How was your cave tubing with VIV??

[bethtogo]

Seems like good bang for your buck - any comments?

[Cruzface]

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME. We just did the tubing with them on 2/21/12. Our guide was fantastic. Really put my wife at ease. He was so knowledgable on the hike that we felt like we were special as other groups just walked past us without learning about the jungle. With VIV you get the best tube. Clipped together (no linking feet), headrests and mesh bottom. Very comfortable. My wife has a herniated disc in her lower spine and she was very comfortable. We also got more time on the river than other tours. Our guide never even asked for a tip. We gave him $60 bucks for 6 of us.

 

This was the best excursion we have ever done on a cruise.

 

You will not be disappointed.

[grgsgrl]

How long of a hike was it before you got in the water? Going on the legend in Sept and leaning toward this

[Grumpy9117]

It's about a 30 - 40 minute walk.

[Foxinspace]

In short Amazing! Our experience was so much fun, the best excursion we had on our cruise! (We also did ziplining in Roatan & Stingray bay in Grand Caymen) Our guides were very knowledgeable and funny. I am not the fittest travellor, I walk with a limp and have ankle problems. The walk was tough on me, but thankfully my Hubby carried my share of gear plus his own. The whole walk our guides pointed out native fauna of interest to us. They even coaxed a tarantula out of his den. I was the only guest brave enough to hold him. In a word Incredible! When we arrived at the river both guides were very helpful in getting me in and out of the river, which was very thoughtful. The river portion on the tour we did was longer than the one offered by the cruise line, we walked past where their tour was getting into the river and we just kept on going. I would recommend them 100%. We tipped $20, but we have said over and over since we got back, we should have given more.

[JD Hokie]

Seems like good bang for your buck - any comments?

 

Loved it. Used them for ziplining/cave tubing last week. Javier was our main tour guide and he was great - lots of information on the drive out, along the walk to the river, and throughout the tubing. He also made some great recommendations on the lunch buffet afterwards - which turned out to be one of the best meals of the week.

 

I can't imagine you'd have a bad experience with just about any of the groups there, it's such a fun excursion, but VIV really was great.

[Kay&Harry]

Maybe a dumb question, but VIV is what independent tour guide company? We have never cruised - our first is 5/20/2012 with Carnival Legend.

[MarkASparks]

Maybe a dumb question, but VIV is what independent tour guide company? We have never cruised - our first is 5/20/2012 with Carnival Legend.

 

Check out this website:

 

http://www.vivtours.com/

 

 

We are doing the legend in august and plan on using viv

[Jason1187]

just back from my Carnival Liberty Cruise and we did the cave tubing with VIV tours on March 27th and all I can say it was a great time. We had Kareem as our guide and he was excellent. The only bad thing I can say is we got one of there older van's that had a little trouble with its air conditioner but other than that it was an excellent experience. For $40 you can't go wrong, don't waste your money on the cruise ship tour book with VIV you won't be dissapointed.

[Nana257]

When you made your reservations with VIV did you pay anything up front? We received an acknowledgement but nothing else. Should I worry that we may not have a spot when we arrive? Did they contact you before your cruise? Sounds like so much fun. Can't wait!

[scgamecock]

When you made your reservations with VIV did you pay anything up front? We received an acknowledgement but nothing else. Should I worry that we may not have a spot when we arrive? Did they contact you before your cruise? Sounds like so much fun. Can't wait!

 

Nope. Paid the rep who was waiting for us at the port. VIV was the best. No worries. You will enjoy it. Loved the inter tubes. We laughed at all the other losers locking their feet in stranger's armpits. Lol.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[Tralynn]

Just used VIV on Apr. 4th for zip lining and cave tubing. We had an awesome time.

[NL123]

My family of 5 is booked for our stop during the last week of June. I'm starting to get nervous. How deep is the water? How dark are the caves? I'm travelling with teenagers and I am the only scaredy cat in the family. Any information to calm my nerves would be greatly appreciated!

[gdj7773]

Aweson, I recommend them 100%! We are using them again in November. Great people/great time!

[newcruiser08820]

Seems like good bang for your buck - any comments?

I copy and pasted from member review by PINKDIAMONDDOLLY.

 

 

Wednesday-Belize, We went cave tubing and zip lining with VIV tours, we were scheduled at 9:00am. The tendering process in Belize is a nightmare, we were told to be at the Follies lounge at 7:30am, when we got there the staff told us to come back at 9am. I told her that wasn't correct that we were told to come and get a ticket at 7:30, she asked me where I heard that. I explained to her it was on the going ashore information on the TV. (there were about 60 people down there, we didn't all screw up) she then told me they changed everything and we needed to come back???? Anyway we returned at about 8:15, they gave us a ticket and we waited like kindergartners in the Follies Lounge. We made it to our VIV coordinator about 9:15, (we were on the second tender) then we sat on a bus until 10:45 while they tried to round everyone up and drum up business. I am weird about time and this didn't make me happy. Belize is not a country you just want to sit around it. Its so poor that the children there were begging for water, not money- water. It was heartbreaking to see the abject poverty and the begging was endless. It made me so incredibly sad. I finally just sat on the bus so they would stop approaching me (if not I would have ended up giving everything I brought with me, it was so awful I sat on the bus and cried). On to the excursion. cave tubing was AMAZING, the hike is not terrible, it had rained the day before and the trail was muddy. I don't recommend this if you don't have fairly decent stamina, I could see this being rough for some people. Got to the top, (well second to the top) we could not do both caves because we were late (because we sat at the port forever). Cave tubing was beautiful and I really loved it, our guide Fab was very nice and before we knew it we were at the bottom. Time to zip line. The climb between a couple of the 10 platforms was rough, much harder than the hike to cave tube, but it was beautiful and we adored it. In retrospect I think it would have been more enjoyable if we had zip lined in Roatan and not did a combined excursion, but that was inexperience, still loved doing both. We were told the last tender left at 4pm (I know Carnival gives a little play in there) but we didn't leave the cave site until 4:15 (its an hour back to the port) our driver was great, but I didn't feel very safe, we tried to eat our included lunch in a crowded van going 90 mph. I finally just gave up. I think I would book through another company next time (not Carnival, because they are overpriced and book way to many people on every excursion). We got back on the ship at 6pm. I was really scared, thank god 2 Carnival buses broke down. We didn't leave Belize until 8pm. We missed the past guest party, we didn't know until we got back that it was from 5:00 to 5:45. This couldn't have been done on a sea day???? Guess they saved some money on drinks that way. Overall I loved what we did, but I didn't love Belize. I think after cave tubing and the Mayan ruins, I would be done with Belize. On a positive note dinner was a little better tonight, still not great, but we are not going to starve LOL!

 

my comment:

 

Now... seems if the Carnival buses wouldn't have a problem getting back to the ship , VIV tours people would miss the ship

[melflip8]

Check out this website:

 

http://www.vivtours.com/

 

 

We are doing the legend in august and plan on using viv

 

Hey Mark,

 

I am debating back and forth on using VIV or going with the ship. My main concern? Making it back to the ship in time, lol.

 

We want to zip line and cave tube...are they good about getting you back to port?

[Eliot Ness]

The thing to remember about any reputable independent tour company is they can't afford the bad press if one of their tours misses the boat. In Belize all of the cave tubing companies know each other and are all willing to help out if needed, like if a bus breaks down. They know if one independent cave tour misses a ship then they will all suffer from the bad publicity and fallout on sites such as this. I'm not saying an independent tour has never missed a ship, but I don't recall ever hearing of that happening.

 

Because different ships leave at different times (and some not on the same ship time) it doesn't hurt to remind the person in charge of your tour what time your ship leaves and the difference between Belize local time and your ships time.

 

Some comments on the review posted by newcruiser08820 (but written by PINKDIAMONDDOLLY?). I find it hard to believe that a credible tour company would not leave the site of a tour, that is an hour away from the cruise port, until 15 minutes past the time they needed to arrive. I'm not saying that didn't happen, but I'm sure that isn't the normal way for this company to operate or they'd be out of business by now. While on an independent tour I always have a watch with me, and while I don't constantly dwell on the time, I am conscious if it seems we are running late. If I was an hour from the cruise port and the last tender was at 4:00, you can bet I'd be getting pretty vocal close to 3:00 if it didn't seem like we'd were getting ready to leave.

 

While we had a good time when we cave tubed with Yhony, I was a little ticked that we busted our humps to get on the first tender off the ship and then had to sit on a bus for well over an hour while they tried to recruit more customers. Because of that we didn't have time for the Belize BBQ that I was really looking forward to. If we tube this coming October I think it will be with Maj. Tom based on reviews I've read over the years here on C.C.

 

John

[Coralsugar]

I went with VIV and can only say best things about them.

 

They were WELL aware of the ship time and when the last tender is and kept reminding this several times per day.

They were also well aware where other excursions are especially Carnival ones so I believe there is some sort of communication between operators.

They knew where Carnival busses are on the road and told us we will pass them shortly, even if we could not even see them yet).

 

Based on which I believe the excursion in the above review left late, because they knew for 100% that Carnival is delayed and it is safe for their excursion so stay longer instead of rushing them back to port at 3pm.

Not sure if this was communicated properly to the guests as the above reviewer seemed confused.

 

Those guys do this every single day and they are great in what they do and work hard for their money. I have researched Belize a lot and I have not seem one report of independed tour in Belize missing the ship.

[Coralsugar]

To add, it sounds weird that no one on the above excursion questioned the departure time? I would think people would get restless and start asking questions comming 3pm?

[KNITWITS]

This might sound silly, but how do you get from the shore into the tubes? Do you just wade in and sit down or do you have to jump off ?backwards? into the water?:confused:

[Grumpy9117]

The water is no very deep. You just sit down in the tube.

[NL123]

Our family of 5 did cave tubing with VIV during our Belize stop on the Carnival Dream during the last week of June. It was excellent.

I was also concerned about how to get in the tube. No worries. It was easy. One of the VIV staff held the tube in the water. Another staff person holds your hands as you sit back into the tube. The tube has a mesh bottom for your bottom. The quality of the VIV tubes appears to be much better than the other tubes we saw on the river. Also, we didn't have to carry our tubes as far as the people from other companies. We passed several groups on the trail to the river and overheard people questioning why we did not have to carry tubes. We felt very safe and looked after. Another benefit of booking with VIV was that we went considerably further down the river than people who booked the excursion through the cruise line. We were back at the port more than an hour before the last tender. Our guide, Mr Fabulous, and his assistant both had cell phones. They were friendly and enthusiastic. The tour through Belize City was informative. The drivers in Belize City are a little more aggressive than we are used to but we were in good hands. We would definately recommend VIV!

[KNITWITS]

Thank you so much for the information! Looking forward to our trip in a few weeks now.:D