Do NOT Book with Shasa

[SupaGoo]

This past Wednesday my boyfriend & I were in Barbados for the day on the Victory. In October with booked the 3 hour tour with Shasa to swim with the turtles. We received a confirmation email saying we were all set from Tess.

 

Now we arrive at the port this past week and are waiting in the exact spot at the exact time, only to find out, Shasa is not there. A very nice man with the submarine excursion called them for us to find out what was going on, only to find out they had lost our reservation and had booked a private tour that day, and there was nothing they could do for us.

 

By the time we finished talked to them, all of our ship's tours to swim with the turtles were booked and all the other tours had left already. We wound up booking the Pirate Shipwreck & Snorkel tour, which was fine, but not at all what we were looking forward to for months.

 

I post this because I would hate to see anyone else go through this and be left high & dry in Barbados.

[MIcruiser99]

This past Wednesday my boyfriend & I were in Barbados for the day on the Victory. In October with booked the 3 hour tour with Shasa to swim with the turtles. We received a confirmation email saying we were all set from Tess.

 

Now we arrive at the port this past week and are waiting in the exact spot at the exact time, only to find out, Shasa is not there. A very nice man with the submarine excursion called them for us to find out what was going on, only to find out they had lost our reservation and had booked a private tour that day, and there was nothing they could do for us.

 

By the time we finished talked to them, all of our ship's tours to swim with the turtles were booked and all the other tours had left already. We wound up booking the Pirate Shipwreck & Snorkel tour, which was fine, but not at all what we were looking forward to for months.

 

I post this because I would hate to see anyone else go through this and be left high & dry in Barbados.

 

 

We had that happen in Antigua. They didn't "lose" our reservation but we must have been the only two booked so when a big group needed that day, we were handed off to another tour guide. It was one of the worst excursions we have taken. We had to wait for them to pack their boat with as many people as they could. Then, it rained so we huddled together in the small area that had shelter.

 

It is frustrating when you take the time to research which is the best tour and read such glowing reports only to be handed off to an inadequate substitute.:(

[excalwop]

This past Wednesday my boyfriend & I were in Barbados for the day on the Victory. In October with booked the 3 hour tour with Shasa to swim with the turtles. We received a confirmation email saying we were all set from Tess.

 

Now we arrive at the port this past week and are waiting in the exact spot at the exact time, only to find out, Shasa is not there. A very nice man with the submarine excursion called them for us to find out what was going on, only to find out they had lost our reservation and had booked a private tour that day, and there was nothing they could do for us.

 

By the time we finished talked to them, all of our ship's tours to swim with the turtles were booked and all the other tours had left already. We wound up booking the Pirate Shipwreck & Snorkel tour, which was fine, but not at all what we were looking forward to for months.

 

I post this because I would hate to see anyone else go through this and be left high & dry in Barbados.

 

We went thru this in 2006 with Shasa but we luck out and was able to get another turtle and snorkel tour

Paul

358 days to go

Southern Carib cruise Victory

[tjschwalm]

So sorry to hear about your experiance . I have always stayed away from the popular and I believe over priced tours and have only used Capt Ron . Just got back from Barbados and had another fantastic day with Captain Ron (2nd time).

Once you book with him there is no chance of being forgotten , he'll call you so much after you book to shore everything up . I organized our tour for our roll call . We had the best day ever on a beautiful catamaran that went to the northern most tip of the island . It was there we swam alone with the turtles , no other ships and groups to bother with . Next time you go call Ron and if you organize a group you All get a discount , we paid $65 pp for 5.5 hrs with lunch and lots of snorkeling . Normal rates are $75 us . The rest of our cruise everyone kept commenting on how great their day in Barbados was , made me feel good for picking someone who made everyone feel special .

Captain Ron is at 1 246 262 3792 , you can call him anytime ! Guess you'll just have to go back , again sorry about your experiance ! Ted

[joycefnp]

It's interesting, but 2 years ago when I posted a similar complaint about Pepper's tours in Dominica, it was removed because it was unsolicited. Have the rules changed?

[SupaGoo]

We went thru this in 2006 with Shasa but we luck out and was able to get another turtle and snorkel tour

 

Wish I had known that before we booked!

 

I will definitely book with someone else if we ever make it back down there.

[Host Caroline]

I have copied and pasted this from the tour operator guidleline info at the top of this Barbados board. And for clarification - and I have just had this board for a while although I've been with CC pretty much full time for over 10 years - we do not remove negative reviews. If you have a bad experience while on a cruise and report it in an informative, non-inflammatory manner it should not as a rule be removed. However, we do not permit unsolicited tour reviews, i.e., if you come back and have had a great time with tour operator ABC you must post that experience in response to an inquiry re them (which you can usually find) OR if someone is asking, for example, about diving and the tour you took was a diving tour, you can certainly post your recommendation and experience there. If you have any questions or need clarification you can always email community@cruisecritic.com!

Caroline

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[Julitta]

We were on the same cruise as you. The day we were in Barbados was very windy and we had a tour booked that included a glass bottomed boat to see the turtles. The tour was fine but we didn't get on a boat. I forgot to ask if this was because of the wind or what, but we fed turtles from a pier instead.

 

Friends we met on a later tour said the turtle area was so packed with snorkelers they were getting kicked in the head. Maybe you didn't miss much... Still sucks though. Sorry you had a bad experience.

[brattina]

So sorry to hear about your experiance . I have always stayed away from the popular and I believe over priced tours and have only used Capt Ron . Just got back from Barbados and had another fantastic day with Captain Ron (2nd time).

Once you book with him there is no chance of being forgotten , he'll call you so much after you book to shore everything up . I organized our tour for our roll call . We had the best day ever on a beautiful catamaran that went to the northern most tip of the island . It was there we swam alone with the turtles , no other ships and groups to bother with . Next time you go call Ron and if you organize a group you All get a discount , we paid $65 pp for 5.5 hrs with lunch and lots of snorkeling . Normal rates are $75 us . The rest of our cruise everyone kept commenting on how great their day in Barbados was , made me feel good for picking someone who made everyone feel special .

Captain Ron is at 1 246 262 3792 , you can call him anytime ! Guess you'll just have to go back , again sorry about your experiance ! Ted

 

Does Capt. Ron have an e-mail address?

What did you do besides sail and snoke with the turtles?

Tina

[tjschwalm]

Tina , We just sailed ate and enjoyed the coast of Barbados (each time ) I usually call him but his email is captainron@barbadossailing.com takes a day or two to get back with ya , don't say I said so but he's not too internet savy . lol

Ted

[amistad]

Tina , We just sailed ate and enjoyed the coast of Barbados (each time ) I usually call him but his email is captainron@barbadossailing.com takes a day or two to get back with ya , don't say I said so but he's not too internet savy . lol

Ted

I looked at Captain Ron's website and I couldn't find anything about how many people he takes or what he serves for food and drinks. Ted if you have a chance to give more details I would really appreciate it. Thanks

[tjschwalm]

Hey Amistad ,

Ok I gotta think . Ron will take up to 24 people on a 32 person cat . We had 21 roll callers and had plenty of space everywhere . He supplies snorkel gear for any one that needs it . Great steps to easily get in and out , they extend under water . He picks you up in vans just outside the port gate at the circle , about a 40 yd walk from the port front door . Side note I learned on this last cruise . If I ever organize a tour on a roll call again I will choose a meeting spot on the ship and disembark together . It got confusing with the buses and shops in the terminal .

Everyone loved the lunch of flying fish , salad , Jerked chicken , macaroni pie , and banana bread and I think coleslaw . Ron works out two snorkeling spots depending on conditions , boat traffic and his general expertise . In other words he doesn't like crowds and knows which reefs or wrecks are active , same with turtles . I would ask for a northern end turtle stop lots of turtles , few boats. The wreck is cool and this last rip we did a really cool reef up north . His web site looks like it's from the 50's ? Don't be fooled

his catamaran is the best way we have found to spend a day on the water

in BB . Basically they serve sodas and alcoholic drinks and have a bathroom

all you do is show up . Rates are $75 US pp unless you can get 20 pax then $65 US pp . Ok , I think that's it . Ted

[amistad]

Ted, Thank you for answering my questions, we have been toying with the idea of either the catamaran sail and swim with the turtles in Barbados or a day sail in St Thomas. I have been having a hard time deciding, this will be our first time in Barbados and about our 10th time in St Thomas. I appreciate you giving more details, his website isn't real informative.

[ccnwater]

Hi Ted. we have a group of 23 for April. Had been looking at another catamaran...but not feeling good about giving a CC deposit on an unsecure web page. Do you remember how you payed your dep for your group to Captain Ron? I have an email into him...just thought maybe you would respond before him:) Thanks chris

[tjschwalm]

Hey Chris , Ron doesn't take a deposit you pay him in cash when you get on board the leader of the group collects the cash and Ron counts it up . I will tell you that 3 people were no shows from our group but luckily we still had enough for the group discount , so if it were me I'd tell everyone it's $65 but bring $75 in case you have some no shows and don't have 20 pax or more . The people that didn't show didn't feel up to it , I guess ? Tell him Ted from Delaware says hello and recommended the northern turtle spot . He will make your day special , good luck ! Ted

[goldens4ever]

I am terribly sorry that you had a horrible experience! I've had some not so great experiences with ship sponsored tours...but alas, we did Shasa last year and had a great trip....it even rained and they took great care of us....gave us a refund and we skipped the lunch part...but got to swim with the turtles...and that was a huge highlight of our cruise....

 

So...yes, things go wrong...and I am sorry...but we had a great time with them....

[kat52]

My husband and I just did a tour with Shasa on 2/3/11. Overall, the experience was great. The van was a couple minutes late leaving the pick-up area but that was due to one couple running a couple minutes late. Once at the beach we boarded the cat and met Jason and Julius. The only "hiccup" for us was that we read the confirming email incorrectly. It stated to wear our suits and bring towels and cash with us. I read it to mean that we might want some cash to purchase something on the trip. What Shasa was saying though was that you needed to have the fee in cash to give them on the boat at the beginning of the trip. :o We assumed that since we had given them our credit card information to reserve the trip that it would be processed and used for payment once the trip took place. That is what happens when you assume. We were able to cover the cost with the cash we had and some help from a couple on our ship. Thank you Ruth! :) The rest of the trip was great. The crew was very informative and very patient with us since we had not snorkeled in about 10 years. We would definitely use Shasa again.

[tz84kz]

I just got back from RCL ADV of the Seas and we booked and went on a 5 hour excursion with Shasa/Jason. After reading this post, we sent an email to clarify the point that the reservation is ONLY being held by your credit card. You need to actually pay for your excursion at the time of your trip/excursion with cash. This keeps their overhead down, allowing them to keep the little guy in business. My dh and I ran into this with another tour company in Italy. Same thing, they hold your reservation with CC, but you pay with cash at the time of service.

Back to important things. Shasa is a great excursion. The 5 hour trip exceeded our expectations. We've snorkeled in Belize, Caymans, and Turks. The turtles are amazing. The lunch is super...can't believe his wife cooks like this everyday!!! I would book them every time I return to Barbados and want to head out to snorkel or just hang out on his catamaran.