Glory Tours

[Twirl]

WE are thinking of booking a tour with Glory Tours - they want full payment on booking - other tours we booked just took the booking and you pay on the day or they have taken a deposit only. Has anyone been with them and was everything ok? Website didn't come up with the lock to show a secure payment website

[ROWSE]

I hope it was secure. We booked a tour and paid in full for Jan. 2009. No odd charges on my card, and it has been several weeks. I watch it quite often. Be prepared for it to be more than the price quoted, as banks charge a bit and then there are a difference for exchange rate. I did mention it to them, but gave up on them refunding anything, so I am considering it part of the tip for the overcharge. (It was about $6.00 above what the bank charged for a fee.)

I have read wonderful things about their tour so am excited for it. Good luck on booking and I would love to hear a review from someone that has recently taken their tours.

[Scubachick84]

I was in contact with Sarah to arrange a tour in February 2009. She told me in an e-mail, "We will require at least a 50% deposit :o)" With her online discount, the tour price was $79 pp and on the booking page there was mention of a $5 pp fuel surcharge and also the difference in bank fees on converting from $USD to $BSD. I also didn't see the little lock so I e-mailed her the credit card information on Sunday, October 26th. It is now Thursday, October 30th and I haven't received an e-mail confirmation (despite a second follow up e-mail from me) but my credit card has been charged $322.64 from Glory Tours for three people.

 

Talk about sticker shock :confused:

[floridalady]

I am not great in math but that doesn't add up to 79 a person to me.

[ROWSE]

Wow, and I was not pleased with my $6.00 over. I would guess your's had to be charged in full and then some not just 50%. When I booked, it had to be the whole fee. There were a few times I had to send several e-mails to have anyone get back to me. Try again!

[Scubachick84]

Alright, so I got a response from Sarah today and we've sorted this out. The $322.64 was $CDN not $USD and last week the exchange rate soared so we lost out on that end, that wasn't her fault. I did end up getting charged the full amount as opposed to the 50% which was an unfortunate miscommunication. She offered to refund 50% or 100% if we wanted, but we're very much looking forward to going on this tour with Glory Tours, I've read all sorts of great things about them so we're going to keep our booking!

 

Laura

[MMDown Under]

I wouldn't use, or recommend, any company which charged my credit card before they provided the product (eg tour).

 

Re the miscommunication, if 50% was the agreed deposit, I would request a refund of 50%. What happens if you don't do the tour, eg ship doesn't visit that port of call for some reason? Do you loose 100% in lieu of 50% deposit?

 

I have booked over a month's accommodation in Italy independently, without a credit card in sight. If there is no trust, there is no booking. Having said that, I would never cancel a confirmed booking.

[Scubachick84]

I'm not sure why they ask for full payment upfront, but this is a quote from one of Sarah's e-mails, "If your ship misses the port or the weather prevents the tour you will be refunded in full." I trust that she'll keep her word on this, I'm sure she's not out to rip anybody off. I also don't intend to be a no-show on this tour, which I think is what the companies are guarding against with the deposits.

 

Laura

[brownsugah]

thanks for responding honeydue(like that name!).- I'm not keen on the advance payment policy. I think we are just going to do one of the ships tours in barbados and some beach time since its the last port.

 

[va2wa]

My credit card was overcharged. When I mentioned it to Sarah by email, she said she would refund the difference on my credit card. This was never done. She ended up giving me cash at the beginning of the tour. Just check your credit card statements. (The tour wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, and we had much better experiences on other islands.)

[swom]

Does she actually charge your card BEFORE you go or hold it till you show up?

We are doing a tour in Tortola with White Squall II and had to give our credit card info, but they said they wouldn't charge the card until after our tour and we then had the option to pay in cash or travels checks instead, which we will do. Is that what Glory Tours do also?

[ROWSE]

Does she actually charge your card BEFORE you go or hold it till you show up?

We are doing a tour in Tortola with White Squall II and had to give our credit card info, but they said they wouldn't charge the card until after our tour and we then had the option to pay in cash or travels checks instead, which we will do. Is that what Glory Tours do also?

 

 

They charge your card in full and then some. Exchange rate, bank fees, and in my case a little more. I was also told they would look in to this by Sarah by e-mail and nothing happened so when we tip, we will make it right ourselves. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the tour will be great. A lot of people have loved it.

[swom]

They charge your card in full and then some. Exchange rate, bank fees, and in my case a little more. I was also told they would look in to this by Sarah by e-mail and nothing happened so when we tip, we will make it right ourselves. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the tour will be great. A lot of people have loved it.

Thanks for your response ROWSE. Will you give a full review when you return. Unless it's an exceptional tour, I don't think I will be doing it. Wish I could, but I don't understand why you would be charged BEFORE you did the tour....

Thanks again!!!!!

[cruiserssandr]

We have done Glory Tours in 2004 and 2007. Excellent experience. People we talked with on our cruise were amazed at all we did and how reasonable the price was. Our 2007 tour it was just the two of us but the charge per person was the same as if we were part of a group. Sarah was more than helpful for both times we were there. She answered all my questions very quickly. We were charged the full price for the tour before we left home. Not really a problem, one less thing to have to pay for while on vacation.

[vickie_bernie]

we used them last year and did pay the 50% deposit, and unfortunately they were an hour late for the tour and we waited because we had paid the 50%. The tour was okay but certainly not one of our better experiences. This was the only company that asked for payment up front and the only tour we wish we would not of done.

 

I hope you have a great experience though

[ROWSE]

Thanks for your response ROWSE. Will you give a full review when you return. Unless it's an exceptional tour, I don't think I will be doing it. Wish I could, but I don't understand why you would be charged BEFORE you did the tour....

Thanks again!!!!!

 

Yes I will give a full review, and I am hoping for cruiserssandr's experience and not vickie_bernie's. In an e-mail, Sarah has said she will personally lead our tour, and hopefully this will happen. She does sound like a lovely lady when she does respond. I wish someone would write their recent experience soon as there really hasn't been any recent reviews of Glory Tours.

[AlbertaCruisers]

We did the full day tour with Glory tours when we were in Barbados on Halloween. We had a great time. Our tour guide Kwamay (spelling?) was great. At one point he stopped and bought local candies at a grocery store so we could try what he grew up on instead of skittles, etc.

 

The meeting spot was easy to find and we found people in Barbados very friendly. We then drove to Harrison Caves. It was amazing to see once. We sent from there to do some driving and saw some beautiful areas and stopped to take pictures on the Atlantic coast. We then stopped for lunch - the food was good. From there we sent to a wildlife reserve where we got to see the green monkeys without fences or anything between us. The highlight was the glass bottom boat. We got on at one beach and cruised along the beach for awhile. We saw lots of hotel including sandy lane, where Tiger Woods got married. We then got to snorkel with the sea turtles. There were about 5 sea turtles hanging around (the boat operators were feeding them) and it was amazing. One of the highlights of any of my snorkeling experiences yet. The puffer fish that were stealing the fish food were pretty cool as well. We also saw a sting ray (it was a sandy bottom at this snorkel site) as well as a bat fish (which I have never seen before). We then got back in the boat and went back towards where we came and there was a ship wreck and and a bit of a reef structure.

 

All in all it was an amazing day. I paid the entire amount up front and in the end both my husband and I thought it was well worth it. The day was amazing and Kwamay answered all of our questions and talked and told us more about the island even when we were too tired to play along.

 

I really feel we got our money's worth and would recommend this trip to anyone. Remember to bring an underwater camera - the best pictures from my entire 14 day cruise are of the turtles and puffer fish.

[AlbertaCruisers]

I wouldn't use, or recommend, any company which charged my credit card before they provided the product (eg tour).

 

Re the miscommunication, if 50% was the agreed deposit, I would request a refund of 50%. What happens if you don't do the tour, eg ship doesn't visit that port of call for some reason? Do you loose 100% in lieu of 50% deposit?

 

I have booked over a month's accommodation in Italy independently, without a credit card in sight. If there is no trust, there is no booking. Having said that, I would never cancel a confirmed booking.

 

The Glory website confirms you get 100% back if the ship doesn't stop at the port.

 

That is great that you would never cancel a confirmed booking but that is not always the case. I agree that it is nice when tour companies don't require upfront payment, but at the same time I see where they are coming from. They need some type of assured numbers. Our van only sat 6 people. If they had 6 people who said they were coming (no upfront payments) and then only 2 show up then they have to run the excursion for those 2 people for much less then they thought or disappoint those 2 people as well and those 2 would be on here slamming them for not going forward with the excursion.

[Sunniebgi]

That is why tour companies do require full (or deposit payments). If you are on a 10 night cruise and Barbados is one of your last stops, there is a pretty good chance that by day 7 or 8, you might be "all toured out". If you have contact a company and made arrangements to tour with them and you don't show up, they are out of pocket for the van, the driver etc... You are more than likely going to show up, unless the boat doesn't come in, or the weather is so bad you can't get off the ship, so the tour company is guaranteed the money.

 

I think, for the most part, it's a smart move..

 

Tour companies also usually have a minimum number they can have on a tour at a time that will allow them to either breakeven on what they then owe on the tour (gas, driver, bus etc) and make some profit after all that is paid.

[ROWSE]

cruiserssandr and AlbertaCruisers:

 

Thank you for the good reviews. I am getting so excited!

[walcherw]

I read where the Bajan dollar value was tied to the dollar. How can it change and the exchange rate soar?????

[swom]

Sarah told me via email that you can send a check for payment if you are at least 40 days out before your cruise. I think we will do this instead of using a credit card.

[ROWSE]

swom:

Oh a check has no chance of being over charged. I guess I didn't think about doing that. I'm glad you'll get to do that. I'll try to report back after our experience with Sarah. Be watching in a little over a month.

[swom]

Thanks ROWSE, I'll look forward to your review. Have a great cruise.

[NCTribeFan]

Question about one of Glory's tours: the Bajan Highlights (half day land & sea) includes

 

Harrisons Cave

East Coast (lunch stop)

Snorkeling at a ship wreck

& Swimming with turtles (west Coast)

Glass Bottom Boat Cruise

 

Or, for $23 less, you can skip the glass bottom boat.

 

My question: if you do that, their website says "you may spend that time at the beach on the West Coast where you can swim and snorkel with your own gear."

 

But the website notes that snorkel gear is provided other than on the glass bottom boat. So, would I have the snorkel gear from the earlier portion of the tour to use still if I just wanted to hang at the beach?

 

Are there chairs there? Any other facilities? Anyone know which beach this might be?