Love2travel4 Posted August 1, 2015 #1 Share Posted August 1, 2015 I emailed Royston early last week, no response yet. I don't mind waiting a day or two for a response, but pushing a week is a little unprofessional in my opinion. Yes,I did check my spam folder. Anyone else reach out to him this past week and either heard back or not? I will wait until tomorrow and if no response, I will contact Thenford Grey for his tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsdf Posted August 2, 2015 #2 Share Posted August 2, 2015 This is what I was told in May about our August trip: sorry for taking so long. I'm not sure if I would be away so I don't want to book right now. I can let you know if I find out I can take you but feel free to look for other tours. Royston FYI - We booked with Thenford Gray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cool Breeze Cruiser Posted August 2, 2015 #3 Share Posted August 2, 2015 I emailed Royston early last week, no response yet. I don't mind waiting a day or two for a response, but pushing a week is a little unprofessional in my opinion. Yes,I did check my spam folder. Anyone else reach out to him this past week and either heard back or not? I will wait until tomorrow and if no response, I will contact Thenford Grey for his tour. We had an AMAZING tour with Royston in February but it did take a while for him to get back with us. I emailed him Friday about touring with him again in January 2016 & he responded back last night. Looking forward to exploring St. Kitts with Royston again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMWOOD1012 Posted August 3, 2015 #4 Share Posted August 3, 2015 reply from Royston after requesting his tour in Feb '16: its complicated. there would be 2 other larger ships that day and I'm pretty sure yours would be using the other shipping port which is not ok for me sorry. In other words, " I can't be bothered with you". that's what I hear. Could have maybe used a little more tact and graciousness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frito58 Posted August 3, 2015 #5 Share Posted August 3, 2015 reply from Royston after requesting his tour in Feb '16: its complicated. there would be 2 other larger ships that day and I'm pretty sure yours would be using the other shipping port which is not ok for me sorry. In other words, " I can't be bothered with you". that's what I hear. Could have maybe used a little more tact and graciousness. You know I am not trying to say he is the most professional guy in the world. But he does give a great tour. He showed up late for ours , the van he has is a piece of , well its not all great . He takes the windows out of it to get air flowing through it, BUT saying all of that there is something about him that you just cant help but like . He gave us a wonderful tour we had great time . I recommended him to a Dr. friend I met on a cruise that had been on 60 plus cruises and on some High end cruise lines and he couldn't stop raving about him. So he kind is an it what is kind of guy. Sorry you didn't get to meet up with him . But then I have heard so many brag on Cosol in St Lucia and we just thought he was just Ahhhh ok but he dumped us on another driver as was way over booked and that's how he rolls. At least Royston when you book him you get him . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love2travel4 Posted August 3, 2015 Author #6 Share Posted August 3, 2015 2 more emails and both got bounced back? Then I searched CC boards and found another email. He got back 2 me saying "no seats available". I agree not the not best customer service. I booked with Thenford Grey. Got the confirmation email back within a few hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catcruizer Posted August 24, 2015 #7 Share Posted August 24, 2015 2 more emails and both got bounced back? Then I searched CC boards and found another email. He got back 2 me saying "no seats available". I agree not the not best customer service. I booked with Thenford Grey. Got the confirmation email back within a few hours. I am sorry you had such bad luck with Royston. I have toured with him twice and am booked with him again next year. He always returned my emails promptly and was very courteous. I have to admit that I was a little nervous when I first saw his van, but it is in good mechanical order, clean and the "open" windows are great for taking pictures. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Royston, he gives a great tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy5000 Posted August 27, 2015 #8 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Just curious... How far in advance do you contact Royston for a tour. We're cruising there in April and I don't want to reach out to early. Advice? I'll also add that while I'd be disappointed if I was turned down by a tour operator, I appreciate that Royston is straightforward. There are always people who refuse to turn down business but then don't service it well. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted September 1, 2015 #9 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Just curious... How far in advance do you contact Royston for a tour. We're cruising there in April and I don't want to reach out to early. Advice? I'll also add that while I'd be disappointed if I was turned down by a tour operator, I appreciate that Royston is straightforward. There are always people who refuse to turn down business but then don't service it well. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk We contacted him probably 8 months in advance, since we were a group of 4 and he only takes 6 or 8, I think. It did take him a while to respond, but it was within a week, and then next day for the remaining questions we had. It was all very normal in our experience, no strange messages, and on the day we did get going a little late, but we were definitely not disappointed with the day. We ended up each giving him a big tip, since for what he charges, we didn't think it was enough for all that we got on our tour. That said, I have seen several questions posted here since then asking about the odd responses or late responses from Royston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbqoug Posted September 6, 2015 #10 Share Posted September 6, 2015 (edited) We had a tour booked with Roysten for our November 2012 visit to St. Kitts. After arriving at the agreed upon time and place we waited and waited. We finally asked one of the police officers in the port area and she said that Roysten is often late but always shows up. When he hadn't arrived almost an hour late I gave him a call. He said he couldn't make it and gave us the name of someone else at the port that should be able to give us a tour. We asked about the person Roysten had recommended, but when we found him he said he was busy working the taxi stand that day. He called Roysten's older brother who offered to give us the tour. His brother was a great guy and gave us an interesting and extensive tour. We gave him a good tip at the end because we were the only 2 on his tour and really enjoyed it. However, I will not book Roysten again after the way he just disregarded our booking and left us to scramble at the port to find a replacement. He should have at least called me to let me know he couldn't make it. Edited September 6, 2015 by bbqoug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mourhaan Posted September 9, 2015 #11 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Hi Dose anyone have the email for Royston tours and Thenford Grey Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted September 9, 2015 #12 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Hi Dose anyone have the email for Royston tours and Thenford Grey Thank you For Royston, it is: Roystontours@hotmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrcjr98 Posted September 9, 2015 #13 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Hi Dose anyone have the email for Royston tours and Thenford Grey Thank you This is the email address that I have for Thenford Grey thenang06@yahoo.com I booked on his website, and within hours, he sent a confirmation to me from this email address. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky616 Posted September 10, 2015 #14 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Just emailed Royston two days ago and said we were interested in his island tour for next April. He got back to me about 36 hours later so I was pleased with that. Looking forward to our day in St. Kitts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerxspeedy Posted September 15, 2015 #15 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Sky616 - Thanks for the update. I have a tour with Royston booked for next week. I sent a confirming email last week but have not heard back. I will send another tonight. Regardless we will be waiting for him at 8:30 Tues and calling if he is late. I will let you know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky616 Posted September 16, 2015 #16 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Sky616 - Thanks for the update. I have a tour with Royston booked for next week. I sent a confirming email last week but have not heard back. I will send another tonight. Regardless we will be waiting for him at 8:30 Tues and calling if he is late. I will let you know how it goes. Yes let me know. I sent him an email 3 days ago to check to see if he got our confirmation and haven't heard from him yet but like I said earlier he did get back to me fairly quickly the first time when I sent our request in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eileen11 Posted September 16, 2015 #17 Share Posted September 16, 2015 If you were not on vacation, would you dare to book an outing with this person? People...THINK...! why is he not getting back to you? You would not allow this to happen with a kitchen remodel...why are you willing to do this with your life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted September 16, 2015 #18 Share Posted September 16, 2015 If you were not on vacation, would you dare to book an outing with this person? People...THINK...! why is he not getting back to you? You would not allow this to happen with a kitchen remodel...why are you willing to do this with your life? Many of us accept that standards are different in different parts of the world. Have you never heard of "island time"? I've been on Royston's tour, and yes, he was a little late showing up to pick us up, but he gave us the full value and more for our money, and got us back to the ship safely. Royston exhibited a tremendous love for his island and joy in life, and I'm so glad I spent my day on St. Kitts with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbqoug Posted September 16, 2015 #19 Share Posted September 16, 2015 If you were not on vacation, would you dare to book an outing with this person? People...THINK...! why is he not getting back to you? You would not allow this to happen with a kitchen remodel...why are you willing to do this with your life? I agree. I know my case is the vast minority, but Roysten didn't even show up for our tour that was booked months in advance, and then verified shortly before leaving on our vacation. He wasn't even professional enough to call and let us know that he wasn't going to make it. I had to call him to see what was going on. I can't just chalk that up to "island time." We have never had that happen with any other tour operator, including in the Caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebr.cruiser Posted September 23, 2015 #20 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I had emailed him about 3 weeks ago about a tour in December. He replied yesterday that he was gone and had been busy; also that he doesn't pick up tours from our ship? (Oosterdam) and that he would have to have a whole group before he would do it. Actually he had two replies; the first one said he couldn't do it at all, the second the one above. I wouldn't feel good about getting a group together on our roll call given his responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrcjr98 Posted September 23, 2015 #21 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I had emailed him about 3 weeks ago about a tour in December. He replied yesterday that he was gone and had been busy; also that he doesn't pick up tours from our ship? (Oosterdam) and that he would have to have a whole group before he would do it. Actually he had two replies; the first one said he couldn't do it at all, the second the one above. I wouldn't feel good about getting a group together on our roll call given his responses. Try Thenford Grey's tour - we had a great tour with Thenford's brother Sackville as our guide just last week - quick response to emails, and easy to find at the port - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebr.cruiser Posted September 23, 2015 #22 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Try Thenford Grey's tour - we had a great tour with Thenford's brother Sackville as our guide just last week - quick response to emails, and easy to find at the port - I'm thinking that is just what we will do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerxspeedy Posted September 26, 2015 #23 Share Posted September 26, 2015 (edited) Hello again everyone - we just returned from the Royston tour this week. Royston contacted me thru email the day we arrived. Royston is in the US this week. His cousin Ashton ran the tour and it was amazing. I would recommend this tour (if you can get a confirmation). Ashton has a larger van with AC that worked perfect for our group of 6 (you could easily fit 8). The smaller group allowed to see much more than the Thenford tour. He had all the beer - Soda- Juices we could drink. We also stopped for some local meat pies. My favorite tour ever - been cruising since '99 Edited September 26, 2015 by racerxspeedy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reebster Posted September 30, 2015 #24 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Hello again everyone - we just returned from the Royston tour this week. Royston contacted me thru email the day we arrived. Royston is in the US this week. His cousin Ashton ran the tour and it was amazing. I would recommend this tour (if you can get a confirmation). Ashton has a larger van with AC that worked perfect for our group of 6 (you could easily fit 8). The smaller group allowed to see much more than the Thenford tour. He had all the beer - Soda- Juices we could drink. We also stopped for some local meat pies. My favorite tour ever - been cruising since '99 The same thing happened with our tour last week. We were booked with Royston but when we arrived found out that Ashton would be leading our tour because Royston was away. Ashton was great! We were very pleased with the tour. The van was comfortable, and he had a case of beer (as well as other drinks) on hand for our group of 8, so we were well-stocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebr.cruiser Posted September 30, 2015 #25 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I'd still kind of like to do this tour, in spite of the weird replies, but he says they don't pick up from our ship?! That makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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