Belize: Any recent reviews of Carnival's Cave Tubing Excursion?

[Eeyoregon]

We are sailing the Legend in October and are thinking about booking the cave tubing in Belize thru Carnival primarily for peace of mind that they will hold the ship if we are running late (which apparently happens frequently in Belize on the private excursions :confused:).

 

It seems kind of pricey considering it doesn't include lunch.

 

Would love to hear some recent reviews of this Carnvial excursion.

 

Gina

[mboatman]

My wife and myself will be doing this on our Legend trip in May. I will let you know how it went, if I can't find this thread, I'll start another.

[Duse]

which apparently happens frequently in Belize on the private excursions :confused:).

Dont fall for the scare tactics that Carnival is going to hit you with .

We just got back Sunday from our 7 day cruise,we did our tubeing with Major Tom's crew and couldent be happier.

Do your own excursions and have a blast.

We did our own everywhere

Rotan = Ronnys tours (when I go back I'm gonna use him again)

Grand Cayman = Ebanks jet ski to swim with stingrays

Belize = Major Toms Cave tubeing(funnest groupe of guides)

Cozumel some beach resort that caraval said we had to book through them but we just took a cab there and the cabby got us in on the premium package for $20 cheaper the carnivals

[Eeyoregon]

Dont fall for the scare tactics that Carnival is going to hit you with .

We just got back Sunday from our 7 day cruise,we did our tubeing with Major Tom's crew and couldent be happier.

Do your own excursions and have a blast.

We did our own everywhere

Rotan = Ronnys tours (when I go back I'm gonna use him again)

Grand Cayman = Ebanks jet ski to swim with stingrays

Belize = Major Toms Cave tubeing(funnest groupe of guides)

Cozumel some beach resort that caraval said we had to book through them but we just took a cab there and the cabby got us in on the premium package for $20 cheaper the carnivals

 

Well, I haven't heard anything bad/scary from Carnival...just all of the stories here on the boards about almost, or in some cases, missing the ship in Belize on private cave tubing excursions.

 

I book privately 90% of the time but this cruise I am responsible for 8 other people who are leaving all of the planning up to me and that is just toooooooo much pressure/responsibility so we will book this one thru Carnival.

 

Looking forward to the review from the previous poster.

 

Gina

[Morebeer]

Hi Gina. My family and I will be on the Valor this coming May 30th with our 3rd port of call Belize. I too had originally wanted to book my cave tubing excursion with Major Tom's independent tour company. However I've just read to many other posters negative feedback that he was running late and his guests barely made it back to the tendering boats in time on Belize. I've pretty much decided as well even though the price is much higher for that piece of mind knowing the ship won't leave without it's own sponsored excursion making it back to the ship prior to sailing away rather then risk Major Tom's company running late that day. Just thought I would share my thoughts any feedback from other posters about my comments are always appreciated. Thanks.

[Eeyoregon]

Hi Gina. My family and I will be on the Valor this coming May 30th with our 3rd port of call Belize. I too had originally wanted to book my cave tubing excursion with Major Tom's independent tour company. However I've just read to many other posters negative feedback that he was running late and his guests barely made it back to the tendering boats in time on Belize. I've pretty much decided as well even though the price is much higher for that piece of mind knowing the ship won't leave without it's own sponsored excursion making it back to the ship prior to sailing away rather then risk Major Tom's company running late that day. Just thought I would share my thoughts any feedback from other posters about my comments are always appreciated. Thanks.

 

Thanks for your input...I thought maybe I was being paranoid about missing the ship. It's just that I have read 15+ posts in the past week alone where different people shared their "almost missed the ship" stories. Parades/celebrations, weather, traffic and local government issues were just some of the reason cited. And I just know MY luck...I would be the one that did miss the ship and ruined the cruise for 7 of my trusting friends.

 

Carnival's excursion is $79 which is more than the private tours BUT peace of mind is priceless for me.

 

I'm sure we will have fun and looking forward to hearing some feedback.

 

Gina

[mboatman]

Yes, last year my wife and I did a private tour of St Thomas and had a blast (we wanted to do the parasail and carnival didn't offer it at the time). Then did a Carnival tour of St Marteen, I have to say, I'm glad we did the Carnival tour on St Marteen. We were 15 minutes late getting back to the bus, of course, they continued on without us but there was another carnival tour that was still there and was expecting us (almost missed him too). They radioed each other and we finished out tour on the second bus (different tour, but still fun). Peace of mind is also priceless for us. I really don't consder it 'scare tactics', just reality, things happen, with a carnival tour, they'll still be there waiting. I'll let you know about the tour when we return.

[GinDon]

I, too, prefer to book independently, and almost always do. But, sometimes, caution is a good idea. For instance, this Fall we are doing a Biobay tour in San Juan. It's over an hour out of port, and comes back late. The ship sails at midnight. No way am I taking a chance of being left behind at midnight! Sometimes peace of mind is worth the x-tra money.

[gobucks_43228]

Our carnival agent recommended www.cave-tubing.com. I dont believe this is Major Tom, who i too, have heard bad things about. Carnival no longer offers this as an excursion but have nothing but good to say about it. It does require you to get off the ship early however that leave more than enough time to get back to the ship. The people I have emailed back and forth with are great. You can book online , BUT you pay AFTER the event, they are that confident.

 

Regardless of what you book in Belize, you have to travel about and hour out of the city to get to anything. The port itself is not built up as well as the others

[Eeyoregon]

Carnival no longer offers this as an excursion but have nothing but good to say about it.

 

Yes they (Carnival) DO offer it. I have it booked but wanted some feedback as to what it was like.

 

Thanks,

Gina

[gobucks_43228]

We are sailing the Legend in October and are thinking about booking the cave tubing in Belize thru Carnival primarily for peace of mind that they will hold the ship if we are running late (which apparently happens frequently in Belize on the private excursions :confused:).

 

It seems kind of pricey considering it doesn't include lunch.

 

Would love to hear some recent reviews of this Carnvial excursion.

 

Gina

 

 

Check www.cave-tubing.com this was recommended by our carnival vacation planner. It includes snacks/beverages and came highly recommended

[Eeyoregon]

Check www.cave-tubing.com this was recommended by our carnival vacation planner. It includes snacks/beverages and came highly recommended

 

Thanks for the info but as previously stated we are booking the Carnival offered tubing excursion. I'm just looking for some reviews of how it is. There are 8 in my group so I'm sure we'll have a great time no matter what :D.

 

Gina

[drjohnfever]

If your main concern is missing the ship, you can look a little further than Carnival. We just got back and did cave tubing with http://www.cavetubing.bz - Vitalino and his crew. We had a group of 10, requested our own van so we could control our own timing and it was awesome. It was only $45 and included lunch, not to mention Vitalino is one of the most experienced (and funny) guides out there. He runs a small family outfit, and its great to know your money is actually staying in Belize helping a real family make its way in the world.

[rosiemannc]

Thanks for the info but as previously stated we are booking the Carnival offered tubing excursion. I'm just looking for some reviews of how it is. There are 8 in my group so I'm sure we'll have a great time no matter what :D.

 

Gina

 

Gina,

 

I'm with you. I have heard good things about Major Tom and was considering going with them until i saw Carnival's tour came back. I am also sailing with a large group (22) - not all will do the cave tubing but i am the one doing research and i DO NOT want to have problems so we are also going to get our tour through the ship "just in case" .

 

We don't sail until June so am hoping to see if anyone does review before our trip to see how Carnival handles everything.

[GinDon]

Don't know if Carnival has changed anything since it recently started offering the tour again. But, the main complaints before, were that Carnival was huge groups, and not well supervised on the float through the caves. Hopefully this has changed. The day I went (with a private operator) the group from the Carnival Miracle was just ahead of us, and they were a big group, compared to ours of about ten.

[Duse]

Yes it is

[rosiemannc]

Yes it is

 

 

I am sure that no matter who you book with, your money is actually going to stay in Belize. Who runs the excursion anyway? A local that Carnival contracts with, or someone off the ship? I bet it's a local. I also know that going through the cruiseline will be putting extra money in Carnival's pocket.

 

But for me, in this one instance, it will be worth it for the peace of mind.

 

I would like to see the OP question answered - has anyone been on a recent Carnival excursion? I'd like to see if they have indeed fixed the problems that caused them to get rid of the tour in the first place.

[dhawkins]

We're on Triumph Jun 5 - 12 and have booked through http://www.cave-tubing.com for our Belize stop. After reading the reviews on tripadvisor.com I couldn't be more confident that that is the best way to go. Having cruised with Carnival previously I do know that they want you to use their excursions I can only imagine because they get some sort of fee back for that recommendation.

[rjmontana]

Carnival cave-tubing is run through Jaguar Paw adventures. If you go into the details of excursion they are mentioned in the text.

 

Yes it is

 

 

I am sure that no matter who you book with, your money is actually going to stay in Belize. Who runs the excursion anyway? A local that Carnival contracts with, or someone off the ship? I bet it's a local. I also know that going through the cruiseline will be putting extra money in Carnival's pocket.

 

But for me, in this one instance, it will be worth it for the peace of mind.

 

I would like to see the OP question answered - has anyone been on a recent Carnival excursion? I'd like to see if they have indeed fixed the problems that caused them to get rid of the tour in the first place.

[Fourseventeen]

we took the X-stream cave tubing...IMHO by far the best excursion to go on! 50 bucks lunch included. they had us back about 1.5 hours before we needed to be on the boat. We had a great time and our guide was constantly keeping an eye on the time so we would be back with plenty of time to spare and no stress.

[goingcrazy39]

We have booked our cave tubing through the cave-tubing.com we leave this sunday 3/21/10 I will let you know. And it is not Major Tom

 

Our carnival agent recommended www.cave-tubing.com. I dont believe this is Major Tom, who i too, have heard bad things about. Carnival no longer offers this as an excursion but have nothing but good to say about it. It does require you to get off the ship early however that leave more than enough time to get back to the ship. The people I have emailed back and forth with are great. You can book online , BUT you pay AFTER the event, they are that confident.

 

Regardless of what you book in Belize, you have to travel about and hour out of the city to get to anything. The port itself is not built up as well as the others

[crookedicat]

wrong board sorry

[Eeyoregon]

Well, the cost of Carnivals excursion was just too high for our group so we booked with Vitalino at cavetubing.bz. $45 includes transportation from the pier in A/C vans, all new equiptment, soda/water, rum punch and lunch. They get great reveiws here and on tripadvisor.

 

I will report back!

 

Gina

[rjhollan]

I'm anxious to see your report. I just sent an inquiry to Vitalino for our 11/25/10 date...

[SANJOSEGAL]

We used Vitalino earlier this month for cave tubing and it was great here is a copy of my review on trip advisor.

 

“Fantastic tour company”

Cave Tubing with Vitalino Reyes

 

dyfennell 15 contributions

Northern California

Sep 10, 2010

 

 

 

• The caves
  
• Entering the caves
  
• Check out the equipment
  

 

After reading all the great reviews we decided to book with Vitalino. We were not disappointed. Vitalino was not able to reach us before we left for Miami so he called my cell phone as I was boarding our cruise ship. He wanted to be sure I had all the details of where to meet him. The minute we stepped out the gate his representative was standing there to greet us. His son Vitalino Jr was our head guide with 3 assistants. Jr was extremely knowledgeable of the area and very funny. We were a small group of 8 so it made it very personable and easy to hear what he was telling us during the hike to the water. The lunch served in a patio next to his home was delicious rice, beans and chicken. One more thing the equipment is wonderful helmets with LED lights, life jackets, and beautiful yellow tubs with handles. We sat so high out of the water I hardly had to do BUTTS UP.