Xunatunich Question

[lp1980]

We are on Carnival Legend 4/20/08 and would like to go see this. We have never cruised so are somewhat afraid of not booking through the carnival.

 

Is the experience any different from the cruise company vs a private tour? I noticed a post using another company and wondered if that is the preferred way to go. Any advice offered would be appreciated.

[driftwood]

Xunantunich is the farthest inland of the three sites popularly offered to cruise ship passengers. So the recommendation to use your cruiseline's shore excursion is a sort of "insurance" that you cruise ship will not sail away without you (and any of your fellow passengers taking the cruiseline-sponsored tour). One might also assume that the tour provider's "special relationship" with your cruise line would induce him to keep a vigilant eye on the clock--for his own benefit as well as yours.

 

In reality, of course, the "far side of Belize" is a matter of about sixty miles from Belize City; if you were very roughly to calculate two hours travel time to the ruins, less than two hours at the site, and two hours and a half for lunch and the return to port, perhaps any tour provider would manage within a cruiseship day. At Belize, however, you have to factor in time for tendering from and to your ship, and the likelihood of other cruise ships also requiring tender services, as there is as yet no pier. So the risk is higher than if one were to visit, for example, Altun Ha, a fairly easy drive to the north, or Lamanai, on the far side of the New River but much nearer to Belize City.

 

The good news is that no tour provider wants to take you home with him at the end of the day to help him watch your ship sail away--after all, you may represent an entire busload of Cruise Critics who will, for example, "scandalize his name" for a flat tire or a blown head gasket on the one occasion in twenty years that it happens--but personally I would rather pay a bit more (perhaps) for the illusion that the cruise line will not forget me. :rolleyes:

[dsnyfan62]

We just did this tour so maybe these remarks will help a bit. We got on the tender at 7:30ish and got to Belize about 8am, right away we were put on the tour bus and off, no stopping for pictures, restroom, nothing. We were on the bus about 2hrs, had about an hour or so at the site...you have to wait for the ferry to take your van across, take you across and then take the van to the parking lot, from there you walk up a hill, get a short bathroom break/museum look through and then you start your tour of the ruins. Our guide did a lot of talking about the different things, very interesting, and then we had about 20 min. to climb the largest ruin before he gathered us all together again to talk some more. You then have to walk back down the hill, wait for the van, fly down the rest of the hill to the ferry and then once across you have a short time to shop at the vendors that are set up. We also went to lunch after this, spent about 1/2 hr there and then had the bus trip back. We arrived back at 3pm, last tender is at 3:15. Our guide kept us on a strict time frame, if not you can easily lose track of time and be late. You also never know about traffic. Had a great time, would say to take the ships tour to be on the safe side.

[Toyz711]

ah, now i understand why NCL dropped this excursion, at least on our trip.

lamanai is all-day, we were rushed at the end with a fast boat ride to the bus...but we weren't pushed at the site.

[Casey2]

We did this tour last year and I advise to go through the ship. Xunantunich was 2 hours away and coming back, we hit traffic so it took longer. We msised the last tender back to the ship and they had to send another one out for us. Had we been on a private excursion, we would have missed the ship. We usually try to avoid ship's tours, but on long tours, I hesitate to do it privately. We had a great time at Xunantunich with the high point being the climb to the top of El Castillo.