disappointed in Rose and JIM

[EAGLESLOVER]

:mad:We had booked the Island and Beach tour with Rose and Jim on our recent Ruby Princess Tour. We arrived at the appointed time and place and met Rose. We were 3 and there was another couple. Rose disappeared for ten minutes and when she returned she handed us off to her colleague Thenford Grey. No explanation. We then stood around for another 1/2 hour only to learn that his group was not scheduled to leave until 1/2 hour later. Rose provided no information to us about the wait or the handoff. We had a wonderful day with Mr. Grey and his group, but it was a larger group and vehicle and quite frankly, if I had wanted to book Mr. Grey I would have.

[Aplmac]

Which leads me to wonder (out loud,now) why people get so hung up pre-cruise

with making bookings with This or That specific taxi driver or tour operator

like they're the New Messiah or something!

Certain names on certain islands are akin to God Himself.

 

It's "Cameron Reid" on Barbados.

The man could clone himself about forty times over

and that might just about satiate demand for him, some days!

 

Look, just grab a taxi driver at the Port (whichever port, whichever island) and get going! ;)

 

 

This or That operator is no guarantee of heavenly success, as your experience has illustrated.

.

[TTEllis]

Hey dude(aplmac) I've been quietly reading your posts and your not only humorous but you genuinely give good advice. Thanks Todd

[GaryNFla]

Which leads me to wonder (out loud,now) why people get so hung up pre-cruise

with making bookings with This or That specific taxi driver or tour operator

like they're the New Messiah or something!

Certain names on certain islands are akin to God Himself.

 

It's "Cameron Reid" on Barbados.

The man could clone himself about forty times over

and that might just about satiate demand for him, some days!

 

Look, just grab a taxi driver at the Port (whichever port, whichever island) and get going! ;)

 

 

This or That operator is no guarantee of heavenly success, as your experience has illustrated.

.

 

I disagree to a point..There are some very good tours that if not pre-booked that fill up. There is a huge reason there are so many positive reviews about some of the tours..I tried just grabbing a taxi in Athens and the driver was only concerned with getting from point A to Point B.

[Aplmac]

Hey dude(aplmac) I've been quietly reading your posts

and your not only humorous but you genuinely give good advice.

Thanks Todd

Glad someone appreciates it.

I try to be Real, no BS, try to pull no punches.

-been living here too long! :D -58 yrs.

.

[Aplmac]

..I tried just grabbing a taxi in Athens

and the driver was only concerned with getting from point A to Point B.

Most Caribbean taxi drivers are waaaay full of chat (working for a tip).

Only in St.Maarten have we come across two quietly-surly ones who didn't say a word -unusual!

 

Many Barbados taxi drivers drive too slowly(showing you guys the sights)

slowing up traffic, while us locals fume along behind. :D

 

They're working for a tip.

Tourism is our business, and Athens in Greece is a far cultural cry from the laid-back Caribbean. ;)

 

 

I've found that 98% of Caribbean taxi drivers will show you a good time.

Only thing to be wary of (in Barbados, and maybe elsewhere,too?)

is that some of them get paid to take you/persuade you

to go to a specific beach (rather than wherever it is YOU plan on going)

-and they can be rather persuasive, bringing up all sorts of factors/lies

about sea conditions, availability of amenities, etc.

 

Watch out for that. --That and what $-currency you negotiated the fare!

.

.

[Putterdude]

Our experience was that when we tried to book with Rose & Jim they wouldn't do the tour unless they had a minimum of 4 pax....so we waited to so if there were others going to book. We finally connected with about 8 or so members of our roll call and we decided to go with Thenford who I think to a person we were thrilled with.

[StaceyCT]

:mad:We had booked the Island and Beach tour with Rose and Jim on our recent Ruby Princess Tour. We arrived at the appointed time and place and met Rose. We were 3 and there was another couple. Rose disappeared for ten minutes and when she returned she handed us off to her colleague Thenford Grey. No explanation. We then stood around for another 1/2 hour only to learn that his group was not scheduled to leave until 1/2 hour later. Rose provided no information to us about the wait or the handoff. We had a wonderful day with Mr. Grey and his group, but it was a larger group and vehicle and quite frankly, if I had wanted to book Mr. Grey I would have.

 

I'm sorry that happened with Rose. We had Jim for a recent tour and were very happy with him, but it sounds like our experience was quite different from yours - he came through with the tour that he had promised. Since they generally get great reviews here, I'm hoping that this was just an isolated, unfortunate incident.

 

Aplmac, while I agree that some tour operators get almost cult-like status on CC, I disagree that this status isn't earned or that one would be just as well off grabbing the first taxi they see. We did just grab a taxi in St. Croix and our experience was marred by hassles. On the other hand, we went with the much-touted Bumpiing tours in Dominica and had a fantastic time. There's something to be said for word of mouth.

[royal60]

We are booked with Rose & Jim I brought this posting to her attention. She advised me that she was saddened to hear of it and that she would never do this. It might have been that they thought they were booked with her but they never did receive actual confirmation....is that the case poster?

 

She ensured me this would not happen to us, we are on the Grand leaving FL on March 26th. At the moment we are booked along with 2 others

[EAGLESLOVER]

We are booked with Rose & Jim I brought this posting to her attention. She advised me that she was saddened to hear of it and that she would never do this. It might have been that they thought they were booked with her but they never did receive actual confirmation....is that the case poster?

 

She ensured me this would not happen to us, we are on the Grand leaving FL on March 26th. At the moment we are booked along with 2 others

 

 

 

 

I can assure you that I have email confirmation of our pre-arranged booking with Rose & Jim as I had for each of the tours I had pre-booked on our cruise. I always prebook based on my research on these board and am meticulous about written confirmations which I always bring on the cruise.(Must be the paper pushing lawyer in me). I do not believe in just "winging it" like a previous poster. My vacation time is important to me and I like to plan. I hope that you have a wonderful tour with her, but for her to say she would never do this is simply not true as it happened exactly as I posted.