Review: Glory Tours

[SusieV]

We booked Barbados Natural Wonders through Glory Tours for February 18th, and we had a good time with the tour. We waited half an hour for another couple who didn't show, so we wound up having a private tour. Rick was our tour guide and he seemed knowledgeable about the island as we drove around in a comfortable bus that could easily have held 6-8 people. We also appreciated that he wore a headset that made his voice loud enough to hear so that we didn't have to strain to listen to him.

 

One disappointment: we weren't told until we arrived that the Batik Factory was closed because it was a Sunday, and no other stop was substituted. It wasn't really a big deal because we enjoyed the tour, but we would have liked to go or at least to know in advance.

 

We started at Orchid World where we spent half an hour exploring the flower gardens. There didn't seem to be any guides there so we explored on our own. Then we went to the St John's Church, which was in use since it was a Sunday so we stayed outside and tried to be discreet about photographs.

 

We went to the Sand Dunes for lunch and that was really an excellent experience. We both had flying fish, which was served with salad, macaroni pie, and rice with beans. We both cleaned our plates!

 

After lunch we visited a wildlife preserve where we saw a wide variety of animals. This was definitely the highlight of the tour.

 

Then we hit the beach for 90 minutes. I would have liked to stay a little longer because we had time but it was quite a long tour already so I can understand needing to end the tour.

 

Overall, we had a great time on this tour and we would definitely book with Glory Tours again.

[farjar]

We did Glory Tour's Natural Wonders tour the day before you did (Feb. 17th) and couldn't agree with you more. Ricky was a great guide; friendly and knowledgeable. We, too, liked the fact he wore a microphone because we sat in the last row of the van but had no difficulty hearing his description of what we were seeing. If you love flowers, Orchid World is not to be missed. The Wildlife Reserve is terrific because the animals are roaming freely all around you as you stroll the trails. Tortoises, peacocks, deer and other animals are everywhere. We even saw several of the Green Monkeys which, because they come and go as they please, are not always visible. We definitely think we saw more, at a better price, in a smaller group than we would have had we booked a tour through the cruise ship.

[Techie]

Thanks for posting!

 

We are doing this Monday, March 5th and it's great to see the feedback. Did both of you go to the beach?? It hadn't been listed on the stops on the website.

 

Thanks,

Joan

[judyf]

I did the Best of Barbados tour with Glory Tours in Nov. and not sure if we want to book the same tour or something different. Glory tours is a top tour operator IMO.

 

Was looking at other tours but we liked Glory Tours so much I think I want to use them again.

[cruiserssandr]

We did the Explore and Discover Barbados tour on Feb 6, 07. This was our second tour with Glory Tours. I would book with them again in a heartbeat. A first class tour operation.

[sunshinett]

:) Booked on line at Glorytours.org. Make sure you get an e-mail back after online booking that has your "Tour Pass" included in it. Print it out and bring it along with you. When we got off the ship, walked out to the circle go-round and no one was there. Ricky showed up 10-15 min late. Our group consisted of one other couple and two single women. Ricky was very pleasant and accomodating. Yes the headset microphone is a must during these van/bus tours. This was a very good eco-tour. We did the Natural Wonders tour. Orchid World was great especially if your into plants.St.Johns church was nice to see. I especially liked the wood carvings,mouldings and stained glass that have survived the centuries.( I'm a carpenter by trade) I also enjoyed some tree ripe bananas that I purchased in the parking lot from a local vendor. The beach on the East coast was magnificent with it's mushroom shaped rock formations. Beach view is a postcard in itself. The flying fish lunch (included) was very good. To bad it's not served on the beach. After lunch we drove thru the island and stopped at the wildlife reserve which was awesome. Most of the animals are loose and you walk among them. The wild monkeys had just come in for feeding when we arrived. The snakes are caged. The parrots are also in a cage but you can enter the cage thru a double door system.There's alot of great photo op's in Barbados. Barbados was probably the best kept-up island we visited during our trip. My only dislike of the island is that it's very commercialized. We did not get any time at a beach to sit,swim,snorkle etc on this tour but the web-site explains this very well.They have many different tours available. We never felt rushed and Ricky was more than happy to help take pictures of us.Overall this was a good tour, well run, informative and a very pleasant day spent with Ricky. Thanks for a memorable day and I would highly recommend Glory Tours.

Terry & Thu

[farjar]

Dear Joan (Techie), Our tour did not include any beach time. Another couple riding with us left our group about 3/4's of the way through the tour and joined another Glory tour that was going snorkling. Apparently they had booked a tour that combined both activities. I don't know if this is common or not.

[SusieV]

Maybe we got the time at the beach because the Batik Studio was closed? Either way, we enjoyed it.

[rickszaf]

We took the "Best of Barbados" tour on February 8th 2007 and couldn't have asked for a better time. Our tour guide Jeffery met us at the front gate as promised at exactly the start time. He brought us to all the sites on the tour and extra. He knew the best photo spots and was very knowlegeable of the local flora. He made us feel like he was a friend showing us around his home. We would recommend Jeffery to all.

[COCruiseChic]

I have booked the Best of Barbados tour coming up in May. It sounds like a fantastic tour, and I cannot wait! On my tour pass, it says that the pick up time (9am) is in local time. How do I know the difference between local time and ship time? Are they the same? Thanks!

[SusieV]

They were the same on our sailing. I assume the Celebrity Today will announce a time change if there is any.

[COCruiseChic]

:cool: oopps, sorry double post

[farjar]

Dear COCruiseChic, FYI, you will have to walk out of the entire cruise terminal area to pick up your tour. They don't meet you in the parking lot where all the buses for the tours arranged through the ship are. Apparently they can't get into the pier area so you have to walk out through the main gate/guard post to the public street. There is a traffic circle right there with a big tree in it and that's where they met us. It's only about a 2-3 minute walk and not as complicated as it sounds. It's definately worth the slight effort.

As far as "the time", your ship should notify you if or when to change your clock forward or back so it will be the same as the port's time zone you're in. It may not be an issue since the US is starting Daylight Savings Time this weekend.

Enjoy your cruise.

[COCruiseChic]

Thank you for your help, farjar!! your directions will surely help!

[Tricia724]

We also had a pleasant day touring with Glory Tours last week in Barbados. Stephen was our driver, and we had some difficulty hearing him sometimes while driving because the van was a little noisy, but when we made our stops, he was able answer our questions and fill in the gaps. He was very nice and laid back.

 

I really liked the wildlife preserve. We arrived there just prior to feeding time, and there were monkeys and deer and turtles swarming all over the place munching on apples and fruit. The scenic drive through Bathsheba was lovely, and we really enjoyed the nice lunch at the Sand Dunes, too.

 

I looked at the shore excursions our ship offered, and they charged almost the same amount for just going to Orchid World and the Wildlife Preserve. We had a couple of extra hours touring and lunch, which made it a much better value and a chance to see more of Barbados.

 

We were well satisfied with our decision to see Barbados with Glory Tours.

[cruiserssandr]

Only tours arranged by the ship can get inside the gates. We saw people waiting for other tours while we waited for our Glory Tour under the "big" tree. Glory Tours is a very good value. There are many different tours to choose from.

[PelicanBill]

I have booked the Best of Barbados tour coming up in May. It sounds like a fantastic tour, and I cannot wait! On my tour pass, it says that the pick up time (9am) is in local time. How do I know the difference between local time and ship time? Are they the same? Thanks!

 

Always important to know exactly what local time is when you book independently! The island is Atlantic Std Time which is GMT-4. If the ship is from an eastern port then you are on EDT in May which is also GMT-4 so you would be the same time. If your ship were in winter during EST, then you would be GMT-5 on the ship making the island one hour earlier than you.

 

But not to worry, you will be on the same time zone it seems.

[duckjordon]

We have booked the best of land and sea with Glory tours and Sarah has been a pleasure to work with . It includes...Orchid World, Bathsheba ,lunch,swim with sea turtles ,snorkle shipwreck,glassbottom boat ride and wildlife refuge....just thought I would share this with all of you readers...

[judyf]

We have booked the best of land and sea with Glory tours and Sarah has been a pleasure to work with . It includes...Orchid World, Bathsheba ,lunch,swim with sea turtles ,snorkle shipwreck,glassbottom boat ride and wildlife refuge....just thought I would share this with all of you readers...

 

Great tour, we did this in Nov. and it was the best tour ever. I'm even thinking of booking it again for April.

[jjharts]

We have signed up for the Best of Barbados tour. Can anyone tell me what time we will get back to port? We will be sailing on the Serenade of the Seas and it's scheduled to leave port at 5:30pm.

[nitenurs2]

It's been a while (June 06), but we arrived back at the ship at about 4:30.

The Best of Barbados tour was wonderful! It was the best excursion we had during our cruise.

[judyf]

We have signed up for the Best of Barbados tour. Can anyone tell me what time we will get back to port? We will be sailing on the Serenade of the Seas and it's scheduled to leave port at 5:30pm.

 

Don't worry when you get into their van the driver will ask you or you tell him what time you need to be back on the ship. We were late getting off the ship so we adjusted our tour to make sure we saw what we really wanted to see and made it back to the pier about 30 minutes prior to boarding as we requested.

 

It was a really great tour.

[jjharts]

Thanks! Sounds like we won't have a problem. I haven't gotten my confirmation back from Glory Tours yet. I emailed my request last Tuesday and it posted to my credit card on Wednesday. I guess I'll give them until tomorrow to email me back. Anyone else have slow response time?

[tnsail]

Sarah sometimes likes to add a personal note to your tour pass. Give her a couple of extra days. I know that they switching over to a new e-pay system so that might explain the delay.......

[jjharts]

Sarah sometimes likes to add a personal note to your tour pass. Give her a couple of extra days. I know that they switching over to a new e-pay system so that might explain the delay.......

 

 

Maybe that's it. She answered my initial email quickly so I just assumed my confirmation would be that fast also. I'll let it go til Tuesday. We don't leave until the 29th.