Lawrence never showed up

[Host Star]

we had a great tour with lawrence,, no trouble finding him, just keep on walking and you can't miss his colorful vest, the colors of antiqua!.. yes,, there were others there plying for your business.. but I felt more comfortable booking with someone our CC people had already usedwe booked ahead 'for a private tour' and getting a confirmationl from him that it inded would be 'private'.. we did pick up a couple of lovely ladies from the CC boards to join us, we all enjoyed the tour in a very comfortable new bus..he is a great guide and very accommodating.. even stopped and got us some very sweet delicious pineapple!

[Host Star]

Glad you like the picture I took.

This Thread just amazes me how a mistake is made and we trash the poor guy. I guess none of us make mistakes.:(

 

hey grumpy.. we got your pineapple :).. had a great tour with Lawrence in his very comfortable new bus...

[va boy]

we took a tour with him week before last . he met us on the pier ontime and we had a great tour with him on the nice bus he has . my wife was happy with the day . we would use him again anytime :)

 

for the OP sorry about the problem it must have been some miscommunication between the two of you .

[steveaaaa]

 

for the OP sorry about the problem it must have been some miscommunication between the two of you .

 

Thanks,but it was the couple who were with us that had the issue.

It does not take a Masters degree in finance to see what really happened.He did not want to wait for an hour with a bus load of people for 2 people.It was better to stiff 2 rather than upset 30 and keep in mind that when you are charging almost double than the dozens of others on shore offering tours you don't want people walking off your big bus.

That is a problem when you try and grab business from 4 ships porting at roughly the same time.When one is delayed it causes problems.I for one would have been really mad waiting an hour,but thats just me.

If everyone would just realize that there is no need to reserve in advance and be able to pay allot less it would be easier on everyone.

Steve

[Zeno]

If everyone would just realize that there is no need to reserve in advance and be able to pay allot less it would be easier on everyone.

Steve

 

That would be true if all tours were of equal value but in my experience they are definitely NOT. We have been to Antigua via cruiseship 3 times.

First time we went on a ships excursion - definitely over-priced and not very comprehensive.

 

2nd time - we did as you suggest and just went with one of the drivers at the port. Much more reasonably priced than the first time BUT he did not take us to all the Historical Park sites (only to Nelson's Dockyard) and The Blockhouse and he dropped us off at Dickenson beach ( not my favorite) and we had to get our own transportation from there back to the ship.

 

3rd time. We went with Lawrence and for $10 more each (than we paid driver number 2) we saw virtually all the sites of the National Historic Park (Nelson's Dockyard, the Blockhouse, Shirley Heights and Dow's Hill Interpretation Centre) and he also took us to the Natural bridge and he dropped us at Long bay Beach and picked us up and returned us to the ship.

We were in a roomy air-conditioned van and he pointed out anything of interest and stopped for photo ops whenever we requested and (unlike driver #2) he NEVER rushed us along so he could return to the port and get another fare. We were very pleased and felt we got more than our money's worth.

 

Could we have gotten as good a tour by just going with someone at the dock? Maybe if we were lucky but maybe not. We were with a friend who for health reasons had not been able to travel for years - so we wanted the best experience possible for her and we felt the best way to ensure that (as much as it is possible to ensure anything) was to go with someone others had recommended. We were not disappointed.

[steveaaaa]

. We were with a friend who for health reasons had not been able to travel for years - so we wanted the best experience possible for her and we felt the best way to ensure that (as much as it is possible to ensure anything) was to go with someone others had recommended. We were not disappointed.

 

Given your travel companions situation I think you chose well. For the average person with no special needs, a little homework would enable them to see that the other tours offered are the same.We went to 2 more stops than you mentioned and we did not want to go to a beach as we live near one.

When was the last time you were there? From what I understand he has a large bus now and it is all the others who are offering tours in small air conditioned vans.

Steve

[Zeno]

We went with him in 2004 (if my dates memory is working) and yes he still had the van then - so his tour my be somewhat different now that he has the bigger bus.

I think it is really a question of what you feel comfortable with. If you feel that you know exactly what you want to see and that any driver can take you around - by all means shop around for the best price. As I said in our circumstances (and given our previous less than satisfactory tours) I wanted to be as sure as I could be about getting a lot out of our day.

If I went back to Antigua again I would probably just go to a beach and any driver is fine for that.

[Trece]

Just to clarify, "large bus," unless he has another vehicle I'm not aware of, is a gross exaggeration. I was with Host Star two weeks ago and I believe we had his largest vehicle for the 10 of us. There were maybe 6-8 empty seats, so I'd say it holds a max of 18. It was brand new, immaculate, and had excellent a/c. We call this a mini-bus in our neck of the woods, or a large van. In different parts of the world vehicles are called different things & some require different types of licenses to drive them. The buses that my DH books for MLB games here hold 54 passengers. That is our definition of a "large bus!" :D

[steveaaaa]

Just to clarify, "large bus," unless he has another vehicle I'm not aware of, is a gross exaggeration. I was with Host Star two weeks ago and I believe we had his largest vehicle for the 10 of us. There were maybe 6-8 empty seats, so I'd say it holds a max of 18. It was brand new, immaculate, and had excellent a/c. We call this a mini-bus in our neck of the woods, or a large van. In different parts of the world vehicles are called different things & some require different types of licenses to drive them. The buses that my DH books for MLB games here hold 54 passengers. That is our definition of a "large bus!" :D

 

No gross exaggeration here, just click the link below.....

 

www.antiguanice.com/lawrence_of_antigua/Leston%20&%20Bus%203.jpg

 

Large for the island.....It might hold 30+ people.

 

But it was much bigger than any other vehicle and when it was at the dockyard they had to park on the outer edge as it is too large to fit in the parking area.

Steve

[Host Star]

i'm not sure how many it holds,, we did have a lot of empty seats... but it was the nicest looking bus/van we saw the entire day :)

[212cruiser]

i'm not sure how many it holds,, we did have a lot of empty seats... but it was the nicest looking bus/van we saw the entire day :)

Not sure why someone would make that observation. The van he used for our tour a month ago was plain white with some lettering on his windshield to advertsie his company. It looked exactly like most every other tour van of that size on the island (and most other islands). There were many larger, more luxurious mini-buses that put his "van" to shame, but I don't know who operates those.

Honestly, this entire "Lawrence" thread is much ado about nothing. Lawrence is a nice man, but certainly not nicer nor more knowledgeable than any other tour opertator that I've experienced. Fact is, Antigua is not rich in sites requiring any special expertise. He had 1 hand-out consisting of a copy of a local map, and that's it. He had very little to say unless you asked him a question. It is not like visiting Rome, New York or Athens, and what is there to see I felt any van driver who's been on the island more than a week could easily find. He did not take us to any beaches because our van didn't want to go to a beach. They wanted to go shopping and to see downtown. He said he would take us there instead, but he never did. He dropped us off about 4 blocks from the pier.

[plugged51]

i am just home from a 6 port cruise. Antigua was my favorite. As soon as we disembarked Lawrence was waiting for me. He even ran the risk of getting only me because at the last minute my friend was sick...he showed up anyway and gave us such a great day. I know we agreed to 4 hours for the price i paid, however, lawrence kept us going for the whole day and showed us such an incredible island. he was warm and considerate and offered so much help to my challenged friend. if anyone is wishing to see a most beautiful place, be sure to set up a plan with this knowlegeable gentleman. i wish you all as super a time as we had. and thank you lawrence. rhonda

[sunandsnow]

My sisters and I booked with Lawrence for our Dec. 2 sailing on the Crown. We were to meet him at 9:30 per his instructions. There were four other boats in port that day. We looked for him for over a 1/2 hour. We hooked up with a local taxi driver - who had to fill his van before we left. Ended up leaving around 11. He said he would take us to Nelson's Dockyard. He took us there but discouraged everyone from going inside. We went inside ($5) because I had read good things about it. He gave us 15 min. It would've been nice to spend at least 1 hour. He then quickly drove us through the rainforest and a quick photo op at Darkwood Beach - it looked like a nice beach. We did ask him to take us to Runaway Beach for the rest of the day. We were very disappointed in Lawrence. He later e-mailed and said he had made a mistake on our pick up time. He actually left with the others at 8:45. He said he e-mailed the Crown to inform us. Don't know if it was the Crown's fault or ultimately his.

[battybtags]

Those of you that went with Lawrence, which beach would you recommend that he takes you to? We're going with him in Feb and are doing the beach time so any suggestions would help!

[Host Star]

Not sure why someone would make that observation. The van he used for our tour a month ago was plain white with some lettering on his windshield to advertsie his company. It looked exactly like most every other tour van of that size on the island (and most other islands). There were many larger, more luxurious mini-buses that put his "van" to shame, but I don't know who operates those.

Honestly, this entire "Lawrence" thread is much ado about nothing. Lawrence is a nice man, but certainly not nicer nor more knowledgeable than any other tour opertator that I've experienced. Fact is, Antigua is not rich in sites requiring any special expertise. He had 1 hand-out consisting of a copy of a local map, and that's it. He had very little to say unless you asked him a question. It is not like visiting Rome, New York or Athens, and what is there to see I felt any van driver who's been on the island more than a week could easily find. He did not take us to any beaches because our van didn't want to go to a beach. They wanted to go shopping and to see downtown. He said he would take us there instead, but he never did. He dropped us off about 4 blocks from the pier.[/quot

 

I guess he took us on a different bus than you were on.. ours was his new large bus, with comfy luxurious seats, compare d to all the van types we saw.. we have no complaints about our tour with Lawrence,, and the pineapple he bought for us was yummy!!! we had a couple of school teachers with us who asked lots of interesting questions to which he was very responsive.. i agree, there isn't that much to actually 'see' on the island but its history is very interesting and its beaches a re beautiful..enjoy Antiqua, whatever you choose to do, and with whomever you choose to be your guide...

[winner1965]

Hi, did you agreed upon a fixed tour price with Premier tour before the actual tour? I emailed them and they replied with a quote only based on the rate per hour. Does the final price of the tour actually depend on how long the tour take?

 

thanks

[cruisecruisecruise1234567]

No gross exaggeration here, just click the link below.....

 

www.antiguanice.com/lawrence_of_antigua/Leston%20&%20Bus%203.jpg

 

Large for the island.....It might hold 30+ people.

 

But it was much bigger than any other vehicle and when it was at the dockyard they had to park on the outer edge as it is too large to fit in the parking area.

Steve

 

My brother recently took a tour with him and that was not the bus he used.They took a smaller bus since there was only 7 of them.He was not too happy because he thought he was getting the big new bus.He figures he paid too much for a ride in a regualr van,but overall he said it was just OK.