Belize excursion w/ no review - anyone did it?

[QT911]

There's an excursion called "Lost World Jungle, Caves & Tubing w/ Lunch" but with no review (see pic).

 

I am interested but wonder if anyone has taken it??

 

I also read about Butt's Up Cave Tubing. Is it wise to do a non Carnival excursion? It's cheaper... I am hoping to spend less than $100 for the Belize stop. Appreciate any suggestion you may have.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Homosassa]

Belize City is a port stop where I will only do ship excursions.

 

The reason is simple; excursions to many of the sites (ruins, caves, tubing) involve bus rides of over an hour on roads that are dirt once off the main highway.  Any problems and the ship will probably hold a late tender for you to return to the ship.

 

You may save money on a private excursion, but if something delays your return, and it has on several of my Belize excursions,  it is good to know that the ship is waiting.

 

 

 

 

 

[notscb]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

The reason is simple; excursions to many of the sites (ruins, caves, tubing) involve bus rides of over an hour on roads that are dirt once off the main highway.

 

That's the reason we did a Carnival excursion as well and that peace of mind when we were an hour+ from port but with other Carnival passengers meant that we knew we'd be back on time.

 

Belize City, and the tourism village proper doesn't really have anything for tourists to "do" nearby so I'd definitely suggest taking @Homosassa's advice and going with the Carnival excursion if you have the ability to do so.

[kctwinmommy]

Same here! We did a Carnival excursion in Belize and loved it!

 

I would ask on the Belize board instead of here.

[sanger727]

We did the Butt's up cave tubing on our own and had a great time. The itinerary included the cave tubing, lunch, and a city tour. They did the city tour at the end which allowed us to return with plenty of buffer time if something came up. 

[Theosprey247]

We have done both butt’s up and a Carnival excursion both were enjoyable. 

[klfrodo]

Don't let the scare tactics allow you to not consider non-ship sponsored excursions.

Is the possibility of not returning in time and the ship leaving without you something to consider? Yes. However, the odds are very minuscule. (Unless you're the 1 time it happens out of thousands of trips). These companies wouldn't be in business if they always caused problems with late returns. Word of mouth would kill the business.

Just have your passport with you, your google translate app on the phone, and your next cruise stop is probably Cozumel. A bus will get you to Cozumel before the ship arrives.

I find the non-ship sponsored excursions, cheaper, more adventurous, and more fun.

[Top_of_the_Cube]

Just to add to @klfrodo's post, one of the owner/guides on a private tour I was on in Belize commented that ALL legitimate excursion operators work together to make sure no passengers are ever late.  If there is even one incident of missing a ship, it can tank the whole industry.

 

In fact, on that particular outing the owner got a call that another company was having bus problems while taking clients back to the port.  Contingencies were discussed, including the option that we might pick them up.  Fortunately, the bus problem was resolved in time.

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

D

 

Just have your passport with you, your google translate app on the phone, and your next cruise stop is probably Cozumel. A bus will get you to Cozumel before the ship arrives.

 

I didn't know that the Magic School Bus was available  to make the crossing to Cozumel....

[trummy]

We did butts up on our own. We never book our excursions through the ship.

[Dancing Shoes]

This is something to consider. It is a tender port and if your excursion leaves early, you may have to wait to get ashore.  That would be my worry, not if I would get left behind.