Never been here before but did a lot of reading before we left and found that the X-Stream Cave Tubing company was highly rated and seemed to have a good rep. We did the Cave Tubing and Jungle hike. When we got off the boat (this is a tender stop) we found the X-Stream guide and arranged a private tour for $65.00 per person. This was five dollars higher than the web site stated but I could deal with it and signed us up. Our group was only 6 people and the groups from the ship were in groups of 25 to 30 and paid $99 person. It took about an hour by van to get to the national park where we were to push off on the tour. We were both dressed in swim suites and water sandals and only carried our ID’s and some money in watertight bags. WARNING!! If you use the rest rooms at the park be prepared for the worst stink of your life and it is nasty!!
The jungle hike was nice and we saw lots of wildlife and spent about 35 minutes walking through the jungle to the start of the cave system. You will be walking and carrying your own tube and miners light so be ready for this. That is why we didn’t bring any thing extra, not that this stuff is heavy but is cumbersome after awhile. You cross the river twice and then get to the cave mouth and put your tube in the water and put your miners light on. The water is very cold but felt good after the hike, the current at first is not real strong and we had to hand paddle to get going. The caves were long and pitch dark but the guide brought a big spotlight and pointed out lots of neat things. It was so very nice to be floating along and then see a hole in the cave and the sun light shine into it like a window and hear only the sound of the water moving along all around you. The tubing lasted about 40 minutes and we left the water where we crossed the river the first time. We then had a fine lunch of BBQ chicken, rice, beans and a piece of cake (all included). After lunch we climbed back into the van and returned to the dock. Shopping is real clean at the port and lots to look at!
The seas were calm and the tender ride was no problem.
Cancun:
Another tender to shore but great weather, we just went shopping here and had lunch and returned to the ship for our massages.
Underway again:
The ship is older than most that are out there so for me it was no big deal to see maintainers working on the ship painting and scraping to keep the old girl in tip-top shape. The ship was in good repair and was well cared for. Yes, it is not top of the line and you will see some rust if you look for it but not real bad for a ship that has been in service since 1988. The rooms were small but we were ready for this and didn’t spend any time in their any way except to sleep and change clothes. The room Stewards were two young men who were great and kept the room spotless and were there any time I needed any thing. The entire staff of the “Sea” were very friendly and always ready to help out, we didn’t run into any pushy people or mean people like I have heard about from other cruisers. The weather was perfect the entire trip.
Disembarking:
This was the only compliant I had the entire trip. We live in Dallas and elected to do the express disembark at Houston. This involves going to Customs at 6:45am and taking about an hour to go through that line, they call you by deck number. We were on the 3rd deck so we went first and were done by 7:30 or 7:45. We then went to the café for breakfast (the only place to eat the last morning) long line for every thing. After we ate we then went up to the pool deck and waited to disembark at 9am. This is where the crazy part starts, you must carry your own bags off the ship and you are called by deck. Well that was the plan at any rate, when they announced the start of disembarking it seemed like everyone wanted off the ship NOW! So we get to deck 4 and waited about 30 minutes to move about 20 feet to the gangway and then into customs. If people would have listened and paid attention things would have gone so much smoother, but we had people wanting to get off the ship hours ahead of their posted times and they couldn’t understand why they had to wait.
At any rate the ship was fine, the ports were GREAT and we had a great time. I would recommend this trip to any one looking for a inexpensive trip to fun ports.
By Guest Contributor -- Razorguy