From review of Golden Princess - July 11-18

[DoniaG]

[font=Arial]Based on recommendations made here, we had previously made arrangements with William Drayton to take a private taxi tour. When we arrived, we were met by Patrick Clarke, who explained that William had had a problem and sent him (Patrick) instead. That turned out to be a great thing! Patrick was wonderful – I highly recommend him. He drives one of only 4 of the large Pugeots (don’t remember the name of the model) on the island and we felt like queens being chauffeured about all day. His numbers are 246-423-2501 (home) and 246-230-1506 (mobile). He knows half the people on the island, and (as he’s fond of saying) the other half know him! He’s been voted driver of the year three times – he just happens to have laminated copies of the newspaper articles in the backseat pockets! [/font]

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[font=Arial]I had been to Barbados more than 20 years ago and loved it. I was thrilled to discover that it was just as beautiful as I remembered. We went first to Sunbury – one of the island’s great houses. It was absolutely beautiful and so lovingly restored that you felt the people who lived there had just walked into the next room. We then visited the Flower Forest, which was a wonderful botanical garden. In both places, we were almost the only people there because Patrick knew the ship tour schedules and got us there when the tours weren’t there! A note on the Flower Forest: It was wonderful, but if you’re planning to go to Diamond Botanical Gardens on St. Lucia, just skip it. They are much alike, except Diamond is even more beautiful. We also went to Bathsheba, which is not to be missed. The Atlantic side of the island is just spectacular. We drove up most of the Atlantic coast, then cut across to Speightstown and came back down the Caribbean coast. In addition the to usual tourist stops, Patrick toured us through a couple of the plushest resorts on the island – Villa Nova and Sandy Lane. Though both have gates with guards, the people at both places obviously knew him and had no objections to having his passengers wander their properties at will. It was a very nice bonus for a thoroughly delightful day.[/font]

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[font=Arial]I was also thrilled to discover that the national beer – Banks – is just as good as I remembered. We enjoyed an icy cold bottle while we were driving in the afternoon, then took a supply back to the ship to enjoy on our balcony during the rest of the trip. Highly Recommended!!!! [/font]

[missmissypie068]

Thanks for the great review! I'm wondering what the cost was for Patrick, the private driver? Also, how long was your tour? Thanks!