Victor Bodden guide/driver recommendations? (MERGED THREADS)

[jsome72]

I just got back off the Valor last night, and I did the Victor Bodden tour based on all of the positive reviews that were posted here. Unfortunately, we didn't have as great a time as most people have previously posted. Once we located the Victor Bodden rep that was directing the passengers to their drivers, she couldn't even find us in her roster, even though I had reconfirmed with them right before we left for our cruise. After she took care of everyone else, she passed us off to another rep who finally found us a driver (George). The driver, although nice, was very quiet and it was like pulling teeth trying to get any information about the country out of him or just even having a conversation. He first took us to the zip-lining location, and it was absolute mayhem. It was so disorganized and there was such a huge crowd of people that kept on getting bigger by the minute. There was no line to pay, nor to get your equipment, nor to zipline. You had to push your way through everybody to try to get anybody's attention to get anything done. It didn't help that we had been assigned such a meek guide! We ended up waiting for an hour and 15 minutes just to get started- unacceptable. When we actually did the ziplining, that was fun. Our tour guide then (quietly) took us to eat at a restaurant that was on a beautiful beach at Half Moon Bay. Because we had been standing around for so long to zip-line, we didn't have time to do anything else except get back to the port location and do shopping for maybe 20 minutes. I wish we would have had a different experience with a different driver (and we are not people that are difficult to please). If your experience with Victor Bodden tours is SO dependent on which driver you get, then I can't say that I would recommend this tour group.

 

It looks like we were on the same cruise and we also booked through Victor Bodden. We also got a driver named George but he was the nicest man I have ever met. He took us to the zipline first and there was nobody else there, I got right on and was done within an hour. We also went to a couple of different stores, the iguana farm, Victors house and the orphanage and were back with about 2 hours to spare. DW and I both agreed that it was probably the best day of our lives so far! Our George was great and we have completely fallen in love with Roatan!

[babygirl0329]

Everything is extra I believe.

 

I'm not sure how much they quoted for VB tour, but for us it was $40.00pp for the day (tour of 2 ppl, I believe that it was $25.00pp if it was 4 ppl). The $40 only included the private tour ie. your tour guide. Everything else was extra.

 

Iguana Farm : $5.00pp

Victor's House : $2.00pp

Not sure how much the ziplining is, but if you contact Victor, he'll tell you how much everything is.

 

Lunch is approximately $10-$15 pp depending on what you get. Lanny told us that the usual lunch spot was Half Moon Bay. I got the Hondurian Chicken Special which was $8 + $2 pop.

 

 

Thank you for the info!

Keri

[cruisersophie]

Another vote for Anthony. We had a great time, it was a day to remember. victor met us at the pier and everything went smooth. Anthony took great care of us.

Brenda

[cruisersophie]

Where on earth did you get the lobsters for $20? Can you recall the name of the restaurant?

 

Thanks,

laurie

I believe it was called Half moon bay.

Brenda

[carm225]

It looks like we were on the same cruise and we also booked through Victor Bodden. We also got a driver named George but he was the nicest man I have ever met. He took us to the zipline first and there was nobody else there, I got right on and was done within an hour. We also went to a couple of different stores, the iguana farm, Victors house and the orphanage and were back with about 2 hours to spare. DW and I both agreed that it was probably the best day of our lives so far! Our George was great and we have completely fallen in love with Roatan!

 

Well put, DH! ;) Way to stick up for our GEORGE! He was a wonderful, wonderful man! :D

[cheeseheads1]

We booked through victor, and requested Tex. Victor was very accommodating. We have an idea or two of what we want to do already, and he said our tour guide will make sure we do what we want to (zipline, visit a LOCAL, fruit/veggie market, beach/snorkel, lunch)....

 

Where on earth did you get the lobsters for $20? Can you recall the name of the restaurant?

 

Thanks,

laurie

 

I think that you will be happy with Tex. He was friendly and likes to tell jokes. He answered all of our questions and did what we wanted to do. He also had a lot of good suggestions. I wish I had budgeted a little different as he told us the off shore snorkeling at Sandy Bay was excellent. We did not have the cash on us for the boat trip. If he is wearing his Packer hat ask him about it. Made us laugh. We were shocked that they actually watch the NFL there. I think that if you want to make sure you are happy request a driver. There are several you would be happy with.

[LoLa_in_GA]

I think that you will be happy with Tex. He was friendly and likes to tell jokes. He answered all of our questions and did what we wanted to do. He also had a lot of good suggestions. I wish I had budgeted a little different as he told us the off shore snorkeling at Sandy Bay was excellent. We did not have the cash on us for the boat trip. If he is wearing his Packer hat ask him about it. Made us laugh. We were shocked that they actually watch the NFL there. I think that if you want to make sure you are happy request a driver. There are several you would be happy with.

 

We are bringing cash, mostly to cover the cruise. We used a CC to secure the funpass and onboard account, but will pay the entire balance (as we did the last cruise) prior to leaving the ship, but thanks for the heads' up. I will email victor again prior to sailing just to remind him of our reservation and request tho!!! I am also really glad that you re-confirmed my decision as a good one!!! :D

[cheeseheads1]

There is an ATM on board that we used once. It is nice for an emergncy. It has a $6 fee though. It was located in the Casino.....Imagine. We had a excursion cancelled on Caymans due to weather and we had to use our cash to pay for an alternative so that left us with a shortage. Also, I did not want to carry a lot of extra cash on island. In retrospect, we should have. We left our cameras and money in the car with Tex and all was fine. Have fun!:D

[Ltvscout]

We had Ben as a driver when we were there on March 27th, the same day as Cheeseheads1. Ben was great. He told us about the island as we drove without doing too much talking. He stopped at all the photo op areas for us and answered any questions we had.

[bigred08046]

never never use it! simply go to casino floor and slap down you sea pass and ask for cash. it shows as a charge not cash advance so no atm fee no hight intrest cash advance charge..

[cheeseheads1]

I guess I did not worry because my bank refunds all service charges worldwide. It is good to know about other options though.:D Yes Scott we were on the same ship but never ran across each other. Did talk abit on Roll Call prior though. Wish were still there!!

[sunfan03]

We were in Roatan in January and it was our FAVORITE port. We would definitely book with Victor again. We easily met up with our tour guide and were the first in line for the South Shore Canopy tour. The guides at the canopy tour were awesome - they worked hard. There were 4 in our party, DH and another couple. The zipline was amazing - we went from one zip to the next (platform to platform) with no bridges until the end. After that our guide took us to Half Moon bay for some snorkeling, lunch and shopping - just beautiful! We would definitely come back to this spot. It was so serene and peaceful and in some parts, very quiet. Afterwards, we stopped at the Cameo factory and got back to the boat in time. This board was so helpful in making us comfortable with our decision. Thanks to everyone!

[Winchestercruiser]

Just did the Bodden tour last Wed. Tex was our guide and he was great. Took us to all the sights, found us a great restaurant for lunch, was very informative about the island. The zip-lining with Jungle Canopy Tours was one of the highlights of the cruise. Our guide, Nelson, made us feel very safe. I would highly recommend Bodden tours and Tex as your tour guide. Felt like an old friend by the time the day was over. Only thing missing was more time on the island.

 

 

CARNIVAL VALOR 2008

CARNIVAL CONQUEST 2005

[People_Mover]

we have 8 in our group. Do they pick you up by van or bus or car?

[cheeseheads1]

we have 8 in our group. Do they pick you up by van or bus or car?

 

They have cars and vans. I think it depends on the size of your group. They had a big van for a large group ahead of us.

[grumpyfan]

We just returned from our cruise and used victor bodden in roatan and they were great....met us right off the ship, we had Mickey for a tour guide and he took wonderful care of us. We went for an island tour, zip line, west end beach restaurant for lunch and then snorkeling and visited the monkeys. Couldn't have asked for anything else - Mickey fit in everything we wanted to do and make the perfect suggestions when we asked!

[People_Mover]

which zip line did you do? Regular or EXTREME? did you feel safe?

[grumpyfan]

We did the Jungle Canopy Zip Line - I think its the "regular" one as it didn't seem overly extreme to me. Yes I felt completely safe at all times. Our guide was very careful with our harnesses and clips/ropes and was always making sure we were attached correctly. We had lots of fun and all of us thought this was the best part of our trip!

[ludlowite]

We were just in Roatan last Wednesday and had Hanno as our driver. We simply cannot say enough about him. We had an amazing time and absolutely fell in love with Honduras and are already talking about going back for a land vacation.

 

Hanno took us on a tour of the island stopping at various photo op places where us ladies were able to do some shopping away from the more expensive vendors down by the port. We did everything we wanted to do and Hanno was good at making suggestions and telling us about the history of Roatan.

 

We also did the ziplining which was amazing! Hanno took us to Pirates of the Carribbean because there is the option of doing either the regular or the extreme ziplines. Originally we had intended to do the regular zipline, but we soon found out that it was more strenuous with bridges and climbing walls than the extreme which is only ziplines. At the top of the mountain before we started, the POC guides convinced us to do the extreme ones and gave us a discount to do the extreme. While we were all a bit nervous since we are scared of heights, we are so glad we did the extreme ziplines after seeing the "baby" ziplines down below. We felt safe the entire time.

 

After ziplining, Hanno made a stop at a convenience store so we could get some beer for the drive to the other side of the island where we visited Victor's monkeys. It was really neat to see all the animals there and the monkeys were very friendly. We met Victor there as well - a lot younger than I had imagined!

 

Next Hanno took us to Half Moon Bay where we sat a nice restaurant and had some delicious local beers while enjoying the spectacular view. Hanno always told us to take our time and do whatever we wanted.

 

After we left Half Moon Bay, we did some more sightseeing. Us ladies found some handmade necklacess that we liked and attempted to bargain with the vendor 2 for $25. When she refused, we got back in the van disappointed. Hanno saw this and bargained with the lady and managed to get the necklaces for us for the price we had asked for!

 

Overall we had a wonderful time in Roatan and Hanno helped make our experience very memorable! I would recommend Victor Bodden tours and Hanno to everyone!

[kcdancerkc]

Went through Victor Bodden tours of course --- guide named Orsy Cruz of Transtours (has his own small company on the side) http://www.transtoursroatan.com/contactus.html is victor's cousin-- wanted to plug that for him cause he is great!

 

My boyfriend wrote extensively on the services he provided on the carnival page Glory 5/03/08--- took us anywhere we wanted --- great lunch - monkeys were soooooo fun to play with and hold at victor's house - he was laid back and has worked in the cruise industry so we asked many questions about that and we spent a lot of time cracking him up --- BEST drink - Monkey La La we spent SO little money for the Most beautiful day!

[Cammie]

In January, we used Victor Bodden tours. Highly recommended! We had Cardy as our guide and he was fabulous! We did the Iguana Farm, the monkeys at Victor's place and lunch at Half Moon Bay. I had a lobster kabob there that was to die for! We also saw the whole island, and I will absolutely be using Bodden tours again when we return in November!!

[Ara macao]

Hi,

My wife and I were on the Carnival Legend last week, and during our stop in Roatan had arranged the island tour through Victor's website based upon the reviews here. We were not disappointed! I highly recommend Victor and his tour guides.

We started by getting off the ship and meeting Victor next to the booth as per directions. It was a bit congested as there is major construction at this dock at present, but it was easy finding Victor once out of the terminal. We were quickly paried with our driver for the day.

Our driver was Ben, and he was very good. Ben told us about the island as we went, never rushed, and was a great guide. He was amenable to going wherever we wanted and seemed happy to be helpful.

First, we went to zipline at the Pirates of the Caribbean Extreme zipline. The course is a single cable design with long exhilirating runs, and all but the last two stops being upon the mountainside not on platforms. As there we just two of us and the safety conscious, attentative zipline guide, the run never felt unsafe, though my wife did not like the platform in the tree near the end of the run. It was well worth the stop.

Next we went to the Iguana farm. There were many iguanas finding their way to the open areas to sun themselves, and many others in the trees. Additionally, there are several other animals in cages and a marine area at the bottom of the hill below the main farm where you can look down in to the mesh enclosed area around the dock to see tarpon, a couple of large barracuda, indian fish, lobster, and a few other fish types. This stop is $5 per person to help feed the animals.

After the farm we drove across the island to Victor's. The little monkey is great, and there are several other animals to look at. Victor arrived before we went to go, and we chatted a bit. He has plans to build his own zipline (with a partner), and other improvements planned for his property. He does charge $2 pp to see the animals and take pictures, but this is less than "animal photos" at various sites in the US, and helps support their care.

After this we saw some more of the island and stopped at Half Moon Bay. On another trip we'll snorkel and eat there, but it was still a bit early for lunch by our time so we walked the beach and did some shopping. After about 90 minutes we rode to see the expansion and other sites growing up at the west end, and eventually, after a few photo stops, made our way back to the port. We had a little extra time (~40 minutes) when we got back to the ship, and, in hindsight, probably should have eaten and stayed at Half Moon Bay a little longer, but this was our fourth port day in a row and we were getting tired.

It was a great day, and I would highly recommend Victor and BoddenTours. We'll be seeing him again the next time out itinerary stops at Roatan. :)

[People_Mover]

where is your stuff kept during the zipline & iquana farm? Is it locked in the van?

[AandBmom]

where is your stuff kept during the zipline & iquana farm? Is it locked in the van?

 

 

Yes you can leave your stuff in the van and the driver will lock it. We felt very comfortable doing this.

[cheeseheads1]

We left money, 2 cheap cameras and one expensive one while we snorkeled and nothing was touched. Tex stayed with the van while we were occupied and everything was there when we returned. When it is your job you tend to be careful. I would not be too concerned bad press is bad for business and tips!!:D