If Cave Tubing THEN READ THIS

[Srockrae]

I just returned yesteday from our cruise and we went with Cave-Tubing.com. I cannot encourage you more to go with this Company. It is a small outfit run by Yhoni (the Belize version of Johnny). My reasons are as follows:

 

1) He is more experienced then your typical tour operator. He worked for the cruise lines for years before going out on his own.

 

2) He has a brand new airconditioned Ford Econoline van with suspension upgrades. To say the road to the caves is rough in an understatment.

 

3) He is funny and informative and he quite frankly was as memorable as the caves

 

4) He will take you to a local place call Amigos for lunch after the cave tour. Although not included in the price it was cheap full of local flavor and the food was the best we had all week.

 

5) His price is $45 a person, the cheapest non cruise price others were going on wa $70 and we were right there next to them the whole time. No telling what the cruise ship charged. If felt like we got such good service and felt guitly for the price I tipped him an extra $50 for our group of 5.

 

6) We were on a tight shedule but still had time to eat a leasurely lunch afterwards and returned with two hours to spare.

 

7) We went with a 7, 10 and 12 year old and Yhonys confidence in the caves and the way he kept us together kept everyone feeling safe so we could relax and enjoy. The organized chaos of the other groups was simple that chaos.

 

8) He is very reliable. Our cruise ship arrived a day late but he tracked the change and was there waiting on us.

 

I dont know what more I can say bu for a much better cave tubing experience then being hearded like cattle with the cruise ship trip for a fraction of the costs. Go with Yhoni. The reason I am writing this review is that in the short time I was with him I fell like I made a friend and I think anyone who goes with him will feel the same.

 

Sam Rothrock

Atlanta GA

[chellencrette]

Thanks so much for the review!! I am booked with this tour Aug. 11th and can't wait!! I'm glad you said he was waiting for you even though your ship didn't dock on the original date.....I was a little concerned about this with the weather this time of year. Thanks again!!:)

[noahsark99]

So glad to hear this!! We are booked with Yhony for April 2006! Thanks so much for your review!!

[tonyrobin]

How bad was it tendering in? I've heard that the shore excursion get to go first while everyone else waits. Thanks!

[cruising renee]

could youplease give me contact information for this cave tubing excursion, thanks!! biersted@simpson.edu

[SLL]

My only concern with not booking with Carnival is being late back to the ship and missing it. Cavetubing.com may be cheap, but will they honestly guarantee to get your group back to the ship on time? And if something happens and they are late, will they take you to the next port to catch the ship? Has anyone had something like this happen with them?

 

Thanks. We want to book with them but are worried.

[pkg]

We are cruising in October on the Elation. Is is best to book this far in advance? Never have used excursions not cruise ship related, and very concerned about the best way to go. All advise is greatly appreciated

[konthego]

I have been perusing these sites for 6 months for the four stops we are making in 2 weeks and I have yet to see anyone get left behind because they used an independent operator. They are all very aware of the ships time and making certain you are back otherwise they will be crucified on this site with a good chance of being put out of business.

 

This is their livelihood and they don't want to mess up. Can it happen-absolutely. A vehicular accident or some other emergency can occur and you will be left behind if you are not back on the ship. The extra cost you pay for each excursion is your insurance policy that the ship will not leave till you are back on board. Only you can make that decision. When you compare the costs of cave tubing with an independent operator and can get it for half the price of the cruise line, you make the decision. With 15 in our party, we can pay approx $1,350 to Carnival or we can pay $675. With more individual attention, and their past history I say "it will work out". We now have $675 for the next island. If by some chance we all miss the boat, this was one expensive vacation!

A lot of it is one's comfort level. I personally enjoy doing the research, reading other people's reviews and making my reservation.

For our vacation, we are using all independent operators. If any of us get left behind, i'll be sure to post:)

[bajalover]

I am so glad to read your review on Yhony. We are booked with him in 2 weeks. How was the water level? My only fear is that the recent storms will bring the level up to high to go. I have read that in alot of rain the caves get flooded out. Did Yhony mention this at all? Thanks, Debi

[jenlyn63]

We were on the July 3 Miracle cruise and also did cave tubing with Yhoni. Our guide was Rafael and he was absolutely great! We were a party of 4 and there was a party of 5 from the ship that we met there. It was very nice with just the 9 of us. The ride through Belize City and the countryside was a good thing for my 14 and 12 year olds to see how others live. Once you turn off the main highway for the last part of the trip, it is a rock road that is unbelieveably rough! (The trip there takes approx 1 1/2 hours.)

I asked Rafael about it and he said the government refuses to fix it. I was just praying we didn't blow a tire. Once there he asked us if we wanted to do two caves or one. We opted for the two (cruise ships only do one). The water was cool, but not cold. Not deep where we got in, but along the way it varied from 5-25 foot deep. It was a long walk and you must wear water shoes and also carry your innertube. Wear shorts or something over your swimsuit as the black rubber from the tire may rub off.

( My daughter got eaten alive by misquitoes on the trail!)

We were back with 1 1/2 hours to spare before the ship left. It was $45 pp and we tipped him an extra $20.

It was a great adventure and something we will always remember. I too worried a bit about not going with Carnival, but it turned out wonderfully! We did have to wait until all of Carnivals groups had gotten off, but we did get on the first tender after that. Probably had to wait on the ship about an hour.

[Litewait]

We are going on the Miracle April 9-16. Planning on doing the cave tubing also. Haven't booked yet. Have been researching like crazy.

 

My questions are : The number of caves. I've been told you walk thru some dry caves to get the tubing area. Then there are 2 cave "systems" with a total of 3 actual caves you float thru.

: Jump in ~vs~ walk in: Some offer a place you can jump into the water (10 ft?) some you can only walk in..

 

I appreciate your help.

 

Can someone tell me what you actually do?

 

I guess I need to start booking things since someone from APril already has! LOL! Are you cruising with us?

 

HAppy Cruising,

Donna

[SueSea]

I have been perusing these sites for 6 months for the four stops we are making in 2 weeks and I have yet to see anyone get left behind because they used an independent operator. They are all very aware of the ships time and making certain you are back otherwise they will be crucified on this site with a good chance of being put out of business.

 

This is their livelihood and they don't want to mess up. Can it happen-absolutely. A vehicular accident or some other emergency can occur and you will be left behind if you are not back on the ship. The extra cost you pay for each excursion is your insurance policy that the ship will not leave till you are back on board. Only you can make that decision. When you compare the costs of cave tubing with an independent operator and can get it for half the price of the cruise line, you make the decision. With 15 in our party, we can pay approx $1,350 to Carnival or we can pay $675. With more individual attention, and their past history I say "it will work out". We now have $675 for the next island. If by some chance we all miss the boat, this was one expensive vacation!

A lot of it is one's comfort level. I personally enjoy doing the research, reading other people's reviews and making my reservation.

For our vacation, we are using all independent operators. If any of us get left behind, i'll be sure to post:)

 

While I have booked ship tours, most frequently I book independently or just tour own my own. In fact, on my 12-day Mediterrean cruise, we booked only one ship tour and on my 11-day Hawaii cruise, none. On both those cruises, most frequently we toured on our own. I estimate I've saved over $2,000 over the years. I've never come close to missing the ship (well, there was that Carlos & Charlie's incident!). If I do ever end up missing the ship on an independent tour, my past savings will have more than paid for my cost to catch up to the ship. It would be a bummer to miss out on part of my cruise, but the chance of that happening is low. The cost savings of non-ship tours together with more flexible, satisfying tours is well worth the small risk to me.

[con3]

We were on the 6/26/ Miracle sailing and did the cave tubing with wet-n-wild, Charlie was our guide and he was awesome. The river was high so we had to wear life jackets, and there was 13 in our group, we all linked together with Charlie in the front. We loved it !! Charlie is very informative and very proud of his country. He really made sure we stayed together and were safe. I was worried also about missing the ship, but it was fine, and they are very consious of the time and when we had to leave. The lunch after was delicious! Connie

[Eburgfamily]

On our July 3rd Miracle cruise 20 of us went cave tubing through cave-tubing.com. While Yanni was not our guide, he met us at Terminal 1 just like he said he would, we were all able to get on the first tender off the boat. Yanni then introduced us to our guides Junior and Jimmy. Junior and Jimmy were fabulous. For the one hour trip to the caves he talked all about Belize and Belize City, and was able to relate to all of us b/c he has visited the States before. The bus was nice and air conditoned and they had coolers of bottled water for us.

 

While hiking to the caves Junior and Jimmy took time to show us the interesting plants and flowers along the trail.

 

We ended up doing an extra 2 caves more than the people booked through Carnival and when we met up with them they were all disorganized and some of them looked worried out of their mind b/c they had no guide within a 100 feet of them.

 

Our experience was wonderful, we tipped Junior and Jimmy graciously. For half the price of Carnival we got and experience worth double.

 

I highly reccomend Cave-tubing.com. Yanni is a great tour operator and our tour guides Junior and Jimmy were one of a kind.

[silentbob007]

My only concern with not booking with Carnival is being late back to the ship and missing it. Cavetubing.com may be cheap, but will they honestly guarantee to get your group back to the ship on time? And if something happens and they are late, will they take you to the next port to catch the ship? Has anyone had something like this happen with them?

 

Thanks. We want to book with them but are worried.

 

FYI, Just about everything went wrong on my tour and we still (barely) made it back.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=152687