As I'm finding usual, the port had a tourist trap between the ship and the place we needed to get to for our excursion. We did a non-cruise line tour with www.thenativechoice.com. EXCELLENT!! We visited ruins at Chacchoben and then visited a Mayan family's home...we learned how to make tortillas and the ladies prepared an outrageously delicious lunch...fresh picked vegetables from the jungle in their backyard! David was our tour guide at the ruins...smart, knowledgeable about Mayan culture and myth. The cooler weather we hit was just perfect for climbing ruins. (Okay 60s during the day...big chill for the jungle) No bugs, no humidity.
What a dirty, dirty city! We boarded a bus to go almost an hour away to take another boat ride about an hour up river to see more ruins. The bus was awful...sound system was unclear so we could barely hear what our English second language guide was saying for that entire hour. The bus was filty (This was an NCL tour) The ruins at Lamanai were amazing! You can climb one of the temples to quite a height. I labored over deciding which ruins to see...I was not disappointed!! The boat up the river held wonderful glimpses of wildlife...crocs, birds, bats. We took a NCL tour since this was a tendered port.
We did a NCL tour--snorkeling and then to an all inclusive resort. Okay...snorkeling was a blast...however the 4 foot swells that remained after the previous days rough weather made for a challenging time. The resort served a much to be desired sandwich type light lunch. The drinks were great and the massage on the beach was delightful. Fun time!
We spent an extra day to tour around in NOLA before the cruise. The temps were barely past freezing during the day...and we were unprepared. We did the city tour from NCL after the trip...great and relaxing was to get more views outside of the downtown/French Quarter area. We got to see the Katrina ravished areas. Then a drop at the airport made this a great addition to a wonderful trip.
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