Belize Cave Tubing?

Question

I was wondering if anyone has booked their cave tubing shore excursion through www.belizecruiseexcursions.com before and have done the Xtreme Cave Tubing. I was considering booking through them instead of through RCCL. I know the risks involved but from the website it seems to be ok. Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I would recommend going through the cruise line for all excursions in Belize. You do get priority assistance in leaving the cruise ship (it is a tender port, and a really bad one at that) and the cruise ship tours are all fully insured to the extent that you can even claim in the US. If something goes wrong with a local operator, you will have to go all the way back to Belize on your own to make a claim. Ships will also wait for their own tours in the case of any delays (VERY frequent in Belize due to poor road conditions and the distances to the tour sites). If you go with an independant you will get left behind (I know because I have done it)

One poster has recommended a private tour company saying that the Carnival tour got cancelled whereas hers went. The only thing I can say is that she was very lucky. I worked for Carnival organizing the tours on board for a few years, and the only reason they get cancelled is if the tour operator thinks there is a serious safety issue

Answer 2

I would book thru RCCL.  The first time I was there, that tour ran very late and the ship waited for the passengers to return.  They won't do that if you book thru an independent operator.  The second time I was there (and actually booked that tour) it got canceled because of weather.  There was an instant credit made to our on board account that day for the costs of the tour.

The tour provider chosen for the excursion has been checked out by RCCL.  Yes, it costs more, but if anything goes wrong, you can always go back to RCCL and ask for a refund.  Most of the time, depending on the problem, they will refund your money.

Answer 3

Check out CruiseCritic.com, "Boards", "Ports of Call".  If you don't see anything there for this particular vendor, you can post a question and maybe get some feedback.  There are definitely very reliable vendors for that excursion.

Answer 4

My husband and I took this tour on our last Carnival cruise.  I am in the extremely small percentage of people who did not have a good time.    What seemed like a great idea did not turn out well for me.  The tour group was HUGE!!   It was a chaotic mess with very little instruction or guidance.   I did not like the experience at all, the whole thing went badly.   If you have the chance, choose the smallest tour group, a private one would be great.    Great job doing research, I wish I had.  I have nothing bad to say about Carnival in general, always have fun on thier cruises.   Cave tubing is not for the squimish or claustrophobic.  Good luck and have a great time!!

Answer 5

please please please contact [e-mail].  the owners name is Donald Ramirez.  it is a private company we went with in January.  we did a zipline and the cave tubing for $100 pp.  i cannot express to you how glad we were that we went with them. Donald met us at the terminal personally and there were only 5 people in our group, my boyfriend and i and three other girls.  the carnival people's tubing got cancelled due to rain but ours didnt!!!!! if fact we got to go ahead of all the other people that had booked with the boats.  they were in like groups of 30!  and it was more expensive. the even took us to a restaurant  for lunch!  we were back 1 hour before the boat left! they were very conscience of our time.  they were wonderful please contact them! very nice guys, please do this!

ps.  the people who booked through the ship did not get any priority or anyone else except that the ship could not leave them but we were back early anyway and that other person is right about cruisecritic.com that is where i got all of this info before i went