Butt's Up or Cavetubing.bz in Belize

Has anyone booked an excursion with one of these companies? The price difference isn't that huge $35 vs $45 pp both including lunch. I am a little nervous booking a private excursion rather than a Carnival excursion in Belize due to the tender. My budget for excursions was $260 and with Honduras being $60 ( Daniel Johnson Monkey and Sloth Hangout for 2) and Mexico (Everyone Loves Rays $70 for 2) I thought I'd squeeze in something in Belize! Also, I am traveling alone (29 year old women with a 10 year old daughter) so I want to make sure whatever we do is safe. Thanks for your help!

We booked with a different company but they all basically do the same thing. You'll be greeted by a driver outside the secured port area and will likely be with a few other cruisers. Be vigilant but you should be safe.

If you do the cave tubing, as mentioned above there will be a ton of other cruisers there no matter who you book with. The ride is safe and pretty neat nothing dangerous but there was quite a bit of walking.

If it is not too late to change I highly recommend Little French Key in Honduras, worth the money and I would even say worth going over your budget.

It's a long ride to the excursion site...something like 2 hours. I recommend sticking with the cruise line excursion for that reason alone.

I have used both vendors and personally prefer cave tubing.bz, specifically because you do not have to carry your tube through the rain forest. It may not seem like much, but if you're older (as I am), carrying that tube and the life vest is a pain and slows things down. The lunch was the same on both, but I preferred the setting they served it in with cave tubing.bz.

FWIW, it is not a 2 hour ride to the cave tubing site, more like 45 minutes. You would not have any issue going with a private vendor. We even had a bus break down once on the way back to the ship and they had another bus to us within 10 minutes. Once you get back to the port the line to get on the ship will be LONG for the tender, so prepare to wait and don't expect to leave at the designated time. This is not an endorsement for being late getting back, just a heads up that the line will be long.

We used butts up last month. We did not have to carry our tubes. They were wonderful and we had a great time...I'm over 60 and had no problems at all. I would recommend wearing a pair of old sneakers instead of water shoes. It's a very rocky trail. The lunch wasn't to our taste...chicken tamales, but everything else was top notch. And they pride themselves on getting you back to the tenders on time. Our guide was Jimmy. A fantastic guy! Have fun whatever you chose.

we used Butts up a few years ago and had a great time!!

I can't remember which one, but I think is was the BZ that I priced matched with Carnival on. They had a rate at the time that was cheaper than Carnival and it was basically the same tour, so I did the price match with Carnival and Carnival gave it to me. Of course the price difference is awarded to you in OBC, not back in cash or credit. But now I have the peace of mind about the excursion.

Once you get back to the port the line to get on the ship will be LONG for the tender, so prepare to wait and don't expect to leave at the designated time. This is not an endorsement for being late getting back, just a heads up that the line will be long.

If you purchase FTTF for this cruise, you can bypass the long line as you will have priority tendering.

We used cavetubing.bz and had a great time. Our lunch was jerk chicken, rice, beans, soda, water, rum punch. We didn't have to carry our tubes, thank goodness. Our tubes had bottoms in them so we didn't get wet. Vitalino Reyes is the guy's name that is in charge - hopefully I spelled the name correctly. They also do ziplining. The reasons we chose them were 1) reference from a friend 2) We didn't have to pay in advance - just brought cash the day of the trip.

If you purchase FTTF for this cruise, you can bypass the long line as you will have priority tendering.

FTTF only gets you priority rendering when leaving the shop. You cannot bypass the lines on the way back to the ship.

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I second the poster who recommended your own shoes. We rented the shoes at the place and they were not good for the rocky trail. Plus, my teenager daughter was embarrassed by wearing them :-)

We did the .BZ and had a great time. Lunch was really good too, stopped off at his place on the way out and had a meal and rum punch. It does take about 45-50 mins one way. They are in business to stay in business, and not getting you back to port on time is bad business. Not saying it does not happen. One note, we went back in 2013, and unless you needed assistance (elderly, not able, etc) we carried our own tubes to the entry point. Not sure if that has changed.

If you purchase FTTF for this cruise, you can bypass the long line as you will have priority tendering.

Where do you get priority tender "tickets" or how does that work so they know you can skip to the front leaving and coming back? Is there a separate VIP type line for tenders?

I personally have used Butts Up three times, each with the cave tubing AND ATV. Even when we had an issue with the bus on the first trip, we were never in danger of being late back to the tender. I have never had to carry my own tube, and last year the guide even let my (Then 10 years old) son 'help guide' the group through the rainforest.

In fact, the second time we went they recognized us, and thanked us multiple times for coming back. Every time I was there, I felt like family more than a customer.

We used Butts up and also did not have to carry our tubes. It was a long drive, but we had plenty of time. I would use them again.

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I did .bz in February and it was great! Ur guide was awesome and taught us a lot while we were hiking. We even saw a boa. Really cool. Lunch was delicious. We did the zip lining also and made it back to the boat with plenty of time.

I know you didn't ask, but the rays excursion is just okay. There's nothing in the closed in area except the rays. It going boring pretty fast.

Where do you get priority tender "tickets" or how does that work so they know you can skip to the front leaving and coming back? Is there a separate VIP type line for tenders?

You cannot skip to the front of the line when tendering back to the ship. Priority tendering refers to when you are getting off the ship, and they will leave you a letter in your cabin the night before with directions on where to meet. Then someone will come get you and lead you to where you get on the tender.

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Use the cruise ship excursion and do the PRICE MATCH....it will give you the difference in price back as an onboard credit.

We just did it 2 weeks ago, had a blast. No issue getting back to the ship that way.

my video:

The walk through the jungle is not that bad, as long as you are reasonably fit. The bus ride is over an hour, but not much. Chukka is the company used by Carnival, and the guides are fantastic, talking the whole way there giving you a history of the country, the caves, the Mayans, etc so it never seems long. I don't know if any of the independent ops do that. Bus was comfy with AC, but not cold. Food was baked chicken with coconut rice and beans, cole slaw. Not fancy but filling and good.

robin

Our family has a private tour with .BZ next week. We will report back upon our return!!

For those of you who have done zip lining, and took video of the zip lining, can you hold on with one hand while using your camera in the other? Or does the camera need to be attached via helmet or chest harness?

If you do the cave tubing, as mentioned above there will be a ton of other cruisers there no matter who you book with. The ride is safe and pretty neat nothing dangerous but there was quite a bit of walking.

 

If it is not too late to change I highly recommend Little French Key in Honduras, worth the money and I would even say worth going over your budget.

I have heard great things about LFK but it is over my budget and my daughter is looking forward to holding the monkeys and sloths. Maybe next trip!

I personally have used Butts Up three times, each with the cave tubing AND ATV. Even when we had an issue with the bus on the first trip, we were never in danger of being late back to the tender. I have never had to carry my own tube, and last year the guide even let my (Then 10 years old) son 'help guide' the group through the rainforest.

 

In fact, the second time we went they recognized us, and thanked us multiple times for coming back. Every time I was there, I felt like family more than a customer.

Do you get to see some of the country on the ride out? I have never been to Belize and want to feel like I have seen and experienced some of the country even if its only for a few hours.

We wore thick gloves provided by the zipline tour - that one was through Chukka. Would not have been able to hold a camera with them.

Do you get to see some of the country on the ride out? I have never been to Belize and want to feel like I have seen and experienced some of the country even if its only for a few hours.

Yes! There is driving both through town and countryside. On the way out our guide would tell us about the country, other countries that have helped and supported them, etc.

It's usually a little quieter on the way back. [emoji4]

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