Cave Tubing Gone Bad?

I have read all the wonderful reviews of the various excursion providers and I have yet to read one of someone missing the boat or coming within inches of doing so. So please, if you have gone cave tubing and missed the boat or have had a bad experience please share it with the rest of us.

[Jim Bragg]

It's happened and is not all that unusual. Most people just don't want to admit they really messed up as it costs quite a bit if you do miss your ship. First you need to contact the port authority there and then pay for a plane ticket either home or to the next scheduled stop of the ship. Quite costly no matter which way you go.
Jim

[HappyCruiser383]

I saw some people miss the ship in Cozumel. As the ship was pulling away from the dock, the people were running on the dock. They hopped on a smaller boat that rushed them to the ship while it was still sailing. They were REALLY lucky!

I have been on two cruises where people have missed the sailing and were brought out to the ship while it was underway.We were told that we were slowing down so the boat bringing the dummies out and rest a sure that they will pay for making the ship wait.

On the Serenade in St Lucia a few people barely made it on board before the ship pulled away. The captain came over the PA to point them out and have everyone clap for them as they ran down the dock.

We booked the cave tubing w/ x-stream and I assure you they will not let you miss the ship. We were running behind but at all times our guide was watching what the Carnival bus did. We left after the Carnival bus (by about 5 minutes) but made it to the pier about 10 minutes before the Carnival tours. The driving was scary at times in Belize.

[Jim Bragg]

Kellie, you cannot make that assurance. The ship will leave when it leaves and will not wait for private tours. They WILL wait for ships tours which is why you can say they will get you back on time. Had your tour operator had an accident racing back to the tender dock you would have missed the ship, In addition you probably would not have any insurance or ability to hold them responsible for any negligence they are legally bound to. This is the problem with independants, you have no assurances and no way to fight them is anything goes wrong all this unliike the ships tours.
Jim

We were on the last tender returning to the ship in Belize (coming from Cave Tubing & Zip Lining Tour) and they actually left one of the crew members at the dock. We had to go back to the dock. The crew member ran and jumped on, so they didn't have to dock the boat again. Everyone clapped, it was pretty funny.

We went with a private tour to do the cave tubing when we were in Belize. We seemed to be running late when we arrived back at the bus. When we alerted the leader, we loaded up and were back in time to catch what was announced as the last tender. However, after we got back to the ship and were set to sail again, 3 smaller boats arrived FULL of latecomers. They had quite an audience watching as they boarded.

[rebg]

I went on this tour a few months ago with X-stream, and they were very careful to make sure we weren't far behind the Carnival bus. My boyfriend actually left his wallet (with ID, and everything!) on the tour bus, and didn't realize it until we were about to get on the tender. We were able to find another guide from X-stream walking around the port, and he called our guide who brought the bus with the wallet quickly back to the port. We were on the last tender back to the ship, but we had been running around the port for at least a 1/2 hour trying to find a way to get the wallet. So, just to show you, you should have a little time to spare. I highly recommend going on the tour with X-Stream, they were great!

[Jim Bragg]

Those folks on those smaller boats speeding to the ship more than likely had to pay for this little trip out of their own pockets and it probably was not cheap. While I understand many folks enjoy the private tours and that they have a great time I cannot and will not ever recommend them because if something goes wrong, (and things do go wrong), I certainly don't want anyone pointing a finger at me and saying, "he said we would be fine". Ships tours all the way in ports like Belize IMHO.
Jim

Our last Carnival cruise, some people missed there ship another carnival ship. Well they were lucky our ship let them hitch a ride to the next port to catch up with their boat. I guess the ship wasnt full. It does happen, if you book from the ship and something happens they are not gonna leave you.

[Darcy]

There was a very funny story on the G/L message board about almost missing the boat in Capri. If you do a search you can most likely pull it up. I think was a couple of months ago.