Bodden Tours OR Diana and Cinthia

[twopugs]

These two companies seem to offer the same service and similar prices. Any particular reason to use one or the other?

[Becoming]

I'm reading great reviews about Victor Bodden and have e-mailed with him already. When do you travel? I'm hoping to get some folks together for a day trip with Victor in April as my roommate has made other plans. Have a great day!

[Gosap]

We booked Victor Bodden last year at the advice of my in-laws, and we had an amazing time. The tours are personalized to your interests and the tour guides are knowledgeable, professional, and kind. Our tour guide, Ali, was exceptional. We never felt rushed and did lots of activities while on the island. We got back to the ship with plenty of time. If we go back to Roatan, we will definitely book through Bodden again!

 

Enjoy!

[NCTribeFan]

One of my Miracle Dec 2007 Roll Call friends used Diana & Cinthia and they loved them.

 

They've been on 33 cruises. They do group tours all the time, and I trust her recommendations.

 

Just as with some of the other ports, a few tours get all the reviews and CC business, but there are others out there that are just as good.

[cruzerfromcruz]

We used Cinthia and Diane last March and they were WONDERFUL!

[Mrs Mon]

Cynthia took on a wonderful tour in Roatan at the beginning of this month. She asked us what sort of things we liked and then custom,ised the tour for us perfectly. There was just my husband and myself. She was waiting for us at the dockside at 7.15am with a board with my name on. We were the 1st off the ship. She was pleasant, informative and eager to give us a good time. She succeeded. I thought Roatan was a beautiful island.

[vfb2girls]

If you don't mind me asking what type of tour did they arrange for you?

[NCTribeFan]

And if you also don't mind, how much was it?

 

We'd like to do a zipline, go to the Iguana farm, and then to a beach.

[nasvhillecruise]

We had his driver, Caesar, last week. He charged $25 per person for the tour around the island. The zipline (Jungle Canopy) was $45 each, while it was $2 each to visit Victor's house & play with the monkeys. Although we were only there a few hours, it was the MOST WONDERFUL day. Caesar drove us around the island, we saw the shipwrecks, and a wonderful sunset on the beach.

 

Roatan is such a beautiful port. Of everywhere we went, it was the MOST spectacular to see on the ship as you are nearing it. I can't wait to go back again & spend more time.

Debbie

[cmitch9999]

Just a week ago yesterday we were on the beautiful island of Roatan. We had pre booked a tour for 5 with Cinthia.. she had been wonderful with keeping in touch ahead of time and we were met outside the gate with her holding the sign welcoming our group!! Off to a nice van to tour for the day.. we had total control-- took most of the morning to sightsee on the east end of the island and tour the iguana farm (+ $5 for that), stopped by the nice new cruise place that Carnival is building, beautiful views and a taste for the life on the island. Only 2 fast food restaurants.. bojangles and pizza INN!! -- after that we had a nice relaxing and delicious lunch at Las Palmas resort.. yummy!! then off to see the other side of the island, the property selling for 35K (tempting!!) all along Cinthia shared her knowledge of the island where she was born and raised 3 children. It was one of the best tours we have taken in our 29 cruises and most certainly one of the most reasonably priced ones ($20pp ) I had asked Cinthia the best way to call back to USA and she handed me her cell phone. I was happy to pay for the call even tho she didn't require it. On the west side of the island we stopped out by the west bay beach where we were happy to gaze at the beautiful water and sip some of the best pina coladas we have ever tasted. The total tour time was over 5 hrs!! We felt we were pampered and well taken care of by Cinthia and I can not recommend anyone more highly than her and her professional service she provides to the lucky people who book with her.

[NCTribeFan]

I sent sent Diana & Cinthia an email asking advice on whether there's a tour that will get us to zip-lining, the iguana farm and a beach to snorkel.

 

We'll be there from 8 am until 3 pm. Sounds like we should have enough time and be able to go somewhere nice for lunch. Of course, there are only two of us, so we may be charged more. I realize that everything else is extra.

 

How were the prices for lunch as Las Palmas?

 

Sounds like we can expect to pay $20+ pp for the transportation, $45 each to zip-line, $5 each for the Iguana farm, whatever the snorkel equipment rental may be, plus lunch. I'm guessing in the $70-$80 range PLUS food & drink & tips. Does that sound about right?

[kareng1]

My husband and I, along with another couple we travelled with booked a tour through Diana and Cinthia on Feb. 20/08. Our tour guide was Norma, and she was great. We were so happy to be in a really nice vehicle as well (a brand new Sante Fe SUV), compared to all the small white cabs around. She let us tell her what we wanted, but made a few suggestions as well. We toured around the island for a couple hours seeing some of the sights, and Norma always stopped so we could get pictures (shipwrecks, mayor's house and more). She took us to a few shops as we'd wanted that, to the iguana farm ($5 extra each) and then to West Bay Beach where she explained the pros and cons of a few resorts ($5-$10pp extra) and let us pick what we thought sounded best. The tour was $20 pp and was so worth it!

[Abear2]

Hi I'm leaving on the Voyager of the Seas next Sunday and I have not booked anything in Roatan. I was wondering how I would get in touch with Cynthia and Diana. Does anyone have their e-mail ? Thank you

[twopugs]

This is their web-site I came across in another post.

http://www.roatancabtours.com/

[exstasie]

How much did you guys tip?

 

We have our tour priced with Bodden tours for $80.00 and was thinking that leaving making it an even $100.00, so $20.00 tip for the driver, would be perfect. Does that seem too much? or not enough?

 

I'm use to 20% tipping lol so I am not sure...

[beckym]

I would NEVER again go with Diana. When there (April 2007) Cinthia was recovering from surgery, so perhaps things are better now.

 

You can search here under my name, for some of my and others' experiences.

 

If you DO go with them, whatever you do...don't let them chose your zip line for you!! Despite having heard negative things from others, they insisted on taking customers to Pirates (which we didnt realize 'til we got there!!) which was awful!! One of the other "zippers" that day (not wth Cinthia) was a Carnival Officer who was infuriated by the poor, unsafe condition and lack of organization and said he'd make sure Carnival NEVER used that zip line for its tours.

 

There are GOOD ziplines (like South Shore)on the island, so don't let Diana steer you to an inferior, dangerous one. Is she getting kickbacks, or was related to the owner?

 

I also would not take Diana's food recommendatins to heart. The one place she recommended at the beach, we later heard from other cruisers was AWFUL. Maybe it's different now, with Cinthia back with the business. As for me and my family--next time on Roatan, it's Victor or one of the other people who have local sightseeing businesses on beautiful Roatan.

[nasvhillecruise]

How much did you guys tip?

 

We have our tour priced with Bodden tours for $80.00 and was thinking that leaving making it an even $100.00, so $20.00 tip for the driver, would be perfect. Does that seem too much? or not enough?

 

I'm use to 20% tipping lol so I am not sure...

 

We tipped $20 & Caesar seemed happy about it. We also tipped the zipline guide since he wasn't affiliated with Victor. My hubby tipped him & I'm not sure how much, but it was probably $20. But Alex was WONDERFUL with our 5 yr old. He would zip each line 1st & then my son would zip by himself, with me following & then hubby. Alex would take pics with our camera of us coming over & he also videoed us with our video camera. He really went over & beyond.

[twopugs]

wow that is the first really negative review I have heard about Diana and Cinthia. Could you give details of what sort of things you did that day?

Did you feel that they were not good guides? (apart from the zipline...we are not interested in that)

[NCTribeFan]

Yes, that's a pretty sharp contrast to all the other reviews of Diana & Cinthia that I'm seeing, and some of those are very recent.

 

I've been emailing back and forth with Diana for about a week about what we'd like to do, the cost, first the report of someone's taxi driver setting them up for a robbery, now the death at the zipline.

 

She wrote me last night and said that she'd be sure the two of us (DD & I) had a female driver if that would make us feel more comfortable. I don't know where the woman died while zip-lining, but I'm going to do it anyway and she can just take us to whichever place. I figure that, if anything, there will be a lot of equipment inspections happening now and this is probably as good a time as any to do it. If it's my time, it's my time!

 

Anyway, Diana's been very accomodating and very helpful. As I noted initially, I really trust my Miracle Roll Call people that recommended her, considering that they cruise 4 or 5 times a year (they organize group cruises), and have to be very careful about which excursion operators they recommend due to being responsible for the group.

[twopugs]

I have gone back some searching the boards and can only find two negative reviews the rest are quite positive. Both seem to have more to do with the zipline then the tour guides.

We have already done that a few times, so not interested in it for this trip. Plus, what we have experienced on canopy trips the planks are sometimes not too sturdy (as they are just a tree stand) you tend to wait if guests ahead of you are inexperienced, and if it more than a few lines it will take 1 hour plus. Not sure if the tour guide has any control over this other than giving their opinion of the location to the guests.

[dgack1]

I have gone back some searching the boards and can only find two negative reviews the rest are quite positive. Both seem to have more to do with the zipline then the tour guides.

We have already done that a few times, so not interested in it for this trip. Plus, what we have experienced on canopy trips the planks are sometimes not too sturdy (as they are just a tree stand) you tend to wait if guests ahead of you are inexperienced, and if it more than a few lines it will take 1 hour plus. Not sure if the tour guide has any control over this other than giving their opinion of the location to the guests.

 

 

I think that I am one of those reviews. I had planned (with Cynthia's help/advice) to go to the south shore zipline, iguana farm, and west end beach. None of this ended up happening when Diana became our driver for the day. I have copied my original post. In case I gave the wrong impression, I was not upset with pirates....I was upset/disappointed with Diana's service, or should I say...lack of..:rolleyes: My family will be returning to roatan this fall and NO we will not use this company again!!!

 

 

Hey we went with Cynthia/Diane last month and went zipping at Pirates. We had a good day but there was a LOT of room for improvement. Let me start by saying we were a family of 7, ages 10-65. We had planned to do a zip tour, see the iguinna farm (sorry my spelling leaves a lot to be desired), and spend the remaining time snorking/sitting on the beach. I was assured by Cynthia/Diane that there would be plenty of time to do this. Our group was at the front of the pack when everyone starting getting off the ship, I like to get every minute in port I can!!! Found Diane, but no car... So we began to walk to where the cars were located, this took about 10 minutes weaving though traffic and locals. Then we found out that there were about 50 cars parked bumper to bumper side to side, so we had to wait about 30 minutes for Diane to get the van. This should have been a sign for me to get another driver but I reassured myself that everything would be O.K. Now Diane finally pulls around...but not with the 8 person van that we were suppose to get..but with a 7 person van... She says "sorry" Cynthia must have made a mistake...O.K. one of the kids can sit in my lap. So onward we go, Diane recommends Pirates for ziping, I ask is it close enough to our other stops? Diane says "yes" calls Pirates, then she tells us that there will be no wait when we get there. The drive was long and SLOW..cars are passing us...silently I wonder how many are going to the pirates zipline. Finally, we make it pirates, and you guessed it...we had to wait. The tour itself was great..my DH (37), sis-in law (30), DS's (10,11) and me (38) had a great time. There we zips and bridges, we had two guides for the five of us. Both guides were fun and we enjoyed joking around with them. One of the guides was wearing a pirate suit so we kept asking him what bet did he loose to have to wear it. But I must warn you, we had PLENTY of time to get to know our guides because it was usually 5 to 15 minutes between lines. I think there were some older people in the group ahead of us that just needed extra time/help. Now if you add up all this time...it took not the 45 minutes we were told..but close to 2 hours. When we were done we jumped back in the van and had to rethink the rest of our day. Diane... to put it nicely was not a great help in this area. We asked her if there was a beach nearby where we could snorkle. Originally, we had not planned to zip with the pirates, diane just told us we would enjoy them more than the group I had planned to use. So now we were not close to the beach we had planned to stop at. She named three different beaches. I asked her to please take us to the nearest beach were we could snorkle. She kept saying "I don't want to decide for you". By now my husband is quietly suggesting that we tie a rock to her foot, so maybe we might actually see a beach before the day is over. My kids are unhappy because there just is not enough time left to go to the beach and see the iguannas. And I am just sitting there looking at the printed itinerary that I had planned with Cynthia many months earlier, nothing was going as planned....but I stayed positive. We ended up at half Moon Bay (if I remember right) Diane was talking about different places, We couldn't seem to make her understand that we truely did not care what the beach was called....we just wanted to stop at the nearest one where we could snorkle. Anyway, I am sorry if I sound negative. The day was nice but could have been much better. I would suggest that if you choose to go with the Pirates, (it was great) do not plan on a lot more. That way you won't feel let down. As for using Cynthia/Diane I honestly cannot give them a thumbs up or a thumbs down. They were nice people, they just did not meet my expectations. If I am ever in Roatan again I think we will rent scooters through Captain Ron.

__________________

[twopugs]

thank you for the response. That does seem to make things a little clearer that it wasn't a problem with the zip line but rather the guide. I actually came across a different post that was more focused on the zip lines. I wonder if all of the great reviews had different guides and not Diana herself?

[beckym]

I will try to find my post last year about our experience with Diana and post it here.

It wasn't about just the zip line, or what we did that day. It was that it became obvious, no matter what her emails were like, that Diana was not paying attention to what we wanted. Yes, she's very reassuring: whatever you say you want, she can do!! No problem. Yeah, right.

I emailed often about the time factor, as it seemed she expected we could pack in an awful lot during our shore time: zip line, jet ski, beach, shopping stops! I asked about the time factor repeatedly, with constant assurances from her that we could do it all. Hmmm--in retrospect, i should have thought "anyting that sounds too good to be true..." Of course, never having been to Roatan before, i had no facts to measure against, and i trusted her to be honest and respectful of our limited time.

 

Our driver was Diana's brother in law. He was a lovely man, kind and helpful--and EMBARRASSED. BTW, her answer to the experience we had at Pirates was to pay only $10 per person for the day (group of 4) Well, it was not about the money, for Pete's sake!! I paid our driver what had been agreed to--so HE would not lose out. it was not HIS fault.

He was helping out during the fishing off-season. He witnessed first hand the problems with time and promises. Diana TOLD him (in Spanish) where to take us. It wawsnt until we were there that i realized we were on the oppsosite side of the island from the zip line I'd requested during several emails.

i was not going to blame Diana for the terrrible situation with Pirates that day..UNTIL i read that she'd already received negative feedback about Pirates Zipline from other tourists!!!! So, despite her glib "no problems, no problem" emails, she KNEW of problems.

 

A good tour guide will base their plans for guests on THEIR FEEDBACK, not family allegiances, what makes them the most $, or whatever.

 

When it was obvious we didnt have enough time for all the promised activities (because the "45 min" zip line took THREE HOURS) she seemed clueless and insensitive to time constraints. Afraid you'll miss the ship? Hey, relax! "No problem" because the local guard at the gate was her friend. LOL!! Like her friend at the gate could prevent the ship from sailing. Can you imagine if we'd believed her!!??

 

Oh yes, and her statement to one of her satisfied guests on this board--AmyLoveless i think it was - ) that she could get ship tourists cheap entry to the dolphins--proved to be complete fantasy (hopefully not just a deliberate come-on) on her part.

 

My thought on spending money--especially for a RARE and much anticipated experience--is why not give your hard-earned $ to someone who has proven themselves totally reliable?

I too used the reports of some people here--one in particular(Amy) VERY detailed and enthusiastic. BIG MISTAKE. Next time i'll be more cautious, and go with the majority view (Victor and company) or even try someone new.

For those who've had good experience wtih Diana (I know nothing about Cinthia--she was not there)--that is wonderful, and i'm glad your much anticipated shore stop was not the disappointment we experienced .

 

It doesn't take a lot for me to have a great day. So when I KNOW i've been taken advantage of, I will not hold back on honestly relating my experience. I sure wish i'd read the negative stuff before booking wtih Diana.

[beckym]

There are other threads, but this is what i found just now.

 

Better to read all responses, rather than just a few, to get the context and opinions on both sides.

 

It's kind of hard readng them--brings back more than i remembered about our frustration and feeling "ripped off" that day.

 

Again,, my thought is, if you KNOW a tour guide, or tour company, or tourist site, has nearly uniformly excellent reviews, why risk giving your hard earned money, and trust, to anyone else?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=541806

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?referrerid=149385&t=434306

[maxamuus]

There are other threads, but this is what i found just now.

 

Better to read all responses, rather than just a few, to get the context and opinions on both sides.

 

It's kind of hard readng them--brings back more than i remembered about our frustration and feeling "ripped off" that day.

 

Again,, my thought is, if you KNOW a tour guide, or tour company, or tourist site, has nearly uniformly excellent reviews, why risk giving your hard earned money, and trust, to anyone else?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=541806

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?referrerid=149385&t=434306

 

No offense, but all the negative posts are from the same two people, you and Denise. I'm not discounting your negative reviews but dont exaggerate and make it sound like there are lots of negative reviews as i have not seen them yet.