Major Tom?

[Jackrjc]

We are thinking of using Major Tom for a combination ziplining/cave tubing excursion. Anyone have recent experience with this excursion and getting back to the ship in time? We will be in Belize in Jan 09.

[Darkwolfe]

ABSOLUTELY!!! Go with Major Tom. He won't have you shouting in the caves (which is both dumb and dangerous), you will learn a good deal about Belize itself, and if you ask him a question, you will get a very straight-forward answer, good or bad.

 

You'll also get a smaller group. When we went, there were seven people with Tom and another guide.

[bbetson]

We did the cave tubing in Belize last week (it was actually just last Wednesday). I can't say enough about Major Tom. Our guides were awesome, very safe and told us many fascinating bits of information on the walk to the cave. Many other tour groups were hurried along and missed out on learning about the rain forest.

 

They asked us about what time our ship was leaving and they had us back in plenty of time. We could have stopped for lunch, but they said they would take us right back to the ship since we only had about 90 minutes of "good" shopping time left. We were back in port with enough time to shop and grab a beer :)

 

I highly recommend Major Tom. (And a side note, from what we could tell we had a higher quality tour and experience at half the cost of the carnival tour)

[alfngf]

We did the cave tubing in Belize last week (it was actually just last Wednesday). I can't say enough about Major Tom. Our guides were awesome, very safe and told us many fascinating bits of information on the walk to the cave. Many other tour groups were hurried along and missed out on learning about the rain forest.

 

They asked us about what time our ship was leaving and they had us back in plenty of time. We could have stopped for lunch, but they said they would take us right back to the ship since we only had about 90 minutes of "good" shopping time left. We were back in port with enough time to shop and grab a beer :)

 

I highly recommend Major Tom. (And a side note, from what we could tell we had a higher quality tour and experience at half the cost of the carnival tour)

 

I have to ditto all this. We were with Major Tom on the 19th and it was a GREAT time! Of course we probably got a bit spoiled since we had Minor Tom as our guide but I wouldn't have it any other way. Man it was fun. We had to skip lunch but we were told that we'd probably have to up front, I guess Carnival was slow getting us off the ship? We were on the first tender off that was non-Carnival excursions. They refunded all lunch money though if you had pre-paid. We got back to the port with about an hour to spare. Thomas said that Belize is supported by the tourism so it seemed to us as if they wanted to get you back in order to have time to shop. We had a great time and highly recommend it. I'll be writing a review eventually of the entire cruise with pictures. :)

[GottaLoveIt]

I saw this review and it makes me a little nervous. I am booked next week and I convinced our group to go with an independent because the group would be much smaller than booking through Carnival. Can anyone comment regarding the size of the group that is described in this review:

 

Belize: We booked a private tour with Major Tom. He came highly recommended and supposedly you pay after you are done. This is not the case. We got on as early a tender as we could and met Major Tom right outside the gates with Minor Tom and other members of the staff. I thought it would be a small group of 8 or 10 of us, but there were at least 100 people signed up just standing around while one person collected money in advance. Minor Tom and I are the same age so we chatted a while and he's a great guy however it seemed very disorganized and we waited nearly an hour before Major Tom finally announced follow me to the bus! So we get on this bus and ride an hour with guides Mark Mark and Mike or maybe it was Mike Mike and Mark. There were 45 or so of us on the bus. It was still pretty early (like 10 am) for us party animals that stay up all night and we had to listen to one of the guides just yap and yap and yap and tell bad joke after bad joke on the intercom while we were trying to take a nap. Oh well. So we get to the zip lining place where some people signed up for combo zipline and cave tubing and about 10 people got off the bus along with 2 of the guides. We head over the cave tubing and get our tubes and begin the "30 minute walk" to where the entrance of cave tubing is. What they don't tell you is that there is literally 1000's other people carrying tubes along this small passage. We also had this severly overweight gentlemen who had to stop every 5 seconds as well as a 90+ year old man who strugged severely with the walk. It was very disappointing. The walk ended up being over an hour and when we kept having to stop for the fat guy and the old fart, ants would eat your feet. We didn't let this get our hopes down though and tried to keep a positive attitude. So we finally get to the entrance of the cave tubing and we realize that our guide has to somehow manage to control 38 tubes along with his own down through the caves. Not happening! Our family just ended up breaking away from the pack and cruising down the river by ourselves! It wasn't that the guide wasn't trying to keep us together, it's just that 38 people for one guide is just too much to handle. Very disappointing. Definitely keep your "butts up" as the rocks in the shallow area will hurt you a bit if you hit one the wrong way. The river is pretty easy flowing though and the caves are neat. The water is very cold even for Floridians! There are rocks on the sides that can be dangerous to hit and the rapids can suck your tube out from under you if you aren't paying attention. I wouldn't recommend it for elderly or overweight individuals. So it's over and we change clothes (decent facilities) get back on the bus just to hear some more bad jokes as we head back into town. With the length of the tour due to walking and waiting so much, it left little time for shopping, etc... so we just got back on the ship after the wife bought some nice wooden vases. Major Tom is a nice guy as is his son, but I would not recommend it until he gets more guides per group. It was very disappointing.

[alfngf]

I saw this review and it makes me a little nervous. I am booked next week and I convinced our group to go with an independent because the group would be much smaller than booking through Carnival. Can anyone comment regarding the size of the group that is described in this review:

 

Belize: We booked a private tour with Major Tom. He came highly recommended and supposedly you pay after you are done. This is not the case. We got on as early a tender as we could and met Major Tom right outside the gates with Minor Tom and other members of the staff. I thought it would be a small group of 8 or 10 of us, but there were at least 100 people signed up just standing around while one person collected money in advance. Minor Tom and I are the same age so we chatted a while and he's a great guy however it seemed very disorganized and we waited nearly an hour before Major Tom finally announced follow me to the bus! So we get on this bus and ride an hour with guides Mark Mark and Mike or maybe it was Mike Mike and Mark. There were 45 or so of us on the bus. It was still pretty early (like 10 am) for us party animals that stay up all night and we had to listen to one of the guides just yap and yap and yap and tell bad joke after bad joke on the intercom while we were trying to take a nap. Oh well. So we get to the zip lining place where some people signed up for combo zipline and cave tubing and about 10 people got off the bus along with 2 of the guides. We head over the cave tubing and get our tubes and begin the "30 minute walk" to where the entrance of cave tubing is. What they don't tell you is that there is literally 1000's other people carrying tubes along this small passage. We also had this severly overweight gentlemen who had to stop every 5 seconds as well as a 90+ year old man who strugged severely with the walk. It was very disappointing. The walk ended up being over an hour and when we kept having to stop for the fat guy and the old fart, ants would eat your feet. We didn't let this get our hopes down though and tried to keep a positive attitude. So we finally get to the entrance of the cave tubing and we realize that our guide has to somehow manage to control 38 tubes along with his own down through the caves. Not happening! Our family just ended up breaking away from the pack and cruising down the river by ourselves! It wasn't that the guide wasn't trying to keep us together, it's just that 38 people for one guide is just too much to handle. Very disappointing. Definitely keep your "butts up" as the rocks in the shallow area will hurt you a bit if you hit one the wrong way. The river is pretty easy flowing though and the caves are neat. The water is very cold even for Floridians! There are rocks on the sides that can be dangerous to hit and the rapids can suck your tube out from under you if you aren't paying attention. I wouldn't recommend it for elderly or overweight individuals. So it's over and we change clothes (decent facilities) get back on the bus just to hear some more bad jokes as we head back into town. With the length of the tour due to walking and waiting so much, it left little time for shopping, etc... so we just got back on the ship after the wife bought some nice wooden vases. Major Tom is a nice guy as is his son, but I would not recommend it until he gets more guides per group. It was very disappointing.

 

 

I'm not sure how many total were in the Major Tom group with us. I'd say about 50-60 people total but we were broken into smaller groups with our own guides once we were in the river. He had a bus about the size of a tour bus, I guess and then we were in a 3 row mini-van. There were 11 of us in the group we were in with his son, Thomas. We stayed with him the entire time and sometimes during the walk we'd get behind the larger group but we tried to stay away from them. Once we hit the water the larger group broke up into 3 -4 groups of 11 or so people.

 

We had a much different experience than that person. We had our guide, his son, Thomas and I know there were 3 or 4 other guides and Major Tom himself in the river. Major Tom actually met us in the middle of the cave somehow, just as we hit the waterfall area there he appeared. :)

 

We were never told it was a 30 minute walk, he explained it was a 45-1hr walk and Thomas took his time and explained so much to us. We had a little boy probably around 6 or 7 in our group and a young girl around 11 or 12 and also a 16 year old. Thomas was a fast walker and sometimes the kids couldn't keep up but he'd stop ahead to wait on them. The walk was fine for us. We had some in our group that aren't in fantastic shape and we all did fine.

[bbetson]

Last week there was probably a group of 60 or so people total, but we were broken up onto different buses and with different guides. I didn't count or pay any attention. We were on a bus, it was full, but comfortable. Our guide had 11 people when we went down the river. He did a great job. I had no trouble with any ants biting my feet, and I didn't use bug spray. It was a very enjoyable trip. I would not hesitate to do it again!

[nybumpkin]

I also posted on the reviewer's thread on the Carnival page. We did have a large group when we went in February; both Carnival Valor and Carnival Legend were in port and we had folks from both ships on Major Tom's tour. When we went, he separated the zip lining folks from the just-cave-tubing folks to take a separate bus, so we never had to drop off people at zip lining. I would say there were about 45 people on our bus. The cave tubing park was crowded; consider that there were 300 people booked on the Valor's shore excursion alone, and that doesn't include other independent tours or the Carnival Legend shore excursion! (We lucked out; the Carnival photographer was taking pictures as we crossed the stream and must have thought we were on the ship's tour; we ended up with a great picture!:D) It did take some time to walk to the caves, but I don't think it was much more than 1/2 hour-45 minutes. It was a long line of people, given all the tour groups! We had two guides for the folks on our bus and they did a great job. We were divided into two groups to link together through the caves; once out of the caves, we floated down the stream, unlinked, back to the starting point. It is easy to "run aground" in the stream, but our guides - and some of the other tour operators' guides - were more than willing to help.

 

It sounds as if Major Tom was one tour guide short on this reviewer's tour - one guide cannot handle much more than 20 people through the caves. I also have to say that cave tubing was much more work than I anticipated. It's not a "lazy river" ride! However,we really enjoyed our experience and I wouldn't hesitate to try it again.

[Darkwolfe]

100+?!?!? Wow, Tom's business has exploded in the last 8 months. He's going to have to hire more guides.

[Al's_gal]

I also posted on the reviewer's thread on the Carnival page. We did have a large group when we went in February; both Carnival Valor and Carnival Legend were in port and we had folks from both ships on Major Tom's tour. When we went, he separated the zip lining folks from the just-cave-tubing folks to take a separate bus, so we never had to drop off people at zip lining. I would say there were about 45 people on our bus. The cave tubing park was crowded; consider that there were 300 people booked on the Valor's shore excursion alone, and that doesn't include other independent tours or the Carnival Legend shore excursion! (We lucked out; the Carnival photographer was taking pictures as we crossed the stream and must have thought we were on the ship's tour; we ended up with a great picture!:D) It did take some time to walk to the caves, but I don't think it was much more than 1/2 hour-45 minutes. It was a long line of people, given all the tour groups! We had two guides for the folks on our bus and they did a great job. We were divided into two groups to link together through the caves; once out of the caves, we floated down the stream, unlinked, back to the starting point. It is easy to "run aground" in the stream, but our guides - and some of the other tour operators' guides - were more than willing to help.

 

It sounds as if Major Tom was one tour guide short on this reviewer's tour - one guide cannot handle much more than 20 people through the caves. I also have to say that cave tubing was much more work than I anticipated. It's not a "lazy river" ride! However,we really enjoyed our experience and I wouldn't hesitate to try it again.

 

We had about 45 people on our bus, and two guides. But M.T. didn't split the cave tubers and zip liners/cave tubers into two separate buses, which I wish he would have done b/c then our experience would have been great.

 

It is a popular excursion and I think M.T.'s company is getting more popular as well, so be prepared for a crowd! It is still fun though despite the masses :)

[rockett]

I replied once but perhaps my reply was deleted? We tubed with Major Tom last week. The caves are ok, not as I expected and be prepared for a lot of people. There must not be many excusrions in Belize because there were at least 15 bus loads at the parking lot. We waited in line to get in the river, the caves were packed and at times it felt very disorganized and unsafe. There were 2 guides for 50-60 people. We were hooked together which ended up causing more problems than good. We got turned around and started going down the river backwards. Being hooked together there was no way to turn ourselves around and the guides were unable to help. We had prebooked and ordered lunch however they didn't have our reservations. It poured down rain which helped with the heat however the trails were very muddy and slippery. We had a great week aboard the Valor but this was not my favorite excursion.

[Turtle Lover]

This does not sound anything like the tour that my family and I took last summer with Major Tom. We were in a van with two other families (10 of us in the van). We were fortunate enough to have Major Tom as our guide, although Minor Tom and the rest of the "Fun Team" were driving other vans with passengers. Our tour was extremely organized. Each van (no big buses) was escorted by a few members of Major Tom's team. There were only five people connected together while going down the river (not 38) and the guides were all very attentive and cautious. They made sure that people did not float alone in the dark caves. I did see other tour operators letting their customers float alone, and I saw several teenagers that looked frightened as they tried to find their families in the dark cave. There was no way that Major Tom or his guides would have let that happen. I would much rather have been connected to my group, then to worry about my children floating alone in the caves.

Major Tom met us at the dock holding a sign with my name on it. We did have to wait for about an hour, but it wasn't his fault. There were people that signed up for the tour, and two people never showed up. The other family of three decided that they "didn't want to rush", so instead the held up our tour. They finally arrived and we headed to the caves. He stopped at a general store to supply us with cold water to drink, and offered us some of his breakfast. The ride was at least an hour, but we knew that going in. I enjoyed the "Yap, Yap, Yap" that was described in the post. I go to other countries to learn about the people that live in that country, and I found it fascinating to learn about Major Tom's Mayan descent. As we drove, he gave us a bit of a history lesson about the country of Belize, and told us interesting facts about the land and the rain forest. I enjoyed his sense of humor.

Once we arrived at the caves, we were given life vests, flashlights, and tubes. The Major was very safety conscious, which I appreciated. I felt very safe with him. Once we arrived at the rain forest, it was a 45 min. walk to the caves. The walk went fast, because Major Tom was sharing his knowledge of the rain forest with us. We learned about plants and trees that were in the forest, and plants that were used for medicinal purposes. He showed us different insects, including termites and leaf cutter ants. We did use insect repellent before we went on the trip, but no one received any insect bites (including ants). It was obvious to my family that this man takes great pride in his country and his Mayan descent, and I couldn't help but feel privileged to have spent an afternoon with such an interesting man.

There were not thousands of people on our trail through the forest. There was a steady line of people, most from other tour companies. I did notice that many of the other tour passengers would stop to listen to our "Major" because he was so interesting and captivating. The line of people in front of us moved steadily, and I didn't see anyone having a problem carrying their tubes. If anyone did have a problem, Major Tom's guides carried the tubes. My 10 year old daughter was having trouble carrying hers, and Joe, one of the Fun Team, carried her tube to the river. He also trailed behind my children to be sure that they kept up with us and didn't get lost. Once we were in the river (which was shallow in some areas), Major Tom connected us. Joe stayed with one group, and Major Tom stayed with our group. If we broke apart at any time, Major Tom would reconnect us. I had no worries that I would be separated from my children in those caves. Inside the cave, Major Tom tried to tell us information about the caves, but it was hard to hear him with other cave companies screaming in the caves. It felt like such a sacred place, and the only disappointing part (for me) about the tour was that other cave tubing companies allowed (and encouraged) their customers to scream in the caves. What a shame!

Some parts of the river were very shallow. We never had to get out of the tube, though. Major Tom and the Team dragged us over the shallow areas yelling "Bottoms Up" so that we wouldn't scrape our bottoms on the rocks. None of us had a problem getting scraped by rocks. Even my 10 year old was able to lift herself up high enough to avoid the rocks. It wasn't hard to do. I suppose it's like anything else, if you approach a situation with a postive attitude, you'll have much more fun.

Finally, it was time to head back to the ship. On the way back, we stopped to meet a medicine woman (a friend of Major Tom's). She gave him fresh mangos, which he shared with everyone in the van. We made it back to the ship in time.

In my opinion, Major Tom is awesome. He appears to me to be a very honest man, and he does all he can to ensure that his customers are happy and have a good time. I would recommend him to anyone that is traveling to Belize.

 

 

 

 

 

I saw this review and it makes me a little nervous. I am booked next week and I convinced our group to go with an independent because the group would be much smaller than booking through Carnival. Can anyone comment regarding the size of the group that is described in this review:

 

Belize: We booked a private tour with Major Tom. He came highly recommended and supposedly you pay after you are done. This is not the case. We got on as early a tender as we could and met Major Tom right outside the gates with Minor Tom and other members of the staff. I thought it would be a small group of 8 or 10 of us, but there were at least 100 people signed up just standing around while one person collected money in advance. Minor Tom and I are the same age so we chatted a while and he's a great guy however it seemed very disorganized and we waited nearly an hour before Major Tom finally announced follow me to the bus! So we get on this bus and ride an hour with guides Mark Mark and Mike or maybe it was Mike Mike and Mark. There were 45 or so of us on the bus. It was still pretty early (like 10 am) for us party animals that stay up all night and we had to listen to one of the guides just yap and yap and yap and tell bad joke after bad joke on the intercom while we were trying to take a nap. Oh well. So we get to the zip lining place where some people signed up for combo zipline and cave tubing and about 10 people got off the bus along with 2 of the guides. We head over the cave tubing and get our tubes and begin the "30 minute walk" to where the entrance of cave tubing is. What they don't tell you is that there is literally 1000's other people carrying tubes along this small passage. We also had this severly overweight gentlemen who had to stop every 5 seconds as well as a 90+ year old man who strugged severely with the walk. It was very disappointing. The walk ended up being over an hour and when we kept having to stop for the fat guy and the old fart, ants would eat your feet. We didn't let this get our hopes down though and tried to keep a positive attitude. So we finally get to the entrance of the cave tubing and we realize that our guide has to somehow manage to control 38 tubes along with his own down through the caves. Not happening! Our family just ended up breaking away from the pack and cruising down the river by ourselves! It wasn't that the guide wasn't trying to keep us together, it's just that 38 people for one guide is just too much to handle. Very disappointing. Definitely keep your "butts up" as the rocks in the shallow area will hurt you a bit if you hit one the wrong way. The river is pretty easy flowing though and the caves are neat. The water is very cold even for Floridians! There are rocks on the sides that can be dangerous to hit and the rapids can suck your tube out from under you if you aren't paying attention. I wouldn't recommend it for elderly or overweight individuals. So it's over and we change clothes (decent facilities) get back on the bus just to hear some more bad jokes as we head back into town. With the length of the tour due to walking and waiting so much, it left little time for shopping, etc... so we just got back on the ship after the wife bought some nice wooden vases. Major Tom is a nice guy as is his son, but I would not recommend it until he gets more guides per group. It was very disappointing.

[peanutgirl]

We went 4 weeks ago with Major Tom. We were a bus of about 40 and were divided up into 4 groups of 10 with our own guide. It was great and well organized. We loved Major Tom.

[cruzn4abruzn]

I saw this review and it makes me a little nervous. I am booked next week and I convinced our group to go with an independent because the group would be much smaller than booking through Carnival. Can anyone comment regarding the size of the group that is described in this review:

 

Belize: We booked a private tour with Major Tom. He came highly recommended and supposedly you pay after you are done. This is not the case. We got on as early a tender as we could and met Major Tom right outside the gates with Minor Tom and other members of the staff. I thought it would be a small group of 8 or 10 of us, but there were at least 100 people signed up just standing around while one person collected money in advance. Minor Tom and I are the same age so we chatted a while and he's a great guy however it seemed very disorganized and we waited nearly an hour before Major Tom finally announced follow me to the bus! So we get on this bus and ride an hour with guides Mark Mark and Mike or maybe it was Mike Mike and Mark. There were 45 or so of us on the bus. It was still pretty early (like 10 am) for us party animals that stay up all night and we had to listen to one of the guides just yap and yap and yap and tell bad joke after bad joke on the intercom while we were trying to take a nap. Oh well. So we get to the zip lining place where some people signed up for combo zipline and cave tubing and about 10 people got off the bus along with 2 of the guides. We head over the cave tubing and get our tubes and begin the "30 minute walk" to where the entrance of cave tubing is. What they don't tell you is that there is literally 1000's other people carrying tubes along this small passage. We also had this severly overweight gentlemen who had to stop every 5 seconds as well as a 90+ year old man who strugged severely with the walk. It was very disappointing. The walk ended up being over an hour and when we kept having to stop for the fat guy and the old fart, ants would eat your feet. We didn't let this get our hopes down though and tried to keep a positive attitude. So we finally get to the entrance of the cave tubing and we realize that our guide has to somehow manage to control 38 tubes along with his own down through the caves. Not happening! Our family just ended up breaking away from the pack and cruising down the river by ourselves! It wasn't that the guide wasn't trying to keep us together, it's just that 38 people for one guide is just too much to handle. Very disappointing. Definitely keep your "butts up" as the rocks in the shallow area will hurt you a bit if you hit one the wrong way. The river is pretty easy flowing though and the caves are neat. The water is very cold even for Floridians! There are rocks on the sides that can be dangerous to hit and the rapids can suck your tube out from under you if you aren't paying attention. I wouldn't recommend it for elderly or overweight individuals. So it's over and we change clothes (decent facilities) get back on the bus just to hear some more bad jokes as we head back into town. With the length of the tour due to walking and waiting so much, it left little time for shopping, etc... so we just got back on the ship after the wife bought some nice wooden vases. Major Tom is a nice guy as is his son, but I would not recommend it until he gets more guides per group. It was very disappointing.

 

 

Look, I know most people have a fantastic time and a really great experience with Major Tom and his company but here is our experience:

We were on Royal Caribbean the first week of September. The highlight of my trip was suppose to be Belize. We made sure to jump on the first tender and we got there on time. We met Major Tom, his female assistant and some others were there also. We also had to wait almost an hour for others who took the second tender. We repeatedly asked Tom and his crew if we would be back in time for shopping etc. We were told we would be back by 1pm. All we were doing was cave tubing. When we were about to leave, Tom's female assistant collected all the money from all of us and checked us off of the list. We were then divided into groups and placed on a school bus only it looked really, really old. First we were told there was no air conditioning, it broke so we all had to leave the windows open---the wind was whipping----trust me. Yes, I agree, there were a bunch of really, seriously bad jokes and in addition to that, there was some misinformation being told to us ie. little fish that may bite us; bat poo that may drip down from the bat holes so try not to look up, etc. We also took that long crowded "hike" over the bumpiest, rockiest road ever (water socks will not help, you are betting to use those thick soled sandals with the velcro to protect the bottom of your feet). We finally get to the river, water is FREEZING, we get wet, proceed to walk and finally get near the caves. We were broken up in about 4's or 6's. Sounds okay right? Well here is where it all went down hill.....we had a guide her name is Lynette, and you couldnt get a more unprofessional, inexperienced guide. She led us from BEHIND. First thing that happened? We were headed straight into rocks with noone to tell us "butts up". I was first in the line---screaming my head off "where is the guide, where is the guide?" She was behind all 4 of us pushing rather than pulling us. Then after we hit straight into those rocks scraping me and my husbands bottom, we head straight into the cave wall--to the left side of the wall. Again I am screaming "where is the guide, where is the guide, noone is guiding us". She finally comes to the front and saying all snotty "I'm here, Im here". I was so disgusted. This went on the entire time. She was so small and short and obviously didnt have the strength to do this kind of work and it ruined this excursion for us. Both my husband and I were very upset. There were times when she finally jumped out of her tube and she put the tube on my feet so I had to keep my feet up to hold onto her tube while she tried to pull us away from all the rocks we kept hitting cuz she didnt guide us correctly to begin with. Finally we went thru the one cave, got to some sunlight and they let us "drift on our own" as they put it. Quite honestly that is the last thing we wanted. And what happened again? We hit straight into tree stumps and then some other guide from another group had to help the two of us. I was so embarrassed. Now, this story does not end here but let me cut to the chase that we grabbed our tubes, went back to the bus, changed and then we were put on a different bus so we could have air conditioning. We took notice how Major Tom was yelling on his cell phone to someone, something had gone wrong and we noticed that we were over an hour late as it was. We were hoping we would get back on time. As for the lunch, people on my bus got the lunch. The guides called into this restaurant and they jumped off the bus with the money, came back with the food and gave it to those who ordered it and the bus drove away while people ate their lunch on teh bus. On the way back another couple wanted "cashew wine" so the guides stopped the bus at a market and bought a bunch of bottles for whoever wanted this wine--we did NOT partake in this. However, the 4 guides surely did partake. They all sat at the front of the bus, laughing and drinking 2 bottles of the wine. In addition to the blasting loud reggae-tone music. There was about 12-14 of us on the big bus but they made sure they were having a good time. In the end, when they stopped the bus, the guy began to apologize if the "offended anyone" on todays trip never once asking anyone for a tip. Now, I am not saying this sort of thing happens to everyone but I can assure you, I am telling you the truth, this happened to us.:(

[jim+4]

Look, I know most people have a fantastic time and a really great experience with Major Tom and his company but here is our experience:

We were on Royal Caribbean the first week of September. The highlight of my trip was suppose to be Belize. We made sure to jump on the first tender and we got there on time. We met Major Tom, his female assistant and some others were there also. We also had to wait almost an hour for others who took the second tender. We repeatedly asked Tom and his crew if we would be back in time for shopping etc. We were told we would be back by 1pm. All we were doing was cave tubing. When we were about to leave, Tom's female assistant collected all the money from all of us and checked us off of the list. We were then divided into groups and placed on a school bus only it looked really, really old. First we were told there was no air conditioning, it broke so we all had to leave the windows open---the wind was whipping----trust me. Yes, I agree, there were a bunch of really, seriously bad jokes and in addition to that, there was some misinformation being told to us ie. little fish that may bite us; bat poo that may drip down from the bat holes so try not to look up, etc. We also took that long crowded "hike" over the bumpiest, rockiest road ever (water socks will not help, you are betting to use those thick soled sandals with the velcro to protect the bottom of your feet). We finally get to the river, water is FREEZING, we get wet, proceed to walk and finally get near the caves. We were broken up in about 4's or 6's. Sounds okay right? Well here is where it all went down hill.....we had a guide her name is Lynette, and you couldnt get a more unprofessional, inexperienced guide. She led us from BEHIND. First thing that happened? We were headed straight into rocks with noone to tell us "butts up". I was first in the line---screaming my head off "where is the guide, where is the guide?" She was behind all 4 of us pushing rather than pulling us. Then after we hit straight into those rocks scraping me and my husbands bottom, we head straight into the cave wall--to the left side of the wall. Again I am screaming "where is the guide, where is the guide, noone is guiding us". She finally comes to the front and saying all snotty "I'm here, Im here". I was so disgusted. This went on the entire time. She was so small and short and obviously didnt have the strength to do this kind of work and it ruined this excursion for us. Both my husband and I were very upset. There were times when she finally jumped out of her tube and she put the tube on my feet so I had to keep my feet up to hold onto her tube while she tried to pull us away from all the rocks we kept hitting cuz she didnt guide us correctly to begin with. Finally we went thru the one cave, got to some sunlight and they let us "drift on our own" as they put it. Quite honestly that is the last thing we wanted. And what happened again? We hit straight into tree stumps and then some other guide from another group had to help the two of us. I was so embarrassed. Now, this story does not end here but let me cut to the chase that we grabbed our tubes, went back to the bus, changed and then we were put on a different bus so we could have air conditioning. We took notice how Major Tom was yelling on his cell phone to someone, something had gone wrong and we noticed that we were over an hour late as it was. We were hoping we would get back on time. As for the lunch, people on my bus got the lunch. The guides called into this restaurant and they jumped off the bus with the money, came back with the food and gave it to those who ordered it and the bus drove away while people ate their lunch on teh bus. On the way back another couple wanted "cashew wine" so the guides stopped the bus at a market and bought a bunch of bottles for whoever wanted this wine--we did NOT partake in this. However, the 4 guides surely did partake. They all sat at the front of the bus, laughing and drinking 2 bottles of the wine. In addition to the blasting loud reggae-tone music. There was about 12-14 of us on the big bus but they made sure they were having a good time. In the end, when they stopped the bus, the guy began to apologize if the "offended anyone" on todays trip never once asking anyone for a tip. Now, I am not saying this sort of thing happens to everyone but I can assure you, I am telling you the truth, this happened to us.:(

We were on the same tour as you( myself, wife, 3 DD's, and another couple we met through CC) and had a great time. My only complaint was that we DID have to wait for another group , and that put us behind. The walk wasn't that bad( I had on water shoes) and the water wasn't that cold( I am from Florida).

Yes, the jokes were corny, but that goes with the territory. I took the warnings with a grain of salt, but kept my mouth shut when I looked up.You must have been in the last group that was lagging behind. I thought one of our guides went back to help out. You do have my sympathy for that.

We had the lunch, and it was well worth the extra $5. They did have to go back in to get more meals though, causing another delay.

We did stop again because at least 3 couples wanted to get the cashew wine.

When we got back I heard George say something about offending someone, my wife and I looked at each other as we didn't know what he was talking about. We had about 40 minutes to shop before the last tender, enough for my daughters to find a pocketbook or two. They can get the same in Chinatown, so no big deal.

Hopefully if that guide can't do the job, she will be gone.

Other than the initial delay, I have only good things to say about our trip with Major Tom.

[VaTraveler]

We just returned from our cruise on Sunday. We were in Belize on February 25. We are a 62-year-old couple who signed up for the cave tubing and zip lining with Major Tom. In reading some of these posts, I wonder how different people can perceive things so differently. Some of the things that were criticized by others (corny jokes, etc.) were part of what made it fun for us.

 

The bottom line is that we had a wonderful day, and I thought everything that was done was top of the line as far as safety precautions. There was a lady who must have been in her 80's who zip lined with us and said she loved it. We had a group of about fifteen on the bus. It wasn't luxurious, but I've been on school buses that were worse.:D Our wait was very short to get on the bus and get started. The best part was that we arrived at the zip lining part and did our zip line with no problems whatsoever and no wait. When we got through and were coming back down, there must have been hundreds of people waiting in line with the ship excursions.

 

We then went to the cave and did our tubing. Again, safety was utmost. We were in groups of about six, hooked together, with two guides around us at all times. We all were required to wear life jackets regardless of swimming ability. The cave tubing was relaxing and pleasant, and even though I don't swim, I was never the least bit nervous.

 

We were given a very good, typical Belizean lunch and returned to the port in plenty of time. Our experience was excellent with Major Tom, and I would do it again.

[packard89]

I started a new thread about my experience with Major Tom and it mysteriously disappeared! I just want to prepare large groups for what to expect. I booked this excursion for 48 people, Major Tom and I emailed eachother multiple times before we left for our vacation. Not once did he mention to me that once we arrived in Belize that 1 person from our group would be expected to collect everyone's money and go into the "office" to pay. (The office was a woman sitting on a bench, and I had to walk up to her holding over $2,500 in my hand. Needless to say, I was nervous.) This process of collecting took us almost an hour. We had no pen or paper to keep track of who paid how much. If he had told me this in advance, I could have taken care of it on the ship the day before. And not been so stressed!! That hour made a big difference, out of 48 people, most of us were doing the combo tour. We didn't have enough time for lunch, we were all starving. And we barely made it back in time for our tender. So, no shopping. (I am grateful that we at least made it back in time for our tender. I was a little freaked out!) The other problem that we had was when we were finished cave tubing and were going to our bus, (we had our own 52 passenger bus) they switched buses on us. They removed our belongings from our bus and basically threw them on the other bus. There was no money stolen or anything like that, but everyone was upset at the way they just tossed our belongings around. So make sure when you leave your bags in the bus to put everything inside and zip it. Some of us laid our towels and shirts on top and we had trouble finding them.

 

As far the cave tubing, Samuel was our guide. He didn't speak a word while we were inside the caves. The other guides were pointing things out and explaining things. On the bright side, everyone really enjoyed the zip line. That part was a blast! I hope this information will help anyone out who is planning this for a large group. Collect the money the day before. Keep track of how many are just tubing. (Adults/children) How many are doing the combo, etc... Your life will be much easier.

[MAUGUWI]

We had a Great time Zip lining with Major Tom! We had a Group of 8 and everyone for 6 - 60 had a great time. The Bus ride is about 1 hour 15 mins. To get there But the Park in very Nice. The Staff from Major Tom's was Very Nice!:)

[tiamar]

We went in February and really enjoyed ourselves. We were in a van with one other couple and a family with 4 kids. Mark was our driver and his son, Mark Jr., accompanied him. The drive to cave tubing is long, but you know that when you sign up. They have instituted a new policy with the zip lining where the park is charging for tour guides to bring people in. So Mark had to talk to the guy before we could enter. We didn't buy zipline tickets because when we reserved for cave tubing, they were hashing out the differences with the property owner. We were able to undress and head over to get our tubes, life jackets, and headlights. DON'T put the gear on when you get it! You have to walk for a distance before you do. Our group was small and we enjoyed the hike. You have to cross the river and they encourage you to get wet to stay cool for the remainder of the walk. You can actually climb up some rocks and dive off of them into the water, which is what my son did and loved it. Yes, there are ants and they hurt like crazy, but the funny thing is that you won't see them until they have bitten you. So keep walking!

 

There were other tour companies there with us and I am so glad we went with Major Tom. You may get "tube envy" when you see some of the newer fancier tubes, but you pay for the experience with these experienced guides. When Mark would tell us something, the guide from the other group would listen and then repeat it to her group. We saw people who were not in groups, people screwing around in the caves, and the absolute worst -- people who never put their lifejackets on, but kept them strapped to the tubes. Listen to the experienced guides. They keep you together for a reason. Someone died there recently because they were doing the caves solo although part of a group. It may look like easy, simple fun, but it can be dangerous, which is why you need to listen and pay attention to the instructions.

 

After going through the caves and down the river back to the starting point, we walked back to the van and changed. We headed back and stopped for food at the cottage. Simple and fantastic all rolled into one. Rice, beans, plantains, and chicken along with limeade type drink. Everyone ate, drank, and many slept on the way back. We made it back in time with no concern for missing the tender. Major Tom has a way to get you back to your ship even if you miss the tender. As for shopping at the port, I didn't really see that much, but it was our first port and I wasn't interested in lugging a lot with me for the remainder of the cruise.

 

I highly recommend Major Tom, Minor Tom, Mark, and Mark Jr. for the hard work and professionalism.

[Maxax]

We also had a great time with Major Tom...but disorganized...yes, a little...our biggest complaint though...was the wait. Our information, from Major Tom, said to get their early...take the first tender....(and so we did)...and then we just waited on the dock with Major Tom...for about an hour and a half...while we gathered up everyone else...who did NOT make the first tour...and who came from other ships!

[tmusgrave]

We went Cave Tubing with Major Tom and the Fun Team at the end of February 2009. We could not have had a better experience. Mark was our guide and he met us at the pier. We waited for about 30-45 minutes for some other people who never showed. This was great for us, we had a private tour!

On the ride out to the park, Major Tom and Mark told us about the area, pointed out places of interest as we rode through Belize's countryside. There were clean restrooms where we could change before getting our life jackets, lights and tubes.

Mark said it would be about a 20-30 minute walk, but it went very quickly. He knew so much about the rainforest and taught us some basic survival tips (for example if you get bit by a venemous snake, there is a plant you can eat that will slow the venom).

Once we got in the water, Mark stayed very close. At times he had us hand on to a rope to stay together and other times he let us float freely, As we floated through the caves, he told us about the Mayan legends and Xibalba (the Mayan word for "underworld" or "hell").

The lunch was awesome and we enjoyed a couple of Belikin's before heading back to the port. On the way back, we stopped for a fresh coconut - a definite treat!

If you want a tour that is both fun and educational, Major Tom and the Fun Team is the only way to go!