Pugmom1963

Hi, I have booked the Lamanai tour on our RCCL cruise coming up. I was wondering who all we will need to tip. I don't really want to spend the whole day worrying if I should have tipped someone or not. Since there seems like there could be a whole lot of folks involved, bus driver from, boat driver, people serving lunch and guide up to the ruins. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi,

I was hoping someone could give me a little help. I am wondering what most people give for a tip to a driver for a full day? I don't have a problem tipping, I just wouldn't want to way under tip but I don't want to way over tip either. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

If you are going whale watching in Juneau, I have to recommend Harv and Marv. I booked with them several years ago and they were absolutely THE BEST!

My wife, daughter and I went on the Lamanai Mayan Ruins/New River tour on January 22, 2015. We booked with Elio of Lamanai Belize Tours several weeks before our cruise based on positive reviews and experiences. We came to Belize City on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Sea, which had to tender 4 miles off shore.

 

After a hectic tender process of getting to shore, Elio's driver Julian met us just as agreed outside terminal one with a sign with our name greeting us. Julian was very friendly and professional and said that we can stop the worrying and let him take care of us from here. We took a short walk to his air conditioned van where he assured us that he would have us back to the port well in time to make our last tender.

 

We went through Belize City and Julian was constantly giving us information about Belize and its people and culture. He was very informative. It's nice to let someone else do the driving who knows their way around, because there are some crazy drivers and scooter drivers in Belize.

 

The ride to the river was about 45 minutes. Upon arrival we met with Elio and another of his young helpers. Before boarding the power boat for our trip up river to Lamanai, we were able to use the restrooms and were offered bottled water for the boat trip.

 

As most have said, the boat ride is an excursion in itself. The day was very hot and sunny as we made our way up river winding through narrow channels and then open water with the warm wind blowing through your hair. Our boat did have a canopy on it to protect you from the sun.There is much beauty along the way, such as flora and birds. You may encounter some fisherman and will also pass a Mennonite village along the river bank.

 

Once we made our way to Lamanai, we stopped at the nice bathrooms. They also have souveniers for sale. Elio then led us on a hike through part of the jungle to the ruins and explained each site and the different trees and flora. We were practically by ourselves as we were ahead of the large cruise ship excursion groups that would follow.

 

The ruins were beautiful and we were able to climb the big temple and take pictures from high atop. They were also howler monkeys in the trees nearby. Elio also offered to take several pictures of us.

 

Due to time constraints of getting back to the ship, we had to depart and board the power boat for the trip back to Elio's dock. Once again, the boat ride back was a thrill all of its own and something to remember. Once back to Elio's dock, we were seated at a picnic table and treated to an awesome Belizian lunch consisting of spicy chicken, rice, beans, spicy slaw and hot sauce and bottles of Coke made with 100 % sugar cane, not the junk we get in the USA.

 

Again, pictures were taken and we paid Elio's father and thanked each of them for a great time and experience. Then we boarded the air conditioned van and Julian drove us back to the port terminal with about 30 minutes before our last tender.

 

Lamanai Belize Tours is locally run by Elio and his family. The live in Belize and know and understand the Belizian and Mayan culture.They are true professionals and take care of every detail to enhance your experience and to make certain you are back to port to make your tender.

 

If you want a locally run company, who is professional, timely and provides exactly what they tell you, then please skip the large cruise ship tours with 30, 40 or more people and consider Lamanai Belize Tours. You will not be disappointed, we weren't.

Hi, can you tell me how difficult is the walk up to the ruins. Is it a fairly smooth dirt trail or is it very rocky and uneven? My DH had spinal fusion 3 weeks ago and while his doctor has said he should still be able to go on the cruise, he shouldn't go extreme hiking.

thank you for any help you can give.

Hi, can you tell me how difficult is the walk up to the ruins. Is it a fairly smooth dirt trail or is it very rocky and uneven? My DH had spinal fusion 3 weeks ago and while his doctor has said he should still be able to go on the cruise, he shouldn't go extreme hiking.

thank you for any help you can give.

Hi, can you tell me how difficult is the walk up to the ruins. Is it a fairly smooth dirt trail or is it very rocky and uneven? My DH had spinal fusion 3 weeks ago and while his doctor has said he should still be able to go on the cruise, he shouldn't go extreme hiking.

thank you for any help you can give.

Hi, I am hoping someone can help me. I have a group going on NOS in September. My DH just had a double spinal fusion 3 weeks ago. His doctor has said he would not be able to do any difficult hiking. I was hoping someone who had taken this excursion can tell me how difficult the walk is up to the ruins. I realize it is thru the jungle, but I was wondering if it is mostly a fairly even dirt trail. Or if it is very rocky and uneven?

thank you for any help you can give.

Hi,

Loved your video and all the info. I have a couple more questions. My husband will be 3 months post spinal fusion at the time of our cruise. His surgeon has already said that he would probably not be able to ride a small choppy ocean snorkeling boat. But I think as long as the bus ride and river boat are not seriously rough, he may still be able to do this. From the look of the video, the river boat ride was very smooth. From what you said above, the hike doesn't sound to be overly strenuous. Am I correct in assuming that most of the hike is a fairly flat, smooth trail. I am not worried about uphill/downhill, but more about uneven rocky areas that could cause someone to stumble or twist a limb. Also how rough are the roads? I am not excepting smooth paved highways, after all we are from Illinois, our roads are pretty rough. Just if they are mostly smooth.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone eaten at this place? We are going in September and so far this seems like it might be a nice place for lunch. I would appreciate any info you might have.

thank you

Unfortunately, they don't just pour shots nor does a customer just order shots. Besides, who do you think preps the bar, cuts the fruits, washes the classes, stocked the bar, etc? Oh, and don't forget they have to deal surly, demanding passengers.

Well said!

I booked my cruise during the first round of BOGOHO and actually got a pretty good deal. I went to check prices recently and thought "woohoo" I can upgrade to a balcony for less than my outside room. then the total kept coming up higher?? Went to my TA, she couldn't figure out how that worked, called RCCI and the rep said yep, that's the correct price. I finally had to call myself and finally figured out the were pulling the going out of business trick. You know mark everything up to full retail and then "discount" down to what you normally really charge.

Oh well, I still have my outside room at a great price.

Thank you,

From what I am getting so far, it looks to be the same price either for RCCI or Cool Tours. Hmmmm, It might end up being cheaper to rent a van for the 5 of us and pay for the parking and then be able to get off the ship and immediately leave for the airport.

Hi,

I am hoping someone can help me. I need to know how much is costs per person to take the RCCL shuttle from IAH to Galveston? My framily is sailing on the Navigator of the Seas in September and I am trying to figure out the cheapest way to get from IAH to Galveston.

Thank you for any help you can provide.