Cameron Reid Tour Review

[texancruzer]

Just back from 11/26 sailing on Serenade.

 

First I want to start off by saying we try not to do mass excursions and tend to rent cars and head out on our own as much as possible. But due to research here and elsewhere we decided not to do this on Barbados but instead booked a private tour with Cameron Reid. VERY GOOD CHOICE.

He was very prompt in returning my emails precruise and made the process very easy.

 

Promptly at 9:00 a.m. he personally met us at the dock with card in hand with my name on it right where he said he would be.

 

New car and all our snorkel gear, purses etc went in trunk. There was us, another couple (our best friends) and him and we were very comfortable.

 

I will not post everywhere we went but a general review instead. We did not desire to do caves or rum distillery but more wanted to see how the people live, the history and the beauty of the island - and that is exactly what he gave us. He is very knowledgeable about all this and more and presented all the information in a very captivating way.

 

He wound around and worked us over to the Atlantic side to St. Johns church and then to Bathsheba constantly taking back roads that he knew. Then he took us off the main road again to Morgan Lewis mill (only sugar mill with the windmill still on it)and over to Cherry Tree Hill (gorgeous canopy there) then over to Speightstown for lunch for some real Bajan food (delicious) at a restaurant right on the beach (sorry cant recall the name but will email him and ask him) then worked our way down to Folkstone but too rough to snorkle that day. Then kept going back to ship arriving at about 2:45.

 

This was almost 6 hours of private tour - total $150.00. Plus we tipped him and we offered to pay for his lunch - was not expected but we wanted to. This was split $75.00-75.00 between the two couples and works out to $37.50 per person. CHEAPER THAN AN RCI EXCURSION ! And check out taxi fares - whew- you will see this is a deal. He will personalize your tour any way you want - you say where- how long - when etc.....

 

I highly recommend him and would tour with him again in a heartbeat. I feel we got a real feel for Barbados by choosing him. And Cameron - I know you said you read these - so I want to thank you again. God bless.

 

Cheryl

[Keys2Heaven]

Do you have a website or email for Cameron?

[texancruzer]

YEP.... http://WWW.SCENICBARBADOS.COM

 

Email address at website....

[Aruba Luvr]

Thanx for the trip report. We will look into this.

[Smooth Sailing]

Thanks for the review - we booked Cameron several months ago for our 2/27 Empress of the Seas cruise.

[texancruzer]

See you are from Bandera Tx. - we have been looking at property near Medina. Love that area.... had a blast hiking Lost Maples last spring.

 

You will enjoy Cameron. He is very good.

[Smooth Sailing]

See you are from Bandera Tx. - we have been looking at property near Medina. Love that area.... had a blast hiking Lost Maples last spring.

 

 

I'm glad you like Bandera County - It is really nice out here - we have a small Texas spread between Bandera and Vanderpool.

[Aruba Luvr]

We are planning a family cruise to Barbados. Can you reccomend something for all ages ????? :)

[texancruzer]

I would recommend you email Cameron and tell him your specifics... how many people and ages. What you are interested in such as beaches, sites, history etc. and he will make suggestions since he knows it all !!! :)

 

Also go buy Frommers "Caribbean Ports of Call" (5th edition - latest printing) and just research everything there is to do. That way you will know what there is to do and make your decisions from there. I always thought it is kind of hard to know what to do if you dont know what there is to do. Now that I have you all confused with that.....have a great time in Barbados !

[Aruba Luvr]

Thanx for all the great tips.......I will contact them directly.

[A Sixth?]

I was in Barbados last week. This is a cut and paste from my report from "Live from the Sun"

I’d seen a web page for Cameron Reid (http://www.scenicbarbados.com/) and emailed him what his rates were etc.

 

He replied: “My tours are 3 to 4 hours Us 125.00 dollars the child is free Mount Gay distilleries is us 6.00 dollars and Harrison’s cave is us 16.00 dollars per person (which you will have to pay) I will choose the best Scenic route for you” For this tour it was just the five of us!

 

We were a tad tardy getting off the boat and the fact that we docked a shuttle distance from the port building didn’t help, but there was our driver “Rocker” with our names on a sign. Rocker introduced us to Mr Reid and off we went for a pretty nice tour. Rocker was sick with a bad cold, and between his accent and his illness, he wasn't 100% though he did a good job.(No, we never caught his cold!

 

Mount Gay was a bit disappointing. Maybe it was finding out that had we worn any of our many Regatta Hats (the red Mount Gay Hats awarded to sailor for various regattas) we could have gotten in for free! But likely it was because the sample part of the tour was pitiful. Only two brands were offered, and maybe enough rum to wet half a Kleenex.

 

We went to Harrison Caves which was pretty neat. They use a trolley tram to whisk you into the two viewing areas within the cave, were there are Kodak moments galore. (see picture)

 

Next it was a drive through the cane fields, including a scenic point for more Kodak moments, then to St Johns Church. I am not a big church tourist, but the old graveyard and the view was well worth the trip. Did I mention that the weather was perfect again this day!

 

Finally a scenic drive back to town where we’d requested to be dropped off near the Carnegie. We ate a snack at Nelson’s Arms and wandered back to the boat for a smooth sail way!

[CruisinLynette]

We just got back on the 21st from a Serenade of the Seas trip. We too, booked Cameron. Unfortunately we got his cohort, Rocker. I'm sure Rocker knows what he's talking about it was just hard to understand him. Rocker asked us where we wanted to go and that was good. Except like I said he has such a heavy accent it was hard to understand. We were a little disappointed but the views kinda helped smooth things over

[DiverDavid]

Just back and had the pleasure of Cameron's company on Thursday. My review is pretty much the same as the original poster. Cameron met us right when he said he would. He has a very comfortable, new model Camry. It was a little tight in the backseat for 3 "full size" adults, but we were in and out of the car so often that it did not matter. Cameron knows so much about his home that there weren't many questions that he could not answer. Like the original poster, we were more interested in seeing the island than actual attractions. Taking the back roads showed us so much more than resorts. He did suggest Orchid World which we would not have chosen ourselves, but it was a so beautiful. $9.00 entry fee. Each flower was prettier than the last. There are so many colorful varieties. We kept our visit to 30 minutes so we could continue on the island tour.

 

We wanted to spend the afternoon at a beach. After discussing the various options, he recommended Malibu Beach which was close to the ship. It turned out to be great! See separate review under Malibu Rum Factory and Beach.

 

Thanks, Cameron!