Air Force One Papa Bear vs Godfrey tour in St Thomas

[gam888]

How would you compare Air Force One Papa Bear and Godfrey Tours in St Thomas. AF One is $30, Godfrey is $25, both offer shopping, sightseeing and beach combo. Is Air Force One similar to Sunny Liston in terms of wildness? Heard Godfrey you don't need to pay in advance until you get there, which is a positive!

[K&RCurt]

We used Godfrey a few weeks ago and have no major complaints.

 

As you said, we paid when we met up with Godfrey (in cash).

 

He was about 20 min. late to pick us up, and the person he sent to inform us at the pier exit, didin't. Other than that we had a great time and the service was very good.

 

We first went to Downtown Charlotte Amalia for shopping. We were to meet him at noon by the Liberty Bell for the sightseeing portion.

 

At around 11:45 he was there and waiting. He narrated the trip up into the hills and gave a very good presentation at each of the scenic overlooks. Several other tours (Sonnny Liston and a couple others) overlapped with us at several of teh stops, and I must say Godfrey's explainations and knowledge of the history of the Islands seemed much more in depth than the others.

 

Godfrey provided water or soft drinks to everyone at one of the stops and told us all that the cooler was in the cab and to help ourselves if we wanted more.

 

We ended up going to Magens Bay and Godfrey had us leave our purchases from shopping and other stuff we didn't need in the cab. He returned to pick us up several minutes before the appointed time and got us back to the ship before "All Aboard" (OK, only 10 min before!).

 

All in all I would use him again. The Liston tour seemed a bit loud and rauchus for us, but to each there own.

[martiniren]

How would you compare Air Force One Papa Bear and Godfrey Tours in St Thomas. AF One is $30, Godfrey is $25, both offer shopping, sightseeing and beach combo. Is Air Force One similar to Sunny Liston in terms of wildness? Heard Godfrey you don't need to pay in advance until you get there, which is a positive!

 

We highly recommend Papa Bear/Air Force One tours. He was waiting for us at the pier on October 31, 2009 and gave us the best 2 1/2 to 3 hour island tour imaginable. He dropped us off at Magens Bay beach for us to have a few hours at the beach, and picked us up at the pre-arranged time; then dropped us off at the ship's gangway. This was the BEST $25 pp we have spent in decades!

[ABC Cruisers]

We booked Papa Bear in May because of the reviews on this site for our cruise that leaves next week. This morning I received an email that we are being changed from tour #2(shopping, tour & beach) to tour #1(tour & beach). We are on the NCL Pearl, so St. Thomas is our only chance for any shopping - Tortola, thier private island and Samana D.R. are our other stops. I thought we were all set with everything for our cruise, but now I'm back to looking for another tour operator only 7 days from when we leave for our cruise.

[Cats3]

We used Godfrey's in April 2008 and thought he was very good.:D

[boating girl]

Use Godfrey the first week of Nov. He picked us up on time and we had a great day. He is very courteous and quite flexible. It was definately money well spent. I would highly recommend his tour.

[Ms411]

ABCcruisers, Godfrey isn't available for a shopping/beaach tour? He's very often recommended, and his tour is designed for those who don't want to sing along. If he's not available, I think Henry of eeetours is also similar to Papa Bear and Godfrey, and is often recommended.

 

There's plenty of shopping at both docks and there's shopping at St Peter Mountain Greathouse where most of the tours stop, so you'll have opportunities to shop. Unless you want a Hublot watch, most of the stores in town are also in Havensight, so you'll see many of the same items.

 

When you plan so far in advance like you did, there's always the possibility that something might not be available, because things change and unforeseen events occur (like Mountain Top burning down). Fewer people are shopping when they visit, because so many people have been here more than once, or they'd rather spend more time at the beach.

 

Please let us know what you decide and how it worked out. Enjoy your visit!

[mrspaper]

We used papa Bear just this week. He was $25 and was great. We did the beach tour. There is time after the beach to shop at the pier, which has all the shops you might need, unless you wanted to go to tons of jewelry stores.

[ABC Cruisers]

I emailed Godfrey and he got right back to me and took our booking without a problem! I like to get everything done as soon as I know we are going somewhere so it's done & off the check list. This will be our 20th year cruising, so we have been to all of the islands many times, but usually do a taxi to a beach or a sailboat or catamaran for the day, but I figured for the cost it would be nice to have the shopping, beach and a little tour for a change. Last year we did the Gem in Europe and hubby said after how nice it is that on every trip things just fall into place. If he only knew how much planning is done before hand lol.

[NCTribeFan]

We love Papa Bear. Have used him twice (tour 2 first time, tour 1 2nd time).

 

The thing with asking questions like the original post is that most people won't have used both operators. You can't get comparison opinions. People have either used one and liked them or used one and didn't like them. You know?

 

Also note that the tour operators often use each other when they have groups from the same ship that want different tours.

 

They're all in this business together and they help each other out. The tours are all pretty much the same. We just love Armitage (Papa Bear) and I send everyone to Air Force 1 Tours whenever possible. He gives a very detailed island tour and he knows his stuff. He takes care of you and he wants you to have a good time.

[Ericshai]

Hello, we're sailing in three weeks and would like to take the tour with Godfrey. Can you guys let me know where to find his email address?

 

Thanks

[gam888]

Thank you everyone for replying my post. Some folks have mentioned the shopping is really within walking distance to the dock? We will be sailing with Costa so I don't know which dock we will be at, since I know there are two docks at San Thomas. I think the cost for the shopping vs no shopping tours are about the same. We are not interested in jewelry stores but wouldn't mind just looking around in other shops just to get a feel of the area. Now I wonder if it's better to pick a tour that includes shopping time, or without shopping time and just do some looking on our own after the tour, so we are not committed to the schedule for a longer duration.

[Ms411]

gam888, the Costa docks at Havensight. There are a few clothing boutiques (Outrigger, Local Color, Urban Threads, Bikini Outlet), a music store that also sells instruments, Caribbean Marketplace, Royal Caribbean for cameras and other electronics, Boolchand's for cameras and electronics, Draughting Shaft for home accessories and other stationery items, Gourmet Gallery for food-related items, Dockside Bookstore for books with Caribbean focus, and several souvenir stores. Oh, I forgot about Tobacco Discounters where you can get cigars. Those are the major non-jewelry stores right at the dock. Oh. Sunglass Hut. Also the Butterfly Farm has a gift shop. There's a men's boutique, and a water sports outfit store. They sell Keen shoes!

 

That should give you an idea of what's available.

 

It all depends on what time your ship leaves. If it stays in port past 5, you should have enough time (at least 1 1/2 hours) to shop after your tour. I think the Costa leaves at 6.

[tkilrainrn]

We highly recommend Papa Bear/Air Force One tours. He was waiting for us at the pier on October 31, 2009 and gave us the best 2 1/2 to 3 hour island tour imaginable. He dropped us off at Magens Bay beach for us to have a few hours at the beach, and picked us up at the pre-arranged time; then dropped us off at the ship's gangway. This was the BEST $25 pp we have spent in decades!

 

I can't agree more!!! Papa Bear is the best tour for the money that we have ever found. It is very informative and Papa Bear will go out of his way to make everyone happy (we had a few grumpy people on our tour and he went above and beyond to make them happy).

 

Papa Bear, You ROCK!!

[tkilrainrn]

Thank you everyone for replying my post. Some folks have mentioned the shopping is really within walking distance to the dock? We will be sailing with Costa so I don't know which dock we will be at, since I know there are two docks at San Thomas. I think the cost for the shopping vs no shopping tours are about the same. We are not interested in jewelry stores but wouldn't mind just looking around in other shops just to get a feel of the area. Now I wonder if it's better to pick a tour that includes shopping time, or without shopping time and just do some looking on our own after the tour, so we are not committed to the schedule for a longer duration.

 

We did the island tour and beach and were back at the ship (in Havensight) in time to shower and still have about and hour and a half to shop. Let Papa Bear know what you want!

[lablvr2]

Papa Bear is the man! You wlll not be sorry with a tour with him. Nice young man with a full knowlege of the island. No money exchanged until the end of the cruise. Papa works with you. He will give you what ever you need. Above poster and I both toured with him. We had a great time!

[Reebster]

I can't speak highly enough about Godfrey. We were on the Pearl a few weeks ago and I had booked a tour in advance with Papa Bear. Papa Bear called me the day before our ship departed and told me he had to cancel (he was very apologetic.) He recommended Godfrey, who got back to me by the end of that day. We chose the option with two hours of shopping, which, frankly, was too much for us. Godfrey then took us on a tour with plenty of stops for photos and a helpful and informative commentary. He then dropped us off at the beach of our choice (Coki) and picked us up right as scheduled.

[JBLWright]

Having read good reviews about "Papa Bear," we booked with him online. Because AOL isn't reliable on St. Thomas, he called us at home to confirm our reservation.

 

When my husband, son, and I got off our ship, the Norwegian Pearl, he was waiting for us. He took us to his taxi and explained that it would be just the three of us on the tour because other customers were onboard a Carnival ship that was just coming into port, two hours late. We said we didn't mind waiting for them, but he insisted that we go ahead.

 

We took tour #1 which was amazing! He drove up the Crown Mountain Road (only tour director to do so) and made several stops along the way--amazing views of the airport, harbor, Magen's Bay, and more. Great photo ops! And he drove very carefully, too, which we appreciated on such a steep and winding road.

 

Papa Bear is very knowledgable and told interesting stories/facts about St. Thomas during the stops. Charles Lindberg landed at the airport in 1928, and the bay nearby was named for him. We enjoyed sweetsop, a local fruit which has a sweet, custardy taste. If you've never smelled a fresh bay leaf, then you'll enjoy the experience--the trees are abundant along the tour route.

 

Because Mountain Top burned down, we stopped at St. Peter Great House (our tour price of $25 each covered the $12 entrance fee) and enjoyed jaw-dropping-beautiful views. The World-Famous Banana Daquaris (non-alcoholic for us) were refreshing on such a hot day. We offered to buy one for Papa Bear but he preferred a bottle of water.

 

He then took us to Magen's Bay. Getting there about 12:15, we were thankful that it wasn't too crowded. We had no trouble finding a shady spot with a picnic table. (Our tour price did not include the $4 per person fee to the beach.)

 

We were very impressed that Papa Bear treated the three of us like he would have a group of 25 (that's probably how many his taxi could accommodate). Personable, well-informed, and friendly, he was an outstanding guide, and we highly recommend him. His "stimulus package" rate was extremely reasonable, especially for the top-notch service he provided.

 

Check out his first-rate website at http://www.havefunwithus.net and book a tour with Papa Bear. You'll be glad you did!

 

JBLWright

__________________

10-31-09: Norwegian Pearl - Eastern Caribbean

11-29-08: Independence Of The Seas - Eastern Caribbean

01-27-08: Mariner Of The Seas - Western Caribbean