Captain Your Own River Boat

[PinkJellyFish06]

My family & I will be going to Belize in just a few weeks & was really excited about booking this tour through Coral Breeze Tours. After reading over everything, we realized that you must have at least 4 people to book it. (We have 3). I wrote them, & they replied back almost immediately. The email said that at a later time it might be possible for groups of 3 to book. I had asked them how many people could go in a boat & they said that it could hold 3 adults OR 2 adults & 2 children.

I still can't understand why we can't book, because we have 3 adults in our group. Has anybody else ever had this problem?

THANKS : )

[azkcruizers]

My guess is they have a four person limit because they don't want to operate the tour if they are taking in less money. If you were willing to pay for a fourth person I bet they would do it, but I'm just guessing:) I am interested in this too, but not sailing until February and have 5 or 6 people. You could try posting on your roll call to see if anyone else on your cruise is interested.

 

Karen

[PinkJellyFish06]

Thanks for the advice. We are just going to keep checking back at the website. You should look into this tour, ive read quite a few good things about it, & it looks like alot of fun. Good luck!

[welldone60]

jellyfish

 

This is a great tour. I would book it for 4 and try to find someone from the ship to go with you. It also could be others are waiting to book that have only two people. They would let you cancel one if they get other bookings before you sail. Its worth the money, by far one of the best times we have had while on a cruise.

 

Have a great time on your cruise.

[xrayvin]

I also have 3 (one is a child) and we really want to do this excursion. I have tried putting it on my roll call, there really has not been much interest. What bothers me is that they wont even take a reservation unless it is for 4 people. What if another couple were looking at the same day and of course they can't book unless 2 more do..Why don't they just say they will not run unless there is 4 but let you hold the spot until say 2 weeks prior or so. I bet they would end up with more people. You book for 3 I book for 3 mr and mrs smith book for 2. There alone is 8 people that wont book because none of them have 4 in their party. As it gets closer I will reevaluate and maybe pay for the extra person. I still hope we are just too fat out for people to be seriously considering booking at this time!

Good luck to you and I hope you will be able to do it!

[welldone60]

When we went we booked about 2 months out and we were the only ones on the trip (4 of us). I really don't know why they will not take less than 4. We asked about that, telling them that there are lots of couples that want to go but can't book for just 2. They said that it was Coral Breeze policy. The tour operator is Hammerhead watersports, but the booking is done thru Coral Breeze. You might try getting in touch with the Wet Lizard bar (they list this tour on there website) and tell them you have 3 and see if you can just show up and go.

[PinkJellyFish06]

Thanks for all the advice & comments. The person that wrote me said they would watch out for other groups of under four that need to be booked. So MAYBE we will get it. We leave in a little over two weeks, so if we havent heard anything a few days before, then we are considering booking a tour through carnival that also goes down the river, NOT captain your own river boat though, but you also go to the ruins.

THANKS AGAIN : )

[Strawberry Icecream]

We would love to do this tour on July 9, 2009 but we have a party of 3 and so can't get reservations yet. I am attempting to drum up support on our roll call.

[jcschu01]

Trying to go on this on July 2nd but not enough people. Anyone interested?

[PinkJellyFish06]

I think the 2nd is when we were trying to go. BUT we went ahead & booked a different tour through Carnival. Hope you get to go on it! It looked like alot of fun.

[tnsail]

I think that the problem is not with the number of people but it is the number of boats that they need to make the tour profitable for Hammerhead Tours who are in charge of the tour....

 

When we did this tour in May we encountered the same problem as you trying to book.... We were contacted by another couple who were interested in doing the tour on our ships roll call.....

 

They were happy to book us when we had 4 people using 2 of their boats... There was another couple who joined us after the intial 4 people made the first booking.....

 

This is a fun tour and the boats are the smaller zodiak type of boat with 40 hp Honda outboard motors.... You follow a lead boat who spot the local wildlife for you and take you up the Belize River 35 miles....

 

Were I in your position I would let the folks at Coral breeze tours know that you are extremely interested in this tour for a certain date and if there were any other inquiries for that date they will run the tour and include you..... Good luck

 

Joey

[KAWS]

The email said that at a later time it might be possible for groups of 3 to book. I had asked them how many people could go in a boat & they said that it could hold 3 adults OR 2 adults & 2 children.

I still can't understand why we can't book, because we have 3 adults in our group. Has anybody else ever had this problem?

THANKS : )

 

Well this is strange!! The website clearly states 3 adults or 2 adults & 2 children. So if you're booking 3 adults I don't see the problem.

 

We were thinking of taking this excursion as well (there are 3 of us). I have sent them a note asking about times but never thought to ask about minimums.

 

Time: Arrival at Belize is 8 am and tour starts at 8:30 am. Pretty hard to do that with a tender where cruise excursion passengers get priority tendering.

 

Shoot - thought we had this one sewn up!

[photonut4]

My family & I will be going to Belize in just a few weeks & was really excited about booking this tour through Coral Breeze Tours. After reading over everything, we realized that you must have at least 4 people to book it. (We have 3). I wrote them, & they replied back almost immediately. The email said that at a later time it might be possible for groups of 3 to book. I had asked them how many people could go in a boat & they said that it could hold 3 adults OR 2 adults & 2 children.

I still can't understand why we can't book, because we have 3 adults in our group. Has anybody else ever had this problem?

THANKS : )

 

I am running into the same problem. My ship will be in Belize December 3rd, but I am unable to book this for my husband and myself. Very frustrating.

[photonut4]

I am running into the same problem. My ship will be in Belize December 3rd, but I am unable to book this for my husband and myself. Very frustrating.

 

Good news. Other people must of signed up as I was finally able to book this excursion. So keep trying you might also get lucky.

[xrayvin]

I am very excited for you! Let us know how the excursion was when you come back. Have a great time

[welldone60]

Well this is strange!! The website clearly states 3 adults or 2 adults & 2 children. So if you're booking 3 adults I don't see the problem.

 

We were thinking of taking this excursion as well (there are 3 of us). I have sent them a note asking about times but never thought to ask about minimums.

 

Time: Arrival at Belize is 8 am and tour starts at 8:30 am. Pretty hard to do that with a tender where cruise excursion passengers get priority tendering.

 

Shoot - thought we had this one sewn up!

 

KAWS....Make sure you are talking same time zone. When we were on the Glory in Feb, ships time was 1 hour ahead of local time. Also e-mail them and tell them that your timming is close, so you might be a few mins late.

[tnsail]

Well this is strange!! The website clearly states 3 adults or 2 adults & 2 children. So if you're booking 3 adults I don't see the problem.

 

We were thinking of taking this excursion as well (there are 3 of us). I have sent them a note asking about times but never thought to ask about minimums.

 

Time: Arrival at Belize is 8 am and tour starts at 8:30 am. Pretty hard to do that with a tender where cruise excursion passengers get priority tendering.

 

Shoot - thought we had this one sewn up!

 

Kim,

 

Belize is on CST and if your are sailing from FL you will be on DST(eastern) when you arrive in Belize.... Your ship will port there at 6 AM Belize time because Belize doesn't observe daylight savings time either....

 

Tendering in Belize is a pain in the a--.... Unless you are on a ships tour or you are VIP, tendering could take up to 1 and a half hours.... If I were in your shoes I would take a copy of the tour information and confirmation with me to the tender station of your ship and beg the crew to let you on the 1st couple of tenders... They are big tenders and can carry up to 150 folks per trip but it is a good 10 to 15 min. ride to Belize City from your ship.... Then the tender has to return to load up again....

 

This is a good excursion and worth the hassle.... Just be aware of the tendering problem and the time required if you don't bug the piss out of the crew to let you onboard one of the early tenders.....

 

Joey & Pat

 

BTW, The 2 to 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 kids are how many folks can travel per boat.... The lead boat can carry 4 to 5 folks in addition to the 2 guys who lead the tour.....

[KAWS]

I have no problem bugging the living daylights out of them to let me off the ship. As a matter of fact, the last time we were in Belize we sort of did a side sneak onto a Carnival excursions tender and I'd do the same. I just figured that when the port time said 8 am that would be 8 am in Belize (that they would be quoting current time).

 

With that said, I don't even know if we're going to be able to go on this excursion. They told me that no one else had signed up as yet and unless they get their minimum they wouldn't be running the excursion. They told me to check back A WEEK BEFORE WE GO. Are they kidding? If I wait that long I won't be able to get into anything else if they say no.

 

So I booked a back up cave tubing trip just in case. Two of us have done this excursion before but this time I booked with another company just to get a little different perspective. If the captain your own boat excursion falls through we'll still be happy (not thrilled but happy) to take the cave tubing again. We didn't want to choose a back up Bannister Island or anything like that though because in Cozumel we'll be pretty much doing a beach day (after our dolphin swim) so we wanted to do something a little more exciting. Hopefully the Captain excursion will work out, but as I said, I have a plan B in place.

 

One of the young women that I'm going with has not cruised before and I really want her to have a wonderful experience. Unfortunately she'll also get a taste of tendering - ick.

[welldone60]

Kim.....If you really want to go on the "captain" tour, I would book for 4. Book 3 in one boat and one as a rider in the lead boat. Then keep trying to find someone to join you on your roll call or on the ship. The worst is it would cost you an extra $20 pp if you could not get anyone to go with you. If you show up at the dock with an extra couple, they will take you on the tour. The only reason they would turn you away is if they were booked full. People have reported on here about being the only boat as people have been no-shows.

Also what ship are you on? The Glory let people with tours booked privately off right after carnival tours. We were dock side by 8:30 ships time, had a hour to spare before we met with tour guides.

[KAWS]

Kim.....If you really want to go on the "captain" tour, I would book for 4. Book 3 in one boat and one as a rider in the lead boat. Then keep trying to find someone to join you on your roll call or on the ship.

 

This is a good idea! And I wonder if they would even let us book 3 adults and one child in the boat and then the excursion would go. That would even be better because a child is only $45 where booking a person in the lead boat would be $65. Thanks again for the good idea.

[welldone60]

This is a good idea! And I wonder if they would even let us book 3 adults and one child in the boat and then the excursion would go. That would even be better because a child is only $45 where booking a person in the lead boat would be $65. Thanks again for the good idea.

 

 

Kim....I sure would try it. When you get there, they will take you even if it is only one boat. We know of several who went with only one boat when others were a no-show. This is a great trip. The guides are fun and will show you a good time.

[tnsail]

I have no problem bugging the living daylights out of them to let me off the ship. As a matter of fact, the last time we were in Belize we sort of did a side sneak onto a Carnival excursions tender and I'd do the same. I just figured that when the port time said 8 am that would be 8 am in Belize (that they would be quoting current time).

 

With that said, I don't even know if we're going to be able to go on this excursion. They told me that no one else had signed up as yet and unless they get their minimum they wouldn't be running the excursion. They told me to check back A WEEK BEFORE WE GO. Are they kidding? If I wait that long I won't be able to get into anything else if they say no.

 

So I booked a back up cave tubing trip just in case. Two of us have done this excursion before but this time I booked with another company just to get a little different perspective. If the captain your own boat excursion falls through we'll still be happy (not thrilled but happy) to take the cave tubing again. We didn't want to choose a back up Bannister Island or anything like that though because in Cozumel we'll be pretty much doing a beach day (after our dolphin swim) so we wanted to do something a little more exciting. Hopefully the Captain excursion will work out, but as I said, I have a plan B in place.

 

One of the young women that I'm going with has not cruised before and I really want her to have a wonderful experience. Unfortunately she'll also get a taste of tendering - ick.

 

Kim,

 

Since you haven't said which ship you'll be on (that I have read anyway), it can have a large bearing on how fast you can tender off.... We were on the Carnival Legend... At port with us were the Carnival Valor and a RCCL ship (sorry can't remember the name of it...:(..It sure was a pretty thing though).....

 

Tendering for 1 ship would be bad enuff but with the 3 of us there it was a nightmare.... Maybe your ship will be the on ship at port at Belize that day and your friend won't have such a hard time dealing with the tenders....:)

 

Joey

[welldone60]

[KAWS]

I also have 3 (one is a child) and we really want to do this excursion. I have tried putting it on my roll call, there really has not been much interest. What bothers me is that they wont even take a reservation unless it is for 4 people. What if another couple were looking at the same day and of course they can't book unless 2 more do..Why don't they just say they will not run unless there is 4 but let you hold the spot until say 2 weeks prior or so. I bet they would end up with more people.

 

I think if you get in touch with them, they will monitor it though.......here's what they said to me:

 

I'm afraid, however, that we need a minimum of four participants to justify our Captain Your Own River Boat tour. If we can reach our minimum, you're more than welcome to join. You might want to check back about a week before you sail if you don't hear from me earlier. If we've met our minimum, our reservation system will adjust automatically to enable you to book the tour.

 

I take it from this that if they get to their minimum they will get in touch with me, but also that I should keep checking with their website too. I hope this is what it means! LOL

[BostonRedsoxMA]

I got the same response, and I did respond to them with my misunderstanding, and got know where. What day are you hoping for we are cruising Valor on the 26th of July