Gordan or Lawerence please advice

[mrspaper]

Appreciate you quick response BcIceman and Mrspaper.

 

We have our own snorkeling equipment. I am assuming there is storage in these vans for our beach and snorkeling gear, right? I know my dh will be happy that there are umbrellas for rent, however, we will be spending most of our time in the water. Does Long Bay have a place to change into and out of your bathing suits?

Maybe someone else knows the answer. I wore my suit under my clothes.

Just an aside, I'm sure this scenario arises with both Lawrence and Gordon- Gordon never watched the clock. We were out about 1 1/2 hours longer than his tour states he will be out.

Have fun with whomever you choose. It's a beautiful island. I would return there.

[dz63]

Appreciate you quick response BcIceman and Mrspaper.

 

We have our own snorkeling equipment. I am assuming there is storage in these vans for our beach and snorkeling gear, right? I know my dh will be happy that there are umbrellas for rent, however, we will be spending most of our time in the water. Does Long Bay have a place to change into and out of your bathing suits?

 

We went to Long Bay Beach last summer on Gordon's Best of Paradise Tour. We wore our bathing suits under our clothes. There are restroom facilities on the beach, however it was only accessible to patrons who purchased a drink or food item from the beach bar/restaurant.

[swdke]

For those who have gone with Lawrence, how long was the tour? Did you go to a beach after? If so, which beach and what is there to do there, or what facilities are available? Thanks!

[deminggraham]

For those who have gone with Lawrence, how long was the tour? Did you go to a beach after? If so, which beach and what is there to do there, or what facilities are available? Thanks!

 

A group of about 20 of us on our roll call organized a trip with Lawrence and we had a blast. He took two vans and we all fit comfortably. We left at 9:00 AM and did a tour of the sites first and then went to the beach. Lawrence usually goes to Jolly beach but the restaurant was closed so we went to Valley Church beach which is only a short distance away. Lawrence asked us how long we wanted to stay at the beach and we decided to stay until 3:30. Some people in our group wanted to go back to the ship after the tour and Lawrence stayed with us at the beach while the other driver took some people back to the ship. The beaches have restaurants and rest rooms and you can rent chairs and umbrellas. The beaches are beautiful but Lawrence does not go to the beach where there is snorkeling. If you are looking for snorkeling, I would suggest Gordon.

[vonster]

we had a private tour with gordon and he is the nicest guy ever...

 

he was on time, picked us up at 8:15 pm and even though there were only me and my bf ( he makes minimum since only 2 in our group ), he did everything we asked...

first, he drove us to the zip lines and we paid them direct, when we finished, he was waiting for us...and gave us some sweet cinnamon bun with cheese...which is awesome...

 

after, he took us to nelson's dockyard...and he asked what we wanted to drink, got us gatorade....we stopped many times along the way at different places, whenever we wanted to take pictures since the roads are hilly and you can see the islands surrounding antigua...he took us to a high lookout area for pictures...then he showed us the beach area from far...we didn't stop at the beach...too tired...

 

and around 3 pm, we told him we were hungry and wanted street local food so he took us to his food place and he paid for everything...

 

the nice thing about gordon is he likes to talk and explain everything...

he is easy to get along with, not weird (like some people on the freaking ship)...and the whole time he never asked us for money....even in the end he walked us to the ship...and then we paid him we were ready....

 

i didn't ask for him to take our pictures but he offers and insisted at every stop...his site said $40 island tour for 5-6 hours but he literally did more than 7 hours and didn't mention anything about charging more, or us taking too long

 

i would suggest gordon to anyone looking for an island tour but if you don't like to talk...or anti-social...try to find someone else :D

 

[OC PAT]

Your review was most helpful. Thank you for taking the time.

[hulababy47]

Thanks vonster for all the info. I see on his website that he requires a $20 booking fee. Is it refundable when you show up. Or is that in addition to the tour price?

 

Thanks

[hulababy47]

Sounds good! What kind of quotes where you getting for taxi fare????

[mrspaper]

Thanks vonster for all the info. I see on his website that he requires a $20 booking fee. Is it refundable when you show up. Or is that in addition to the tour price?

 

Thanks

 

the $20 goes towards your tour

[LorrieB]

we had a private tour with gordon and he is the nicest guy ever...

 

he was on time, picked us up at 8:15 pm and even though there were only me and my bf ( he makes minimum since only 2 in our group ), he did everything we asked...

first, he drove us to the zip lines and we paid them direct, when we finished, he was waiting for us...and gave us some sweet cinnamon bun with cheese...which is awesome...

 

after, he took us to nelson's dockyard...and he asked what we wanted to drink, got us gatorade....we stopped many times along the way at different places, whenever we wanted to take pictures since the roads are hilly and you can see the islands surrounding antigua...he took us to a high lookout area for pictures...then he showed us the beach area from far...we didn't stop at the beach...too tired...

 

and around 3 pm, we told him we were hungry and wanted street local food so he took us to his food place and he paid for everything...

 

the nice thing about gordon is he likes to talk and explain everything...

he is easy to get along with, not weird (like some people on the freaking ship)...and the whole time he never asked us for money....even in the end he walked us to the ship...and then we paid him we were ready....

 

i didn't ask for him to take our pictures but he offers and insisted at every stop...his site said $40 island tour for 5-6 hours but he literally did more than 7 hours and didn't mention anything about charging more, or us taking too long

 

i would suggest gordon to anyone looking for an island tour but if you don't like to talk...or anti-social...try to find someone else :D

 

Thanks for the review. We are booked with Gordon and are really looking forward to the time with him.

[dst]

A group of about 20 of us on our roll call organized a trip with Lawrence and we had a blast. He took two vans and we all fit comfortably. We left at 9:00 AM and did a tour of the sites first and then went to the beach. Lawrence usually goes to Jolly beach but the restaurant was closed so we went to Valley Church beach which is only a short distance away. Lawrence asked us how long we wanted to stay at the beach and we decided to stay until 3:30. Some people in our group wanted to go back to the ship after the tour and Lawrence stayed with us at the beach while the other driver took some people back to the ship. The beaches have restaurants and rest rooms and you can rent chairs and umbrellas. The beaches are beautiful but Lawrence does not go to the beach where there is snorkeling. If you are looking for snorkeling, I would suggest Gordon.

 

Kay - we have a private tour with Lawrence booked in January and he is taking us on a tour of the Island and then to go snorkeling - I can not remember the name of the beach; but he stated that as long as he knew what we wanted he would accommodate us

[sdchickie]

Thanks for the review. We are booked with Gordon and are really looking forward to the time with him.

I see you are going on vacation soon. You might want to make sure Gordon has his van back. When we went a couple of weeks ago he met us at the dock and then pawned us off on some other guy because his van was in the shop. He said the repair shop lost Gordan's keys so he didn't know when he was going to get his van back.

[cherrypop]

We just got back from our cruise aboard the CB. Our party of six went with Lawrence for a private tour where we had his driver Joyce. Joyce was amazing and made us all feel like cousins. She never rushed us asked us just to tell her when we wanted to stop to take pictures etc. I would definately go with Lawrence and his company again. She took the extra time to explain things and show us around and answer questions. Joyce was also a great driver, because for those who have been to any of the caribbean islands before you know that some of their driving can be a little scary at times, Joyce's driving was extremely relaxing for us all. Thanks again Joyce for a great time from your friends from Canada! It was a nice touch at the end when she gave us all a warm hug good bye, she is truly a nice person, thanks:)

[dst]

We just got back from our cruise aboard the CB. Our party of six went with Lawrence for a private tour where we had his driver Joyce. Joyce was amazing and made us all feel like cousins. She never rushed us asked us just to tell her when we wanted to stop to take pictures etc. I would definately go with Lawrence and his company again. She took the extra time to explain things and show us around and answer questions. Joyce was also a great driver, because for those who have been to any of the caribbean islands before you know that some of their driving can be a little scary at times, Joyce's driving was extremely relaxing for us all. Thanks again Joyce for a great time from your friends from Canada! It was a nice touch at the end when she gave us all a warm hug good bye, she is truly a nice person, thanks:)

 

We also have booked Lawrence for a private tour in January, can you tell me some of the highlights - where you went, did you stop at a beach?

[allentownahoy]

We just came back from our cruise and had a wonderful day with Lawrence. He is a delightful tour guide who took us all over the island to Dockyard, Shirley Heights,etc, stopped at a local pineapple stand and bought us pineapple and provided local beer or water. The tour lasted almost dour hours and was followed by beach time at Jolly Beach which was beautiful. The passengers on the van decide how long to stay at the beach and he waits there to take you back to the pier. On our tour there were only 2 couples in a nice air conditioned van. I would highly recommend Lawrence. Antigua was my favorite island and Lawrence was our favorite guide

Ruth

[GinDon]

We just returned from a visit to Antigua last week. I had booked with Gordon, for seven people. We didn't have Gordon personally, but one of his other drivers, Valentino. The seven of us filled the van, so we had a private tour. Valentino was the best tour guide we have ever encountered. Great personality, lots of info about the island, etc. He provided us with so much food! The sweet buns with cheese, were so good (Valentino said he grew up eating that), then we had spicey chicken wings, an assortment of drinks, including the local beer, Waddidi, and, finally containers of cut up fresh fruit for us to share. A feast. No one went back to the ship hungry that day! Valentino tried to fill our every whim, stopping everywhere we wanted for photo ops. And there were many, some kind of silly (oh look.........a cow!) He made a special detour so I could see a nice example of an old sugar mill.

 

Valentino is a great guy. If you don't get Gordon himself, have no fear, you are in for a great time with Valentino.

[dst]

We just came back from our cruise and had a wonderful day with Lawrence. He is a delightful tour guide who took us all over the island to Dockyard, Shirley Heights,etc, stopped at a local pineapple stand and bought us pineapple and provided local beer or water. The tour lasted almost dour hours and was followed by beach time at Jolly Beach which was beautiful. The passengers on the van decide how long to stay at the beach and he waits there to take you back to the pier. On our tour there were only 2 couples in a nice air conditioned van. I would highly recommend Lawrence. Antigua was my favorite island and Lawrence was our favorite guide

Ruth

 

Thanks so much for posting your review, we are with Lawrence in January and he has been so accommodating so far. We have a private tour with 11 of us, a tour of the Island and a stop at a beach.......We have not been to Antigua so I am looking forward to a day there

[roborules]

We just got back from our January 1st sailing on Carnival Freedom which stopped in Antigua on the 5th. We booked our guided tour with Gordon and loved every minute of it. Since our family did not want to do all the same activities, we split up for the morning, and then met up around noon to be together for the rest of the day. Gordon was very understanding and accommodating to our schedule and plans. My daughter and sister booked a horseback riding tour through Carnival, my wife stayed on the boat for a leisurely morning, and my son & I went with Gordon to the Zip-line Canopy tour. Gordon was prompt in the morning and did get us to the zip-line company to be with their first group out (we arrived & were checked in first, before the crowd). Zip-lining was fun, and the guides there were professional & very safety conscious. After zip-lining, Gordon picked us up & took us back to the dock so we could pick up the rest of the family. We had to have a prearranged meeting time & place because our Verizon phone didn't work on Antigua.

Once we were all together and in Gordon's van, he asked us what we wanted to see on the island, what we wanted to do, and how long we wanted to spend in each location. Then we were off on our adventure.

While driving from one beautiful location to another (Shirley Heights, Blockhouse, , Gordon discussed the island's history & geography, from Christopher Columbus naming it in 1493 to how he felt as a young boy in 1981 when Antigua gained it's independence from Britain. But it wasn't just a dry history lesson. Gordon is an incredibly engaging and fascinating man. During our discussions, he managed to connect with each of us on a personal level. For instance, my son takes boxing lessons; Gordon practiced competitive martial arts for years. My sister is a blues harmonica player / teacher, Gordon is a singer / songwriter with a truly fantastic voice (he played a couple of his songs for us!). In simplest terms, after spending a few minutes with Gordon, you feel as if you're with an old friend; casual, at ease, and just having fun. Antigua was our favorite stop on this cruise because of Gordon.

[WeRockChalkKU]

We just spent the day with Lawrence on January 13th. Nice guy and very easy to work with. We had folks from all three cruise ships that were in port that day. He has a new mini-bus. It seats 24 or so and we had it only half full. We were expecting him to try to get more passengers to join as they walked off the ships but he didn't. He just rounded up those of us that had pre-booked and away we went. He had a cooler of ice water and the local beer to drink as we toured. He has a headset/speaker system that he speaks into so that everyone can hear his narration. Some of us wanted to go to the beach at the end of the day and he dropped some of us off, took some back to the ships and then returned to pick us up at the beach at the time the beach group arranged. Very nice day.

 

The island is beautiful, great tour I only wish we had more time at Nelson's Dockyard.

[SMN]

We just spent the day with Lawrence on January 13th. Nice guy and very easy to work with. We had folks from all three cruise ships that were in port that day. He has a new mini-bus. It seats 24 or so and we had it only half full. We were expecting him to try to get more passengers to join as they walked off the ships but he didn't. He just rounded up those of us that had pre-booked and away we went. He had a cooler of ice water and the local beer to drink as we toured. He has a headset/speaker system that he speaks into so that everyone can hear his narration. Some of us wanted to go to the beach at the end of the day and he dropped some of us off, took some back to the ships and then returned to pick us up at the beach at the time the beach group arranged. Very nice day.

 

The island is beautiful, great tour I only wish we had more time at Nelson's Dockyard.

 

Our family of 3 (my husband and I and our 20 yr. old son) had a tour with Lawrence of Antigua on 1/11/11 and had a similar experience. We had a great time and really enjoyed our tour, which included Jolly Beach.

[sproonee]

We just got back from our cruise which included Antigua in its ports. We decided to book a tour with Gordon and were glad we did. There were only two couples on our tour and Gordon was an excellent and flexible guide. He took us to see the main sights, and accommodated us in our wishes of how long to stay at stops, new stops, etc. He also made sure to provide us with a few local dishes at different stops to try and it was oh so yummy! I found him to be very professional and his price more than reasonable. Highly recommended!

[Lolotte]

Just got back yesterday from a fabulous cruise on Serenade of the Seas. In Antigua we booked Gordon a while back. It was a wonderful day ! When you exit the ship you must immediately turn right to find Gordon because everybody tells you that they are Gordon in order to get our business, so do not be fooled ! Gordon is an extremely friendly person and he will make your day in Atigua special. First he took us to Shirley's Heights where we had a splendid view of Antigua as well as a multimedia presentation on Antigua, then to Nelson's Dockyards, very nice place to shop as well as to learn the history of the island. All along he made sure we were well fed ( buns with cheese and wonderful chicken pasties) and got us water or soft drinks all included in the $40 price, After we went swimming and snorkeling at LongBay Beach and visited the most spectacular place : Devil's bridge.

He asked us at what time we wanted to be back on the ship and we were there to the minute.

He concluded with a gift of a CD of himself singing at the carnaval. It will remind us of the fantastic day we spent with him,

[cruising texans 44]

We just came back from our cruise and had a wonderful day with Lawrence. He is a delightful tour guide who took us all over the island to Dockyard, Shirley Heights,etc, stopped at a local pineapple stand and bought us pineapple and provided local beer or water. The tour lasted almost dour hours and was followed by beach time at Jolly Beach which was beautiful. The passengers on the van decide how long to stay at the beach and he waits there to take you back to the pier. On our tour there were only 2 couples in a nice air conditioned van. I would highly recommend Lawrence. Antigua was my favorite island and Lawrence was our favorite guide

Ruth

My wife and I had a similar experience with Lawrence on Jan 25th. After the $35 per person island tour you have the option of going to a beach for an additional $10 per person or returning to the ship. He usually goes to Jolly Beach but the people on our tour wanted to go to Valley Church so that's where he took them. Would definitely recommend his tour.

[Donna - dsw]

We have Lawrence booked for our cruise and he said $35 for tour AND beach - he better not try to charge us an additional $10 per person!

[outdoortrippers]

We have 5 in our party. Do the guides waiting at the dock have room for 5 people in their vehicle or how does that work? THANKS!