Marva Shaw

[brownies95]

I have a quick question about Marva Shaw. Will she customize a tour or do you have to sign up for one of the tours that they have posted on their website?

 

Thanks,

 

Tim:cool:

[arlodog]

She will customize your trip for you. My boss went with her a couple of weeks ago and had nothing but fabulous things to say about her service. My family is going next week and have booked with her. She is great about working with you and will take you anywhere you want. Do some research on the CC boards and then just let her know what you want to do and she will give you a price.

[darshan]

Has anyone had a hard time hearing back Marva Shaw? Our cruise isn't until later in the year, so it is not critical. I would really like to get everything set up so I don't have to mess with it later. I have sent her a couple of e-mails and I have yet to get a response.

[cjb0717]

I just contacted Marva on 03/13/07 through her booking request form on her website. She emailed me back within 24 hours and I replied with a few questions and received a response again within 24 hours. The email address I received from her is knowjam@yahoo.com.

[RIGirl]

Gee, that's kind-of strange for Marva to not be returning your email right away. Are you sure you have the right email address? Or, is your SPAM filter blocking her replies?

[QTMichele]

Tim, Marva is wonderful and very accomodating. Send her an e-mail letting her know what you want. Most likely, she will call you at some point along the booking process. :)

 

darshan, Marva is incredible with her customer service skills... She ALWAYS responded within 24 hours (usually within hours!) of any e-mail I sent to her. She's even CALLED me to introduce herself and to answer any questions I may have had. I hope you get in touch with her - she's GREAT! :)

[darshan]

I checked the e-mail address and it is correct. I have checked both of my spam filters and added her to my approved list, still nothing.

I resent the e-mail today, hopefully I get a response this time.

 

We really want to do the James Bond Beach and Local school tour, and I do not see any other guides that offer this.

We will have 3 children with us (7 ys - 20 months) and do not want to do anything too active (like the tubing or falls). I really think the local school would be a great experience for my 7 y.o.

 

Anyway, hopefully I hear from her soon.

[wri7913]

We just returned from our Cruise on March 10th. Marva was our tour guide and she did customize tour for us. She basically took us where we wanted to go. We went to Dunn River Falls, a Botanical Garden (not sure the name but was on top of hill overlooking the cruise ship) and then off to eat some Jamaican Jerk food. She was a real pleasure to have as driver. I asked her a lot of questions (I'm naturally curious about other cultures) and she didn't hesistate to answer. She was very friendly person. Definitely keep trying to get a hold of her. I wouldn't be surprised if she was very popular guide for tours.

 

~me

[darshan]

Wow, what a difference. I am not sure what happened with my previous e-mails, but the last one got a very quick response. Within an hour I received 3 e-mails and a call and am all booked with her.

I can not wait and am very excited to get to see the real jamaica.

 

We visited Ochos Rios a couple of years ago and I have to say I was less than impressed. We did a ship tour to the Falls and Dolphin cove. I loved the activities, but felt like all I got of Jamaica was very pushy people wanting my $$.

I have no problem spending my $, but I guess I prefer someone to make me want to spend it instead of someone asking me to give it to them just because they want it.

Anyway, I have a very good feeling that Jamaica is going to go from an Island that left a bad taste in my mouth to one of my favorites after this trip.

[QTMichele]

Wow, what a difference. I am not sure what happened with my previous e-mails, but the last one got a very quick response. Within an hour I received 3 e-mails and a call and am all booked with her.

I can not wait and am very excited to get to see the real jamaica.

 

We visited Ochos Rios a couple of years ago and I have to say I was less than impressed. We did a ship tour to the Falls and Dolphin cove. I loved the activities, but felt like all I got of Jamaica was very pushy people wanting my $$.

I have no problem spending my $, but I guess I prefer someone to make me want to spend it instead of someone asking me to give it to them just because they want it.

Anyway, I have a very good feeling that Jamaica is going to go from an Island that left a bad taste in my mouth to one of my favorites after this trip.

 

Great! What tour did you book? Please write a review after you return. :)

 

As for Jamaica, there are so many people trying to make ends meet that the pushiness probably won't stop any time soon; however, having a guide should help lessen that experience. People just didn't hassle us with Marva around.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

[darshan]

We booked the James Bond Beach with shopping and local school. I am very excited to see something of Jamaica besides the tourist spots.

Marva told me if our kids had any books or such to bring to the local school the children would love it.

I think it will be a really good experience for our spoiled children to see how other kids go to school and learn.

[blue61]

We booked Chef Thompson for a private, custom made day out from Montego Bay, for my husband and I and 3 kids (8 - 15).

It was wonderful, we didn;t share with anyone and it was a very good rate.

We went to Negril and a few other stop offs (I typed a full report on a earlier Pete Taylor thread) we even went to a local school and got swamped with hugs from the kids there.

 

This guy is fully legit and meets you on the dockside, you can see his orange sign from the ship. His site is www.cheftours.5u.com and his wife emails you back quickly and is very helpful in planning your day out, very easy to deal.

[Martin and Lindsey]

I am interested in this tour. Has anyone had experience of it that they could share with me?

 

We also hope to do the river tubing, and possible Dunns River Falls.

[dorisdvu]

Does she conduct the tours herself? If so, how does she have the time? Does she stay with you the entire time? How soon do you have to book with her?

[QTMichele]

I really don't know how to say it any better than this: Marva is WONDERFUL! :D She will customize a tour for you - all you have to do is let her know what you want to do. She can take you to a school, do the main attractions, shopping, to the beach, parks, gardens, etc. She wants YOU to be HAPPY! Her website is a good starting place, but I highly recommend e-mailing her to get more information and pricing. As I said, she'll customize for you.

 

AND... YES! SHE is YOUR guide! In our experience, she took us to our excursion point (Dunn's River Falls, for example) and waited until we were done. Then took us to our next stop (tubing) and, while we were tubing, she drove to the pick up spot. She took us to lunch and ate with us. The family who was on tour with us (there was a family of 4 plus my husband and I) elected not to go to the beach. So, Marva dropped us off at the beach (after making sure we wanted to stay, and we did) and took the family to their shopping destination. She came back to pick us up. No problem! (In her words.)

 

Marva is VERY good on time... she's constantly watching the time to make sure we could fit everything we wanted to do before our ship left. Her van was clean and comfortable. Throughout our drive, she made pleasant conversation and fed us information about Jamaica. It was our pleasure to meet her.

 

In all fairness, I haven't done a tour with any other tour guide/company, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Marva and to say that she has to be one of the BEST. I feel like her personal PR agent, but it is heartfelt and sincere. :)

[QTMichele]

Does she conduct the tours herself? If so, how does she have the time? Does she stay with you the entire time? How soon do you have to book with her?

 

Yes, she does! I would say that Marva wants you to have the best experience possible and, to do that, she conducts the tours herself. That's a good question to ask her. :) We booked our tour in August 2006 for our March 2007 cruise.

[ccecruiser]

We used Marva in January and found her to be the perfect choice to show us Ocho Rios. We would use her again! She even called us after we got back home to see how the rest of our vacation was. Now that's service!!

[Kauwa2000]

We just spent a day with Marva when we were on the Carnival Victory docking in Ocho Rios. She's amzaing and I'm sure she will customize a day for you. I can't say enough good things about her. She responded to my e-mail questions ASAP - was waiting for us when we arrived and took us everywhere we wanted to go. My favorite was lunch - she took us to a local place that served awesome jerk chicken - not only was the food excellent, but the price was unbelievable - there were six of us and we were broke from all the expensive places - this food was the best and the local flavor was fabulous. Enjoy her tour!

[arlodog]

We just got back from our cruise today and we booked with Marva. She customized our tour for us and was absolutely fabulous. We had my mother with us who is 70 so it took us a little bit longer and Marva was waiting for us all along the way. She took us to a local spot for lunch which was wonderful; it poured rain the day we were there and she even brought an umbrella for us (we had forgotten them!) She was absolutely fabulous. I would highly suggest that you book with someone while you are there; Marva was wonderful! We did have other people from our ship who did not book with tour guides and ended up not having a good experience in Jamacia. I heard a couple of people talking about being followed and attempted robberies. We had no problem with Marva as our guide. You can tell that people in town know her and respect her--we never felt unsafe. Her son will be coming back from Grand Cayman in May to help her with her business; he was our tour guide in Cayman and did a great job for us there too! We are very big fans of their company. They really believe in giving good service and ensuring that their clients are happy!

[karensi]

We have booked with Marva for May 9th, sailing on the Mariner. Even though we haven't even taken our tour yet, I already have to say that Marva is fabulous. I have been e mailing her, first to set up the tour, then to ask questions re: what time, what beach and even cancelled Dunns Falls, which we had originally thought we would do, but then changed our minds. Marva was great, always received an e mail reply within 24 hours ( she seems to answer her e mails at night so you will see your reply when you retrieve your e mail the next morning) and she has been very accomodating. No problem with cancelling Dunns Falls and has suggested a beach for us ( James Bond) that we will do. We are going tubing, then to lunch (looking forward to that after reading these reviews) and then to the beach. Im really looking forward to meeting Marva, she seems great.

[QTMichele]

We have booked with Marva for May 9th, sailing on the Mariner. Even though we haven't even taken our tour yet, I already have to say that Marva is fabulous. I have been e mailing her, first to set up the tour, then to ask questions re: what time, what beach and even cancelled Dunns Falls, which we had originally thought we would do, but then changed our minds. Marva was great, always received an e mail reply within 24 hours ( she seems to answer her e mails at night so you will see your reply when you retrieve your e mail the next morning) and she has been very accomodating. No problem with cancelling Dunns Falls and has suggested a beach for us ( James Bond) that we will do. We are going tubing, then to lunch (looking forward to that after reading these reviews) and then to the beach. Im really looking forward to meeting Marva, she seems great.

 

You'll have a wonderful time with Marva! :) PLEASE write a review when you get back... I'm really excited to hear about your trip to Jamaica and the sights you'll see. Plus, Marva works hard and the "advertising" here really helps her business. Have a WONDERFUL time!

[dorisdvu]

For those who have used Marva recently, would you mind sharing the price that Marva charged? Also, if you are not sure what all you want to do, will she make suggestions? If you bring a change of clothes, can you leave them in the vehicle while you on out and about?

[QTMichele]

For those who have used Marva recently, would you mind sharing the price that Marva charged? Also, if you are not sure what all you want to do, will she make suggestions? If you bring a change of clothes, can you leave them in the vehicle while you on out and about?

 

Go to www.KnowJamaica.com for details about Marva's pre-planned tours. The price and estimated lenght is listed as well. :) She is willing to customize tours and make suggestions to make your visit to Jamaica a great one. Marva has a van that you can leave your things in while you're on your excursion.

 

We paid $60 per person for the Dunn's River Falls, White River tubing, lunch stop (lunch was extra), Reggae Beach & shopping trip. Our tour lasted over 6 hours - a great deal, in my opinion.

 

Feel free to ask any more Marva questions! :D

[dorisdvu]

Go to www.KnowJamaica.com for details about Marva's pre-planned tours. The price and estimated lenght is listed as well. :) She is willing to customize tours and make suggestions to make your visit to Jamaica a great one. Marva has a van that you can leave your things in while you're on your excursion.

 

We paid $60 per person for the Dunn's River Falls, White River tubing, lunch stop (lunch was extra), Reggae Beach & shopping trip. Our tour lasted over 6 hours - a great deal, in my opinion.

 

Feel free to ask any more Marva questions! :D

 

That sounds great! I'll have to email her (when I get home). Can't access her website from work to get her email address :eek: .

[QTMichele]

That sounds great! I'll have to email her (when I get home). Can't access her website from work to get her email address :eek: .

 

Great! Here's Marva's e-mail address: knowjam@yahoo.com. She tends to e-mail in the evening, and is quick in responding. Please let us know what you decide to do. :)