pulsa

I would prefer to share some amazing travel memories and my beautiful cruise
pictures but unfortunately have another thing to discuss....

While coursing in West Caribbean we stayed one day at Belize where I had a terrible experience with "Cave Tubing with Vitalino Reyes" (Belize City) and got injured due to negligence of the people working there and because their equipment might be not safe enough or is probably not used in the safely manner. I tried to contact the owner but he is unwilling to take any responsibilities. .

I would like the local authorities to be aware of the way this attraction operates. Something definitely needs to be done in order to prevent any potential injuries and accidents in other people!

Looking for a practical advice - to whom should i report the accident as I am not sure how do the safety regulations in the touristic industry of the Island work. I have all the medical records, pictures and bills but living in another country wouldn't like to open a legal case, As long as I have a choice, I would like just to report the dangerous situation to the right person/organization - whoever might be officially in charge there.

I'll appreciate any feedback from those who had a similar experience who lives there or knows the local situation.

Thanks a lot in advance, enjoy your trips and your stay in the good warm places and be careful when choosing attractions

NoFlyZone

If you didn't report your injuries when they happened, they probably aren't too bad or consequential. Nonetheless, contact the tourist board. They should be able to direct you to the proper authority or may even take action themselves. You could also post the details on review sites such as TripAdvisor so to warn others of a potentially bad situation.

hopefulist

I hope you're on the mend. That outfit gets mostly great reviews on Trip Advisor - you can add your opinion to the list.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio..._District.html

Katie_Valk

Contact the cruise ship and sue the cruise line. They are ultimately responsible for handling the booking

pulsa

I wrote a review for TripAdvisor, hope it will be published soon. As regards the tourist board, I think it might be a good idea too, just found their mailing address. Thanks NoFly!

pulsa

Katie we didn't book the tour through the cruise line, we contacted Vitalino directly trying to save a few bucks (as turned out, it wasn't a good idea...)

suze

<I wrote a review for TripAdvisor, hope it will be published soon.>

Keep an eye on it. TA is not always willing to post reviews, especially extremely negative ones.

pulsa

suze, that is my feeling too as the TA review is still not posted being submitted about 30 hours ago...Not sure how doesit usually work as i have only submitted one in the past and it was extremely positive...

hopefulist

It can take a few days for the reviews to post.

catspajamas

Unless you had travel insurance, private insurance that would cover expenses out of the country, or booked the trip through the cruise line, IMO you are SOL. Lo siento!

BigRuss

First, you have nothing to do with an island if you toured with a group from Belize City - that's the lone (small) metropolis in the country and it's on the continent, not offshore.

Second, you should look into governmental departments to report to such as a commerce or interior department. Belize is the only country in North America with English as its only official language so navigating the government websites shouldn't be hard - because it used to be a British colony, there should be a high level of logic to it.

pulsa

Thanks everyone who published replies!
TA finaly published my review
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._District.html
I am also working on my report the Belize Tourist Board.
Hope it helps to prevent further injuries and accidents on the Belize Zip Line operated by Mr. Vitalino.

ekscrunchy

Welcome to Fodors!!

What cruise line were you on? What exactly caused the accident and what were your injuries? Did you have to go to hospital?

schmerl

I feel terrible that this happened to you. However, you signed the liability waver which lets the company off the hook. I'm not saying that's right, but by signing that paper, you relieved him of liability. We all need to be careful of what we sign and make sure it meets our expectations.

eliztravels2

Reading your report on Trip Advisor along with those of others, I note that this operation serves large groups of cruise ship passengers and tend to rush people through. That is a situation which always makes me uncomfortable, as I need to feel properly prepared with a thorough safety
briefing when undertaking any activity involving equipment with which I am not familiar. Unfortunate that you did not question the instructions you were given when they seemed contrary to what you had read, but of course it was the employees job to get it right.

It is also unfortunate that the owner of the activity did not respond with more concern to your accident. Not surprising that he was unwilling to compensate you as you had signed the waiver, but should have been more willing to look in to it, and address what appears to be an inadequately trained employee, as well as respond to your emails. I think you are taking the right approach in complaining to the tourist board, As you suggest, legal action in a foreign country would be expensive and quite possibly futile.

Waivers seem so commonplace these days, one wonders if anyone ever has to take any responsibility for poorly run operations. As my mother would say "You pays your money and you takes your chances." On the other had, we do hear of lawsuits for huge amounts which seem out of proportion to the harm caused, so it is not surprising that a small family run business would need to protect itself against litigation that would surely bankrupt it.

I hope you are recovering well.