cavetubing.bz ignores reservations - ideas to salvage day?

[Garn]

First, let me say that I've done many private excursions and they have been wonderful experiences, with the opportunity to meet awesome guides and help the locals. Second, I'm not normally a complainer - I understand that "stuff happens" - weather makes you miss a port, vans break down, people get sick and it's silly to get upset about that sort of thing.

 

But this, I think, is different, and extremely disappointing considering the reviews I've seen for .bz

 

Ok, so there were 5 of us planning to go to cave tubing in Belize - my wife, daughter and my in-laws. My father-in-law is a cancer survivor who ended up with lymphodema in his legs, which means that, particularly in humid climates, his legs swell up and it's hard for him to walk distances. I know that there is a 30 minute walk to get there, so I asked Vitalino at cavetubing.bz if there was any way my in-laws could join us. Now, if he had said no, I would have been fine with it - I don't expect special accommodations, but it can't hurt to ask. (DW, DD and I were going to zipline after)

 

Here is his response:

Since you are asking for Private cave tubing we will assigned 2 guides for your group one of them will assist your in laws when they get tired the guide will take them Upstream way up to the entrance of the caves where you will meet them there. Meanwhile you are Ziplining your in laws can watch you all, take you pictures and enjoy the nature of the surrounding.

Now, the pricing was higher for the private tour, but we were more than willing to pay so that they could join us.

 

I agreed, and received this email on February 16th, 6 weeks before we would be going.

 

I will consider the last email as a confirmation for the tour and thank you for supporting my True Family business. You have been added to our list of bookings for Private Cave tubing and Zipline on April 1st. I really appreciate your preference; I will provide you with the best service in Belize by using the World's most prestigious Brand of Equipment. So your total for 2 Private Cave tubing and 3 Private Cave tubing and Zipline is $450 USD.

Great. We were all set, I told my in-laws, everyone was excited.

 

 

Now, being the anal-retentive guy that I am, I sent out emails to confirm all of the tours and rides I'd set up on Sunday, a week before we're departing. All my of others confirmed, but this is what I got from Vitalino:

 

 

Hi Mark, Please accept my apologies for not being able to provide an upstream cavetubing since that day there will be a lot of people and definitely short of guides, I am afraid of not accomplish my promised so please note that we will use vans of 12 to 14people but only can do the regular cavetubing. Sorry

Note that he never reached out to me - if I hadn't emailed, we'd have arrived at the dock ready to go - but not have a tour.

 

 

 

I emailed back, asking if there was any way he could meet his obligation, and he said no.

 

 

Now, if this were a free offer, that would have been one thing, but we were going to pay more for it. So, he decided that it's better to squeeze more customers onto an existing tour than honor his written reservation.

 

 

At this point, I don't really know what to do. The ship tours are all full. I've tried emailing the other providers, but I haven't heard back yet.

 

 

 

I don't know how I can tell my father-in-law that none of us will end up going anywhere because of his limited mobility.

 

 

 

I'm just stunned that such a highly rated tour provider would act like this.

 

 

If anyone has any suggestions for what we can do, I'd love to hear them. And if there's anything I should have done differently, please let me know as well.

[OCruisers]

Garn .... Hate this happened. :(

 

Maybe you could just tell your father-in-law that "cavetubing.bz" sent you an email saying they were short of guides that day and would not be able to take as many as they had planned so would no longer be able to accommodate your family. That way, your FIL won't think it's his fault.

 

At this point since you're leaving very soon ... is there any sort of excursion (maybe catamaran/beach) of interest you could book thru Princess?

 

LuLu

 

 

[crewsweeper]

Sad to hear.

 

Another alternative would be to get to the tender dock as early as you can and see if there are any cave tubing spots left from vendors floating around the dock area. Can't opine on the reputation of any of these as who may show up is unknown. But look for David at cavetubing R Us (or maybe email him ASAP, he does typically respond rather quickly for Belize). If he has room or is putting together a "pick up group" at the last minute, he has a good reputation and "Mercedes" quality tubes.

 

Otherwise, my only suggestion is to see what other ship sponsored excursions might interest your in-laws and family and you can do this once on board by getting info and making reservations at the shore excursion desk. It's the best way to know for sure if a ship excursion is full or if there is still room.

[Garn]

Thanks for your ideas (and sympathy). Fortunately, it looks like Major Tom came through and that we'll be able to cave tube after all, and he can provide an extra guide for my in-laws. So, it looks like everything is ending well after all. (Of course, knowing my luck, we'll end up missing Belize!)

 

Thanks again!

[crewsweeper]

Have a great cruise and a wonderful time floating down the river!:)

[vegastime01]

Hi Garn, try checking with cavetubingparadise.com, they will accommodate you taking your father in law up stream.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OCruisers]

Thanks for your ideas (and sympathy). Fortunately, it looks like Major Tom came through and that we'll be able to cave tube after all, and he can provide an extra guide for my in-laws. So, it looks like everything is ending well after all. (Of course, knowing my luck, we'll end up missing Belize!)

Thanks again!

 

:D Great News! So glad you're going to be able to do it after all!

Have a wonderful time and tell us about it when you return.

LuLu

[Garn]

Thanks everyone!