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Lamanai & Riverboat Tour

nasvhillecruise

By nasvhillecruise,
in Belize

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LynnT3

LynnT3

Posted
Posted
Glad you had such a good experience. We too loved this excursion and the tour guides (belizecruiseexcursions). Lamanai is just breathtaking - especially wen you enter the lagoon and see the ancient site.

 

Did you climb the temple?

 

We did climb the temple. It was my husband and my two daughters (ages 12 & 13). I was a bit nervous about my girls being up so high, but they did great and loved it. The view from atop of the temple is wonderful and not to be missed.

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kmacht

kmacht

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I can comment on the trip as we took it last fall on the NCL Dream. First, I would highly recomend booking it through the ship rather than independantly. It is a full day tour a good distance from the ship and you will want that safety net of the ship waiting for you if for some reason you are delayed getting back. Now for the review.

 

My wife and I were looking for tours to do on our cruise that weren't really exercise intensive. We are both in our late 20's but my wife was 5 months pregnant at the time. This tour was a good choice. I would say that almost anybody young or old will be able to do it. The tour started off by meeting our tourguide at the pier. From there they loaded us on an airconditioned bus. It was a greyhound like bus. I don't remember exactly how long the bus trip was but I would guess maybe a little over an hour. For almost the entire bus ride the tour guide talked about belize, their customs, culture, etc. It was very informing and the tour guide had a good sense of humor. It made the ride go by fast. The bus stopped at the river where you meet up with the boats. Here there are restrooms and a few people selling handmade crafts. They also try to sell you bugspray here. We brought some on the cruise but forgot ours back at the ship. We just stood next to people who were spraying it all over the place. It seemed to work because neither of us got bit. After about a 20 minute bathroom break they loaded us on a boat. Our tour guide from the bus was also our guid on the boat. The boats move pretty fast and it definatly isn't a slow calm ride. On the other hand the water is pretty smooth and you aren't getting bounced around very much. The boat ride took about 45 minutes. During the ride if the guide saw an interesting animal or something to look at they would stop the boat and he would talk about it. Again, this made the ride go pretty quickly. The boat brings you right up to the base of the ruins. Once getting off the boat we were escorted to a picnic area where they served us some delicious chicken and rice and soda. There are also running bathrooms there in case you needed them. After lunch our guide rounded us all up and we started walking through the ruins. This was the best part of the trip. We stopped at a few trees and could see howler? monkeys running between them. The first stop was a smaller ruin but they ha an incredible face carved out of stone at this one. While we were all looking at the ruin the guides assistant had found a terrancula hole. He called us all over and coaxed it out. There he picked it up and showed it to us all. After that we hiked over to the main ruins. They give you a while to explore it. We elected to climb to the top. It was a spectacular view from there. If you are unable to climb it the guide sticks around the base and will give you a history lesson on the ruin if you want. After that they walked us over to the ball court and explained the history behind it. Then it was on to the final ruin with some additional time to explore it. Once we were done seeing all the ruins we went back to where we had lunch and had the opportunity to use the restrooms if needed. It was then back onto the boat for a ride to where we left the bus. The boat ride was quicker going back since we did not stop as many times to look at things as we did on the ride up. After the boat ride they loaded us onto the bus and brought us back to the pier where we had a short ammount of time to do some shopping before getting back on the ship.

 

There used to be a link to a video of the tour posted here. If you search the archives you might still find it. Overall I would say that this tour was probably the highlight of our trip. We are stopping in belize again this april with the NCL Sun and are considering doing it again. If you have any questions feel free to ask away.

 

Keith

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  • 1 month later...
kenito799

kenito799

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We are booked with belizecruiseexcursions.com to Lamanai for 1/30/08. I would have considered booking with HAL, mainly because I want to be on the first tenders, but they aren't offering Lamanai. I am very excited about the trip and I hope the weather cooperates!

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  • 2 weeks later...
driftwood

driftwood

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. . . the distance from Belize City to the point of departure by boat is 49 miles; the boat trip down to Lamanai is engineered to dawdle for an hour through the first half of the trip down the New River, so that the guide can point out the wealth of bird and animal life at a reasonable pace, and enable you to take whatever photographs you may wish without shooting past your subject matter. When you arrive at the Mennonite settlement of Shipyard, there is usually a crocodile, small or large, to see. From that point on the tour moves into high gear, taking a half hour to reach Lamanai; at Lamanai you dine and tour, or tour and dine, and have a quite reasonable amount of time for both. When you reboard, I think the intent is to get you back to your bus within an hour--we had engine trouble in one of the two large engines, and for a single engine laboring with the drag of the other--it couldn't be tipped individually--we were rather overloaded, so it took us a full hour and a half, arriving at the dock at 3:30 PM rather than the anticipated 3 PM. Naturally the bus drivers were piqued, but getting everyone safely back to Belize City was still only a matter of 49 miles on a pretty good highway the whole way. We were touring with Major Tom, so we did not have to worry about buses or making it to a plane (which is nearer the dock than 49 miles, on the same highway) or ship, but I suppose for some it was a tight afternoon.

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driftwood

driftwood

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There is a WIDE RANGE for tipping--allegedly Canadians give Belizeans $0 CDN tips, as their currency is worth more than ours; U.S. citizens give up to $25 US to the guide, and perhaps $10 US to the bus driver. But of course there are a lot of "Canadians." :D:rolleyes:

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DonMar

DonMar

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I am booked on the Lamanai & Riverboat Tour for the end of the month. I am looking forward to it very much. I was wondering about tipping. SInce we will have a bus driver, boat driver, guide, etc., do you tip everyone and how much? Arlene

 

Just about a year ago we went to Lamanai on an indi tour. We tipped our van driver and boat/ruins tour guide. We tipped them a more than what Driftwood suggested as we were the only ones (two of us) on the tour.

 

Have fun. This experience ranks up there with one of the best things I have done.

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driftwood

driftwood

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Perhaps DonMar and I do go a bit overboard . . . if we saw more people tipping, we would perhaps back off a little. Everyone "forgets" his wallet every now and then. But a few bucks go a LONG, LONG way in Belize, and the tour guides and bus drivers really do work hard--for tips, or for nothing! :D

 

Shame, no longer known even to elected politicians in the United States, is a great spur . . . .

 

As you will see if you go there, the trip to Lamanai is not a "dump 'em off and pick 'em up later" cakewalk--although everyone enjoys himself! You might even be asked to help carry some of the coolers from the boat to the picnic shelter: if you are strong and healthy, grab a handle! Old guys and young women can manage even a large one, but it was embarrassing to me (as the designated old guy on our tour) how many suddenly disabled United States citizens disappeared--until the food was on the table! :(

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Toyz711

Toyz711

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even on the NCL tour, we tipped that much. our tour guide was excellent. we didn't have to carry any of the food up, it was already there. jewell was able to tell us the history of the area, making it personal at the same time. her tales of growing up in belize city made the bus trip go quickly.

we tipped $20 for her (DH said it was WELL worth it), and a few dollars to each the boat captain and the bus driver.

especially around lamanai, the tour guide is right there the whole time...as well as watch the area to make sure you are safe (howler monkeys and other critter that they see and we don't)

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kenito799

kenito799

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I posted my review on another thread but I promised a report on this one...

 

We had a fantastic time with belizecruiseexcursions.com! don't worry, they will get you back on time! Even if your ship does some crazy thing and decides it's leaving early, the guides are in cell phone contact with Belize City.

 

See my review here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=468743&page=4

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CaribbeanBound

CaribbeanBound

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Belize City, Belize

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.

 

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 a 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 cruise-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand any of their passengers in Belize if they are on a cruise-sponsored excursion. 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. Bottom line: take this tour.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

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  • 2 weeks later...
framerman

framerman

Posted
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Hey everyone,

I just booked this one for the wife and I. We are going on RCI April 7th and realy thought this one would be so much fun. Last time there we went to Altun Ha.

We are going to Lamanai on March 12th. With Belizecruiseexcursions. Reading these reviews have helped with anxiety about not getting back in time. When we get back I'll post a review on here.

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przyk

przyk

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I took the Lamanai tour thru Belizecruiseexcursions last week. I enjoyed it very much, but the timing was nerveracking. There were several of us from the Carnival Legend who rode the bus together.

When we got to the river we were told we would have to wait for another van before heading upriver.

 

The other group was from another ship and they had a later return time than us. Despite our guide's best efforts the other group just insisted on taking their time without any concern for our schedule.

 

We made it back to the Port just a few minutes before the last tender and everyone in our group was frazzled.

 

This tour was not offerred by Carnival.

 

The boat ride was great. Melvis was our guide and he was very informative and took as much time as he could given our schedule. He also gave a great tour of the ruins.

 

Lamanai was the highlight of my entire cruise, despite the anxiety of getting back to the port in time.

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DonMar

DonMar

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Glad to hear that so many people have had good experiences at Lamanai and more peole are going. It was the highlight of our cruise last year.

 

I am looking forward to all of your reviews - as I relive my experience through them!

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