Cave tubing- a million threads but no answer...

[Buffy2323]

I've been reading through all of these cave tubing threads but didn't find what I was looking for so forgive me if this was asked before. We are going on Carnival and booked the cave tubing through the ship (we had a close call in Nassua last year with an outside excursion company and ALMOST missed the ship so we book directly now!!) Anyway, has anyone booked through the ship and if so, are there any reviews from start to finish? My friend and I want NO SURPRISES!! LOL My one main question is:

 

1. How long is the ride to and from the ship to the river/rainforest?

 

Any other tips on things to wear/bring would be much appreciated!!

[kdrosend]

we booked through cave-tubing.com for less than half the price of the cruise line, there has been nothing negative said about them. They have a list of things you need on their website. I know you should bring insect repellant & water shoes or some kind of rubber soled shoes you can wear in the water. They say it is a 50 minute ride to the river. From what I understand the big negative with the cruise line is the size of the group is so large you don't get the personal attention & have heard of people getting left behind stuck behind something in the river & nobody noticing they were missing.

[texancruzer]

We too are booked with cave-tubing.com for this November. Have read they have an extra van (just in case one has problems - which occasionally they do) and IF and I repeat IF you miss the ship (which they have never done) they will drive you to Costa Maya (next port)..... can't beat that kind of service. I also read where they have communication with the pier and once when the ship was planning on leaving early (not sure why) they cut the tour short and got everyone back in time.....

 

What to wear ? Swim suit with cover up or shorts..... also have heard that trail is slippery in spots.... wear water shoes. Also : insect repellent is good idea too.... I like the OFF with DEET in it... comes in a small spray bottle that is easy to carry.

[Buffy2323]

Thanks for the info. guys! I'd love to switch over but my mom is ADAMENT that we book through the cruise line as she panics about those things. We'll just have to be careful we don't miss the ride back :)

 

I'd love to hear from anyone who has booked through Carnival now :)

 

I'll go look for that OFF with DEET today :)

[vacruizer]

After doing the trip with cave-tubing.com last week and also seeing the ship excursion, you're much safer with the outside operators there. People on the ship's tour were stranded in the caves with no guides to be found where we had a guide for every 10 people and they were very concerned with our safety. Also had backup transportation if necessary. After tubing our bus was parked next to the cruise ship buses - old school buses with no A/C and the baldest tires you've ever seen. I probably wouldn't have paid attention to the tires but DH pointed them out - no tread on the tires on all three of those buses. Was really glad to be booked with Yhonny after what we saw. I truly think the ship excursion was putting people's safety at risk and was rather surprised by it as they are so safety conscious onboard.

 

We had a close call getting back to the ship in Grand Cayman earlier in the week, but these guys are great and will take care of you. No way would I do this one with the ship.

[caribbean dreams]

We had 12 people in our group through a private company and 2 guides, the cruise ship had 60 people in there group and 2 guides, we rescued people from the ships group all the way down the river, your mom may be adament about taking the ships excursion but our private group was much safer.

Another horror story is, we had to cross the river to get to the trail, they had just had a lot of rain and the river was high with a swift current, our guides took us across 2 at a time not letting go of us, the ships group was totally out of control, there were atleast 30 people trying to cross the river at once and they were getting swept down stream where we were crossing, so our guides were getting us across and trying to save other people from drowning, and i mean these people were totally under water.

there was no way 2 guides could has possibly control 30 people at once crossing.

all the way down the river there were stranded people that needed to be rescued and the ships guides were no where to be found.

Please do not think this happens all the time, this was just our experience.

We had a blast with our guide and going down the river.

 

 

 

~Deep woods off

~bathing suit or shorts & top

~water shoes, tennis shoes or any sandal with a back strap.

~the ride was about 45 minutes, afterword we were taken to a very nice jungle hotel for drinks and a city tour and we arrived back 1 1/2 hour before we had to be back to the ship so we still had time to do some shopping in town.

Yes the trail can get slippery in some spots.

[theandersons]

I know you will have a blast on this excursion. I can certainly understand you wanting to book through Carnival given the past experience you had. However, I would also strongly encourage you not to do this trip through Carnival. My husband and I booked with Nacho and Cynthia and we were the only ones on our trip. Carnival literally has 30-40 people per guide and our wonderful guide was trying to help the people that were on the Carnival excursion get back out of the caves and instruct them on how to steer. They were bumping up into the walls. In several places, the water gets really shallow and you can get scraped pretty bad if you don't have someone telling you when to lift your butt up. Sometimes you just have to weigh the pros and cons and for safety reasons I would definitely recommend that you use a private operator for this one. Nacho and Cynthia (and Roberto) were absolutely wonderful to us,

[ddbaab53]

Do not do this trip through Carnival. We went recently (Sept.06) with cave-tubbing.com and had a Great time and got back in time to do a little shopping before going back to the ship. You will not have a good experience and will pay twice as much for less of a trip. As theandersons said the ship has too many people and they also only go through 1 cave and we went through 4 caves. My husband and I are in our 50's after Carnival messed us up on one tour we have booked with outside companies ever since. The tour companies know the ship scheduales and get you back in plenty of time.

 

On more thing, the bugs may be at the beach but we did not have problems with any bugs.

[Buffy2323]

Do not do this trip through Carnival. We went recently (Sept.06) with cave-tubbing.com and had a Great time and got back in time to do a little shopping before going back to the ship. You will not have a good experience and will pay twice as much for less of a trip. As theandersons said the ship has too many people and they also only go through 1 cave and we went through 4 caves. My husband and I are in our 50's after Carnival messed us up on one tour we have booked with outside companies ever since. The tour companies know the ship scheduales and get you back in plenty of time.

 

On more thing, the bugs may be at the beach but we did not have problems with any bugs.

Thanks for the info. everyone. I will check into it but it's up to my friend, as well. Also, there is only two of us. I only see pricing on Cave-Tubing.com for parties of 5 or more. Can I book with only 2 and how much more is it? Thanks!!

[Buffy2323]

Okay, we took the plunge and booked directly. I sure hope it works out or my mom will KILL me, LOL Thanks to everyone for the tips!!

[DoubleHJr]

My wife and I went with Yhonny and the cave-tubing group last week (9/28). When we made reservations, it was just for the two of us. When we got there on Thursday to do the excursion, there were plenty of people (close to 30 people if not more), so we all paid the same $45 even though we only made the reservation for two.

 

Yhonny and the other guides pay close attention to everybody in their group. For our trip, there were four people to each guide. The guides know the hike and the river. The guys make it a great trip. We were on a full size bus (think greyhound type bus).

 

I would recommend water shoes (you can rent them for $3), bug spray (if bugs bother you), a change of clothes (you're in a river afterall), and money for Cheers afterwards.

[asrubin]

My husband and I are going with Cave-tubing.com in December. I know my husband will wear his swimming suit with a t-shirt. However, what do the women wear off the ship? Do you wear a swimsuit with shorts and a t-shirt over it? If so, do you wear the shorts and t-shirt tubbing? I understand about bringing a change of clothes. I'm just not sure what to wear initially.

[vacruizer]

I just wore a pair of "quick dry" style gym shorts and a t-shirt off the ship over my bathing suit and then did the hike and tubing in just bathing suit and shorts. We left everything else on the bus except for our waterproof cameras - they are very secure and guarantee your belongings will be there when you get back. I brought a change of clothes but didn't use them. Just put my t-shirt back on back at the bus and switched out of my water shoes and into my sandals. Lunch and the bus ride back were very casual and everything was dry by then.