Mayan Ruins-which one is best?

[hkolln]

Altun Ha, Xunantunich, or Lamanai?

We'll be in port from 7-4pm...in January 2005.

Thanks!

 

Helen

http://kollnfamily.com

Countdown to Carnival Legend!!!!

 

[CaribbeanBound]

This will be one of your favorite ports IF you book an excursion. You'll hate the place if you do not. This fact has been chronicled time and again. Do yourself a favor and book an excursion! The two most popular excursions are the Cave Tubing and the Lamanai Ruins / Jungle River Cruise. Both get rave reviews. Our selection of the Lamanai tour was no exception.

 

We arrived into Belize a couple hours late to the consternation of those passengers who had booked private tours. On the way to our stop we sighted a mini paradise --- a small sandy island with a grass shack, a pier, and a few palm trees --- out in the middle of the ocean. We also spotted a group of 10 to 12 huge rays off the port side. We anchored well off-shore and required an 18-minute tender ride to get ashore. Tenders were provided by local Belize vessels of all makes and sizes. (We did not feel safe in our two-level wooden tender, but there were no incidents of any kind to report). We sat downstairs between 2 fans and a wall thankfully lined with lifejackets. Our tender held around 80 passengers. We were the first group off the ship. Priority went to passengers with excursions bought through Celebrity. All other passengers needed to secure tender tickets and wait in the Theater for their number to be called. Hint: if you are not on a ship excursion, get in line to get your tender tickets at least 1/2-hour before the announced time. Tickets are passed out early.

Once at the Belize pier we were greeted with a nice Welcome sign. There are only a handful of shops at the pier. I am guessing there were about 90 folks on this tour. We were herded onto 1 of 3 air conditioned buses. Whatever bus you get becomes your tour group, and included a guide that not only narrated the bus tour and answered our questions but also drove our boat on the jungle cruise and lead our excursion of the ruins. Our experienced guide was Vel, and he was breaking in a very pretty young guide-in-training that joined us for the duration of the tour. Our guides were very friendly, knowledgeable, and proud of their country.

 

Belize is a poor country with great natural and historical assets. One idiot on the bus asked "Why are there bars on the windows of houses?" during an otherwise interesting Q&A about the country. (Answer: they have a crime problem related to a "crack" problem). The housing and habitat reminded us al lot of Waimanalo on Oahu (sans the bars). We learned a lot about the city and country on our 1.25 hour bus tour over a paved 2-lane road to the boat dock. [side note: from visible signage along the road it appears Pepsi "controls" the less populated part of the country while Coca-Cola "owns" Belize City itself]. Each bus unloaded their groups into a large thatched roof building sporting restrooms and a couple of artisans. Within a few minutes we were loaded onto covered boats with comfortable seats and two powerful outboard motors.

 

We snaked South down the river to the Lamanai Ruin site. Our guide plying us with information and pointing out numerous birds (including King Fisher, Blue Herrin, Vultures, and Snow Egrets), baby crocodiles, and a huge green iguana, as well as various flora and fauna. We also found the huge termite nests in the trees to be of interest to all. One of the 3 boats experienced engine trouble which slowed us down a bit, but that boat was never abandoned. Our boat held back each time to make sure they were not stranded.

 

Once we arrived at Lamanai, we ate a hearty lunch of Mayan chicken, rice, coleslaw, coconut tarts, and bottled Pepsi and water. We started our tour in a small museum with interesting Mayan artifacts and continued on by foot through an impressive jungle featuring vines, "Jurassic Park"-sized palm fronds, medicinal trees, and Howler Monkeys. We spent about 1.5 hours exploring 3 large Mayan temples and the remains of a small Mayan town. Our guides provided an enormous amount of insight and kept us moving at a reasonable clip.

 

We returned to the boats, sped back up the river, and returned to the buses just before nightfall. We arrived back at the docks about an hour after the final tender was suppose to leave for the ship. Our guides, to their credit, had made the decision to give us the full tour --- not an abridged tour --- even though we had arrived late. After all, we were paying the full price of the tour and they weren't going to let us get anything less. It was clear, back in Lamanai, that we were not going to make the tender cutoff time. This began to cause great distress among some tour passengers. Just remember, that if you are on a Celebrity-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand 5% of their passengers in Belize. Sure enough, we were met at the pier with a nice large boat that easily and comfortably sped all of us back to the ship, which was beautifully illuminated out on the sea. Our only loss was an inability to shop for souvenirs at the pier as they were all closed.

 

Bottom line: take this tour.

[bubbachief]

I'm assuming your tour was arranged through the ship. Would you give an idea what the cost was. Is this same tour available for booking on your own?

We are on the Sun in October and are looking for ideas.

[Tracy1]

We were in Belize in May 2003 and took a ship tour to Altun Ha. We really enjoyed it. The ruins were beautiful. We enjoyed the challenge of hiking up the looooong stairways up to the top of several of the ruins. We took some great pictures. I don't know how to compare it to other ruins in Belize. We would definately take another ruin tour. We would even go back to Altun Ha because they still have quite a bit of excavating still left to do. We would enjoy seeing how much progress has been made over the years. I recommend taking some kind of tour in Belize because there really isn't that much to do there otherwise.

[CaribbeanBound]

This is the only tour I ever booked through a ship, and was very glad I did.

It may have been in the ballpark of $65 to $95 pp and worth every dime!

[kadao]

We were at Altun Ha last week and I would highly recommend it! The ride out showed great countryside and gave a good feel for Belize. The guide at the ruins was very informative. The ruins were amazing. I have a couple pictures posted if you want to check it out. http://www.cruise-forums.com/gallery/view.php?id=1979

 

 

[bubbachief]

Kadao-- What tour did you use? What was cost, duration and what did you see. We will be there 10/20 on the NCL Sun

[brandnewcruiser]

for a great private tour of Altun Ha ruins contact Mark McField at Markmcf@btl.net. He does a great job!

[Pumbaamd]

We took the Altun Ha/Jungle river cruise, with lunch, on the NCL Sky last year. A great excursion and highly reccommended. Enjoy!

[bubbachief]

brandnewcruiser--We have been in contact with Mark. Can you tell us more about what you did on his tour, especially after the ruins.

 

Pumbaamb--Would you tell us what the NCL Sky tour cost?

[Travelitis]

While I am looking to book a tour this time since we're traveling with our 3 kids who will be 13, 10, and 6, I respectfully disagree that you will dislike this port if you don't book an excursion. Before we went I researched and armed myself with very specific instructions to get to Caye Caulker on our own. My dh was sick with a migraine, so we returned to the ship before most people got off, but 4 other Cruisecritics took my plan and headed for Caye Caulker. They came to our cabin afterwards and told us all about it. The report we got from them was that it was very fun, and they didn't express any regrets about not booking a tour. We might do this with our kids, but I'm also thinking about a tour just to simplify things. My point being that individuals have different tastes. Some will be happy only on a tour, and others will be happiest on their own. I fall into the latter category. Seeing as how my dh had a migraine and a sprained ankle from the previous day in Roatan, I was glad we hadn't booked something that would've been non-refundable at the last minute. That's my big reservation about a pre-paid tour ... dh's migraines.