Trying to sift through cave tubing recommendations....and....ugh.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

I am having a dilemma choosing a cave tubing excursion operator for a big group for our upcoming cruise.

 

Last time we went with Reggie, a nice guy, who admittedly was just having a bad day, and things turned out badly right off the bat. Some were forced to continue with him and things did not get better for them. Half our group was stranded at the pier and we ended up having to hook up last minute with an another group, which I believe was Extreme (???can't be sure though since we didn't prebook with them, but from what I've read it matches up). Whoever they were they had a good guide, Richard, who was really helpful with my daughter, but the actual excursion was totally disorganized and lacked equipment. At one point I had to pretend I was a tour guide to get returning people to drop their tubes off, which was quite funny because a HUGE pile was formed. The clincher was when their old vehicle broke down and we became the Belize sideshow I'm sure much to the delight of the huge herds of cruise passengers on their comfy buses.....oh yah. I almost forgot. I lost my wedding ring...but that was my fault(cold water and sunscreen combo).

 

Thankfully the caves themselves were so beautiful that we want to return...and I ended up with a much bigger rock on my finger.

 

Despite the problems privately booking this one, I am willing to book privately again, especially since we have kids in our group below the cruiseship accepted age. Yet, everytime I come to this particular port of call forum, there are so many blatant one post postings for Major Tom that I am totally turned off and would never use them.

 

Has anyone EVER actually used them who is a cruisecritic veteran?

 

 

 

Out of the WELL RECOMMENDED VETERAN operators, who uses vehicles that are not older than me?

 

Has anyone ever booked the cave tubing with a group of about 30 people?

[cruzrmomma]

I highly recommend Capt. Tom *****, a retired Military Officer, with the most Professional operation there. He has the perfect blend of Charisma and Enlightenment I have ever seen from a tour guide. I have travelled all over the world, with many different tour guides, and the group I took on this still talks about this experience. Tom was at the Pier waiting for us, -whisked us through the crowds to our own comfortable bus. Along the way he gave the most informative narration on Belize,it was great! His son is there also, and was extremely gracious.

 

At the Cave Tubing river, other tours had many people, and required they jump into the river. We went from a nice beach and his son gave a fantastic narration of the caves. Afterwards he took us to a little lunch joint and then back to the ship.

 

Many other tours have the driver be the guide, but Tom has his own driver. We had a large group, and I was the group leader, so I felt responsiblity on this choice-I was so happy!

 

Find him on the web by googling ***** adventures Belize.

 

You will not be sorry! I got his name from many other recommendations. We also were not a big 'party' time group, so there was no off-color jokes,and that kind of thing. But still a fun guy for sure!

 

Hope this help-feel free to ask anymore questions!

[pugsy&porter]

I am in charge of booking the cave tubing for our group of 8 family members on our one cruise in the next 3 years, so obviously I want to get the best tour, at the best price. I spent a lot of time on this belize board and finally booked with the cavetubing.com guys. They were extremely quick to respond (It was 1:00 a.m EST, don't ask why I was up) and answered all my questions quickly. I was feeling really good about myself.

 

Then I started seeing all these posts about Major Tom & I started doubting my decisions. But you are right, all the people that are putting down the dot-com guys are people with only a handful of posts & if you pull them, they are all about cavetubing. Who comes to these boards, just to post about their excursion in Belize and not one post about any other port or the cruise ship they were with? Sounds fishy to me. Just pull a couple of the names & look at them - travel_gurlie, ILUVBELIZE, tande1991 & lilyliver. All less than 10 posts, every single posts hyping Major Tom & bashing Yhonni's group.

 

After reading all these comments, I considered changing. But after further investionagation, I think in the end I booked the right group for my group and am confident we will have a great time. I am guessing that someone from Major Tom's organization figured out these boards and are competing for the almighty tourist buck. I am trusting the people with lots of posts and sticking with Yhoni. If it stinks, I will let you know the last week of July.

[cruzrmomma]

I'm not sure what the previous poster is implying, but Major Tom has impecible integrity, as far as our impression. I do think other tours are good, I'm just saying they were awesome.

 

Major Tom is a little more mature than a lot of these younger guys, and he was one of the first (I beleive) to start the Cave Tubing. He is amazingly fit and his son was adorable!

 

I think they all look at the boards, but I don't think there is any manipulating going on! They are all competing, of coarse, but you will be 100% satisfied with ***** Adventures.

 

(gee-I sound like a commercial!) Seriously, I am a mom with 4 kids who lilkes to travel! I live in San Diego in a normal house and drive a mini-van!

[pugsy&porter]

I'm not sure what the previous poster is implying...

 

I was not trying to offend you; in fact if you look at the post times, I was probably writing my posts the same time you posted yours and had I read yours first, I would have worded my differently. I meant no offense to you or to Major Tom, as I have never used his group & his website does seem to present his product very well.

 

My only comment, as someone who uses this board to gather as much information as I can to provide the best family vacation I can, simply noticed that are several posters with very few posts, who post about nothing but about cave tubing - simply look at the thread below this that refers to Major Tom vs. Yhonni or go to the long cave tubing thread and click on the last two pages; you will see what I mean. I am sure both groups are great in their own ways; it is just I actually considered cancelling my tour with dot com guys due to several of these posters.

[famham23]

I am not a "veteran cruise critic" but I want to let you know what a great time I had with my group of 16 adults on a cavetubing trip with Major Tom and his staff. I booked with Major Tom based on his website ad which offered the best priced tour I could find. I realize that I could have been disappointed since I did not do any research on cruise critic to see what others thought about his tour, but things turned out so well that I have no regrets. The arrangements prior to the cruise were handled very professionally, with any changes I made being responded to quickly and without problem. They even arranged for us to have a lunch at a great little restaurant on the way back from the tour (at our cost, but very reasonable--about $6/person). The benefit of not having to pay for the tour prior to arriving in Belize was very comforting to us since we had no idea whether any problems might arise that would have kept us from arriving in port on time to take the tour. Major Tom is a true character, with a fascinating personal resume and demeanor, and we had as much fun just being with him as we had cavetubing. He filled us in on the history of the country, as well as the specific history and significance of the area where the tour took place. We were not herded like cattle through the tour experience, like we saw other groups being treated. We all felt like we had a knowledgeable guide who treated us all with great respect, and the cavetubing turned out to be a highlight of our whole cruise. I have been on three cruises so far and this particular tour was handled better than any I have taken. I hope this will be helpful to you.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

thankyou cruzrmomma, I believe that you are a true poster based on your posting history.

However a question regarding this comment:

 

"At the Cave Tubing river, other tours had many people, and required they jump into the river".

 

I took this tour a few years ago and never had to, nor heard of anyone having to jump into the river. There was the part of the river that we had to go pull ourselves across on with the rope and then the launching point where it was gradual rock slope.

 

Are you talking about at the end where people can jump off the little cliffs? If not I don't understand where the required jumping is. Is this at the second cave? I would like to know if this is at the second cave perhaps because we will have a couple members with us that would like to do it this time, but other members who would find a jump too difficult.

 

By your post it seems that Major Tom is a real person, perhaps a good tour guide, yet I just have no interest in booking with someone who would resort to repeatedly impersonating posters and go against forum rules. To me that shows lack of clients or lack of word of mouth business and lack of integrity. I've never seen Reggie, Extreme or cavetubing.com do that. In fact I don't remember seeing this type of behaviour to this extreme on any other port of call board that I've frequented. Who knows, maybe it's his son that thinks he is being all clever with all these posts, when in reality it's backfiring.

 

I am glad your experience turned out well though.

 

Pugsy and Porter, please let me know how your excursion with your group turns out. My fear with cavetubing.com is being stuck with a bunch of buses. Hopefully with a group of 20-30 we could be on our own tour.

[l2f]

I will be in Belize in 5 days. I have a cave tubing trip planned with Major Tom. I will let you know how it goes. Several months ago when I really starting planning what to do at each port, I too felt on any given day posts were for this outfitter or that outfitter. I have been emailing back and forth with Major Tom for a week probably longer. He answered all my questions. Update you when I get back.

[l2f]

I will be in Belize in 5 days. I have a cave tubing trip planned with Major Tom. I will let you know how it goes. Several months ago when I really starting planning what to do at each port, I too felt on any given day posts were for this outfitter or that outfitter. I have been emailing back and forth with Major Tom for a week probably longer. He answered all my questions. Update you when I get back.

[speckhead]

we had tom jr. do our tour. he was awesome. he was very patient with my 8 year old girl and a wonderful ambassador for his country.no worries with major tom.

[jap114]

pugsy&porter said: "I am guessing that someone from Major Tom's organization figured out these boards and are competing for the almighty tourist buck."

 

Slander - the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation

 

On our first cruise we went with Major Tom and had a great time. My post regarding it can be found elsewhere. I've also posted about our experiences at other ports but, without backing out of this post and checking, I'm not sure if I meet your criteria of more than 10 posts on CC.

 

Regardless - I do know that Tom's driver obeyed the traffic laws during our ride to/from the caves and which can't be said for one of the other cave tubing companies. Watching them frantically attempt to pass us (including one attempt in a no passing zone) on our way to the caves confirmed to me that we picked one of the best tour operator's available.

 

***** Adventures is a reputable company and doesn't deserve your accusations.

[jap114]

the4ofusandallourfriends said ;"....it seems that Major Tom is a real person, perhaps a good tour guide, yet I just have no interest in booking with someone who would resort to repeatedly impersonating posters and go against forum rules. .............Who knows, maybe it's his son that thinks he is being all clever with all these posts, when in reality it's backfiring."

 

Again - slanderous statements made without facts to support.

 

At this point you seem to have nothing but negative feedback for all of the cave tubing companines in Belize. Maybe try something else this time?

 

I just said it, but I'll say it again - Major Tom and ***** Adventures is a reputable company and they don't deserve your accusations.

[psbtrvlr]

In December 2006, we booked a group of 9 with cavetubing.com. There was another larger group in our bus that was also booked with them. They split us up from the large group and we had our own guide. I think the large group was divided into 2 groups. There was no jumping into the river. We had a great time and plan on using them again the next time we go to Belize.

[psbtrvlr]

I too noticed the many 1 or 2 posts people that recommended Major Tom and was (and still am) very sceptical. I'm sure there are many of you CCers out there are legit, but I don't believe all these people that come on the boards and only post about Major Tom, and only post once or twice are legit.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

thanks psbtrvlr. Sounds like cavetubing.com is the company to go with right now.

 

As far as the hurt egos, I really don't see the problem with asking a question to more experienced posters. Sometimes a situation calls for it. I've never had to until now....because of the obvious. I believe that in choosing a tour provider I am allowed to question wether a company is reputable or not...especially if something looks fishy.

 

That is a point of having a forum...to get opinions and do some weeding of those opinions. I also compare where those opinions come from. I look at posting history. Compare the posting histories of those supporting the different tubing companies. The difference is astounding.

 

I would actually love to do something different in Belize this time, like go to the cayes. However, my son is now old enough to do the cavetubing, as well as a fresh group of friends, and despite all the problems we encountered, it was beautiful and I would encourage all to do it.

 

I'm sorry if I appear negative because negative things actually happened to me here. I'm looking forward to enjoying it this time without having a tour provider overbook himself, split up a family in our group who had no idea where the other half was the whole time, have the bad luck of the tour operator locking his keys in his vehicle, leave us waiting for one hour in a parking lot until we decided to join another tour, having that van fill up with smoke and break down, watch our driver cut tubes and do it yourself fix stuff under the van with a pocket knife, have no tubes provided so we had to fend for ourselves, no guided walk through the jungle.....and all the time wonder if we would have a reliable vehicle to take us back..........and maintaining a sense of humor throughout.....all those things kinda took away from the experience.

 

But it was still so beautiful in those caves.........

[Eliot Ness]

thanks psbtrvlr. Sounds like cavetubing.com is the company to go with right now..........

Yhony (cavetubing.com) does a pretty good job with the cave tours..... we went with him last year and had a great time. There were no logistical problems at all and we got back to the ship in plenty of time.

I took this tour a few years ago and never had to, nor heard of anyone having to jump into the river.

I think that is an option if you do two caves. I can't say for sure because the river was too high last year for us to do the first (optional) cave. You can e-mail Yhony and ask him about the jump, he's pretty good about answering his e-mail.

 

CC member Gatorclaw did a series of videos of their Valor cruise a couple of years ago and he has some neat footage of them cave tubing. It shows them jumping into the river like some have mentioned, but they were with a different tour company. Below is the link to his web-site, and the cave tubing is chapter 5:

 

http://www.gatorclaw.com/voyageofvalor

 

This year the wife and I are going to Goff's Caye, but personally if it was up to me I would do the caves again in a heartbeat.

 

John

[mongoose327]

I was tubing in the caves exactly one week ago today. We went with cave-tubing.com. They were awesome. We did the two caves. You had the option of jumping off an approximately 12-15ft rock to get into the river. I didn't, in fact I had fallen down some metal stairs and really scraped up my leg badly two days prior to this exursion and had no problem getting in the river. Our entire bus was split into groups in the river but the groups stayed together during the whole trip. There was no confusion at all, unlike the carnival excursion people (lots of chaos). I can't speak of Major Tom but I can say Yhony and his people at cave-tubing.com we're great and would never hesitate to use them again. We never felt unsafe, and the drive was safe and comfortable. Keith and Timmy were great guides.

Beth

[jasutrick]

I just got back from cave tubing and had an awesome time. I can tell you that there is a definate difference in what you get with Major Tom and with cave tubing dot com. My guess that it would all depend on what you want to get with your experience. I went with my wife and two daughters age 9 and 11 and had a fantastic time. Here is the difference from what I saw. With the dot com guys you get a large tour bus with approximately 60 people. You get a quick fast hike through the rain forrest to the spot where you get in the water. You are then on your own as you wind through the caves until you are finished. You then get back in your bus and back to the pier. With Major Tom, you get a small van with approximately 10 people. (Enough room and air conditioned). You get a narrative of Belize City as you drive through town on your way to the caves. Once at the entrance to the rain forrest, Major Tom will let the large groups go ahead. You will then take a slow leasurly walk through the rain forest with Major Tom pointing out termite hills (they taste good by the way)...minty, bats, and different types of trees and vegitation. Once you get to the river everyone hooks on and you float as a group down the river with Major Tom again giving narrative along the way about Mayan Culture, crystal formations, rock formations, waterfalls, etc. In addition, Major Tom and his guide help you through the shallow areas and do all the work of paddling. I had an awesome time.

 

In summary if you have kids or elderly people in your group or would like to learn a little about the forrest and caves, you should go with Major Tom. If you want to go and do your own thing, paddle and not learn anything from your experience, then go with dot com. I'm sure that Major Tom is not for everyone and may even seem boring, but I liked it. The caves were big and dark and at times crowded. I was happy I picked Major Tom because I would not have felt comfortable with my 9 and 11 year old being on their own in the caves, but I may be a little over protective.

[psbtrvlr]

I just got back from cave tubing and had an awesome time. I can tell you that there is a definate difference in what you get with Major Tom and with cave tubing dot com. My guess that it would all depend on what you want to get with your experience. I went with my wife and two daughters age 9 and 11 and had a fantastic time. Here is the difference from what I saw. With the dot com guys you get a large tour bus with approximately 60 people. You get a quick fast hike through the rain forrest to the spot where you get in the water. You are then on your own as you wind through the caves until you are finished. You then get back in your bus and back to the pier. With Major Tom, you get a small van with approximately 10 people. (Enough room and air conditioned). You get a narrative of Belize City as you drive through town on your way to the caves. Once at the entrance to the rain forrest, Major Tom will let the large groups go ahead. You will then take a slow leasurly walk through the rain forest with Major Tom pointing out termite hills (they taste good by the way)...minty, bats, and different types of trees and vegitation. Once you get to the river everyone hooks on and you float as a group down the river with Major Tom again giving narrative along the way about Mayan Culture, crystal formations, rock formations, waterfalls, etc. In addition, Major Tom and his guide help you through the shallow areas and do all the work of paddling. I had an awesome time.

 

In summary if you have kids or elderly people in your group or would like to learn a little about the forrest and caves, you should go with Major Tom. If you want to go and do your own thing, paddle and not learn anything from your experience, then go with dot com. I'm sure that Major Tom is not for everyone and may even seem boring, but I liked it. The caves were big and dark and at times crowded. I was happy I picked Major Tom because I would not have felt comfortable with my 9 and 11 year old being on their own in the caves, but I may be a little over protective.

 

I don't know who you observed being on their own, but it definately was not cavetubing.com! We were a group of 9, 3 children ages 7 - 12, and 6 adults. We went down the river with only us, no others but the guide, and we were hooked together the whole time. They also helped us across the river and through shallow spots. Sooooooooo, where does your story come from?????????

[rhcruzer]

Went with cave-tubing.com last week. Total personal service. Just the 5 of us in our family. Air-conditioned bus, told us all about was around us driving to the site, Melvin & Lionel carried our tubes, described the trees, bugs, etc... Stayed with us the entire time. Never on our own. We did 2 caves, Great bunch of attentive guides. Never felt unsafe at all. I'm not a veteren cruiser, just 2 under my belt, but have posted often enough. I would recommend them with no hesitations.

[thebabynurse]

I don't know who you observed being on their own, but it definately was not cavetubing.com! We were a group of 9, 3 children ages 7 - 12, and 6 adults. We went down the river with only us, no others but the guide, and we were hooked together the whole time. They also helped us across the river and through shallow spots. Sooooooooo, where does your story come from?????????

Last September, my husband used cave-tubing.com for our trip. Those of us who got there early had a mini-tour of Belize while waiting for the rest of the people coming off of the tender. Once everyone arrived, we got on an air-conditioned bus and were entertained by Keith. Just before arriving we were offered cashew wine - to help keep us warm! We hiked through the rain forest to the second cave. The guides offered to carry our tubes, if needed. We also had the choice of jumping in the water or being assisted into our tubes. We locked about 5 or 7 tubes together and floated down the river. They used "spotlights" to point out interesting things in the caves. Also, after coming out of the caves, our guides assisted the people from the cruise ship tours who were stranded. I would recommend cave-tubing.com for a fun trip! We also stopped for lunch on the way back, I think we had chicken and rice. We made it back with plenty of time to get to our ship.

[Redsoxfan11]

Originally Posted by psbtrvlr

I don't know who you observed being on their own, but it definately was not cavetubing.com! We were a group of 9, 3 children ages 7 - 12, and 6 adults. We went down the river with only us, no others but the guide, and we were hooked together the whole time. They also helped us across the river and through shallow spots. Sooooooooo, where does your story come from?????????

 

I was on this same tour with this family if I am correct and I have to agree with them. jasutrick are you the Chicago family? We are the ones from Boston. There were several people on their own that became separated from their group and tagged along with us for awhile. Tom Jr was very pleasant and helped them out. Perhaps you were with a different group, psbtrvlr?

I am so pleased that we chose to go with Major Tom!!! We had a group of 10 and it was so nice to have an in depth personalized tour through the rainforest on our way to the river. Some in our group tried the termites, "Survivor style" I passed. We had a mixed group of people from small children to older adults and each of us were given individualized help and attention when needed. I give them a hearty seal of approval and when I return to Belize next year, I will book with them again. Other shipmates went with the .com and thought it was a bit hectic and and rushed as it was a large group. That said, they did have a good time but wished they had gone with us. It was nice to have the security of staying together in the cave with our small group. Thank you Major Tom and Tom Jr! You made our trip memorable.

[krazyasaloon]

We went with Cavetubing.com in Sept 06 and were treated very well. Air conditioned bus and great guides. They were very helpful and kept group together the entire time. I will use them again when we return.

[vfb2girls]

Since it seems that Major Tom's full name is blocked could someone please e-mail me the web site? My e-mail address is vfb2girls@yahoo.com. It is so hard to try and decide who to use when there are so many great opinions on both companies. Thank you

[dakwriter]

I, too, don't understand why the name of one company would be blocked but not the other one. Could someone just please give the part of the name of Capt. Tom's company that is blocked out from these posts? Thanks.