Cave tubing excursion with Carnival Review

I wanted to do a short review of my experience with the Carnival Cave tubing w/ lunch excursion.

First off, I'm gonna reference a few things about size/weight because I'm a big person and I want to pass the info on. Hope it doesn't offend anyone.

The Carnival Dream seemed to have to tender process down to a science. Our tickets said to be in the Encore theatre at 7:30am for a 8am departure, however, it was closer to 8:30am before we boarded the tender. But since this was a Carnival excursion I wasn't worried, the whole group was with me, lol.

Once ashore there were people with signs on the pier pointing you where to go. NOW, they told us and I hope they tell you, but just in case... It's an hour and 15 min. ride to the center, sooooooooooo GO PEE! I was thankful they thought of this and we had time to go to the bathroom. Now, there were two buses of us so no fear on getting left behind.

Our guides were Slim and Stan, they were both enthusiastic and funny. We actually had some bus trouble and had to pull over and get on a new bus, but it was actually only about 10 mins of waiting and off we went. They kept us talking and assured us it would not impact our excursion or getting back on time (of course with a Carnival excursion, they would wait if we were late). They told us about their city, local traditions, local wildlife etc. Very informative.

Stan gave us the run down of how the excursion would work once we got to the site near the end. So here is a bit of the info:

-You don't really need sunscreen, you are under tree cover or cave cover for the majority of the time

-They told us that the time frame we were there (mid-August) that it was not mosquito season, so we really didn't need spray, but if bugs seem to always really like you, you should probably use some just in case. I used the wristbands with the natural repellent and didn't have any problems or bites. Then again, it wasn't season, soooooooooo.

-You have to get off the bus you are on and load onto another bus to go up this really steep, kinda scary hill to the other side. Its literally a 1 min. trip. No AC though and they ask the guys to stand up b/c there isn't enough seats for everyone.

Once you get to the site, they show you to the bathrooms (GO-note, they don't have lights in the bathroom. Thankfully I had my cell phone withe me and used it). You can rent lockers and "water shoes" there.

*They say to use water shoes................they do work well when you are in the water, but along the trail they were horrible. It is very rocky and there are roots and such. The water shoes did not have a thick enough sole. I'm not sure if light tennis shoes would be better or not. I managed on the trail as it wasn't but 20-30 min. walk.

*Now from a perspective of someone who is 33 years old, overweight (size 28), and who has been very bad at being active the last year, it was not a bad walk at all. There are two sets of stairs. One going down into the river you cross (its actually where you end up) and one going back up to the other side. The ones on the other side of the river are a little steep and at the top it turns into dirt stairs and can be slippery. I had to really pay attention to my footing. Now, in the river, you will go about waist high. I opted to wearing my bathing suit with a cropped tshirt and a pair of workout capris. Most everyone else just wore their swim suits. I opted for this because I didn't want to get chub rub (anyone with thick thighs understands this). I wasn't uncomfortable at all after getting wet, actually it made the walk a little more bearable. The bank to get into the river on your tube was a little scary. I forgot to say I was dealing with tendinitis in my Achilles heel this whole cruise and so I wore a little slip on brace for this excursion. My group was super nice to me and one held my tube and the other help my arm as I went slowly down the hill to get to the river. So the visual is: River banks that have washed away during a flood that have those grooves in them, yea, that's it. Getting into the tube was not as hard as I though. The water is shallow and someone held it for me and someone had my hand and I just kind plopped in . I don't want to embarrass my friend, but she isn't on here that often and I think its just important to know. My friend is taller and bigger than me. Probably 6'1 and size 32/34. They gave her a yellow tube instead of the green we all had. It actually is "taller" in inches. Like how tall off the water it is. I have to say, I don't think she needed it. It made it WAY more difficult for her to get in the tube even at her height and the hole in the middle was smaller, which made it harder for her hips to sit right. She actually couldn't balance on the tube right and fell backwards into the water. The ended up putting a small black tube behind her shoulders to balance her and give her something to hold her up. Again, I think this all could have been avoided should they just gave her the green tube. I really don't think she weighs much more than me (I'm only 5'7), it just looks different on her b/c of her height. Anyway, just be aware. They balanced her and I out. She was in the front and me in the back. Big Booty Caboose, lol.

*It was SUPER humid in the forest. DRINK WATER! You can bring bottles of water that hook on are enclosed (workout bottles), but not plastic ones from the cases. They only offered free punch in tiny cups after the excursion (with lunch) for free. Water was $2.

*So, now to the not so fun part. I want to state, that in no way am I hating on Carnival or the tour guides or company. This is just a matter of fact statement and really is just so others don't have the same issue. You can rent lockers to put all your stuff while you go on your tour. My friend and I rented a medium locker for $7 and both our bags fit just fine. So we locked our bags up and went to wait. I forgot to take off my hat and sunglasses ( you won't need either) and so I went back to put them in my locker. I laid them on top of my bag and locked the lock back (it clicked and stayed shut). When we returned from the tour we went and got our stuff and joined our guide again. I was getting my wristlet out to give him and tip and when I opened it, there was nothing inside! NO money! I had about $90 in cash in there (for tipping and shopping). I also brought a credit card, it was still there (I ended up canceling it when I got back to the ship b/c I thought they may have stole the numbers off it). I would later discover that my fitbit was also gone. Now my friends bag was untouched, which seemed odd to me. But my bag was on top and probably took less time to go through. We went back over to the lock to see if it had just fallen out or something. The lock had locked back crooked so my friend just pulled on it and it opened. We hadn't left anything behind, so we closed it again and my friend locked it again. She then jerked on the lock hard and it came right open. Of course, there is no way I can prove that I had the money at all (unfortunately people have lied too much in this world) and its not like there was anything anyone could do. My guide was very sympathetic and had me report it to the main desk. They were also very sympathetic and offered me free drinks (they brought me a huge coconut water) and made sure my guides understood that I wouldn't be able to tip them. This is what I felt the worst about. I was almost in tears b/c I hated not being able to give them money they deserved. They were very sweet about it and checked on me. I did give them a good review and that helps them get to work the next week, so hopefully that did something. So moral to this story, PLEASE check your locks!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know it sounds so simple and almost common sense, but I was excited about my tour and the lock clicked and I didn't think anything about it. On a side note: My friend said she thinks the guy who gave me the lock, gave me a bad one on purpose. She said he could clearly see me pulling out money when I was buying the locker from where he was and knew I had money. She didn't think about it until my money got stolen and hers did not. B/c I paid for the locker not her, they might have assumed I had all the money. I remember when I went to get my key, he went to hand me one key and then paused and put in back and picked another and specifically said locker 149 to me, out loud. He hadn't done that with anyone else. I guess it is wrong to make these kinds of assumptions with no actual proof, but its things that I thought of after the fact and women's intuition is normally right. In any case, I've learned a good lesson. And in the end, I hope that they really needed to money and are using it to feed their family or at least that is what I'm going to think about. I could be mad, but this is life. It could have been much worse. I was worried the whole time I would break my ankle and would have to go to the hospital and miss the ship or something. Alls well that ends well.

I really enjoyed the excursion. I got to go out of my comfort zone and do something I wouldn't normally b/c of my weight and I came out feeling really good about myself. It will be something I remember fondly.

If you have questions. Let me know.

Thanks for this information, I'm on the same ship in December, and doing the excursion from a different company. This is all really good info for my wife.

I'm sorry to hear about the negative side of the experience. Do you have any pictures of the tour you can share?

Thanks again for the info.

What kind of pics are you looking for? I didn't get too many that shows the trails or anything. I didn't want to take my eyes off the ground.

Of the tubing itself. I've seen some videos on youtube, etc, but they are all kinda old, I'm assuming that with time, weather, etc, it's all a little different now. Just curious what I'm actually in for. I was thinking of taking a waterproof dry bag and actually taking my stuff with me instead of renting any lockers.

See if the link to my book of faces will let you see my album

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.839892956248.1073741883.62700819&type=1&l=4d68aaa4a2

I have a few short videos and a few pictures. I'm afraid I was enjoying being in the moment to take a lot of pictures. I simply got a waterproof case for my cell phone and got a floating wristlet that attached to it. I then clipped it to my life jacket and tucked it down my bathing suit top to walk with. My friends brought those little waterproof pouches for their cell phones and money/cards/etc. and took that stuff with them, but used the lockers for a change of clothes, towel, etc. If you aren't worried about having to carry the bag then you could take it. We had to carry our own tubes so it was nice to be hands free.

THANK YOU!!!!! Exactly the info and pics and stuff I was looking for. I really appreciate that you shared. Very awesome. I'm really looking forward to the trip!

I'm thinking about getting one of those cell&money pouches for my valuables and a locker for the rest.

Thanks again.

THANK YOU!!!!! Exactly the info and pics and stuff I was looking for. I really appreciate that you shared. Very awesome. I'm really looking forward to the trip!

 

I'm thinking about getting one of those cell&money pouches for my valuables and a locker for the rest.

 

Thanks again.

Your Welcome! Bon Voyage!

Does the tour company Carnival use still require you to carry your own tubes? Also, do you have to lock your feet under the armpits of the person in front of you?

Thanks so much for this review. I am a big guy, and I would love to do this but was always afraid it would be too much for me. I really appreciate your insights!

Ok - I admit up front that I am frugal (cheap if you want), but $7 to rent a locker for an hour or two seems like a price gouge.

These little hidden expenses make a trip of this nature less desirable for me. We may still try it, but something does not smell right about paying so much for security and then having that security open to possible compromise anyway. It's funny, but if it was embedded in the price of the excursion, I probably wouldn't balk.

Don

Thank you so much for the pics and review. I am looking at this excursion myself and had concerns that you addressed for me.

What a wonderful review! You seem so positive and so sweet. Some people post reviews and complain about the most ridiculous things but you were the victim of a crime and just think about everyone else more than yourself. I am doing this excursion next year and appreciate all the info you have shared!

Hi! Thanks for the info. I've been looking into this but I'm terrified of heights. You mentioned a scary hill.. how bad was it? Was that the only high part of this excursion?

Thanks for the info. I loved your dolphin pics btw!