Bermuda private guide

[4279JACKIE]

Thanks nctxmix, that leaves us out for booking Colon, we dock in Bermuda on the 19th at 11: am and were hopeing to book 1 to 4. I'll keep serching.

[loisagogo]

still wating to hear from both Duke and Colin. when I didn't get a reply from Colin I sent a request to Duke but it's been 5-6 days since I sent the email requests and still no answer from either one. I guess they don't need the business.

[Host Caroline]

Both of them take a while to answer emails.. it's nothing "new" so don't give up.. It took Colin a while to answer us but he did and we are happily awaiting our day with him.. I can't call w/out huge roaming fees on my phone but I "think" the phone numbers for Colin and Duke are somewhere back on this thread - you might try that way.

[nctxmix]

Colin did reply twice to us. Both times were on a Saturday. I don't think they check the email every day, but he will get back with you. Very polite and helpful

[PurrSusan]

Susan, did you ever get with the tour guide? Chuck and I are thinking about doing this also but still working on where we want to go.

Marty

 

Marty: Our group booked with Colin Jennings several months ago. I didn't want to take a chance by waiting until we got to Bermuda even though I've read that a lot of people have found some good taxi tours at the dock. I hope you can find some others on our thread to go with you---it makes the price a lot better. Sorry I took so long to respond--I just saw this.

[Nora4sure]

Hello again! We had Duke from about 10:45 am (we took the ferry to St George and met him there) till about 5:15 pm. We went to the sea glass beach (our request), toured St George including the dunking of the wench, one of the pink sand beaches plus many others with photo op's everywhere. Driving tour of Hamilton, botanical gardens, It was a pretty detailed tour so it is hard to remember everything, I do know we went in all of the parishes in Bermuda.

 

We had lunch at The Swizzle Inn at our request. We invited Duke to join us but he declined.

 

Misfit,

Im glad you were happy with Duke. It sounds like you saw a lot. I just contacted him based on such good reviews on here and he was available the full day we are in Bermuda in August. He suggested we start at 830-9 and have at least a 4-5 hour tour. Your tour looks like it lasted much longer. Do you think it was too long? Did you let him know what you wanted to see mostly? Did you see everything you wanted? Was your 1030 start time your request or his? And did you have to meet him by taking the ferry or would he have picked you up at the ship?

 

We are docking at Kings Wharf and I havent done much homework to see where the heck that is....and what we want to see while there so i told him we were flexible. The Swizzle Inn however is definately on our list of "to do's". Now that the school year is almost over, I can begin the planning. Oh...also, when you were at seaglass beach did you swim and spend a lot of time or simply go to see and for photo ops. We figured the other half days we are there can be beach and water sport days. Would love your thoughts.

Nora

[SailBadtheSinner]

Concerning your question about sea glass. The people who go to a sea glass beach go there to collect sea glass http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_glass .

 

There are excellent beaches for swimming and photo ops, but IMO, the sea glass beaches are not in that category.

 

I'm sure your taxi tour driver will be happy to stop at either beach and help you carry the collected bags of booty to the cruise ship.

 

 

SBtS

[Slyfox16]

Does anyone have Colin's email address? Thx

[WhansaMi]

Does anyone have Colin's email address? Thx

 

colinjenningstaxi@yahoo.com

[Host Caroline]

Colin is really slow answering email so don't give up.. it was a week or so after my initial email before I heard from him... busy season

[misfit72ford]

Misfit,

Im glad you were happy with Duke. It sounds like you saw a lot. I just contacted him based on such good reviews on here and he was available the full day we are in Bermuda in August. He suggested we start at 830-9 and have at least a 4-5 hour tour. Your tour looks like it lasted much longer. Do you think it was too long? Did you let him know what you wanted to see mostly? Did you see everything you wanted? Was your 1030 start time your request or his? And did you have to meet him by taking the ferry or would he have picked you up at the ship?

 

We are docking at Kings Wharf and I havent done much homework to see where the heck that is....and what we want to see while there so i told him we were flexible. The Swizzle Inn however is definately on our list of "to do's". Now that the school year is almost over, I can begin the planning. Oh...also, when you were at seaglass beach did you swim and spend a lot of time or simply go to see and for photo ops. We figured the other half days we are there can be beach and water sport days. Would love your thoughts.

Nora

 

 

All of those were our choice. We had been to Bermuda before and had an idea of things we wanted to do and we love St. George. We also had two first timers with us so we hit some duplicates from our first visit. I chose to take the ferry to St. George and meet him there (we enjoy the ride and it took less time than if he picked us up then drove there to start the tour. I don't think it made a difference because we got to see some pretty views from the ferry and took some great pics. ) and work our way back to Dockyard (Kings Wharf). That way we did the furthest away things first and spent the next morning before we sailed at Dockyard. The start time was all based on the ferry schedule, the first one left at 10am (we were hoping for 9am) so he was waiting at the ferry dock for us. We took time to visit the sea glass beach and to watch the dunking of the wench in St. George along with several other spots to get out and see. The timing for us did work well going to the Swizzle Inn for lunch!

 

We enjoyed the entire tour and wouldn't hesitate to use him again when we return to Bermuda.

[Nora4sure]

I finally had some time to look online at exactly WHERE King's Wharf was located in relation to the whole island, and also realized it was at the Dockyard that we would be based.

 

After some reading today, I think it makes sense for us to venture to a beach the first day we arrive and that way we can meander back without worrying about making it back to the ship at any specific time. I have read that there is also entertainment at the Dockyard on Sundays, specifically at the Snorkel beach park. So we have options.

 

I think that on Tuesday our day of departure, we'll head to a beach in the morning for a few hours and then spend the day at the Dockyard with only a short walk back to the ship.

 

Crystal Caves, Glass bottom boats, botanical gardens are all on my list to investigate to see if they are places our tour will take us or if we'll squeeze them in on our own. After reading there really is so much to do.

 

Thanks so much for the guidance so far. I appreciate it.

Nora

[maryh307]

We are meeting Collin Jennings on Day two. Saving day 3 for tour/snorkel excursion through the ship before departing around 4PM. We will meet Collin at Kings Wharf around 9 AM on day 2. We are trying to figure out if it would be best to take the ferry to St. George on day one and take in the sites on foot. Should we wait to day 2 when touring with Collin and go to St. George. We want to see Fort St. Catherine, a Church other stops he recommends and then have him dropped us off at Tobacco Bay for 2-3 hours after. If he is taking us to beach at the end of the tour, we could take the ferry back. If we go with Collin straight to St. George, how long a drive would that be without any stops on the way? If we do St. George on our own for day 1, we would do Gibbs Lighthouse and Hamilton stops before asking Collin to drop us off at Horseshoe Bay. According to the layout on a previous post, that would be much closer. I can't tell how long a drive it would be from Dockyard to St. George. We are planning on taking a 4-5 hour tour with him.

 

Has anyone gone by taxi or with tour driver from Naval Dockyard to St. George?

[Sabeaux]

I e-mailed him yesterday asking about August 29 or 30th..he got back to me today :D and told me he had the 29th open and recommended a 9:30 pick up...I was so happy to have such a quick reply ..I E-mailed him back that I reaklly wanted to book him and he E-mailed me againt hat we were good to go....I feel really lucky cause he seems so highly rated on CC. :D sorry for the misspelling it's Duke Soares

Edited May 19, 2011 by Sabeaux
misspelling

[geduffer]

Well, I contacted Duke to see if he is available for June 15 or 16. We'll see how quickly I hear back.

[geduffer]

Well, I contacted Duke to see if he is available for June 15 or 16. We'll see how quickly I hear back.

 

Actually heard back today and he's not available. Now I sent Colin and e-mail, but I'm not holding my breath for a response.

[FoxyTerrier]

Once you are off the cruise ship, look for taxis with blue flags which indicate that the drivers are a certified tour guides.

 

Linky to Bermuda Yellow Pages for taxi tours: http://www.informationpages.com/sys/pageserver.dll?b=41&p=0&s=-8&f=&k=&go=taxi+tours

 

 

Here are what some CC members had to write about tour guides, in no particular order:

 

posted by CC member Pickytraveler4, 10/9/09

 

Frank Barboza (Taxi #1821) Phone: 441-236-7128

 

He was very nice and informative.

 

SBtS

 

Last week we hired Frank's brother Nevis Barboza. Nevis was fabulous!!! We booked him for 2 days. Check out my blog for details.

 

http://foxyterrier.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/veendam-may-8-2011-review/

[retired1998]

We (8 people) used Colin Jennings. He was recommended on CC. A van can only take 6 people, so we needed 2 vans...four of us in each van. I was in the second one, driven/guided by Dion. Very nice man and informative. He answered any questions we had. Mr. Jennings was waiting for us on the pier holding up a card with my name. We told we only wanted a 3 hour tour, not 4 and that was okay. We stopped for photos, at Elbow Beach Hotel (where my DH and I had stayed way back in 1991), a very small chapel and a lighthouse. We enjoyed the tour. The four who went with Mr. Jennings were very happy with him. You can get him at colinjenningstaxi.com.

[AcadiaL]

We needed a private tour taxi for 4, but since we did not reserve one of those blue flag taxis in advance (and since we were not among the very first ones off the ship), we could not find a blue flagged taxi. The only one I saw already had a group booked. So I walked among all the vehicles and finally found a man who did not have passengers, and asked him about his price. He said it would be $50pp for 4-5 hours. When I asked him about the govt. rate of $40pp, he just said that was his rate, and if we did not want to tip him, that was fine. So, not having any other choices, we all climbed into his light beige Mitsubishi van. He turned out to be a wonderful tour guide. He took us to every single parish on the island and educated us about everything we saw. His name is Lewis Foggo, and he was born and raised in Bermuda.

Here is his information: RELIABLE TAXI SERVICE

TEL: (441) 704-2109 email: lewis-foggo@hotmail.com The dash after lewis is the top underline lower dash on the same key, but it blends in with the blue underlining that came on automatically.

Lewis took us everywhere we asked him to go, and the five hours went by with us feeling like we got a great value for our money. We tipped him 20 percent and he earned it.

[lknlady]

We just returned from our cruise to Bermuda. We had a very good island tour with Nick, Duke Shoares's son. We let him take us where he thought was best. We saw a lot of the island in the 4 hours of our tour. We were also booked for a water tour with Captain Tony of Aquatic Bermuda but weather caused him to cancel. We were appreciative of his honesty and saying that he did not want to take us when none would enjoy it, We did the glass bottom boat at the dock the next day and it was enjoyable though only 1.5 hours. I think Tony would have been better. We thought we would see colorful fish like you see snorkling but did not. The coral was lovely and they gave a good narrative. Very nice and dropped those of us from the ship right behind where the ship was docked before returning to their slot.

[luv2cruise523]

Actually heard back today and he's not available. Now I sent Colin and e-mail, but I'm not holding my breath for a response.

 

I e-mailed Colin weeks ago and never got a response :(. We leave Sunday :) We have decided to just wing it and hire a taxi for a tour of the island when we get there. I perfer to be spontanous anyway.

[Laszlo]

I e-mailed Colin weeks ago and never got a response :(. We leave Sunday :) We have decided to just wing it and hire a taxi for a tour of the island when we get there. I perfer to be spontanous anyway.

 

Try to call him. I don't have his number handy but search thru the thread I did see it once or twice

[catjuggler]

I used Carlton T1646. He gave us a 5 hour tour for $50 per person. Very knowledgeable and entertaining. He does not have an e-mail but here is his phone number 1-441-504-1646 mon-fri

1-441-535-9268 weekends

 

He also works with Colin Jennings so if Colin is booked you might want to ask for Carlton. The phone # for Colin is 1-441-799-2959

email colinjenningstaxi@yahoo.com

 

This is current info since I just used him this past Sunday May 22nd.

Have fun and enjoy!

[Host Caroline]

Six of us are going with Colin for a day "next" week and are really lookiong forward to it since he gets such great reviews!

[Clancy14]

Hello fellow cruisers!

 

I was the original poster for Colin Jennings (post #18) and I am thrilled at his well deserved success here on CC!!! When you think about it, no matter how many times he gives the same tour, and answers the same tourist questions, he always is so pleasant and cheerful!!

 

One of the times we (my BFF's and I) were in Bermuda, he came and sat on the beach at Horseshoe Bay for us while we eat, slept and snorkled! We got him a chair and an umbrella and he read his newspaper and had some beverages. We were able to stroll and take pictures, use the restroom and not worry about our things!! It was great!! (I paid him, of course:D) He was worth every penny!!!

 

Have a wonderful cruise and your day with Colin! -

 

Miriam from Pennsylvania