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XRAIL Adventure to Jade Cavern

mlthomas

By mlthomas,
in Cozumel

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Carolinagirl82

Carolinagirl82

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DH and I booked this through Island Marketing back in July and it was AMAZING!! We really had the best time ever. The ride is VERY bumpy and VERY muddy but so much fun. The trip to the caverns is the icing on the cake. We booked it just for the X-rails but the caverns just blew us away. We loved our guide, Roberto. He was so awesome.

 

As you can see, I highly recommend this tour!

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lynnebr

lynnebr

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Six people in our group did this in December and the verdict was split - the kids loved it and the adults wished they had done something else. But the reason they didn't enjoy it was mainly because the drivers were not very tall (range 5'0 to 5'6) and the car seats were not adjusted forward for them. They requested several times for the tour guides to fix the seats or switch cars, but the couldn't/wouldn't do anything about it. My sister (who is 5') said she had to sit with only about a half an inch of her behind on the seat and her leg stretched way out so she was almost laying down. The person who was 5'6 was given a car with the seat adjusted for someone about 6', and said he had to do the same thing- and could not enjoy the ride because it took 100% of his effort to keep his butt on the seat, hands on the wheel and feet on the pedals. They got cramps in their legs and were in pain most of the drive. They tried to adjust the seats themselves but could not. Presumably the seats are adjustable, so it seemed just a matter of the guides not wanting to be bothered.

They did say the cavern was lovely, and the kids enjoyed the novelty of the X-rail ride, the bumps, etc. Just another perspective if you happen to be vertically challenged, I'd suggest being forceful with the guides up front that you need a car with the seat adjusted properly.

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mlthomas

mlthomas

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Thank you for your feedback....both positive and negative. We are all over 5'6" and the drivers DH and DS will be driving and they are 6' so we should be okay. I just didn't want it to be driving through the jungle but sounds like the caverns are a hit. We booked it and cannot wait. I am always up for a challenge and adventure, after all you only live once :)

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Camlott

Camlott

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We just did this last week, it was lots of fun for sure... but the maintenance of the Xrails was awful. Out of the 8 Xrails on our tour, three broke down along the way.

 

This is obviously not uncommon since the mechanic followed us and went back and brought different Xrails to us when they were un-repairable! We had planned to be able to shop in the afternoon but the breakdowns really delayed us. Our tour was supposed to be over before noon but we didn't make it back to the ship until almost 2:00.

 

Even with the technical difficulties, we would do it again. My word of advice would be to bring clothes that you don't mind possibly throwing away and bring a change of clothes. They do have outdoor showers to rinse off and bathrooms to change in. There are also lockers there for rent which we were not clear on before we went. I believe the lockers were $4 and they were huge.

 

Caverns were nice, but we did not get in since it had been cool and windy that day. Did get some nice photos of them.

 

We were prepared to get muddy, so we brought 2 gallon Ziploc's to place our muddy clothes in afterwards. We also wore water sandals even though it said to wear closed toe shoes. The guide told us it was fine and we were glad we brought them!

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mlthomas

mlthomas

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Thanks so much for sharing your link...and your review was great. I enjoyed reading the whole thing and seeing the Xrail photos. I am not much into getting muddy, but it looks to be great especially seeing the caverns! Although me and snakes don't get along at all so that ought to be interesting...haha!

 

As far as the Behind the Fun tour, where do you go onboard to book this? What is the cost? Sure sounds fun to see what goes on behind all those doors.

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Carolinagirl82

Carolinagirl82

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You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

I wasn't too crazy about getting muddy either, but it was fun.:p

 

Book the behind the fun tour as soon as you board. There are only a certain number of spots available and sometimes they fill up fast. Just go to the excursions desk and ask. They'll deliver your tickets to your room. It was definitely interesting!

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GoldenRetriever

GoldenRetriever

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Carolinagirl82 - thanks so much for your Xrail review and pictures. My husband and I are doing this on our Celebrity Equinox cruise in a few weeks and he's beyond excited and will be even more so once I show him your pictures. I'm not really looking forward to getting super dirty but I guess it'll all be part of the fun.

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rockymt_woman

rockymt_woman

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We did this excursion in November and totally loved it. If it has rained in days then you can decided how muddy you want to get. If the whole trail is wet then there is no choice. The caverns were great as well. We had a great guide named Yared and he did a fantastic job. We only had four xrails in our group and it was perfect. We would definitely do it again.

 

When we got back to port we didn't have much time to hop on the boat shower and change so we just did a little shopping in the port area and grabbed some nachos. We had people stop us left and right asking us what we had done that day to get so muddy. We would tell them and they were jealous that they didn't do it. It is a great excursion!

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windstorm

windstorm

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If you go do not wear clothes you care about. The mud puddles have oil in them I think. Road is extremely rocky and hard without power steering so it is rough and tough driving. We all loved it (ages 10 to 57) but didn't care for the swimming with bats over our heads in cloudy stinky water. Bring your own goggles or sunglasses - their supply is very dirty and scratched up. Let it be known, our vehicle ran out of gas on way back and no one was following up the rear so two of us sat in the woods for 40 minutes before any signs of help came. They did not bring gas, called for help and they didn't bring gas. Finally two of us were taken out on the backs of ATVs and this was extremely uncomfortable due to road conditions. But they were friendly and smiling, willing to help/fix whatever.

RCCL's Navigtor of the Seas January 15, 2011

Edited by windstorm
cruise ship added
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mlthomas

mlthomas

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DD did this and had a great time, enjoyed the ride, road was bumpy, did not do the swim at the cave, but really enjoyed the history the guide shared. Planned to get muddy and didn't slow when they saw this 'puddle'

 

4624759487_17a1f02659.jpg

 

WOW, this looks 'interesting' but thinking that I would slow down...LOL.

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CantWaitToCrz

CantWaitToCrz

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DD did this and had a great time, enjoyed the ride, road was bumpy, did not do the swim at the cave, but really enjoyed the history the guide shared. Planned to get muddy and didn't slow when they saw this 'puddle'

 

4624759487_17a1f02659.jpg

 

Awesome photo! Who took it?

We're booked on this on our Feb 20th cruise. This photo alone makes me think I should NOT let my DH drive :eek:

Thank you to all who have posted their comments from this excursion. It's definitely one that I want to be prepared for!

I feel like we need to have Got Mud? t-shirts

I normally love to spend my port days at a beach, but I am really excited about this ADVENTURE!

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  • 1 month later...
InternetAgeTraveler

InternetAgeTraveler

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Awesome photo! Who took it?

We're booked on this on our Feb 20th cruise. This photo alone makes me think I should NOT let my DH drive :eek:

Thank you to all who have posted their comments from this excursion. It's definitely one that I want to be prepared for!

I feel like we need to have Got Mud? t-shirts

I normally love to spend my port days at a beach, but I am really excited about this ADVENTURE!

 

Sorry I ddint post an answer before you went... How did your trip go? As for who took the picture, it was done by the tour company (that extra souvenir you just have to have)...

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CantWaitToCrz

CantWaitToCrz

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Sorry I ddint post an answer before you went... How did your trip go? As for who took the picture, it was done by the tour company (that extra souvenir you just have to have)...

 

We loved this excursion. It was very dry and we wore bandanas as masks.They had one mud pit near the beginning and end of the ride. The 1st time through DH didn't go fast but the 2nd time through we waited for the people ahead of us to get out of the way, then got muddy. Thanks to the info here we had change of clothes and these huge "wet ones" that helped wash off the mud in the lame showers.

I need to write my review, hopefully this weekend.

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  • 10 months later...
Tess and Pal

Tess and Pal

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I wanted to be able to bring our camera. We are doing the land rovers in Belize and I've been told you can bring a backpack, you just put it on the floor between your feet. Does this x-rail even have a floor? Is there a place to put a backpack? Thanks :)

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