private tour with SOnny Binns????

[LHARTWICK]

Oops! My mistake. That is for Irie Tours in Curacao. I had just answered an Irie question so I was still in Curacao mode. :)

 

We took the $30 tour w/Sonny. Here's the description, per Sonny:

 

The places of interest on the itinerary are the Lighthouse, Alto Vista Chapel, Natural Bridge and the Rock Formations. There will be other photo stops along the way, including the beautiful coastline. The tour is 3 hours long and the cost is US$30.00 per person.

 

Absolutely delighful time with Sonny! Is his a GREAT guy! The van only holds no more than 20 people (maybe) so it's much better than the huge buses the cruise lines use. It's also air conditioned which you'll appreciate if your tour is in the afternoon like ours was. He meets the group inside the cruise terminal. When you get to the rock formations, he is the ONLY guide who escorts his group to the top. He said he likes to go with them for safety reasons mainly and to point out things when at the top. At the end of the tour, he can drop you off at Palm Beach or Eagle Beach. Both are gorgeous! However, Eagle Beach has NO restroom facilities. Sonny said at Palm Beach you can use the hotel facilities across the street. We were tired and ready to eat so we went back to the ship, ate lunch and then came back down to the shopping area for a little while. Just a wonderful time!!

[FLOTR]

Oops! My mistake. That is for Irie Tours in Curacao. I had just answered an Irie question so I was still in Curacao mode. :)

 

We took the $30 tour w/Sonny. Here's the description, per Sonny:

 

The places of interest on the itinerary are the Lighthouse, Alto Vista Chapel, Natural Bridge and the Rock Formations. There will be other photo stops along the way, including the beautiful coastline. The tour is 3 hours long and the cost is US$30.00 per person.

 

Absolutely delighful time with Sonny! Is his a GREAT guy! The van only holds no more than 20 people (maybe) so it's much better than the huge buses the cruise lines use. It's also air conditioned which you'll appreciate if your tour is in the afternoon like ours was. He meets the group inside the cruise terminal. When you get to the rock formations, he is the ONLY guide who escorts his group to the top. He said he likes to go with them for safety reasons mainly and to point out things when at the top. At the end of the tour, he can drop you off at Palm Beach or Eagle Beach. Both are gorgeous! However, Eagle Beach has NO restroom facilities. Sonny said at Palm Beach you can use the hotel facilities across the street. We were tired and ready to eat so we went back to the ship, ate lunch and then came back down to the shopping area for a little while. Just a wonderful time!!

 

We are taking this tour in June. Did Sonny mention if he would drop some off at the beach and take some back to the ship? There are 10 in our group and I'm thinking my parents will want to return to the ship but the rest of us would want to go to Palm Beach. Also, did he say how much it would be to get a taxi back to the ship from Palm Beach? Thanks!

[LHARTWICK]

He can drop off those who want to go to the beach. Anyone who wants to go back to the ship will just stay on the van, and he will drop them off at the cruise terminal. I think he mentioned how much the cab would be from the beach back to the terminal, but I honestly don't remember the cost. Sorry. I'm sure some research on these boards could provide an answer.

[Arubalisa]

Cost of the taxi from the beach back to the port depends upon which beach.

 

Palm Beach to the port $11

Eagle Beach to the port $10

Druif Beach to the port $9

Surfside/Nikky Beach to the port $7

 

Taxis by law carry a maximum of 5 people and there is a charge of an extra $3 on Sundays and National Holidays

[deanna41]

I am having trouble getting his email to go thur. Does anyone know if it has changed?

[FLOTR]

Cost of the taxi from the beach back to the port depends upon which beach.

 

Palm Beach to the port $11

Eagle Beach to the port $10

Druif Beach to the port $9

Surfside/Nikky Beach to the port $7

 

Taxis by law carry a maximum of 5 people and there is a charge of an extra $3 on Sundays and National Holidays

 

Thank you!

[robinlbe]

Deanna.

I emailed him last week without any trouble.

He got back to me within 24 hours....

[deanna41]

Thank you I tired again and it went thru I think

[smarks]

Hi everybody, here is the short review of our tour with Sonny Binn. We went as a group on his bus. It held 28 of us. What a professional Sonny is. He was at the terminal on time and had a sign held up saying SONNY TOURS. We did a 3 hr. tour of the island which was so nice to see more than just the beach. He told us a lot about the island, stopped and picked a cashew off a tree that was a flower with the nut on top. Told us about the snakes on the island. Warned us where not to walk when we got to the natural bridge, and was always concerned with our safety. After the tour he offered to take us to the beach or back to the ship. For those of us that wanted to go to the beach, he was very prompt in returning to pick us up. I would highly recommend Sonny for a tour of Aruba. His bus is very clean, doesn't smell and is air conditioned. I think he is in pretty high demand so book early. Hope this helps some of you out.

[robinlbe]

Smarks,

Thanks for your review....

We are booked with Sonny for next month.

 

I didn't realize he would come back for you if he dropped you off at the beach. I was under the impression we'd have to get a cab.

 

How long did you get to stay at the beach after your tour?

Did he charge extra for that?

Did you still have time for tourist-y type shopping (market/small vendor - not major stuff)??

 

thanks!!

robin

[Darcys mom]

We had a tour with Sonny Bins in mid-April. Sonny did a good job within the time frame he had to work. Our ship was only in port from 7:30 am until 12:30 pm. We were to meet him at 8:30. Our original time was to be 8 am, then he changed it to 8:30, we later found out to accomadate a couple who were arriving later on a different ship. I was disappointed he cut our time even shorter, but I do understand he didn't want to lose the fair of the other couple, especially going into the slower tourist season.

 

We left the cruise terminal at 8:36, without the other couple. After we were on the road for a while, someone called Sonny to let him know that the other couple had finally showed up. So we waited on the side of the road for someone to bring this couple to the bus. Coincindentally, my husband had seen this couple walking around the terminal, and they had taken a tour with Sonny on a previous cruise, so they should have known who they were meeting and where. Anyway, they cost us more valuable time. And at each stop, they were the last ones to the bus, making us wait for them at each stop.

 

We did feel like we had a whirl wind tour because of the short time frame, but we did hit the highlights of the island.

 

As we were heading back to the ship, the same couple who had been holding us up all day wanted dropped off at the beach. So we had to stop for them,again, and Sonny got out of the bus to give them directions and I imagine to collect his fee.

 

We cut it very close getting back to the ship and my husband was extremely stressed. I wouldn't want to do that tour in such a short time frame again. So, was it Sonny's fault or the couple from the other ship's fault. Probably a little of both.

 

I would use Sonny again under different circumstances.

[tripgrl]

According to Sonny, he no longer has the smaller mini buses and only has a bus that seats 25. He is willing to take my group of 8 on a private tour but it will cost us $60 per person. It doesn't seem to make sense for his bus to be under utilized by our small group and I was wondering if there was anyone else that might be better suited to providing my group of 8 with a private tour?

[Arubalisa]

Try Kini Kini Tours http://www.kinikinitours.com/

 

Not sure about their prices though...

 

For a tour with Sonny, did you want to limit a tour to just your group of 6? If you wanted to to open it up to others, perhaps see if you can make up the difference in order to fill the bus, with some folks from your roll call.

[tripgrl]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think we will go ahead and book with Sonny though.

[Tmfinch13]

Just getting back home and settled back into reality, and wanted to take a moment to put in a good word for Sonny. We had a great tour of Aruba with Sonny, even after a little bit of a late start waiting for a party of 5 that never showed. Sonny took us to the most beautiful and amazing spots of Aruba, and was very friendly and knowledgeable of the island and it's history. The price was right and the service was great, I would highly recommend Sonny's services to anyone! Thank you Sonny for sharing your beautiful island with us! :D

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Just getting back home and settled back into reality, and wanted to take a moment to put in a good word for Sonny. We had a great tour of Aruba with Sonny, even after a little bit of a late start waiting for a party of 5 that never showed. Sonny took us to the most beautiful and amazing spots of Aruba, and was very friendly and knowledgeable of the island and it's history. The price was right and the service was great, I would highly recommend Sonny's services to anyone! Thank you Sonny for sharing your beautiful island with us! :D

 

Thank you for the great report! We have a private tour booked with Sonny in May. It's good to know you had a great tour.

[Holly2]

We are touring with him in March. He was fine with taking a group of 6 and got back to me promptly to confirm.

[michelle1836]

I know Sonny Binns has his set cruise tour as per his website but has anyone asked for a special request? squeeze in another stop? I would really like to see the synagogue but it isn't on his tour.

[Tmfinch13]

I know Sonny Binns has his set cruise tour as per his website but has anyone asked for a special request? squeeze in another stop? I would really like to see the synagogue but it isn't on his tour.

 

We did ask him to stop in places he doesn't normally stop, and he did no questions asked. However they were along the route we were already on. Just drop him a quick email and ask him.

[Tamking]

Just booked with Sonny for a tour, thanks for the great feedback on his tours made my decision easier:)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[LHARTWICK]

You will LOVE Sonny - you won't be disappointed! We toured with him a year ago.

[Tamking]

Thanks for the feed back, really looking forward to it:)

[Miran22]

I just had my reservation confirmed with Sonny Binns for mid-September! I'm super excited and know that it'll be a GREAT tour since there's been a lot of positive reviews.

 

Thank you very much to those who took the time to leave feedback because it totally helps with making final decisions for our excursions.

[gardiner41]

We booked Sonny this week.

I have organized an independent excursion for my rollcall.

We are doing the Island Tour with Sonny in the morning then he is dropping us off at Arashai beach so we can spend the afternoon Beach hopping and take the public bus back to the port. Bus # 10 $2.60 US pp)

 

 

HE sent me a link for his website. He has the tour information and pictures available.

 

Can't wait for this day in ARUBA!

 

http://www.sonnytoursaruba.com

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We will be touring with Sonny soon. Thank you for the link.:)

Edited April 19, 2014 by Sunny AZ Girl