Where should I go this time around?

[pghsteelerfan]

gwt119...(tried quoting but it's not quoting correctly)

 

Pghsteelerfan- As of today I have not gotten a response from Patsie. Thank you for your help with trying to get in touch with her. I really appreciate how helpful folks can be on this board.

 

 

I was actually just on here to get back to you and I feel terrible about this. :( As I mentioned, I also sent Patsie an email the other day and I hadn't heard back from her by yesterday morning, but waited an extra day to get back to you. I know that Carnival Fascination was scheduled to be in (and was in) Barbados yesterday (Wednesday, August 16). I was thinking she may have been busy preparing for tours, which could be a possible reason there was no response. As of this morning, I still have not heard back from her either. The email I sent to her has not come back as invalid/rejected and I have been double checking our "junk" email box but have nothing from Patsie. It has been two years since our cruise and tour with Patsie, so it's possible she may no longer be offering tours.

 

 

I would definitely try to come up with a back up plan. On most of the islands there are always taxi drivers available, and willing, to do "private" tours for cruise passengers. In Barbados, there are taxis allowed in the cruise center area but those have special permission and may just be taxis that transport passengers to and from local beaches but I'm not sure of the reason. But if you exit the cruise terminal area (past the parking lot), there should be taxi drivers available. In Barbados, make sure you get a set cost. When you get quote, it may seem expensive but they may be giving you a total in Barbados dollars, which is double (ex. $20.00 Barbados dollars = $10.00 USD). But you may be able to get a driver for a period of time, at a reasonable cost, that will take you to Paynes Bay (or other west coast beach) and then drive you over to Barbados' east coast for some sight seeing, or it may be done in reverse. We try to stick to private tours since we have missed out on beach time or other sites in the past because other passengers held things up.

 

 

If, by chance, I do hear back from her, I will immediately come back to let you know. Are you subscribed to this thread? I feel terrible about this since I'm the one who put the recommendations out there. I always like to help out here, if I can. CC and other members have been so helpful to us in planning our last three cruises and getting the most out of them as possible. I love the Ports of Call section since I have been finding so many different things to see/do that I never would have known about. There is so much to see/do on the southern itinerary out of San Juan that I'm "arm twisting" my husband to do this one again. :)

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks for coming back and trying to help with info.

 

I'm looking at a tour from Glory Tours and also tried to contact Scenic Barbados, which is who I went with before, but they haven't responded.

 

I realize internet is sometimes spotty on the islands, so I'm going to try again tomorrow.

 

If you want pics of Martinique, they're in my Splendor Repo review thread from 11/1/14.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2126303

 

Oh, just looking at my first few pics in San Juan makes me want to return. I do love it there!

[pghsteelerfan]

Thanks for coming back and trying to help with info.

 

I'm looking at a tour from Glory Tours and also tried to contact Scenic Barbados, which is who I went with before, but they haven't responded.

 

I realize internet is sometimes spotty on the islands, so I'm going to try again tomorrow.

 

If you want pics of Martinique, they're in my Splendor Repo review thread from 11/1/14.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2126303

 

Oh, just looking at my first few pics in San Juan makes me want to return. I do love it there!

 

I'm also hoping it's just slow internet or even "island time" with Patsie...hoping all is fine with her and that she didn't stop doing tours. I guess I can try contacting her again to see, certainly wouldn't hurt.

 

 

Thank you for attaching the link to your Splendor review. I do remember reading it, and all the other Splendor repo cruise reviews, a few years ago. That would have been a dream itinerary for me. Love your pictures of Martinique. I'd love to do a tour like you did and see Mt. Pele and more of the island. For some strange reason, volcano's fascinate me, so I've read about Mt. Pele (definitely beautiful but deadly) on the internet and also Montserrat's Soufriere Hills volcano. We sailed past Montserrat in 1992 on our first cruise on our way from Martinique on the way back to San Juan and actually remember when that eruption happened a few years later. We actually saw Montserrat in 2015 early in the morning as we headed into St. Kitts. We lucked out on that cruise with very clear air and minimal clouds, so we were able to see more than normal.

 

 

I have to add a comment about your pictures of Dominica...those are just gorgeous!!! We were also there on that first cruise in 1992 (film camera), and only had half a day. I'd love to get back there and have started "arm twisting" DH for one of the Fascination cruises in 2018 where Dominica has been added in place of the sea day on a few cruises.

[gwt119]

Pghsteelerfan- Thanks for your help. My back up plan may be to go to Boatyard for the day. Mitsugirly's cruise report made it look appealing. If I do hear from Patsie I will post here. I am subscribed to this thread. And don't feel bad - you had a great experience with Patsie and wanted to pass on the info. Stuff happens in 2 years!

 

 

gwt119...(tried quoting but it's not quoting correctly)

 

Pghsteelerfan- As of today I have not gotten a response from Patsie. Thank you for your help with trying to get in touch with her. I really appreciate how helpful folks can be on this board.

 

 

I was actually just on here to get back to you and I feel terrible about this. :( As I mentioned, I also sent Patsie an email the other day and I hadn't heard back from her by yesterday morning, but waited an extra day to get back to you. I know that Carnival Fascination was scheduled to be in (and was in) Barbados yesterday (Wednesday, August 16). I was thinking she may have been busy preparing for tours, which could be a possible reason there was no response. As of this morning, I still have not heard back from her either. The email I sent to her has not come back as invalid/rejected and I have been double checking our "junk" email box but have nothing from Patsie. It has been two years since our cruise and tour with Patsie, so it's possible she may no longer be offering tours.

 

 

I would definitely try to come up with a back up plan. On most of the islands there are always taxi drivers available, and willing, to do "private" tours for cruise passengers. In Barbados, there are taxis allowed in the cruise center area but those have special permission and may just be taxis that transport passengers to and from local beaches but I'm not sure of the reason. But if you exit the cruise terminal area (past the parking lot), there should be taxi drivers available. In Barbados, make sure you get a set cost. When you get quote, it may seem expensive but they may be giving you a total in Barbados dollars, which is double (ex. $20.00 Barbados dollars = $10.00 USD). But you may be able to get a driver for a period of time, at a reasonable cost, that will take you to Paynes Bay (or other west coast beach) and then drive you over to Barbados' east coast for some sight seeing, or it may be done in reverse. We try to stick to private tours since we have missed out on beach time or other sites in the past because other passengers held things up.

 

 

If, by chance, I do hear back from her, I will immediately come back to let you know. Are you subscribed to this thread? I feel terrible about this since I'm the one who put the recommendations out there. I always like to help out here, if I can. CC and other members have been so helpful to us in planning our last three cruises and getting the most out of them as possible. I love the Ports of Call section since I have been finding so many different things to see/do that I never would have known about. There is so much to see/do on the southern itinerary out of San Juan that I'm "arm twisting" my husband to do this one again. :)

[pghsteelerfan]

Pghsteelerfan- Thanks for your help. My back up plan may be to go to Boatyard for the day. Mitsugirly's cruise report made it look appealing. If I do hear from Patsie I will post here. I am subscribed to this thread. And don't feel bad - you had a great experience with Patsie and wanted to pass on the info. Stuff happens in 2 years!

 

 

Thank you Nancy. I just feel so bad. I'm just afraid that since that was two years ago, Patsie may no longer be doing tours. I sent Patsie another email to see if that goes through. As NCTribeFan mentioned, internet is sometime spotty on the islands, so that may be a possibility. I do remember before that same cruise on Liberty (Sept. 2015) we also booked a tour with Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia. We'd toured with them before and after booking is confirmed, they normally send a confirmation email that includes instructions. We had no problem booking but for some reason, our email server (Comcast/Xfinity) was blocking their confirmation email and we never received it. When I contacted them through their website, they let us know that they tried sending the confirmation email a few times, but each time it came back as rejected (or was it failed?). We gave them another email address (my hubby's) and their replies came though to that one, with no issues. Actually, I'm going to email her again and give her the other email address just to see.

 

I've seen a lot of great reviews of the Boatyard, including Mitsugirly's, so that looks like a great back up plan. We were at the Barbados Hilton on our 2013 cruise (same itinerary) but passed Carlisle Bay, where Boatyard is located. Kind of a long story on the Hilton...short version is we were in a taxi van waiting for it to fill up, everyone else in van wanted Hilton, so we just decided to go there too. It was ok, kind of pricey and the swimming area was very small and the water was rough on that side and not really something I'd recommend. That is just around the corner on the far edge of Carlisle Bay. But Carlisle Bay looked GORGEOUS...that water! You can't go wrong with it. But I'll be sure to let you know if I hear anything from Patsie.

 

Holly

Edited August 18, 2017 by pghsteelerfan

[gwt119]

Pghsteelerfan- We are signed up for the Spencer Ambrose tour to Jalousie/Sugar Beach when we are in St. Lucia. The pictures I've seen for that beach are outstanding. Can't wait to snorkel there! Thanks for all your input- it helps with planning( which is as much fun as the trip itself!). And stop feeling bad! Things change in 2 years that you have no control over. I appreciate your passing on information when you had a good experience.

-

 

Pghsteelerfan- Thanks for your help. My back up plan may be to go to Boatyard for the day. Mitsugirly's cruise report made it look appealing. If I do hear from Patsie I will post here. I am subscribed to this thread. And don't feel bad - you had a great experience with Patsie and wanted to pass on the info. Stuff happens in 2 years!

 

 

Thank you Nancy. I just feel so bad. I'm just afraid that since that was two years ago, Patsie may no longer be doing tours. I sent Patsie another email to see if that goes through. As NCTribeFan mentioned, internet is sometime spotty on the islands, so that may be a possibility. I do remember before that same cruise on Liberty (Sept. 2015) we also booked a tour with Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia. We'd toured with them before and after booking is confirmed, they normally send a confirmation email that includes instructions. We had no problem booking but for some reason, our email server (Comcast/Xfinity) was blocking their confirmation email and we never received it. When I contacted them through their website, they let us know that they tried sending the confirmation email a few times, but each time it came back as rejected (or was it failed?). We gave them another email address (my hubby's) and their replies came though to that one, with no issues. Actually, I'm going to email her again and give her the other email address just to see.

 

I've seen a lot of great reviews of the Boatyard, including Mitsugirly's, so that looks like a great back up plan. We were at the Barbados Hilton on our 2013 cruise (same itinerary) but passed Carlisle Bay, where Boatyard is located. Kind of a long story on the Hilton...short version is we were in a taxi van waiting for it to fill up, everyone else in van wanted Hilton, so we just decided to go there too. It was ok, kind of pricey and the swimming area was very small and the water was rough on that side and not really something I'd recommend. That is just around the corner on the far edge of Carlisle Bay. But Carlisle Bay looked GORGEOUS...that water! You can't go wrong with it. But I'll be sure to let you know if I hear anything from Patsie.

 

Holly

[pghsteelerfan]

Pghsteelerfan- We are signed up for the Spencer Ambrose tour to Jalousie/Sugar Beach when we are in St. Lucia. The pictures I've seen for that beach are outstanding. Can't wait to snorkel there! Thanks for all your input- it helps with planning( which is as much fun as the trip itself!). And stop feeling bad! Things change in 2 years that you have no control over. I appreciate your passing on information when you had a good experience.

-

Thank you Nancy. I was actually just stopping back to let everyone know that I have not heard back from Patsie, even on my hubby's email that I sent. I'm guessing that she is no longer doing the tours. Good to know though, for future reference.

 

 

I have to tell you that you will LOVE Spencer Ambrose's Jalousie/Sugar Beach tour!!! We've done two tours with them now and have really enjoyed both. We did the Jalousie/Sugar Beach Break in 2013 and loved it. That beach is outstanding but I have to warn you that pictures do not do it justice...it is just that gorgeous and set right between the Pitons. And the snorkeling...we've snorkeled at a lot of the islands while on cruises and the snorkeling at Jalousie Beach is the best we've seen. Not only is there a variety of colorful fish, the corals are just gorgeous and also the most colorful we've seen. In 2015 we wanted to see more of St. Lucia so we did Spencer's Land/Sea Adventure to see more of St. Lucia and really enjoyed that as well. It helped that after the land tour, we got two hours at Jalousie/Sugar Beach. Next time, we're definitely doing Spencer's Jalousie/Sugar Beach Break again. That one is just very laid back and relaxing but also fun and also goes down as our favorite tour we've taken on any island on any cruise...it was just a fantastic day. :)

 

 

I'm sure you will find something really nice to do in Barbados. The beaches are all gorgeous. Next time, we'll probably pick a beach and make it a nice, relaxing beach day. My choice would probably be Payne's Bay. It was gorgeous. But seeing as how I'm always checking out the ports of call boards, I just may find something else that we'd really enjoy that I wouldn't have thought of. Great information and help from others here.

[NCTribeFan]

I absolutely love Dominica. It's my favorite island. Love that it isn't overly commercial (which is why some people don't like it - nothing to "do" right at the pier).

 

I'm touring in St Lucia with Cosol again. Have done his tour on both previous stops. It includes a ride over to Jalousie, which is in such a gorgeous setting. The Pitons are rather impressive!

 

If you haven't been, next time you call at St Kitts, try to get a tour over to Nevis. I did that last time, booked through Thenford Grey (who I've toured with multiple times).

 

Next time, on HAL, we're supposed to sail past Nevis peak when we leave Basseterre. It was covered in clouds when we were there (as they all seem to be).

 

So, I'll get three volcanoes in November: Nevis, Pele, and La Soufriere. :D

[pghsteelerfan]

I absolutely love Dominica. It's my favorite island. Love that it isn't overly commercial (which is why some people don't like it - nothing to "do" right at the pier).

 

I'm touring in St Lucia with Cosol again. Have done his tour on both previous stops. It includes a ride over to Jalousie, which is in such a gorgeous setting. The Pitons are rather impressive!

 

If you haven't been, next time you call at St Kitts, try to get a tour over to Nevis. I did that last time, booked through Thenford Grey (who I've toured with multiple times).

 

Next time, on HAL, we're supposed to sail past Nevis peak when we leave Basseterre. It was covered in clouds when we were there (as they all seem to be).

 

So, I'll get three volcanoes in November: Nevis, Pele, and La Soufriere. :D

 

That's what draws me to Dominica, the fact that it's not overly commercial. Your mention of some views from the drive in Dominica reminding you of Maui are really getting me excited for our upcoming trip. We've been to St. Lucia, twice now, and have been to Jalousie Beach both times and I agree about the gorgeous setting. The first time we were in St. Lucia, another couple on the tour with us had been to Hawaii and said St. Lucia reminded them of Hawaii. Now that I'm not sure of, but will soon find out.

 

 

Thank you for the recommendation to get to Nevis next time we're in St. Kitts. That is exactly what I'd love to do and it would also be getting a "new" island to visit. I mentioned very clear air on our last cruise (Sept. 2015) and being able to see Montserrat when we sailed into St. Kitts. I didn't mention that we had a very clear view of ALL of Nevis that morning as well, no clouds. I got up about 20 - 25 minutes before sunrise and we were just west of Nevis then. Just GORGEOUS!!! And the sunrise behind Nevis that morning was spectacular, so many colors. I did a review (with maybe too many pictures :o), but if you'd like to see those pictures of Nevis, I'll copy/paste link to open on that section (page 24). Montserrat (and tiny little Redonda) pictures are also included. Those pictures start on and will all be on page 24, post #473, and are all on page 24.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2275573&page=24

 

As for Patsie's tours, I still have not heard back from her and am now guessing it's possible she is no longer offering tours. I hope you're able to find another tour so you'll be able see some of these sights. Bathsheba is just gorgeous and we saw it when it was rather cloudy. I've seen pictures by others on a sunny day and those are so much better than what I have. I have heard of people walking outside the cruise center area and getting a cab to take them around, but we haven't tried that yet.

[Stinger-pr]

That's what draws me to Dominica, the fact that it's not overly commercial. Your mention of some views from the drive in Dominica reminding you of Maui are really getting me excited for our upcoming trip. We've been to St. Lucia, twice now, and have been to Jalousie Beach both times and I agree about the gorgeous setting. The first time we were in St. Lucia, another couple on the tour with us had been to Hawaii and said St. Lucia reminded them of Hawaii. Now that I'm not sure of, but will soon find out.

 

 

Thank you for the recommendation to get to Nevis next time we're in St. Kitts. That is exactly what I'd love to do and it would also be getting a "new" island to visit. I mentioned very clear air on our last cruise (Sept. 2015) and being able to see Montserrat when we sailed into St. Kitts. I didn't mention that we had a very clear view of ALL of Nevis that morning as well, no clouds. I got up about 20 - 25 minutes before sunrise and we were just west of Nevis then. Just GORGEOUS!!! And the sunrise behind Nevis that morning was spectacular, so many colors. I did a review (with maybe too many pictures :o), but if you'd like to see those pictures of Nevis, I'll copy/paste link to open on that section (page 24). Montserrat (and tiny little Redonda) pictures are also included. Those pictures start on and will all be on page 24, post #473, and are all on page 24.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2275573&page=24

 

As for Patsie's tours, I still have not heard back from her and am now guessing it's possible she is no longer offering tours. I hope you're able to find another tour so you'll be able see some of these sights. Bathsheba is just gorgeous and we saw it when it was rather cloudy. I've seen pictures by others on a sunny day and those are so much better than what I have. I have heard of people walking outside the cruise center area and getting a cab to take them around, but we haven't tried that yet.

Soooo..... how's that arm twisting for summer 2018 coming along?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

[pghsteelerfan]

Soooo..... how's that arm twisting for summer 2018 coming along?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

 

I'm still doing a little of that arm twisting, so we'll see how it works. After what we just did, I don't know if the arm twisting will work or not. :o:o:o Last month we booked a two week trip to Hawaii which is coming up and fast! I really haven't had time to research yet, although we do have a few places that are a definite. We weren't sure if we'd be able to swing this, but we got a great package deal that was under the budget we set. From some of the research I've been able to do so far, I've found that May and September are when hotel rates in Hawaii are the lowest. The reasoning is because most families will not pull kids from school for a vacation right before/after the start of the school year, May and September. Either way, I can't wait!!!

 

 

So, the arm twisting continues...IF we can swing a vacation next year. I'm hoping to. ;)

[pghsteelerfan]

I know this thread is a little old, but if you're out there Steelerfan, did you say who it was that you booked your day with (to go to Payne's Bay and Bathsheba both)?

 

I'm not a swimmer so don't snorkel, but it sounds like a place I might like to visit. And I want to see Bathsheba. HAL's tours aren't calling my name. ;)

 

FTR, I was booked on Fascination in mid-November (love PR and love the Fantasy-class ships), but I switched to HAL Koningsdam for 11 nights vs 7 (rt from Ft Lauderdale, 3 sea days, 6 consecutive ports - St Martin, St Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, St Kitts, and St Thomas, with HMC at the end. Got about a 30% casino discount, so the solo was almost double what I was paying on Fascination, but I'm hoping it will be worth it. If I'd sailed from PR, I would've wanted to spend extra days there, so the cost would gone up considerably.

 

Have only been to Barbados once, but the clincher was getting to go back to Martinique.

 

Pghsteelerfan- I am very interested in doing a tour like you did with Patsie. I used the email you provided. I emailed her yesterday but haven't heard back as of yet. Is this the correct email?

Thanks for your lovely detailed cruise reports. They are helping me plan my Southern Carib cruise on Serenade in Januuary.

 

 

 

NCTribeFan...I'm still around and saw your question. :) Yes, we were able to do a private tour that included a couple of hours at Payne's Bay Beach (which is just gorgeous) in the morning and then at noon, we were picked up for our tour of the east coast of Barbados, which included Bathsheba and a few other stops that we really enjoyed. I would be happy to provide you with the information if you are still interested. Our driver was Patsie Nurse with JP's Taxi Service and we were very happy with her, just loved her, and really enjoyed our day in Barbados and all we were able to see. I was able to get this information from fellow CC member Dirkgun since they had done a similar tour, which he wrote about in his review. They used Patsie a couple of times and have really enjoyed her. This is Patsie's contact information: Patsietaxi@hotmail.com is her email and her cell number..... 246-264-7413 or 264-571-8291. She was very good with the communication and I heard back from her the afternoon that I sent the first email.

 

UPDATE...

You both had expressed in the tour we did while in Barbados two years ago and I passed along the information along for Patsie Nurse with J&P Taxi Service (I had down JP's Taxi service - incorrect). I contacted her, via email and I'm happy to say I just heard back from her. She was happy to let me know that she still does tours of Barbados and can also accommodate larger groups. Her contact information is: patsietaxie@hotmail.com (email) and 246-264-7413 is her phone number. I'm wondering if the emails didn't go through because in my original post, I had her email with the capital letter "P" when her email address is all lower case (???). Either way, if either of you are still interested, Patsie is still offering tours of Barbados.

[Goldens]

Pghsteelerfan- I am very interested in doing a tour like you did with Patsie. I used the email you provided. I emailed her yesterday but haven't heard back as of yet. Is this the correct email?

Thanks for your lovely detailed cruise reports. They are helping me plan my Southern Carib cruise on Serenade in Januuary.

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE...

 

You both had expressed in the tour we did while in Barbados two years ago and I passed along the information along for Patsie Nurse with J&P Taxi Service (I had down JP's Taxi service - incorrect). I contacted her, via email and I'm happy to say I just heard back from her. She was happy to let me know that she still does tours of Barbados and can also accommodate larger groups. Her contact information is: patsietaxie@hotmail.com (email) and 246-264-7413 is her phone number. I'm wondering if the emails didn't go through because in my original post, I had her email with the capital letter "P" when her email address is all lower case (???). Either way, if either of you are still interested, Patsie is still offering tours of Barbados.

 

 

Was Patsie's tour just for 2 of you? How many hours & price?

 

I have been in contact with her (thanks to your update)

Husband & I are interested in a private tour but do not want to go for the entire day ...... appreciate your advice

:D

[pghsteelerfan]

 

 

Was Patsie's tour just for 2 of you? How many hours & price?

 

I have been in contact with her (thanks to your update)

Husband & I are interested in a private tour but do not want to go for the entire day ...... appreciate your advice

:D

 

Well, I have a short answer and a longer answer w/details. :) Here's the short answer to your question. Just the 2 of us...yes (morning) and no (afternoon...we were joined by another couple). Our tour was 6 hours and the cost was $200 for both of us ($100 each).

 

Longer answer with details:

 

When we signed up for the tour with Patsie, yes, it was just the two of us. We signed up for Paynes Bay Beach with the turtle swim/snorkel at the shipwreck (included boat ride out, use of snorkel/mask/fins/life vest) in the morning and an island tour with focus on Barbados' east coast, specifically Bathsheba, in the afternoon. We met Patsie @ 9:30am and were back at the cruise terminal by 3:30pm (we had to be back on the ship at 4:30pm for a 5pm sail away), so plenty of time.

 

When you asked if the tour was just the 2 of us and I answered "yes and no" and mentioned we were joined by another couple for the afternoon portion. The other couple that was with us for the afternoon portion (Barbados' east coast/Bathsheba) of our tour were only interested in the island tour portion we were doing, so she picked them up at the ship/cruise terminal at 11:30am before picking us up at Paynes Bay and then the 4 of us continued with the island tour with focus on Barbados' east coast/Bathsheba.

 

If you have an idea of what you'd like to see, you can arrange a custom tour with Patsie like we did. So if there are a few things you'd like to see/do, but only want 3 hours or so, then you can arrange that with her. That's why I really enjoyed touring with Patsie AND she is a total joy to be around. I highly recommend her and was so happy to see she is still offering tours.

 

If you have further questions or would like more details on something that we saw/did, I'll be happy to answer. :)

Edited October 27, 2017 by pghsteelerfan
Forgot to add information

[Goldens]

 

Well, I have a short answer and a longer answer w/details. :) Here's the short answer to your question. Just the 2 of us...yes (morning) and no (afternoon...we were joined by another couple). Our tour was 6 hours and the cost was $200 for both of us ($100 each).

 

Longer answer with details:

 

When we signed up for the tour with Patsie, yes, it was just the two of us. We signed up for Paynes Bay Beach with the turtle swim/snorkel at the shipwreck (included boat ride out, use of snorkel/mask/fins/life vest) in the morning and an island tour with focus on Barbados' east coast, specifically Bathsheba, in the afternoon. We met Patsie @ 9:30am and were back at the cruise terminal by 3:30pm (we had to be back on the ship at 4:30pm for a 5pm sail away), so plenty of time.

 

When you asked if the tour was just the 2 of us and I answered "yes and no" and mentioned we were joined by another couple for the afternoon portion. The other couple that was with us for the afternoon portion (Barbados' east coast/Bathsheba) of our tour were only interested in the island tour portion we were doing, so she picked them up at the ship/cruise terminal at 11:30am before picking us up at Paynes Bay and then the 4 of us continued with the island tour with focus on Barbados' east coast/Bathsheba.

 

If you have an idea of what you'd like to see, you can arrange a custom tour with Patsie like we did. So if there are a few things you'd like to see/do, but only want 3 hours or so, then you can arrange that with her. That's why I really enjoyed touring with Patsie AND she is a total joy to be around. I highly recommend her and was so happy to see she is still offering tours.

 

If you have further questions or would like more details on something that we saw/did, I'll be happy to answer. :)

 

 

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH‼️

We are in contact with Patsie ,listed below are her suggestions for a 4 hr tour ,we do not want to swim with turtles or Harrison's cave (done that) this time more interested in history , land marks etc

 

Wildlife reserve

Barbados museum & historian society

Animal flower cave

Cherry tree hill

Watchman Hall

 

Any comments ????

[pghsteelerfan]

 

 

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH‼️

We are in contact with Patsie ,listed below are her suggestions for a 4 hr tour ,we do not want to swim with turtles or Harrison's cave (done that) this time more interested in history , land marks etc

 

Wildlife reserve

Barbados museum & historian society

Animal flower cave

Cherry tree hill

Watchman Hall

 

Any comments ????

 

You are very welcome and happy to have been able to help. :)

 

 

The only one of these options that we did was the stop at Cherry Tree Hill. It is from a higher elevation and overlooks the Barbados' east coast. The Wildlife reserve...we didn't do this, but a fellow CC member, Dirkgun, did this and covered their day in his review from Carnival Valor in 2015. I have followed his reviews from when I first became a CC member. When I read his review and saw that they had time for the beach/swim with turtles in the morning AND time in the afternoon for some sights on the other side if the island, I asked him if what we wanted to do was possible. He mentioned his family did their tour with Patsie and gave me her contact information. But I'll attach the link to his Valor review in case you'd like a few more details and pictures of the Wildlife reserve. I'm hoping to attach the link to open on Page 6 of his review, which is the page that his section on the Wildlife reserve starts. It will be post #108.

 

 

Link to CC Member, Dirkgun's review:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2173623&page=6

[Goldens]

 

You are very welcome and happy to have been able to help. :)

 

 

The only one of these options that we did was the stop at Cherry Tree Hill. It is from a higher elevation and overlooks the Barbados' east coast. The Wildlife reserve...we didn't do this, but a fellow CC member, Dirkgun, did this and covered their day in his review from Carnival Valor in 2015. I have followed his reviews from when I first became a CC member. When I read his review and saw that they had time for the beach/swim with turtles in the morning AND time in the afternoon for some sights on the other side if the island, I asked him if what we wanted to do was possible. He mentioned his family did their tour with Patsie and gave me her contact information. But I'll attach the link to his Valor review in case you'd like a few more details and pictures of the Wildlife reserve. I'm hoping to attach the link to open on Page 6 of his review, which is the page that his section on the Wildlife reserve starts. It will be post #108.

 

 

Link to CC Member, Dirkgun's review:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2173623&page=6

 

 

 

Helpful info !!!!

I will decide & organize with Patsie !

THANKS AGAIN .....REALLY APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME ‼️

[pghsteelerfan]

 

 

 

Helpful info !!!!

I will decide & organize with Patsie !

THANKS AGAIN .....REALLY APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME ‼️

 

Thank you! I'm always happy to help. It's because of CC, and help from others, that we've been able to make the most of our recent cruises. I hope you have a wonderful time with Patise while visiting Barbados and on the rest of your cruise. :)

[pklein9747]

We will be in Barbados on November 21 and are interested in doing a tour. I tried to email Patsie but it came back as "address not found". I used patsietaxie@hotmail.com. pghsteelerfan...what email address did you use?

 

Never mind...I found it online...it's patsietaxi@hotmail.com....no e after taxi!

[pghsteelerfan]

We will be in Barbados on November 21 and are interested in doing a tour. I tried to email Patsie but it came back as "address not found". I used patsietaxie@hotmail.com. pghsteelerfan...what email address did you use?

 

Never mind...I found it online...it's patsietaxi@hotmail.com....no e after taxi!

 

OOPPPPS...my mistake! In my first posts (page 1), I had the correct email address for Patsie, but in my "UPDATE" post (Post #37, on September 5, 2017), I had her email address spelled incorrectly. The CORRECT email address for Patsie is: patsietaxi@hotmail.com

 

And I should know better, "taxi" is the correct spelling, not "taxie". :eek::o:eek::o Thank you pklein9747 for pointing that out and apologies for any confusion.

[pklein9747]

An update on our tour with Miss Patsie of J&P Taxi this past week. We were to meet Miss Patsie at Door #2. She was not there. My husband searched around and found her way past the vans holding up a sign with our name and a sign with another person's name. She said they had pushed her back away from the exit area. We asked if she had made reservations for us at Harrison's Caves. She had, but couldn't get anything earlier than 12:20 as it was a busy day. That was OK with us, we told her...we would see the sights first and then do the caves. She agreed.

 

At 9:50, the other group of four still had not shown. Turns out they were coming in on the Celebrity Reflection and the ship hadn't even docked yet! When she checked with someone on the dock, she was told the Reflection wasn't disembarking passengers until 11. She seemed surprised that we didn't want to wait for the others....really??

 

She then walked us about a block out of the pier area and put us in a taxi van with a friend of hers..Pasco...and told us he would do the tour. Turns out he was just that...a taxi driver. There was no narrative about the island...he spoke mainly to husband who was sitting in the front with him. He did take us out to the military base...and got us in...to see the HARP gun. Patsie hadn't even known where it was. He then took us to the Caves and waited for us.

 

After the caves, on the way back from the ship, Patsie called on the phone and wanted to know where else we wanted to go. It was now 2:15 and all aboard was 3:30. We told her we only wanted to go back to the ship...there was no time to see anything else :(

 

I would never, ever use her again. She was totally uninformed, unprepared, and unorganized. How do you not know what time your clients are arriving? Why would you expect people to wait over an hour in the hot sun for another group to join you? Why did she not make arrangements ahead of time to accommodate everyone...or not accept additional people knowing they were on a different ship? Her starting price for her tour was $400 for the four of us!! When we told her that was too much, she dropped to $200. We then told her we were going to go with someone else I found on CC, and she dropped it to $150 but we had to pay the cave entrance. I so wish I had gone with the other person :( :(

[aeroo777]

An update on our tour with Miss Patsie of J&P Taxi this past week...

 

 

I so wish I had gone with the other person :( :(

 

Thanks for the update! Who was the other person you considered?

[pghsteelerfan]

An update on our tour with Miss Patsie of J&P Taxi this past week. We were to meet Miss Patsie at Door #2. She was not there. My husband searched around and found her way past the vans holding up a sign with our name and a sign with another person's name. She said they had pushed her back away from the exit area. We asked if she had made reservations for us at Harrison's Caves. She had, but couldn't get anything earlier than 12:20 as it was a busy day. That was OK with us, we told her...we would see the sights first and then do the caves. She agreed.

 

At 9:50, the other group of four still had not shown. Turns out they were coming in on the Celebrity Reflection and the ship hadn't even docked yet! When she checked with someone on the dock, she was told the Reflection wasn't disembarking passengers until 11. She seemed surprised that we didn't want to wait for the others....really??

 

She then walked us about a block out of the pier area and put us in a taxi van with a friend of hers..Pasco...and told us he would do the tour. Turns out he was just that...a taxi driver. There was no narrative about the island...he spoke mainly to husband who was sitting in the front with him. He did take us out to the military base...and got us in...to see the HARP gun. Patsie hadn't even known where it was. He then took us to the Caves and waited for us.

 

After the caves, on the way back from the ship, Patsie called on the phone and wanted to know where else we wanted to go. It was now 2:15 and all aboard was 3:30. We told her we only wanted to go back to the ship...there was no time to see anything else :(

 

I would never, ever use her again. She was totally uninformed, unprepared, and unorganized. How do you not know what time your clients are arriving? Why would you expect people to wait over an hour in the hot sun for another group to join you? Why did she not make arrangements ahead of time to accommodate everyone...or not accept additional people knowing they were on a different ship? Her starting price for her tour was $400 for the four of us!! When we told her that was too much, she dropped to $200. We then told her we were going to go with someone else I found on CC, and she dropped it to $150 but we had to pay the cave entrance. I so wish I had gone with the other person :( :(

 

I am really sorry to hear that your tour did not go as planned and that I may have been part of the reason you took this tour. I just want to apologize and I feel terrible your day in Barbados did not go as planned. :( I know we had a good experience, but I have seen many other reviews of private tour groups from different islands with very different experiences, from really good to very poor. When we booked our tour with Patsie, it was for a cruise we took in September 2015. We booked our tour based on a review of another CC member and their experience.

 

 

When we did our tour, we were on Carnival Liberty and the day we were in Barbados, Carnival Liberty was the ONLY ship in port. Actually, we were the only ship in port that entire cruise, so we also had a great experience with another local tour group on one of the other islands. I haven't seen many reviews where others have used Patsie, but the one we used on another island normally gets great reviews, however, there have been some very negative reviews where others were left very disappointed after touring with them and a few of those mentioned that their tour included passengers from other ships.

 

 

From now on, if I give feedback or recommend a local tour that we had a good experience with, I will be sure to mention whether or not we were the only ship in port or not. Looking back, that can be a major factor on how the tours go and make a huge difference. When local tour groups are dealing with passenger tours from only one ship, they are probably a lot more organized with the tour running smoothly. But I can now see that juggling tours with passengers on two or more ships can result in disorganization and disappointment. I didn't think of that when I posted my recommendations here and for that, I apologize. But as a tour group, one would hope they (tour operators) would be prepared in dealing with passengers from more than one ship and prepare accordingly.

 

 

Again, pklein9747, I feel responsible for your disappointment since I believe it was my review that you based your decision to book the tour on, and for that I am very sorry. :(

[mitsugirly]

Well now...this thread seems to have been very busy while I was gone. :p

 

Still thinking about heading to Barbados and looking for suggestions.

 

I keep looking at pictures (just google) and I went back and re-read your review, but for some reason this Paynes Bay Beach is just not popping out at me and saying WOW, gotta go there.

 

Any other suggestions?

[pghsteelerfan]

Well now...this thread seems to have been very busy while I was gone. :p

 

Still thinking about heading to Barbados and looking for suggestions.

 

I keep looking at pictures (just google) and I went back and re-read your review, but for some reason this Paynes Bay Beach is just not popping out at me and saying WOW, gotta go there.

 

Any other suggestions?

 

Hey there!

 

It sure has been busy and I just feel terrible that the tour we used turned out very disappointing to others...I guess a lot can change in two years. :eek:

 

I did see your post that you've decided to change the Mexican Riviera to the southern Caribbean. I LOVE the itinerary in the cruise you switched to. We've never been to St. Croix or Grenada, and it's been so long since we were in Martinique (once, in 1992, first cruise) that it would also be like a new island.

 

We liked Paynes Bay Beach but we really didn't have the time we wanted to, to really get a chance to experience the beach. That was because the swimming with turtles and snorkeling the shipwreck took a lot longer than we expected since another large group was added AFTER we did the turtle swim. I was a little bummed (OK, really bummed) about that. By the time we got back to the beach, we only had about 10 minutes left, so I just ran up and down the beach getting pictures. We chose Paynes Bay based on another review by CC member, Dirkgun, and fell in love with his pictures, especially the color of the water. But looking back through pictures, you are right in that the beach itself doesn't really have that "WOW" factor. In the pictures, it's the water that grabs me. I think most of the beaches on Barbados' west coast have that same, beautiful clear water.

 

I really wish I had more first hand experience of beaches that I think you would enjoy, but I really don't even though we've been to Barbados only three times now. ;p First was in 1992, did the "booze cruise" (those days are over now, we wouldn't get our $$$'s worth). :') On that particular cruise (Carnival) were in port from 8am - 10pm and wanted "sunset from a beach" pictures, so we walked to a beach we could see from the ship to get them. It's called Brandons Beach (from the ship & to the left if you're facing the island) and it turns into Brighton Beach (same stretch of beach). Our plan was to go back to Brandons Beach on our cruise in 2013 since it looked like a nice beach from memory so we thought it would be a nice, cheap beach day. Instead of walking, we took a taxi and had to wait for it to fill up. When we told her where we wanted to go, our driver let us know there were no amenities, zilch, nothing...even after 22 years. We changed plans and ended up at the Barbados Hilton since that's where all of the others in that taxi were headed. The Hilton is at the opposite end of Carlisle Bay from Boatyard and you can see the hotel from the ship. It was OK, but I've read enough of your reviews to know what you are looking for in a beach, and I just don't think the Barbados Hilton checks off a lot of boxes in what you are looking for. The hotel beach is not actually on Carlisle Bay, it's just around the other side of Needham's Point. The swimming area is very small, a little rough, and no area for snorkeling. Our last time was Payne's Bay/East Coast (Bathsheba).

 

I'm sure others have other beaches they've been to that they can recommend so hopefully you'll get some more ideas.

 

Attaching Google Earth screenshot of Hilton Barbados for a visual.