Carnival cave tubing...Belize...answers needed...

[CRU1Z1N]

We are sailing on Valor the end of August. DH really wants to do cave tubing with Carnival (we ONLY do ship sponsored excursions...no need to tell us about other companies or your experience with them).

 

I am claustrophobic and was wondering how closed in are the caves?

 

Does Carnival link you together?

 

How long is the actual tubing time?

 

Heard it was 1.5 hours ride then a 40 minute walk to the tubing site....Is this true?

 

Thank you!

 

Please DO NOT move this thread! It has been posted on the ports board with only one response that did not answer my questions.

[BigRed93]

Hi, my mom is claustraphobic and she was concerned about this too. However, the caves are quite spacious, its just really dark in places. They should give you a headlamp or flashlight. There is a cave you go in while you are walking down to the starting point. That is smaller than the ones you float through, but still high ceiling.

[Green Boy]

we went tubing last year and are doing it again in Sept.

we did not go through Carnival, so I can not tell you that they link

their group together but our group was linked together.

 

the caves were huge, I don't like small places either and all I could

imagine was a small cave...but the caves were

soooo big... they give you a light you wear on your head, because they

are very dark.

 

it was a pretty long ride, about an hour,

and the hike was about 30+ minutes, our excursion went through 1 more

cave than the Carnival excursion did, so our hike was a little longer.

 

I can't wait to go again...

[golfadj]

We are sailing on Valor the end of August. DH really wants to do cave tubing with Carnival (we ONLY do ship sponsored excursions...no need to tell us about other companies or your experience with them).

 

I am claustrophobic and was wondering how closed in are the caves?

 

Does Carnival link you together?

 

How long is the actual tubing time?

 

Heard it was 1.5 hours ride then a 40 minute walk to the tubing site....Is this true?

 

Thank you!

 

Please DO NOT move this thread! It has been posted on the ports board with only one response that did not answer my questions.

 

Caves are very open. You are given tube and than walk to the starting point thru the rain forest.

 

We did it with cave tubing dot com and they linked us in groups of three or four. Carnival's tour had tragic accident a couple of years ago and only recently are they offering it again.

 

Tubing time maybe 30 minutes as I recall from a few years ago.

[halos]

I agree with everone else...the caves are huge. No worries about claustrophobia!! It's a little dark, but not so that you can't see. I highly recommend this. Green Boy's post is exactly what I would tell you :)

[KenMo]

We are sailing on Valor the end of August. DH really wants to do cave tubing with Carnival (we ONLY do ship sponsored excursions...no need to tell us about other companies or your experience with them).

 

I am claustrophobic and was wondering how closed in are the caves? The caves are huge, but very dark.

 

Does Carnival link you together? No

 

How long is the actual tubing time? Maybe about an 1 hr.....seemed like forever.

 

Heard it was 1.5 hours ride then a 40 minute walk to the tubing site....Is this true? That time frame is in the ballpark.

 

Thank you!

 

Please DO NOT move this thread! It has been posted on the ports board with only one response that did not answer my questions.

 

Just wanted to add. August is not rainy season (if memory serves) so the water level will be low. This makes for a dull excursion IMO.

[LHP]

One point that I think is important about linking.....

 

There is a HUGE difference between linking 3 or 4 people together (as Carnival does it) and being linked TO A GUIDE (as the independents do it).

 

When you are linked TO A GUIDE...the Guide keeps you where you need to be.

 

(away from the sides of the caves that can have jagged edges and spiders)

 

Just one person's opinion, but linked TO A GUIDE is the only way I would do the caves....

[halos]

One point that I think is important about linking.....

 

There is a HUGE difference between linking 3 or 4 people together (as Carnival does it) and being linked TO A GUIDE (as the independents do it).

 

When you are linked TO A GUIDE...the Guide keeps you where you need to be.

 

(away from the sides of the caves that can have jagged edges and spiders)

 

Just one person's opinion, but linked TO A GUIDE is the only way I would do the caves....

 

That's a very valid point!!! I didn't realize that CCL STILL doesn't send you with a guide! We booked with an outside tour agency (suggested on the POC boards) and felt very safe with the guide.

[Sherrybaby412]

You ARE sent with a guide. You are not linked together. A lot of people on our tour would have preferred being linked together. Our guide did stay with us but some in our group did drift off.

[halos]

You ARE sent with a guide. You are not linked together. A lot of people on our tour would have preferred being linked together. Our guide did stay with us but some in our group did drift off.

It would be very difficult to stay with your guide if you aren't linked. There is a good reason that the outside tour guides link you....it's for your safety. I thought since CCL had the incident last year that they'd have fixed that :confused:

[KCMarie]

Good input so far everyone, thank you!

 

So now I am trying to find out a couple more things...

1). I've been trying to find out potential water levels in early November. High enough to tube on?

2). The hike through the rain forest to get to the river/caves - How strenuous of a hike is it? How hot/steamy is it?

I can make some assumptions (I know!).

The walking/hiking would be fine but I just can't take much sun, heat and humidity due to medications I must take.

[tiggerman101]

My partner was not to thrilled when I booked this excursion (not through Carnival). He is a bit claustrophobic and hates deep water as well). He ended up loving it. I would do it again sometime. Also, don't worry about the hike. It is pretty easy and very beautiful. I loved the walk back to the starting point. The drive out there is pretty long however....

[markstudy]

Wow, learned some great new info by putting this post in the Carnival section instead

of the "port section" of CruiseCritic.

 

I wanted to do the caves, but hate the idea of being linked to a long line of people.

And I'm guessing a lot of people in the "ports Section" go with private tours? Because

all the photos I've seen show 12 or 14 people hooked together in one long train. I

was ready to give up on the idea all together.

 

But hearing that the Carnival trip lets you go in smaller groups (I'd like to go with just

my wife) makes it seem more like an adventure and less like a crowd or tourist.

We like to do things on our own, and get nice photos of the jungle without a crowd of

people standing in the background... it kind of spoils the point of going some where

exotic, if 15 people are standing around in each of your photos :)

 

[halos]

...

1). I've been trying to find out potential water levels in early November. High enough to tube on? I did it in Nov...it was perfect.

2). The hike through the rain forest to get to the river/caves - How strenuous of a hike is it? How hot/steamy is it? For us, again, it was perfect. The weather was gorgeous...not humid at all AND although I was afraid of insect bites, there was not a mosquito to be seen. I didn't even use the bug spray I had brought with me. The hike is not strenuous at all...you will be carrying your tube.

I can make some assumptions (I know!).

The walking/hiking would be fine but I just can't take much sun, heat and humidity due to medications I must take.

I hate humidity and found the walk to be beautiful....Obviously I can't say it will be the same for you...I don't know what your health issues are, but it's not bad.

answers in red :)

Oh, and I agree with tiggerman that the bus ride getting there is crappy, but the walk is awesome.

[Koval]

Hello, we were just there this past Feb. we did go with CaveT.com...

and the water was very low, we did allot of "Butts Up"

as one poster said, not to exciting as far as water tubing goes, when it is low water.

But we did have fun.

What I wanted to add was,

there were people in canoes every so often with stronger head lights

in the darker deeper areas of the caves.

I think that might have been part of the "Fix"

the Cruise lines might have said they needed before going back to the caves.

With as slow as it was when we went,

I thought how in the world could anyone get hurt doing this much less die.

We go tubing on our local river (Just did it 5 times last week) Now that is a blast!

 

[Cinderose]

We booked with Yhony at http://www.cave-tubing.com - we made reservations months in advance and didnt pay until after the excursion. WE LOVED THEM - much better than a ship sponsored excursion - at half the price! We paid $75 each (had 10 of us in the group) last Feb and that was for BOTH cave tubing and ATVs. They met us at the pier in a large air conditioned bus and took good care of us. We were linked 5 people in a line and had a guide for each line that went right along with us - You will learn what "BUTTS UP" means. I guess they said the water is low at that time - and yes it was. I have asthma and lots of walking does me in - but was fine with the walk, even with a bad ankle. Would do this excrsion again in a heart beat! We were back to the ship long before it ever departed and were well taken care of. They even carried several of the womens tubes for us as we made the semi short walk down to the water. Fun - Fun - Fun!

Cave tubing + ATV riding + lunch for $75 was well worth it!!!

[mandms40]

I agree with you 100%. We did this with our daughter, she was 11yrs old then, and Carnival was all over the sides of the river, very disorgainized, we went with an independant guide, was wonderful, I wasnt even suppose to go, I had booked it for dh and dd, but they talked me into going, had a blast, the only thing I would do different, put a Bud light in my hand, would of been perfect. LOL

 

Sandy

[markstudy]

We booked with Yhony at www.cave-

tubing.com

- we made reservations months in advance and didnt pay until after the excursion. WE LOVED

THEM - much better than a ship sponsored excursion - at half the price! We paid $75 each (had 10 of us in the

group) last Feb and that was for BOTH cave tubing and ATVs.

 

 

I would enjoy adding the ATVs to the cave trip.... but, did they make you all stick together in one big chain?

 

I like turning around backwards to get interesting camera shots, or drifting-off and getting different angles for a

good photo. I would think being joined as one large group would be a problem for looking around at the river, caves,

and whatever else we found interesting and wanted to get a better look at.

 

Is there a best way to take this tour... if you are an advanced swimmer, with lots of time and experience with

rivers, caves, currents, and water sports?

[Cinderose]

No, we had about 26 people on the bus and we were broken up into groups of 5 with a guide to each group - they plan ahead as to how many they will need. We had one guy that didnt swim so he just did the ATVs and then took pictures of us in the water. The guides were right in the water beside us but not linked. My photos are home on my computer or I would add some where for you to see.

 

I think the ship was charging $150 for this same excursion - the ships folks got on their own bus but were with this same company. We got special treatment and loved it. I did see groups of about a dozen or so people linked together in the water but our guide kept us away from them.

 

I would say go to youtube and see the companys clips on there to get an idea.

[jandjfun]

EVERYONE has to be linked together with a guide now. They have made it the "law" since the deaths that happened. Plus the guides have to be certified as well.

With Koval, I went just last feb. I saw people in little rafts that had motors. I asked the guide and he explained that since the deaths, they have put "police" on the river to ensure everyone is linked and has at least one guide with them. If ANYTHING is wrong, the guide and their company get huge fines.

However, our chain of linked people still had some trouble. The guide was helping someone in the back and our chain kept running into the bank, or walls, or making "u" turns and at one point we almost tipped over the other half of our chain by u turning and running into them.

This was my second time doing this cave tubing thing. The first time was pre police, and we were not linked. I was knocked off my tube by swift water and almost drowned. Since I have done it both ways now all I can say is, I guess cave tubing is NOT for me.

[CRU1Z1N]

Thanks you all for your responses!! Still don't know it I'll be doing this excursion. I am claustrophobic but my arachnophobia is like a near death experience.

 

 

Please DO NOT move this thread! It has been posted on the ports board with only one response that did not answer my questions.

 

 

Funny...got lots of answers on the Carnival Board. None since it's been moved. (Except for mine.)

[KCMarie]

answers in red :)

Oh, and I agree with tiggerman that the bus ride getting there is crappy, but the walk is awesome.

 

Halos, thank you for your response! I really appreciate it. I believe I will go for it. Med issues are needing to take a hormone supplement that makes me have 24/7 hot flashes - it is not 'lady-like' to sweat like I do. Makes for a generally uncomfortable me! Then I get cranky. :(

 

When we went to Uxmal last year, I made it half way through then stayed in the shade while the rest of the excursion went along. Only horribly bad thing about that was that it had just rained quite a bit and all the mosquitos received the alert that I was ready and available. We had taken spray but these bugs were not to be deterred. Thank God I only waited about half hour then we hit the restaurant and air conditioning!

 

Thinking I will join the rest of my group tubing, if I can get through the hike in the rain forest (which I really don't want to miss!), I'll then be in the water and who cares that I was sweaty and miserable getting there!

 

Thanks again!

[ABQKumi]

We just got back from our Carnival Valor cruise at the end of June. We took the non-Carnival cave tubing and zip lining adventure with Major Tom (Google Major Tom Belize).

 

The Major Tom crew linked us together on cave tubing and at no time did I feel unsafe. It gets dark in places but not at all claustraphobic since the cave celing is quite high. Our tour guides, although unconventional, knew so much about the area and were very friendly. Belize was the highlight of our cruise! We had much more fun than the cruise sponsored tour due to our tour guides.

 

Additionally, the zip lining is not to be missed! Our group of 12 contained people as young as 17 and as experienced as 60+. The tour operators were friendly and helpful keeping safety in mind the entire time.

 

Don't be afraid of the "hike", it is a stroll through the amazing rainforest and is the best 20 minutes you will have on the cruise. Wear Tevas or tennis shoes, flip flops won't do you any good.

 

Have a great time and really consider using Major Tom and crew. Those boys will give you the real Belize tour. Our whole crew loved them!

[eitak1987]

these posts really help! thanks yall :D

[eitak1987]

has anyone used x-stream cave tubing or should we go with cave-tubing.com??