back from the VP thanking me for providing this info to him (and informing me he had fired one of the guides!!!) and that this was a most unusual case scenario and I had nothing to worry about - they would make sure to get us back in time!!

NOT TRUE!!! Don't get me wrong! I loved the tour, the boat ride, the sights at Lamanai, the food, etc but our tour guide sure wasn't rushing us around - in fact when we left I was wondering how we would make it back in time for the last tender? (if it took us 1.5 hrs to get there would it not take us the same amount of time to get back? Was there a short cut I was unaware of?)

So we hit traffic (only a 2 lane highway) which slowed us down a bit - lots of frantic discussions (via cellphone) with tour guide and I presume their 'port office' regarding our arrival time.

Yes we officially missed the last tender back to the ship - but luckily the company had someone at the port who spoke with a Carnival officer and they were actually holding the ship for us!!! (we were told it was cuz we were a group of 11). They were loading some carnival supplies on a boat - and talk about a fast ride back. They were literally pulling up the anchor as we boarded and pulling up the gangway behind us.

Too close for comfort (and this was the only port where I actually took my passport off the ship - just in case).

I am returning to Belize on another cruise and you can bet I am booking a Carnival excursion this time!!

I have been lurking here, trying to decide what to do in Belize when we're there in December on RCCL Navigator. I was a bit worried about the private tour to lamanai but really wanted to do it. RCCL only just published the excursions for my cruise about a week ago and i was so happy to see that they have one going there. it is 21 bucks more than the private tour through Belizecruiseexcursions.com but after tipping that difference is even lower and i will pay that as a price for peace of mind. i would normally plan with private operators and if i were going to any other ruin i would but i don't want to mess around with missing the boat.

I have been lurking here, trying to decide what to do in Belize when we're there in December on RCCL Navigator. I was a bit worried about the private tour to lamanai but really wanted to do it. RCCL only just published the excursions for my cruise about a week ago and i was so happy to see that they have one going there. it is 21 bucks more than the private tour through Belizecruiseexcursions.com but after tipping that difference is even lower and i will pay that as a price for peace of mind. i would normally plan with private operators and if i were going to any other ruin i would but i don't want to mess around with missing the boat.

I think that's a very wise decision. Have fun!

Since Carnival doesn't offer the excursion, we have booked with Belize in the Sun for September off the Glory. There haven't been any reviews of them posted here, but I've spoken extensively with them a couple of times, and they seem very professional. I'll post a review when we return.

I have been lurking here, trying to decide what to do in Belize when we're there in December on RCCL Navigator. I was a bit worried about the private tour to lamanai but really wanted to do it. RCCL only just published the excursions for my cruise about a week ago and i was so happy to see that they have one going there. it is 21 bucks more than the private tour through Belizecruiseexcursions.com but after tipping that difference is even lower and i will pay that as a price for peace of mind. i would normally plan with private operators and if i were going to any other ruin i would but i don't want to mess around with missing the boat.

I agree with your decision - if Carnival had offered this excursion I most definitely would have booked with them despite the added cost - just for the peace of mind!

You will love Lamanai - have fun!