Lamanai tour or Xunatinich

[mkgwhite]

Which is the best riuns tour?

[BMFL Island Hopper]

Xunatinich was amazing and one of the few things that have made me say wow on excrusions. It was a long day but worth the money and time. Never have been to lamani but if i get back to belize I will try to see it. I think either choice you will be happy.

 

 

2000 Fantasy

2009 Triumph

2009 Triumph (canada)

2010 Dream

2011 Victory

2011 Fasicantion

2012 Freedom

[jreichow1972]

We did Xunantunich this past November, booked through Carnival, it was great! Very impressive ruins and climbing to the top was spectacular. I have never been to the other site, maybe on another trip.

[zdcatc12]

Did Lamani a few years back and loved it. The climb to the top was awesome!! The boat ride down the New River to get there and back was fun in itself. That river was not some place that I would have wanted to be lost on!

[Kwirky]

Having done both, I recommend Lamanai...the river trip was so fun and our guide was informative. We saw all kinds of birds and even a bat against a tree...he would spot the animals and go in closer so we could see. There is an Amish or Mennonite settlement on the river that also is cool- the little boys were selling peanuts at the dock at Lamanai. That was surreal- Spanish-speaking, very Caucasian, Amish, tanned little boys with barefeet!

 

It was a trip I will never forget!

[mkgwhite]

our ship only does Xunantunich. Have not found a private tour of Lamanai.

[misguidedangel]

You always have to remember the ship and when it leaves. If you choose a non-carnival excursion and something happens along the way that leads you to get back after the ship sails you will be looking for a way to get to the next port stop.

 

Lamani, from TV shows I have seen, looks amazing, but stick with the equally amazing Xunantunich for now. Perhaps if you go to Belize on your own you can do Caracol, Lamanai, Altun Ha, and go to Tikal in Guatemala...

[#1 Rookie]

Can anyone tell me how far or how long the walk is from the ferry to the Ruins at Xunantunich? Is it level or hilly? Thanks

[maxxedout2]

Hi,

 

I did Xunantunich (shoe-NAN-tune-ich) with Carnival.

 

Awesome view from the top of the pyramid, 125' about.

The main pyramid itself is on top of a hill close to a Guatemala town

and your cell phone works at top..I was told.

BTW, they put you in a van at the river ferry and drive you up to entrance.

From entrance you walk up a slope maybe 1/4 mile (long not high!), not

sure exactly but not too bad. The plazas are sort of flat ground once up there.

Pyramid is nice climb up the outside and really neat descent partially

through the pyramid itself.

 

I did Lamanai and Cahal Pech with Royal Caribbean recently.

Carnival probably doesn't do Lamanai because it is about a

7 hour tour....maybe Carnival ships are not in port long

enough...considering tendering in etc.

 

Xunantunich, interesting tour with a one-man-turn-crank-ferry on the river.

 

We had a nice, tasty Belize style lunch..tossed a couple of Beliken beers down

and dozed on the bus.

 

Nice tour...will do it again.

 

:D:D

[nodogkisses]

Xunatunich booked through Carnival since it's such a long excursion. Great day in Belize. Do it.

[KenMo]

our ship only does Xunantunich. Have not found a private tour of Lamanai.

 

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

 

We made it back with no problems and it was a good tour. There are troops of monkeys (I think howler?) that live in the canopy which I thought were cool.

 

I haven't been to the other site, so I can't recommend one over the other.

[Ninja Jo]

Are we sure Carnival does not offer Lamani? The Dream will be the only ship in port and will not leave until 6pm. (***** my cruise day)

[ValentineCruise]

We did Xuanantunich with Carnival and glad we did. Belize is a tender to shore, we were the last ones back. We were not late but were on the last tender. It would have been stessfull to do this with an independant operator.

Our guides Garrett and Denise were wonderful. Informative, funny and friendly. It was close to 100 degrees and we wished we would have brought more water with us. All in all, a great excursion.

[bobhsv]

Are we sure Carnival does not offer Lamani? The Dream will be the only ship in port and will not leave until 6pm. (***** my cruise day)

 

 

We would also like to know why Carnival don't offer Lamanai. Our cruise on the Glory is in Belize from 8am to 5pm....surely this is enough time? There must be a reason. Anyone know what it is?

Jen

[KenMo]

This is purely a guess on my part, but I think it may be the size of the river.

 

You go inland (we went in a van) about an hour.

 

Then you have to go up the river...seems like it was 45mins to an hour.

 

I don't know how deep the river is, but it wasn't really wide.

 

So, I'm thinking that it would be a popular tour and Carnival would sell a lot of tickets. I don't think the river would be wide enough to accomodate a boat big enough to carry say 100 passengers.

[PorkChopKid]

We recently did the Lamanai Ruins while cruising on NCL Star. It's a full day that includes a fast trip on the river. We booked the excursion thru NCL and were glad we did... back to the ship on the LAST tender with the security people and all of the chairs, ice chests, coolers, and canopy they had on shore. Go about halw down this page for our write-up and pictures.... http://pasqualehome.com/Star_Feb2012/Star_Feb2012.htm

We have no idea why Carnival doesn't go there.

[fergusonvt]

Did Lamanai on our last cruise and although it was a long day it was fantastic. The boat ride is a lot of fun (2, 200 HP engines on the boat) and the ruins are magnificent. I wouldn't do this tour unless it was offered through the cruiseline because we barely made it back for the last tender.

[williamson_ja]

We did Lamanai and to date, it's our favorite cruise excursion! I can't tell you how amazing it was. On the boat ride to the ruins, the guides stopped and let a spider monkey into our boat that crawled around and ate some bananas that the guides had taken just to feed the monkeys. My kids just LOVED this. The boat ride itself is just fun. The ruins are beyond amazing. They just rise out of the jungle. When we got to the ruins, they fed us an authentic Belizian lunch. It was sooo good. We've been talking about the food ever since. The ruins are some of the only ruins that you are still able to climb up. It's quite a climb, but the view from the top is amazing. I can't recommend this enough. We want to go back next year. Our oldest son wasn't able to come on our last trip, so we are hoping to take him next year. Good luck with the decision.