Spencer Ambrose - Never Again!!!

[more cruises]

After reading many positive reviews about Spencer Ambrose over the years we decided to book his tour to Sugar Beach by boat.  Although I thought it was expensive (90pp including lunch) I liked the idea of a long day at the beach.  His website says he would return us to our ship 60-90 minutes before all aboard.  To me this meant arriving around 4pm, so probably leave the beach around 3pm

The day started off badly when there was no one to meet us (and the other 5 people who had booked) at the pier.  Someone from Joy tours took us under his wing and called Spencer and found out they were running a bit late.  Great!  After about half an hour the Joy guy look us over to a dock and said Spencer's boat would be right there.  The boat and our tour guide (not Spencer) arrived with the guide saying she didn't feel well. She was tired and upset that their first boat didn't start and they had to bring a different boat. She clearly didn't want to be there.

 

Before our boat even got to the beach our tour guide stopped in a town and left for a dr's appt.  When she rejoined our group several hours later she said she'd had an "extraction". As you can imagine she wasn't a barrel of fun that day.

 

The real topper came when I found out we were leaving the beach at 1:30.  So much for a nice long day at the beach.  I complained to our tour guide and she decided we could stay until 2 since we started late.

 

At 2 we started off for our ship only to have our boat break down!  Yep, stranded at sea!  And to make matters worse, our tour guide started yelling at us saying it was all our fault because we had stayed the extra half hour.  No kidding - yelling at us!  Our boat "captain" made some phone calls and someone must have told him to check the engines.  He did and found something with a line.  Not sure if it was a rope wrapped around the propeller or a loose fuel line but lucky for us  he got it fixed and off we went, disaster averted.

 

What disappoints me the most with all of this is that St Lucia is my happy place.  Basking in the sun between the Pitons is my idea of heaven and this little "adventure" sure ruined what should have been a special day.

[OCruisers]

  Sorry about your bad experience.

Thanks for letting us know so we can avoid doing the same.  

[deec]

thank you for confirming that problems with boats have NOT been resolved! 

[Nebr.cruiser]

Wow, we had a great day with Spencer a couple of years ago.  But this sounds like a disaster!

[jonsmom]

I have read many bad reviews about this tour and problems with their boats.  Glad I have not booked them.  I hope you get a refund of some type.  Have you contacted the owner?  It really is unacceptable.

[EeyoreRN]

Thank you for this information. I'm surprised, as this company gets very high ratings on TA. I just posted a question about booking a ship-sponsored tour vs. an independent company, and this is the company to which I was referring. Their payment method is what has me hesitating...very fishy!

 

Eeyore

[cathi007]

Thanks for your review. I will stay away from this company

[pghsteelerfan]

We've been on two tours with Spencer, not recently but our first in 2013 (Jalousie Beach Break) and we enjoyed it so much we booked with them again in 2015 (Land, Sea, Beach).  Both were very enjoyable, no issues, and actually both rank as our top favorite tours while on a cruise.  I wouldn't hesitate to go with them again next time we get to St. Lucia for the Beach Break.

 

The payment method being "fishy", could just be being smart.  There was a deposit we payed when we booked both times.  Other private tour groups we've used (not ALL tour groups) have collected a deposit upon booking too.  Although I can't be 100% sure of the reason, it very well could be if people pay a deposit they are less likely to cancel last minute or be a "no show" on the day of the tour.  Many tours can only accommodate a certain number of people and get booked up, so if people back out last minute, it's too late to fill those spots and that is potential money lost.  So that would be smart for any tour operator.  Both times we toured with Spencer, payment was collected before the tour, which is probably smart in today's world as well. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by pghsteelerfan

[EeyoreRN]

2 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

We've been on two tours with Spencer, not recently but our first in 2013 (Jalousie Beach Break) and we enjoyed it so much we booked with them again in 2015 (Land, Sea, Beach).  Both were very enjoyable, no issues, and actually both rank as our top favorite tours while on a cruise.  I wouldn't hesitate to go with them again next time we get to St. Lucia for the Beach Break.

 

The payment method being "fishy", could just be being smart.  There was a deposit we payed when we booked both times.  Other private tour groups we've used (not ALL tour groups) have collected a deposit upon booking too.  Although I can't be 100% sure of the reason, it very well could be if people pay a deposit they are less likely to cancel last minute or be a "no show" on the day of the tour.  Many tours can only accommodate a certain number of people and get booked up, so if people back out last minute, it's too late to fill those spots and that is potential money lost.  So that would be smart for any tour operator.  Both times we toured with Spencer, payment was collected before the tour, which is probably smart in today's world as well. 

Thanks for your thoughts.  

 

I don't think there's anything fishy about requiring a deposit.  What's fishy to me is the no credit card policy.  PayPal for deposit. Then if I pay them all cash up front and they don't deliver what was promised, I have no recompense. It wouldn't really make me think twice, except in the context of some of the nightmare experiences I'm reading about.

[pghsteelerfan]

17 hours ago, EeyoreRN said:

Thanks for your thoughts.  

 

I don't think there's anything fishy about requiring a deposit.  What's fishy to me is the no credit card policy.  PayPal for deposit. Then if I pay them all cash up front and they don't deliver what was promised, I have no recompense. It wouldn't really make me think twice, except in the context of some of the nightmare experiences I'm reading about.

Thank you.  I was thinking it was the deposit and the fact that they collected at the beginning of the tour that you thought was fishy.  The not taking a credit card never crossed my mind, but yes, I certainly do understand your point.  😊  I didn't think that was out of the ordinary since we've done a total of five private tours now and all were cash only.  We've done 2 with Spencer; 2 other highly recommended private tours on 2 different islands; and one day at a private beach club and all were cash only.  I thought that may have been due to the processing fees charged to vendors & the foreign transaction fees charged to customers for using the card outside the US. 

[13cheermom]

So we just returned from a 14-day cruise and booked this excursion in St. Lucia.  We chose the land, sea, beach break total option.  Our experience was fine, got off the ship walked thru terminal, a girl was waiting there, checked our names on her list and proceeded to a dock area.Waited approx. 15 minutes for a boat to arrive, actually there were probably at least 2 that arrived.  Then took the nice boat ride over to Soufrière where we got into a van (12 pass.) and rode to the volcano and mud bath area.  Once on the van there was a cooler of free beverages for the entire ride in the van.  Spent approx. an hour at the volcano area (plenty of time), then got back into the van and went to a nice restaurant and had our lunch (beach was crowded), we were glad to have a nice place to sit down and eat and relax for a little while.  Then rode back to the boat and went to the Pitons at Sugar beach.  The boat we were on was very nice and comfortable and not crowded at all.  The boat driver was nice and tour guide with us very informative.  Beautiful sites as we were traveling the whole time.  They provided free beverages the entire time at the beach.  We had plenty of time at the beach to snorkel and just enjoy the beach.  Actually looking back on the description we did everything we were promised on his website, so we can't complain.  Beach chairs were limited at Sugar Beach, but we just put our bag down (lockable beach bag) and stayed in the water the whole time.  I too had read some questionable reviews here lately, but I guess things happen, and I don't think it's the norm.  I would definitely book again!  Beautiful place!

[EeyoreRN]

21 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

Thank you.  I was thinking it was the deposit and the fact that they collected at the beginning of the tour that you thought was fishy.  The not taking a credit card never crossed my mind, but yes, I certainly do understand your point.  😊  I didn't think that was out of the ordinary since we've done a total of five private tours now and all were cash only.  We've done 2 with Spencer; 2 other highly recommended private tours on 2 different islands; and one day at a private beach club and all were cash only.  I thought that may have been due to the processing fees charged to vendors & the foreign transaction fees charged to customers for using the card outside the US. 

Thanks.  Yeah this is what I'm finding the more I look into the privately-operated tours in the Caribbean. Many say cash only, many say cash preferred, please. We've been on several cruises but have never booked any excursions prior to Alaska, where everyone accepted credit cards, so this is all new to me. Again, it's all great if they provide the service promised. If they leave you stranded, it's another story! And also, I don't like carrying cash...but we do what we gotta do.

 

[pghsteelerfan]

16 minutes ago, EeyoreRN said:

Thanks.  Yeah this is what I'm finding the more I look into the privately-operated tours in the Caribbean. Many say cash only, many say cash preferred, please. We've been on several cruises but have never booked any excursions prior to Alaska, where everyone accepted credit cards, so this is all new to me. Again, it's all great if they provide the service promised. If they leave you stranded, it's another story! And also, I don't like carrying cash...but we do what we gotta do.

 

We always used to book tours through the cruise line, but after finding Cruise Critic and seeing good reviews of private tours, we decided it was worth a try.  We've done the private tours on our last three cruises (2013, 2014, & 2015) and have gotten so much more out of of the private tours than the ones sponsored through the cruise lines and always found them more relaxed and enjoyable and they tend to have smaller groups.  Tours through the cruise lines also felt so rushed and if they promised "beach time" at the end, the time at the beach was shortened (once eliminated) because the tour was running behind.  But cash instead of credit cards has been our experience.  I do read reviews/comments here on the CC ports of call boards and picture reviews (Mitsugirly has done several that are loaded with great information & lots of pictures) before I make my decision and we haven't been disappointed yet.  And now with the internet and review sites, my guess is that most reputable tour operators will provide the service they promised.  But whatever you decide, St. Lucia is just beautiful, even as you sail in/out since it's so scenic & mountainous...definitely one of my favorites.

[MrSchwump]

I know from experience that Spencer and family monitor these boards. You should be getting a phone call or email. 

 

Edited November 25, 2018 by MrSchwump

[Sunseeker11]

I took the land and sea tour and the port area was absolute chaos.  Our tour guide didn’t say much, was very quiet with no enthusiasm, fortunately Spencer came on board at some point and actually pointed things out.  Our boat broke down on the way back and we got back with 15min to spare.   I will be in St Lucia in Feb and am looking at other tour providers. 

[SquishTheWhale]

We took a tour with Spencer last week so just to add my review, we had a great time with no issues. I was a little nervous about using them based on topics like this, but decided to give them a chance and was glad we did. Spencer was out of town so we had his daughter Sheshe running the show. There was two boats running as people were doing different tours. Sheshe made sure everyone was taken care of and getting on their boat before we left.

There were a couple of moments when things didn't run like clockwork- eg we ended up having to wait 15 minutes in town for the second boat to join us as someone on there was supposed to be with us. But the joy of travelling by speedboat is that we still got everywhere first! The mud baths and waterfall were not crowded, and Sheshe made sure we all got loungers on Sugar beach- she was hurrying us to get them before Cosol tours got there lol! After we arrived lots more people showed up but they had to sit on the sand or the wall as all the loungers were gone.

If I had to find a complaint it would be that lunch was on the light side- only one bit of chicken per person and sides. It was tasty so I'd have happily eaten more.

Overall a thumbs up from me for Spencer! I'm not trying to invalidate the bad experiences anyone here has had, but just to give an honest review from a day that things went well.

 

Oh, and the snorkelling at Sugar beach is SPECTACULAR! I was so glad we had 2hrs there rather than the 1hr the other tours get.

[Arubamoose]

We had booked the Jalousie Beach Break tour with Spenser many years ago and never made it to Jalousie Beach through no fault of his own (Matt Damon was honeymooning there and no one was allowed within a thousand feet - with private police boats to boot).  He did substitute another spectacular beach.  It was a great tour.

 

So we booked it the last time we were there since we missed it the previous time.  We couldn't find him anywhere.  He kept the 10 of us waiting at least an hour.  Boat was packed like sardines.  We got to the beach and there were almost no loungers or chairs left - what was left was broken and useless.  Lunch was tasty but small.  Ran out of beer and water.  Hosts were obviously wishing they were somewhere else.  Boat had issues on the return.

 

Would never do it again or recommend him.  Book Cosol instead.

[BeachDiva101]

We had the same thing happen to us on our tour with them in June 2019.  Girl who met us at port was not feeling well and complained how bad she felt the whole way there.  The beach area is a very small area to the far left.  Beach chairs are gross. There was bugs too.  Not worth the money we paid.  They put us on a boat that did not work and we were going very very slow back to the port waiting for a different boat to transfer us to in the middle of the ocean (that was fun, 2 guys trying to hold the boats together so we could hop onto the other boat).  It was a horrible experience for the money. Awful. I would leave use them again.

[beshears]

We have never done Spencer Ambrose tours, and if you don't want to do this tour, I would HIGHLY recommend Cosol Tours.  I've done them twice, and plan to do them again with 6 other people.

[iancal]

We have done Cosol Tours (land) and Spencer Ambrose (boat).

 

We enjoyed both.  Cosol was superb.  Cannot say enough about him (we were in his van)

 

   Spencer Ambrose was OK but.....at the end of the tour the boat was sputtering on the way back.  I was a little concerned that we would not make it back.  We did.  Seems to me, based on the comments above, that Spencer Ambrose needs to tune up his act.

[TTEllis]

I've been with Spencer several times, Spencer love the guy, ol Spencer has far too much B.S. on his mind. I noticed it in 2013 and 2015, 2015 Beach Break he never showed up, 2013 Beach Break he showed up but didn't go with us. We had a good time and everything but it could have been better. I had a GREAT time swimming out between the Pitons, always plenty of beer NO Spencer. 

The speed boats being used to take everyone from the port in Castries over to Jalousie and back are too SMALL for that application. There is always a problem with A boat normally on the way back to the ship that's leaving with or without you in about an hour or so. I've seen it 2 out of 3 time's on the way back to the port the boat broke down, if you can believe such a thing I was never on the broke down boat but my friends were and I didn't appreciate it.

Everybody always gets back to the ship on time, but that's not the point. That's a total pain in the ass that shouldn't happen on any tour. 

The boats many are almost brand new are still to small for that distance, and the water conditions. 

I'm trying to get back to this destination next fall. Yes I'll probably go with Spencer again over Cosol (Baptiste), but before I do I'm going to make sure some of the issues we've had before aren't going to happen again. 

Cosol been with them twice AWESOME tour and a GREAT Plan B.

[beshears]

If nothing else.................let's just hope/pray that 2021 will be a better year for ALL of us, and we can cruise (or at least that is what I hope to do) again! 🙂

[DrivesLikeMario]

How do we get in touch with Cosol?  It sounds like Spencer is having too many issues and his employees don't have their heads in the game.

 

EDITED TO ADD:  Found him, thanks anyway.

Edited August 5, 2021 by DrivesLikeMario

[beshears]

DriveslikeMario, glad you found Cosol Tours! Yes the nice thing about Cosol Tours, if you Google Cosol Tours, St. Lucia, it will TELL a LOT of details of the tour, and I hope for the 8 of us (ME for the 3rd time) to be doing it in January, 2022! 🙂

[overcated]

Good Ole Spencer - still the same "who cares - they will be gone tomorrow" attitude.  It is hard to believe he is still in business.  We used his tour service several years ago but after reading this thread, I see he has not changed.  I am serious when I tour as I only have a few hours and am spending "big bucks" for a service.  Spencer has a "happy-go-lucky" attitude and, in a very poor island, he is getting rich off the "dumb" tourist.  If you book with him, I wish you well.

We used him for a private photographic tour.  Saw nothing but stopped at many trinket sellers along the road where our driver enjoyed his visit with many of his friends.