River tubing in Dominica, booked thru Princess

[Firtree]

I know this should also go on the Dominica boards, but thought I'd let you know our experience with River Tubing in Dominica...Don't do it, at least until they have some rain. We weren't told that they'd been having a drought and that water levels were very low until we were on our way to this excursion. And when they say it's low......it's VERY low....we had to walk parts of the way as you just drag on the rocks/bottom. There were many of us that got burns on the insides of our arms from trying to paddle. This would be a wonderful excursion if the water levels were up......even 6 inches or more would have made a difference.....and then, when we ever got to a part that had higher water, we still wouldn't even move because there is no current moving us.....the "guides" had to walk the whole river pulling people along...at points they told us to hang on to other's tubes and they pulled a chain along. That was very hard on the arms...

 

I feel badly for the people running the excursions, as I know they need the money they make from running it, but it's just not worth it...we were hotter and more exhausted when we were done, than before we left......and it's advertised as a relaxing tube ride....

 

My husband and I have never complained about anything to do with cruising before, as we know there are things that can't be controlled, the weather included...But, when we got back, we went to the excursion desk onboard to let them know what was going on......they had no idea!!! They were appalled at the burns on our arms...(and I'm not talking about sunburn, but from rubbing on the tubes) ...they asked us to fill out comments about it, which we did, and they said they'd let us know about any refunds by the last day of the cruise. We weren't looking for a full refund, as we DID go on it...but we felt it was NOT worth what we paid for it. And more to the point, we wanted Princess to go look themselves to see how bad it is!! Princess should not be selling this excursion right now... I feel bad for anyone that books it going forward, because the water level is only going to drop more...they need rain very badly. Well, we got a very nice letter the last night saying they weren't going to do anything about it, and we can always write to their head office. Which I will be doing...So, before you book it, find out if they've had any rain!!! If we go there again, and if the water levels are higher, we'd go again in a heartbeat as I do think it' would be a blast if it were running higher!!

Ok, that's my two cents worth...

Beth

[vickie_bernie]

that is too bad Beth, we did a river tubing excursion in Dominica Jan but thru a private company.

 

We had great water levels, even had some white water rapids in areas, but of course we did get stuck a few times. A few of the people did get the friction burns on their arms, but if you want to prevent that we used vasaline which works great. Of course we knew of this tip because of reading it on the boards prior.

 

I guess it would be key to check how the river is before booking like you suggested. I love that you did comment to Princess about the situation as they need more of that.

 

I am also surprised Princess didn't do anything. We had a problem with one of their tours once and we addressed it and received a 30% discount; there were a few of us who complained (about half the group) also go the discount.

 

Thanks for posting.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I did this same excursion in January. The water levels weren't yet as low as you describe, but they were low. Just not low enough that anyone had to walk at any point.

 

What we objected to was the 90 minute bus ride on narrow winding roads to get to the river. And then the 90 minute ride back to the ship. We all felt we should have been warned that it was so far away. An excursion that was listed for 4 hours took almost 6 hours.

 

We also went to the shore excursion desk and got the exact same response that you did.

 

I've done that river tubing excursion in Dominica in the past and it was a lot of fun. It also took only about 30 minutes to get to the site. Princess either changed companies they were dealing with or the company was the same and they changed rivers.

 

We were on a B2B2B and had also booked that excursion for the 3rd cruise. We canceled it immediately after returning from the first one. River tubing was the only excursion we booked through Princess and we did it because it had been so much fun in previous years, but 90 minutes in a bus on those roads wasn't fun at all.

[vickie_bernie]

I did this same excursion in January. The water levels weren't yet as low as you describe, but they were low. Just not low enough that anyone had to walk at any point.

 

What we objected to was the 90 minute bus ride on narrow winding roads to get to the river. And then the 90 minute ride back to the ship. We all felt we should have been warned that it was so far away. An excursion that was listed for 4 hours took almost 6 hours.

 

We also went to the shore excursion desk and got the exact same response that you did.

 

I've done that river tubing excursion in Dominica in the past and it was a lot of fun. It also took only about 30 minutes to get to the site. Princess either changed companies they were dealing with or the company was the same and they changed rivers.

 

We were on a B2B2B and had also booked that excursion for the 3rd cruise. We canceled it immediately after returning from the first one. River tubing was the only excursion we booked through Princess and we did it because it had been so much fun in previous years, but 90 minutes in a bus on those roads wasn't fun at all.

 

we were informed on the Jan 19th sailing when we docked in Dominica we were told that the route to get to the river is longer now because one of the roads got washed out, that my explain the longer ride. but Princess should of warned those in the description of the longer route.

 

Also I checked with the tour provider we used today and was told that they go up higher on the river and often have better water levels than lower down, don't know where Princess' tour company goes. and don't know if this is true or not.

 

Too bad Princess didn't take your concerns more seriously,

[Firtree]

You're right, it did take 90 minutes to get there....and that wasn't described either...but THAT I could live with, altho there was a woman sitting next to me that was getting car sick because of the winding roads. I knew to expect the winding roads, as I'd been to Dominica before. The excursion was supposed to be 3 hours....it was more like 4 1/2 -5 due to the length of time on the bus. My biggest problem was simply the water levels...it was a miserable float (if you can call it that)..I was sooo thirsty and hot, and they make you wear helmets and life jackets....(like anyone's going to drown in that water!!)...the helmets were hot...and I had a headache by the end. We laughed about having to wear helmets...I think that was a bit overkill, but given that there were so many rocks out of the water, maybe it was a good thing. It was obvious that they had been stacking rocks to try to funnel the water but it really wasn't doing any good...it was just a miserable time...

 

Again, I'm posting this mostly to let others know to check before they book this, as it just isn't fun....and won't be, until they get some rain...

[AMBGP]

we were informed on the Jan 19th sailing when we docked in Dominica we were told that the route to get to the river is longer now because one of the roads got washed out, that my explain the longer ride. but Princess should of warned those in the description of the longer route.

 

Also I checked with the tour provider we used today and was told that they go up higher on the river and often have better water levels than lower down, don't know where Princess' tour company goes. and don't know if this is true or not.

 

Too bad Princess didn't take your concerns more seriously,

 

 

We did this cruise in 2006...water levels were great and we had an amazing time. river tubing in Dominica was quite possibly my favoriete excursino yet.

 

I'm always looking for an itenerary that includes Dominica!

 

And...hate to hijack this thread, but... HI VICKIE AND BERNIE!!! Alysan and Bryan from Golden Princess Alaska May '09 just wanted to say hello :)

 

If you remember jiggerb ;) we've got a thought for the Emerald 11/8 RT FL sailing. It looks like a nice cruise on a great ship...

[vickie_bernie]

We did this cruise in 2006...water levels were great and we had an amazing time. river tubing in Dominica was quite possibly my favoriete excursino yet.

 

I'm always looking for an itenerary that includes Dominica!

 

And...hate to hijack this thread, but... HI VICKIE AND BERNIE!!! Alysan and Bryan from Golden Princess Alaska May '09 just wanted to say hello :)

 

If you remember jiggerb ;) we've got a thought for the Emerald 11/8 RT FL sailing. It looks like a nice cruise on a great ship...

 

well hello stranger, i have a couple pics of you guys in Juneau with us wandering from bar to bar

 

This was our second time to Dominica, we love it too. In fact after the rivertubing we went and watched a great parade for the opening of Carnival, got to love a parade where they hand out beer.

 

I guess it is important to check with the tour provider to find out how the water levels are.

 

On our tour they had set up the rocks to divert the water and it made it flow a lot easier. Considering how much rain they got this winter I am surprised the levels are low. I am just glad we did it with a private tour company and was quite a reasonable cost.

 

We love the Emerald, we are sailing on her again in Jan on a b2b care to join us then too?