Recent Tobago info

[sunlover2]

From what I have just read, not a good start for one of the first ships that stopped in Tobago. 

 

https://trinidadexpress.com/news/local/maxis-a-no-show-tobago-tours-cancelled/article_901196ba-81be-11ee-872f-c306a59dc782.html

 

Maxis a no-show: Tobago tours cancelled

THE start of Tobago’s 2023/2024 cruise ship season hit a snag on Saturday. There was a lot of dancing at the Scarborough Port but in the midst of the dancing, pan music and moko jumbies, there was disappointment as pre-booked tours for 300 tourists were cancelled due to the non-arrival of maxi-taxis.

According to the Division of Tourism, when the Celebrity Silhouette docked at the Port of Scarborough it marked the start of a season with an impressive line-up of approximately 70 scheduled calls, bringing a total of 116,906 passengers to Tobago.

The cancellation of tours comes even as drivers were informed since October of the inaugural arrival of the Celebrity Silhouette, cruise line agent Charles Carvalho told the Express.

[Guera53]

Yes we ate dinner with a couple who told us a lot of tours were cancelled in Tobago. The tour to the waterfall went on as planned and someone sprained their ankle needing medical. They also stated an armed Tobago police officer accompanied them and he was wearing a bullet proof vest. Another cruiser also told us the walk to the waterfall was treacherous. 
 

Honestly there was nothing built for tourists at the port. We watched the dancing when the ship docked from the ocean view cafeteria. There were tourism officials on the boat with a police officer who was talking on the phone and he looked intimidating. I assumed they were touring the boat.

 

The couple who took the waterfall tour told us they wondered if the police officer was on the bus to protect them from being kidnapped. Her words. 

I wonder why the tours were really cancelled. Taxi drivers no showing ???? They need money.
 

 

 

[sunlover2]

42 minutes ago, Guera53 said:

Yes we ate dinner with a couple who told us a lot of tours were cancelled in Tobago. The tour to the waterfall went on as planned and someone sprained their ankle needing medical. They also stated an armed Tobago police officer accompanied them and he was wearing a bullet proof vest. Another cruiser also told us the walk to the waterfall was treacherous. 
 

Honestly there was nothing built for tourists at the port. We watched the dancing when the ship docked from the ocean view cafeteria. There were tourism officials on the boat with a police officer who was talking on the phone and he looked intimidating. I assumed they were touring the boat.

 

The couple who took the waterfall tour told us they wondered if the police officer was on the bus to protect them from being kidnapped. Her words. 

I wonder why the tours were really cancelled. Taxi drivers no showing ???? They need money.
 

 

 

Interesting and scary. Thanks for sharing

[Guera53]

[hasentreelake]

We arrived @ the Port of Scarborough this morning and the locals are putting on quite a show at the dock and the buses are aplenty.  The island music has been non-stop since we arrived.

We will be doing a beach excursion to Club Pigeon Point offered by Celebrity...

  
 

Edited November 25, 2023 by hasentreelake

[Because_I_Said]

52 minutes ago, hasentreelake said:

We arrived @ the Port of Scarborough this morning and the locals are putting on quite a show at the dock and the buses are aplenty. 

 

Would love an update on your experience at this port at the end of the day. I know a lot of us have concerns over safety. 

[hasentreelake]

We proceeded to Pigeon Point Beach in several buses this morning at 10:30a.
By the time we got to the beach, all umbrellas were gone and choice locations for chairs were less than ideal.  That said, our location turned out just fine.   The very northern point of Pigeon Point is where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet on this island so the currents are fairly strong. 
When you get to the beach head south toward the small pier - it is the best place to put your chair if you want full sun and loud music (and the best section of beach).  The northern side is a little steeper and less level area.  Tip - don't place your chair on any hilly sandy area.  You will surely get wiped out from the lapping waves.  Place your chair on a level area.  
This beach was packed with Cruise Ship passengers.  A few local families, but mainly what seemed to be a thousand ships passengers.  It was busy but not to point of unacceptable.  
Today the surf was strong and the red flags were out.  It didn't keep people out of the water, but several people took hard spills, twisting ankles and scraping legs.  It was the strong waves and I witnessed at least a dozen (probably closer to 2 dozen) spills including one for myself althought no worse for the wear.    We shared a $20 shrimp, 2 sides, + salad meal and it was plenty for 2.  I think we each drank 3 Carib beers @ $3 each.  Chairs $5 ea. Same with umbrella, but we didn't need one as the north side has plenty of trees for shade.  

In terms of security , I'd say I didn't feel unsafe at any time.  
There was much more a police presence at Fort Lauderdale Cruise port compared to a very quiet port here.   If you are a bit more adventourus, you might consider going to this beach on your own using public transportation.    There were no incidents of any kind that I'm aware of.

 

If I had to do it again I would choose the more expensive Celebrity beach excursion option even though it was shorter time as it likely would not be as crowded. 😀

This is a very nice English speaking island and I wouldn't hesitate to return, but wouldn't choose it as a destination over the many other options.  

 

Edited November 25, 2023 by hasentreelake

[hasentreelake]

[LadyBerard]

Previously, I had booked this excursion to Pigeon Point Beach for our Silhouette cruise for this upcoming January, but have since canceled it and decided it would be a nice day to hang on the ship while many others are off in port.  I'm glad you did have a nice time though.

[tabby50894]

On 11/25/2023 at 3:30 PM, hasentreelake said:

We proceeded to Pigeon Point Beach in several buses this morning at 10:30a.
By the time we got to the beach, all umbrellas were gone and choice locations for chairs were less than ideal.  That said, our location turned out just fine.   The very northern point of Pigeon Point is where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet on this island so the currents are fairly strong. 
When you get to the beach head south toward the small pier - it is the best place to put your chair if you want full sun and loud music (and the best section of beach).  The northern side is a little steeper and less level area.  Tip - don't place your chair on any hilly sandy area.  You will surely get wiped out from the lapping waves.  Place your chair on a level area.  
This beach was packed with Cruise Ship passengers.  A few local families, but mainly what seemed to be a thousand ships passengers.  It was busy but not to point of unacceptable.  
Today the surf was strong and the red flags were out.  It didn't keep people out of the water, but several people took hard spills, twisting ankles and scraping legs.  It was the strong waves and I witnessed at least a dozen (probably closer to 2 dozen) spills including one for myself althought no worse for the wear.    We shared a $20 shrimp, 2 sides, + salad meal and it was plenty for 2.  I think we each drank 3 Carib beers @ $3 each.  Chairs $5 ea. Same with umbrella, but we didn't need one as the north side has plenty of trees for shade.  

In terms of security , I'd say I didn't feel unsafe at any time.  
There was much more a police presence at Fort Lauderdale Cruise port compared to a very quiet port here.   If you are a bit more adventourus, you might consider going to this beach on your own using public transportation.    There were no incidents of any kind that I'm aware of.

 

If I had to do it again I would choose the more expensive Celebrity beach excursion option even though it was shorter time as it likely would not be as crowded. 😀

This is a very nice English speaking island and I wouldn't hesitate to return, but wouldn't choose it as a destination over the many other options.  

 

Interested in your take that it is preferable to take Celebrity’s excursion because it would be less crowded. I’m thinking getting there earlier would be better. Or are you thinking there’s safety in numbers?

[hasentreelake]

12 hours ago, LadyBerard said:

Previously, I had booked this excursion to Pigeon Point Beach for our Silhouette cruise for this upcoming January, but have since canceled it and decided it would be a nice day to hang on the ship while many others are off in port.  I'm glad you did have a nice time though.

Part of why we travel is to visit the destination but also understand to just relax maybe is preferred.   Also these island people rely on tourist spending (jmo)

 

[hasentreelake]

On 11/26/2023 at 6:28 PM, tabby50894 said:

Interested in your take that it is preferable to take Celebrity’s excursion because it would be less crowded. I’m thinking getting there earlier would be better. Or are you thinking there’s safety in numbers?

I'm not sure where you got the idea of taking a celebrity excursion would be less crowded.... If I led you to that conclusion, please forgive me - it's exactly the opposite.  

PS - our ships excursion to Pigeon Point Beach was Very Crowded.
Turns out there were so many complaints about this excursion that our money has been refunded.
Haven't actually seen the refund yet, but a note on the door with the advice that we should expect a refund.  

Reasons for the refund (although not stated) were obvious...
Beach was oversold.  Very crowded.  It is a public beach and although there were some locals, it was 98% Celebrity Guests. 
Umbrellas were gone by the time we got there and we were in the meeting line at our appointed tim
The line to get a $5 chair was another long wait.
The surf was very rough and although the red flags were out , the local lifeguards were mostly just socializing with one another.  Many people were roughed up by the sea.
 

[tabby50894]

2 hours ago, hasentreelake said:

I'm not sure where you got the idea of taking a celebrity excursion would be less crowded.... If I led you to that conclusion, please forgive me - it's exactly the opposite.  

PS - our ships excursion to Pigeon Point Beach was Very Crowded.
Turns out there were so many complaints about this excursion that our money has been refunded.
Haven't actually seen the refund yet, but a note on the door with the advice that we should expect a refund.  

Reasons for the refund (although not stated) were obvious...
Beach was oversold.  Very crowded.  It is a public beach and although there were some locals, it was 98% Celebrity Guests. 
Umbrellas were gone by the time we got there and we were in the meeting line at our appointed tim
The line to get a $5 chair was another long wait.
The surf was very rough and although the red flags were out , the local lifeguards were mostly just socializing with one another.  Many people were roughed up by the sea.
 

Thanks for the clarification. Celebrity excursion is out.😉 Now I have to decide whether Pigeon Point is worth going to at all.

[hasentreelake]

2 hours ago, tabby50894 said:

Thanks for the clarification. Celebrity excursion is out.😉 Now I have to decide whether Pigeon Point is worth going to at all.

I would discourage you from going to Pigeon Point - particurlary if your cruise ship has an excursion going there.  It is simply not big enough to handle the crowd a cruise ship will bring to it.  

[tabby50894]

30 minutes ago, hasentreelake said:

I would discourage you from going to Pigeon Point - particurlary if your cruise ship has an excursion going there.  It is simply not big enough to handle the crowd a cruise ship will bring to it.  

Ok, thanks for that. I hope someone has a suggestion of something to do in Tobago. This is our first time there, so I'd hate to stay on the ship, but perhaps that's the right answer.

[EatonDoolittle]

If you want to be out on the water, suggest a glass bottom boat / Nylon Pool excursion.  On my last trip to Tobago, I went independently to Pigeon Point beach, and I do remember that it was small, and quite rustic. 

However, while there, we joined a small glass bottom boat trip out to the Nylon Pool leaving from the PP beach, and it was great. 

We stopped out in the sandbar for a swim, and saw plenty of fish and coral reef from the boat.

 

My beach sitting / sun worshipping days are behind me, so next trip, I have booked a ship excursion that does the boat and pool, as far as I know, provides no beach sitting time. This is on Holland America, but I would bet all the lines have something similar. Its a bit of a drive to the beach, so you will see a some of the island on the way there and back. 

[tabby50894]

1 hour ago, EatonDoolittle said:

If you want to be out on the water, suggest a glass bottom boat / Nylon Pool excursion.  On my last trip to Tobago, I went independently to Pigeon Point beach, and I do remember that it was small, and quite rustic. 

However, while there, we joined a small glass bottom boat trip out to the Nylon Pool leaving from the PP beach, and it was great. 

We stopped out in the sandbar for a swim, and saw plenty of fish and coral reef from the boat.

 

My beach sitting / sun worshipping days are behind me, so next trip, I have booked a ship excursion that does the boat and pool, as far as I know, provides no beach sitting time. This is on Holland America, but I would bet all the lines have something similar. Its a bit of a drive to the beach, so you will see a some of the island on the way there and back. 

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

[Arzeena]

On 11/25/2023 at 4:30 PM, hasentreelake said:

We proceeded to Pigeon Point Beach in several buses this morning at 10:30a.
By the time we got to the beach, all umbrellas were gone and choice locations for chairs were less than ideal.  That said, our location turned out just fine.   The very northern point of Pigeon Point is where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet on this island so the currents are fairly strong. 
When you get to the beach head south toward the small pier - it is the best place to put your chair if you want full sun and loud music (and the best section of beach).  The northern side is a little steeper and less level area.  Tip - don't place your chair on any hilly sandy area.  You will surely get wiped out from the lapping waves.  Place your chair on a level area.  
This beach was packed with Cruise Ship passengers.  A few local families, but mainly what seemed to be a thousand ships passengers.  It was busy but not to point of unacceptable.  
Today the surf was strong and the red flags were out.  It didn't keep people out of the water, but several people took hard spills, twisting ankles and scraping legs.  It was the strong waves and I witnessed at least a dozen (probably closer to 2 dozen) spills including one for myself althought no worse for the wear.    We shared a $20 shrimp, 2 sides, + salad meal and it was plenty for 2.  I think we each drank 3 Carib beers @ $3 each.  Chairs $5 ea. Same with umbrella, but we didn't need one as the north side has plenty of trees for shade.  

In terms of security , I'd say I didn't feel unsafe at any time.  
There was much more a police presence at Fort Lauderdale Cruise port compared to a very quiet port here.   If you are a bit more adventourus, you might consider going to this beach on your own using public transportation.    There were no incidents of any kind that I'm aware of.

 

If I had to do it again I would choose the more expensive Celebrity beach excursion option even though it was shorter time as it likely would not be as crowded. 😀

This is a very nice English speaking island and I wouldn't hesitate to return, but wouldn't choose it as a destination over the many other options.  

 

 

We were on the same cruise and our experience of Tobago and Pigeon Point excursion was pretty much similar.

We walked out further to the end, away from where the buses dropped us, away from the pier and had great spots for lounging under the palms. It was breezy and very nice out there. Lot of wave action going on.
We ate at the restaurant on that side. It was buffet style, but they dished it out in foam boxes and you can eat anywhere, inside or outside.  There was rice and peas, potatos, chicken bbq, beef stew and snapper, with some other caribbean fare. I also saw some ala cart ordering.Their rest room was clean. The line to pay for and get lounge chairs was long but it was ok, not worthy of complaint. Umbrellas were very few and were sold out, but we were under palms and did not feel the need for one. They are just starting out, so would give them time to iron out the kinks. The chair guy was telling us that usually there are 200 people on the beach, but there were 800 today. It did not seem 800 crowded to me, but yes some areas seemed very crowded!

I quite enjoyed the excursion and had no reason to complaint and find it VERY surprising that Celebrity refunded us with a letter saying that majority of the passengers were not happy with this excursion so they have decided to issue a 100% refund to everybody on this excursion......we were surprised. We quite liked it. I also met and talked with many tourists who had come over for the weekend from Trinidad. I was informed that there are two 5 star hotel properties on Tobago. Don't remember names.
Overall, I felt very safe and did not feel any need for concern over safety.

My friend went on the excursion that included the tour and folk dancing. She enjoyed the dancing very much.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Arzeena

[Grammaof10]

We we are interested in Celebrity’s excursion “Destintion Highlight: Tobago Highlights and Folklore Show”.  Can anyone provide a review of the folklore show?  

[Arzeena]

On 12/2/2023 at 6:56 PM, Grammaof10 said:

We we are interested in Celebrity’s excursion “Destintion Highlight: Tobago Highlights and Folklore Show”.  Can anyone provide a review of the folklore show?  

I cannot provide much detail, however, someone on our roll call did this excursion and mentioned that they really loved the Folklore Show.