Marva Shaw or Ione Mcbeam experiences??

[cruisin4funtoo]

Will be sailing Western ports on Mariner and tried to book Falls/tubing with Phil Lafayette but he is not available the day we are there. Anyone have other suggestions? He suggestied Peat Taylor but have read some negative things. Since we are a party of 12 and I am doing the planning, don't want to take chance. From what I've read, Marva Shaw and Ione McBeam look good. Please let me know of your experiences with either of these tours. Thanks

[Tmmull]

We used Marva last summer and highly recommend her!! Her contact info is at http://www.knowjamaica.com/ . Talk to her and she can customize a special day for your group. Here's a link to some pics from our trip. http://travel.webshots.com/album/552503449pdjGlW

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[twinkletoes4445]

We used Ionie and had a ball. She had a new Mercedes air-conditioned bus (that would hold your group).

 

We loved our day with Lewis. He even waited in the parking lot for us (we'd gone back to the ship to change after our tour with him). Somehow we managed to leave a few things in his van, and he waited for us so he could return them. He knew we were walking over to Margaritaville, so he just hung around until he saw us. I thought that was really nice of him.

 

We'd use Ionie and Lewis again...when we return to Ocho.

 

http://www.ocho-rios.com/index.php

 

Have a great time! :)

[QTMichele]

Another vote for Marva. Her customer service is excellent and she is quite flexible the entire duration of your trip. We even received a phone call from her after we booked our tour with her. 2 thumbs up! :)

[Jasminedog]

We booked with Marva using her knowjamaica site two weeks prior to our cruise and LOVED our day with her. It was the highlight of our cruise.

 

She met us after we disembarked from the Star Princess and all 14 of us boarded her very spacious bus to Dunns River Falls. We paid her in cash up front (there was no deposit required at booking) and she handled all the entry ticket arrangements for the the rest of the day.

 

We arrived fairly ahead of the large tour buses and decided to trek up the falls on our own, without a guide.

 

Marva then took us to the White River for the inner tube float with a guide. Not quite as challenging as a Dunns River waterfall climb, the inner tube float was a lazy floating experience that lasted only about 30 minutes or so.

 

The last part of the day was spent at Reggae Beach ... a semi-private and very beautiful beach in Ocho Rios. There were no loungers on the beach, but that was no problem as we laid out our towels. The water was clear and the waves were gentle. But the best part was that there were probably no more than a dozen people on the entire beach (including our group).

 

At the designated and promised pick up time (3 PM) Marva showed up to pick up our family of 4 to get us back to the ship by 3:30 PM.

 

Marva is extremely reliable, does a great job of pre-cruise communicating (via email or cell phone). She was very accommodating and was willing to customize the day for the 3 families who made up our group (some of us went tubing, while others simply wanted to laze at Reggae Beach and shop later on). In retrospect, her charge for the day was quite reasonable for what we did (especially if we tried to hire a cab and do these attractions on our own). We would definitely book with Marva again and highly, highly recommend her with confidence.

[cruisin4funtoo]

Well, thanks so much for the information. We are booked with Marva and will be seeing her next week! So far she has answered all my questions and does seem very reliable. Can hardly wait! Will let your know how we made out!

[Ter-ter]

Has anybody ever booked a tour thru Courtney Taylor? I hear Orville Taylor is one of the best and Courtney is his brother. Unfortunately Orville is booked up and he recommended I contact Courtney. Also wondering if anybody has good recommendations for golf in MoBay or vicinity.