Hells Gate Rock Rafting & River Tubing With Lunch - Sibun River - Carnival Excursion

[JenaMH]

I don't ever remember seeing this Carnival excursion and it doesn't have any reviews on their site. Has anyone done this one? :confused:

Considering it for our November cruise instead of cave tubing.

Direct link with info: https://secure.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509080/

[crewsweeper]

Must be relatively new. But given the time, I'd consider it a definite ship excursion. Hells Gate area is further away from the cruise port than the Cave Tubing site. Might be a tad more exciting than cavetubing, especially if the water levels are higher as they may be at the end of the rainy season like in November. But I don't think there are any rapids above a Cat II. So could be just a different spin of cavetubing.

 

There is a firm that offers a similar package (and may even be the vendor for Carnival) http://www.darknightcavetubing.com/hell-gate-rocks-rafting-tour/.

[sokoriah]

We have booked Hells Gate Rock Rafting and River Tubing for November. There are only 4 reviews on Carnivals webpage (all excellent). But you know, more info is always better for my inquiring mind. So has anyone taken this tour that can give some feedback.

[ollietrollie]

This is on the Royal site

[JenaMH]

We did this one on our 11/2/14 Carnival Dream cruise, so I wanted to reply back with my thoughts. :)

 

Please note: I've done a river tubing excursion before in Dominica, so I have that in the back of my mind to compare this one to. In Dominica we also wore a helmet, were in solo tubes, unattached to each other, and had a wooden paddle to push off with if we got stuck. Staff was spaced in trouble areas along the river to help.

 

When I booked this Hell's Gate / Sibun River excursion with Carnival for Belize, I went into it expecting to NOT have my tubes attached to other people. That was the specific reason I booked this one instead of other tubing excursions. I carefully researched the Dark Night website and saw their tubes weren't attached. I was excited that I could book through Carnival and NOT have to go independent to get this feature.

 

We were sadly disappointed when we got to the river and were hooked together in groups of 8. Everyone else we talked to had also expected to go solo too.

Our guide was new, so I understand the learning curve involved with engaging a group and scripting, but she had to paddle/guide 8 of us down the river too. We ended up in the trees and my mom's tube popped later too. (There were no spares.. meaning my husband and I uncomfortably piled on a tube so she could have his.) By letting some of the other guests hang from their tube instead of a butt in hole typical approach, it also put the whole group in an un-safe situation when one of them began to drag their legs and catch on rocks. We had to stop in a shallow area to re-situate her. This could have been remedied if she guide had taken more control.

 

Please don't think I'm a complainer! It just went a little haywire for what was supposed to be the highlight portion of the excursion.

 

There were many positives to this excursion:

1. Our guide on the bus was very informative, youthful, and interesting. (And tried his best to fix the broken microphone, it would later start working on the drive back, something that wasn't his fault. Unfortunately we couldn't hear much of what he was saying without the microphone.)

2. We enjoyed the bus ride and landscape, sightseeing.

3. The meal was good: chicken, cole slaw, and rice and beans.

4. We were able to store our belongings on the bus. (Lockers were also available.)

5. There was a stopping point on the river where we got a chips snack and water, and were able to swim. Some crossed the river with the staff's help and jumped from a jumping rock.

6. Scenery was beautiful on the river. We saw monkeys too!

 

Based on my experience, would I recommend this excursion? Probably not without a few tweaks.

I still think Carnival's landrover/river/caves excursion is the best bang for buck with the most variety.

 

I'm very interested to hear of other's experiences!