Courtney Taylor?

[minmor719]

We were in Ocho Rios on Sep15. it was one stop on our 7 day cruise on Carnival. I had inquired about his services after reading alot of posts on cruisecritic. I e-mailed him directly and be responded right away. He met us at the port in Ocho Rios right after the ship came into port we were one of the first people to get off the first tender. It was my husband and I and 3 young single girls. He took us first to Dunn River Falls which was great since to beat the crowds. After that he took the 3 girls to a shopping mall as this is what they wanted. He left an associate with them and then drove us up the the mountains to do the zipline. When he were done with the zipline he was there to pick us up. We then went to an authentic local place to eat lunch. The food was really good! He picked us back up and asked us what we wanted to do next I requested the take me to jewelry store I wanted to go to,he did take us straight there and waited for us while we shopped. He was so knowledgeable on all history and sights. He talked to us and answered any questions we had. I left everything in his air-conditioned van while we were at the falls. His prices are reasonable and his care of us and our things was great. I would definitely use his services again!

Edited September 23, 2011 by minmor719
Typos

[Storm11]

Courtney Taylor is a wonderful tour guide. We are so glad that we booked our tour with him. When we arrived in Jamacia we met a young lady that contacted Courtney for us. Counrtney arrived within 5 minutes. Courtney escorted us to his air conditioned vehicle to begin our tour to Dunns River Falls. As we traveled to the Falls, Courtney told us about his beautiful country. Courtney is very knowledgable about his country. Since Courtney picked us up early we were able to be the first people to enter Dunns River Falls. We left our personal belongings locked in Courtney's vehicle. Courtney also told us the best path to go when we were leaving the Falls. After we left the Falls we went River Tubing. As Courtney drove through the countryside he continue to tell us about Jamacia. When we reached the River Tubing we were the first once again. It was fantastic! We enjoyed riding down the beautiful white river. Courtney took us to the beach and shopping as well. Courtney directed us every step of the way. We really appreciate everything that Courtney did for us. My husband told Courtney that he is now our Jamacian connection. When we return to Jamacia, we will use Courtney as our guide throughout our vacation. Courtney is very intelligent, kind and courteous. We highly recommend his services. I have read some of the reviews here and almost missed a wonderful experience in Jamacia with Courtney because of a few reviews. We are so glad to have had such a fantastic day with Courtney.

[Andrew & Terri]

We booked with Courtney Taylor for our Sept 4th cruise on Carnival. I booked with him because of all the incredible reviews on this site. From the first moment I contacted him, he responded quickly and kept in contact with me through emails up until the day before we arrived in Jamaica. I had originally booked for 7 of us, but when we showed up with 8 he was very nice and accommodated us all. I would highly recommend Courtney, he is very friendly, professional and his van was really nice, clean and comfortable for our group. We all really enjoyed our day in Jamaica, thanks to Courtney!

[pmdc5696]

My 17 year old daughter and I booked a tour with Courtney in July. We were met by two men that were sent by Courtney (I will not provide their names as I do not believe they were truthful). I spoke with Courtney via telephone and he assured me that these two were "his best men". My 17 year old asked to sit in the front and was immediately granted permission. We requested to see a plantation, a bird sanctuary and have lunch somewhere with local food. We were quickly and efficiantly brought to these locations, but not provided any information about the sites, Jamaica, or anything we were passing.

 

We had two major issues of note. The first, and far most serious involved the driver and my daughter. Unbeknown to me until after we parted for the day was the increasingly graffic verbal secual advances he made. I cannot go into specific detail as it would get me booted from the website.

 

When we were dropped off, these men dropped us much farther from the ship that anticipated, causing us to have to walk through several blocks in Falmouth. They demanded more than $30 dollars more than we had agreed to when scheduling the trip. I refused. Eventually, in order to keep from a prolonged argument that was sure to involve local law enforcement, I agreed to pay them an extra 20. We returned to the ship vowing never to get off in Jamaica again.

 

I contacted Courtney after we returned, explaining the issues we had. He asked for an in depth report. The next day, he contacted me and reported that both men had been fired and that he had filed a complaint with the tourism board. I found his response to be appropriate and timely. He shared what felt to me to be a heartfelt apology for our experience. He seemed to be genuinely sorry for our troubles, offering to refund what I paid.

 

The reason for writing this post is to simply suggest that when you book with someone, make sure that he/she is providing the service. I seriously doubt we would have had issues if we had been with Courtney. We will be returning to Jamaica next September and are planning on booking with Courtney and will only accept him.

[jessijames]

I found courtney taylor through cruise critic, and I was very dissapointed with the whole experience. It was our first time to jamaica, and we wanted to experience a small part of jamaica on a time limit lol. I found courtney on here, and emailed him with questions, all his responses were the same. He promised we would be on our own tour that we designed, and just kept asking for us to confirm. Every response he sent us was the same email, so no personal touch. That probably should have been the big hint....sigh.... We got to jamaica to discover no we are not on our own tour but with other people, who are not doing what were doing?? We all went to the falls, the falls were great, when we were finished we went back to town and then I assume the five minute drive back was the sightseeing through the rainforest??? It would be like driving to your local walmart and sightseeing on the way. Very dissapointed! We then wanted to go shopping, so we were dropped off with a babysitter?? Another gentlemen continued to bring us to different shops, all of which ripped us off, it seemed that we were there to line their friends pockets, but if I'm paying almost $100, for a private tour guide/babysitter shouldn't you be working for me.... After that we just asked to go back to the ship so we could walk around by ourselves, so all in all $100 gone and wasted. I was also embarrased because I planned this day, and they were most excited about jamaica. I think it's awful that people use these boards to get business, and our one day was ruined. I do have to thank cruise critic, for our other two days. The tours I found for them were absolutely amazing. So two out of three, I was forgiven.... I don't recommend courtney taylor...oh and i' have recieved probably 10 emails asking for feedback, with a link to bring you to this page :mad:... Well thanks for letting me rant! Ps. we also wanted to due the blue hole cliff jumping.....when we got there he just blew it off like he didn't know what we were talking about. :confused:

[loveJake]

I would like to know why most of the posts being critical of CT are the first post for the poster? Do I smell a rat?

[minmor719]

I found courtney taylor through cruise critic, and I was very dissapointed with the whole experience. It was our first time to jamaica, and we wanted to experience a small part of jamaica on a time limit lol. I found courtney on here, and emailed him with questions, all his responses were the same. He promised we would be on our own tour that we designed, and just kept asking for us to confirm. Every response he sent us was the same email, so no personal touch. That probably should have been the big hint....sigh.... We got to jamaica to discover no we are not on our own tour but with other people, who are not doing what were doing?? We all went to the falls, the falls were great, when we were finished we went back to town and then I assume the five minute drive back was the sightseeing through the rainforest??? It would be like driving to your local walmart and sightseeing on the way. Very dissapointed! We then wanted to go shopping, so we were dropped off with a babysitter?? Another gentlemen continued to bring us to different shops, all of which ripped us off, it seemed that we were there to line their friends pockets, but if I'm paying almost $100, for a private tour guide/babysitter shouldn't you be working for me.... After that we just asked to go back to the ship so we could walk around by ourselves, so all in all $100 gone and wasted. I was also embarrased because I planned this day, and they were most excited about jamaica. I think it's awful that people use these boards to get business, and our one day was ruined. I do have to thank cruise critic, for our other two days. The tours I found for them were absolutely amazing. So two out of three, I was forgiven.... I don't recommend courtney taylor...oh and i' have recieved probably 10 emails asking for feedback, with a link to bring you to this page :mad:... Well thanks for letting me rant! Ps. we also wanted to due the blue hole cliff jumping.....when we got there he just blew it off like he didn't know what we were talking about. :confused:

 

 

I believe that we were the "other people" on your tour. I also didn't expect to have others on the tour with us however it was really no big deal for us. Courtney was on time to drop us or or pick us us at every event we did. In fact after we had done the falls and the zip line we asked him to take us to a store that was on out cruise shopping list and he had no problem taking us where we wanted to go. By the way he asked us what we wanted to do. He asked us if we wanted to eat and took us to a very cool local place to eat lunch.

 

I never felt pressured to do anything. In fact when he picked us up from zip lining I asked him where the other people were and he said the returned to the ship.

 

I found Courtney to we a nice, knowledgeable, and very accommodating guide. I would contact him again without any hesitation when we go back to Jamaica again .

[laspero]

We used Courtney the first week of October from Falmouth. Courtney was easy to find waiting for us in the independent contractor waiting area at the port. His Toyota van was clean, comfortable seating the 5 of us, and well air conditioned. My mom uses a wheelchair and Courtney took great care of her while the rest of our party climbed the Dunns River Falls and went tubing. It's amazing how clean the van was considering what a mess we made after coming back from climbing and the falls. The falls are great but seriously over commercialized. The tubing was excellent and well worth the time. We stopped in Ocho Rios for shopping where Courtney took us to the tourist duty free shopping district. If you want to do serious shopping than I would suggest doing some research first and knowing where you would like to go. Courtney was glad to do whatever we wished and his services are well worth the price paid. We had lunch at Scotchie's which was awesome Jerked Chicken and Pork. The 5 of us ate for $30. Check them out at Tripadvisor where they list them as #2 place to eat in Ocho Rios. You can tell Courtney really loves what he does and his island home. He is very responsive with email and if you talk with him you can plan out exactly what you would like to do. Jamaica is a big island and it's hard to see a lot of it in 6 hours.

[cruisecrzy]

I have had the opportunity to make use of Courtney Taylor's services myself and have refered him to my clients all with good results! I can tell you that Courtney takes pride in the job he does and is very easy to work with.

 

As stated in many previous posts he is punctual, well spoken and very informative.

 

I personally have used him for port stop tours, a full day tour while staying at an all inclusive resort, and for a group of 15 during a port stop. All delivered with reliable service. His rates are very good especially if you want to do a custom tour, he is very good with these types of tours.

 

It is important to work with a vendor who is quick to respond, especially when I am referring a client. The mere fact that he does not require pre payment shows he wants you to have a positive Jamaican experience.

[seasbury]

Had heard great things about Courtney Taylor. I tell you one thing, they keep their word. We only had 2 in our party and no one else showed up from our ship so we had a personal tour guide. Went to Dunns River Falls and had a blast (were even told how to avoid the pushy sales people). I highly recommend their service!!

[calidiva]

We just returned from Carnival Liberty 3 wks ago, just finally realizing that reality MUST return..We had such a great time on our cruise. We visited Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios Jamaica. Our favorite was Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and it was all because of Courtney Taylor Tours. We crammed a lot into one day but ohhh was it fun. We met Courtney at the pier and he directed us to our Driver Marvelous Marvin. We were so lucky as it was just my husband and myself that day. What luck! First stop of Dunns River Falls - what excitement that was. I am pretty "scary" so for me it was mentally challenging. Physically I was fine but boy was I scared. The off to, ZipLining, again my fear had to be overcome, but I survived and enjoyed it. And finally, we went River tubing, then shopping, where Courtney met us again at the end. What a jammed packed day it was. Marvin was a excellent driver, showing us & explaining all sides of beautiful Jamaica. I felt we got MORE than our monies worth, and have only one regret...that the ship did not stay in Jamaica longer. The tour through Courtney Taylor tours is a "must do" Professional, prompt, and personable.....Great Job! Can't wait to go back.

[cathomsen5]

We used Courtney Taylor Tours on October 6th 2011 when we stopped in Jamaica as part of our Carnival Freedom cruise. We had a wonderful day in Jamaica. We learned so much about the culture and Ocho Rios area. We had a blast climbing the falls and White River tubing. Marvin was a great host and tour guide. He was very informative and took care of us very well. We will definitely recommend Courtney Taylor and Marvin to others that we might know traveling to Jamaica and would definitely use your services again if we make it back on another trip. This was one of the best days we ever had on a vacation. Thank you for making it such a great day.

[peaches84]

I used Courtney on Oct 12 in Falmouth on my Allure of the seas cruise. Before hand Courtney was prompt with responding to my questions and emails and was able to help me plan a day that was enjoyable. Courtney himself did not take us on our tour but his driver Errol was a fun personable man. He made our day very relaxing. I would definetly recommend Courtney if you want a comfortable fun way to see Jamaica.

[Offthebeatenpath]

My boyfriend and I used Courtney Taylor Tours when our cruise stopped in Ocho Rios in October 2011. We weren't keen on going on a ship excursion. I had done some research online using Tripadvisor and Cruisecritic and Courtney came highly recommended.

 

Our cruise was late due to some incremental weather and Courtney was there waiting for us as he said he would be. He took us to Dunn's Falls and waited for us while we climbed the falls. He said we could leave our stuff in his van and we felt safe doing so.

 

As our port visit in Jamaica was shortened, we decided against going to Mystic Mountain. Instead he took us to Mahogany Beach where we met his neighbour Patrick, we went to Juici Patties (which I have to say is the best beef patty I've ever had and I have had some good ones in Toronto), we went shopping and we went to Scotties. Throughout the drive he spoke passionately about Jamaica and answered my boyfriend's many many questions about animals and the landscape.

 

When our visit was over, he dropped us off back at the port on time to get back to the cruise ship.

 

Courtney is professional, prompt (answered our emails before our trip), reliable, safe, knowledge and accommodating. We would highly recommend Courtney Taylor Tours to friends and family.

[gyrldoggie@hotmail.com]

I used Courtney Taylor to get me to and from the airport, and for a daytrip to Negril from Ocho Rios. Was provided with nothing less than very courteous, respectful and professional service. Would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for a tour guide/driver when visiting Jamaica.

[Tamerella]

On multiple occasions, I have used Courtney Taylor for tours in Jamaica. The last time was when we docked (Freedom of the Seas) in Ocho Rios. He took my group to Dunn's River Falls and provided excellent information along the way. He then took us to do some river tubing (that was fun!) and when we got finished with that, there was Courtney...waiting for us!

 

We all felt completely safe and it seemed as though Courtney was not only our tour guide/driver, he was our friend...showing us his island and making sure we were enjoying ourselves.

 

I am also a travel concierge and have recommended Courtney Taylor to many people. They all came back with great things to say.

 

My group has booked Courtney again for our visit in Feb 2012. This time, we are docking in Falmouth and will venture out to Negril. We can't wait!

 

Courtney Taylor is fabulous! The prices are very reasonable and the tours are enjoyable. Having Courtney Taylor as our guide/driver/friend for the day is the ONLY way I would tour Jamaica!! :)

[Butlerz]

After reading reviews I decided to call courtney because I was traveling w family,and didn't want to wander aimlessly around Jamaica w three children. what a great deal?

We didn't get Courtney but Marvin and he was wonderful , even to my kids. We did Dunns river and tubing. He took us shopping where the didn't hassle us. He showed us things we would have seen if on a tour from the cruise ship. I will be recommending to all my friends and family, Courtney Taylor tours.

[Muskoka Girl]

Just came back from an awesome visit in Ocho Rios thanks to Courtney! He gave us a great tour and even the rain couldn't stop us.

 

We walked off the ship about 30 mins late due to us sleeping in. I asked one of the port officers for Courtney (per his instruction) and about 10 mins later he came and picked us up. I apologized for our lateness and he said not to worry. His vehicle was clean, a/c was cold, and it was nice to climb into our own car opposed to joining the herds of people getting in their excursion buses/vans.

 

We're pretty easy-going and aside from DRF, shopping, lunch, we didn't have an exact itinerary but Courtney was great with going with the flow. We beat the crowds at DRF and he escorted us to rent water shoes and to the entrance gate (as well as giving us a heads up about the aggressive vendors) and passed us off to colleague Carrington to accompany us the rest of the way. Courtney was there waiting when we were done and he took us to a gorgeous spot for a photo, stopped to visit the Spice Lady (a sweet old woman on the side of the road who educated us about the spices used in local cuisine), stopped at a pottery studio for a free tour, educated us on everything about the island from history to general info, and even made a bank stop for me. He drove us to Mahogany Beach for lunch, owned by his neighbour, and we ate some delicious jerk chicken next to a gorgeous beach.

 

My husband was at first hesitant of the idea of hiring someone for a private tour but minutes into it he was very pleased and even told him so. (He probably also liked the fact that someone knowledgable was right there to answer his millions of questions!)

 

When he brought us to the shopping area he showed us where to shop for the best deal and samples of Blue Mountain coffee and also led us to a place to shop for local snacks so I could bring a treat home for an Ochi colleague. There were still a couple hours left until we were scheduled to depart but we got so much out of our tour that we were more than happy and asked Courtney to drop us off at port.

 

Again, we had a great time with Courtney with lots of laughs. Whenever we asked him a question he answered honestly, and he was friendly and laid-back, yet professional. I felt very safe and comfortable being with him and not only was choosing him an economical choice vs. a ship excursion, we really couldn't put a price on that kind of convenience. And talk about great customer service...I e-mailed him last minute (gave it a shot as it was two days before we left for our cruise) and a couple hours later he had us scheduled in and confirmed. My hubby insisted that if we ever came back we had to hire him again.

 

Thanks for a wonderful visit Courtney! We'll have to do it again soon. :)

[nw2this]

they take you to a 15 foot drop of by the bank where you can jump off into the river as many times as you like. A couple brave guys in our group did this. Looked fun but I didn't want to loose my suit on the way in.

 

What is the name of this place? My family wants to check out Rick's Cafe, but this sounds like a great alternative

[nw2this]

Are Courtney, Peat, and Orville all a part of the same company or are they separate companies?

[Dalton5]

Found out about Courtney here on Cruise Critic. There were 7 of us and we were booked for Nov. 9 out of Falmouth.

 

When we got off the ship Courtney was easy to find ( I recognized him from his pictures). He escorted us to his van which was clean and cool.

 

We went to Dunn's River Falls, which was awesome. We then went to Scotchie's for what was perhaps the best meal we have ever had. He then took us back to Falmouth.

 

Courtney was very informative and a wonderful guide. If we ever get back to Jamaica we will use his services again.

[Cincee]

I booked a tour with Courtney Taylor for 15 people. He is a great guy and he took very good care of us. We did the White River Tubing and had a blast, the two river guides we had worked very hard and made the trip down the river so much fun we hated for it to end. We met quite a few of the locals at the end of our river ride some were quite entertaining and all were very nice. Our next stop was Reggae Beach, we had a great time, it , was fun, very pretty, relaxing and our group enjoyed it very much.

 

We also wanted to go shopping and that was a big disappointment. We went to a one store which was gated and the people that ran it were pushy, in some case very rude. They would follow you around and would lower the price, but once you got to the register the price was different. If you paid cash it was the price agreed on, but if you used a credit card they charged you a something like 17% tax. While browsing, I was asked what tour group I was with, I am led to believe commission is paid to the tour guides. There were other tour groups there and they felt the same way. Needless to say we bought very little in the store and cut short our shopping. Courtney was very upset and spoke with the shop owner who came out to our van and tried to correct the situation the owner ended up giving some of our group some cash back. Courtney was looking out for us. We decided to go back to the ship and we all ended up buying a few things just outside the dock where we were dropped off. I bought some beautiful Jamaica canvases.

 

Jamaica is a beautiful island, and I hope to return there again and I will definitely use Courtney again, we felt very safe and had an educational guided tour. He really is a nice guy, but if we decide to go shopping, I will be sure to tell him exactly the type of shopping we want more island crafts or artists, not his fault. :D

[NYCruiseNoob]

My wife and I just returned from a cruise that stopped at Falmouth last Monday (December 5). I had been in touch with Courtney by email based on the positive reviews I read here. He responded promptly to my messages, was very clear about prices, and so we agreed to meet.

 

He was easy to find, very courteous and professional, and an entertaining guide. He took us for some sightseeing (including a stop at Rose Hall), then to Montego Bay, where we spent a couple of hours at Doctor's Cave beach club. Then we headed back towards Falmouth, stopping at Scotchies along the way for great jerk.

 

It was a very enjoyable day, and Courtney was a big part of it. If we go back we would use him again without hesitation.

[jazzbot]

Falmouth to Iberostar Resort: Taxi for five cost $95 round trip. Are there cheaper round trip option available through the private tour operators to drop us off and come back later to pick us up?

[tallcva3344]

After reading reviews I decided to call courtney because I was traveling w family,and didn't want to wander aimlessly around Jamaica w three children. what a great deal?

We didn't get Courtney but Marvin and he was wonderful , even to my kids. We did Dunns river and tubing. He took us shopping where the didn't hassle us. He showed us things we would have seen if on a tour from the cruise ship. I will be recommending to all my friends and family, Courtney Taylor tours.

 

There are many first post and last post (total 1 post) recommending this tour group. Is someone advertizing????? actually 4 out of 5 posts from the one above have only posted once ever. H