Glory Tours

[CarolinaGypsy]

luvocean9, I'll be in Barbados on Wednesday, May 6 with my mom.

cruiserssandr, I have heard nothing but wonderful things about her tour but the whole booking process is less than appealing. And I don't seem to be the only one having these problems. Seems she's really dropped the ball since you were in touch with her 5 years ago. I know I'll enjoy the tour if I can ever get in touch with her to book it! I've not had any trouble missing her messages - she's the one saying she is missing most of mine. In 2004 did she have the 100% prepay policy?

[cruiserssandr]

I really am not sure about 2004 but I think we paid 100% in 2007.

[luvocean9]

luvocean9, I'll be in Barbados on Wednesday, May 6 with my mom.

cruiserssandr, I have heard nothing but wonderful things about her tour but the whole booking process is less than appealing. And I don't seem to be the only one having these problems. Seems she's really dropped the ball since you were in touch with her 5 years ago. I know I'll enjoy the tour if I can ever get in touch with her to book it! I've not had any trouble missing her messages - she's the one saying she is missing most of mine. In 2004 did she have the 100% prepay policy?

 

I too have recently experienced the frustration of communicating with her. She explained to me about her accident and the effect of the economy on her business; I sympathasize and understand. However, I'd just rather deal with someone who is less challenging for my patience. Therefor, I have hired Mr. Edwin Lovell of ScenicBarbadosTours to give us a private tour. This way we can just go where we want to go. He also does group tours and asked for payment at the end of the tour. (I assume cash.) He has been very prompt, honest, and courteous in his communications with me.

 

I will post a review of the tours and his services when I return in a couple of weeks, so others will know of my experience. This will be well in advance of your cruise. ;)

[CarolinaGypsy]

I too have recently experienced the frustration of communicating with her. She explained to me about her accident and the effect of the economy on her business; I sympathasize and understand. However, I'd just rather deal with someone who is less challenging for my patience. Therefor, I have hired Mr. Edwin Lovell of ScenicBarbadosTours to give us a private tour. This way we can just go where we want to go. He also does group tours and asked for payment at the end of the tour. (I assume cash.) He has been very prompt, honest, and courteous in his communications with me.

 

I will post a review of the tours and his services when I return in a couple of weeks, so others will know of my experience. This will be well in advance of your cruise. ;)

 

Thanks so much...I look forward to hearing your review. I'm going to look him up now.

[CarolinaGypsy]

I checked out Edwin Lovell's website but I notice that none of his tours include snorkeling with the sea turtles...this is a must do for me. So I am still open for suggestions if anyone knows of a tour other than Glory that does the cave, wildlife reserve and turtles! Thanks!

[luvocean9]

I checked out Edwin Lovell's website but I notice that none of his tours include snorkeling with the sea turtles...this is a must do for me. So I am still open for suggestions if anyone knows of a tour other than Glory that does the cave, wildlife reserve and turtles! Thanks!

 

It's like eating in a Mexican restaurant, isn't it? You want the number 18, but without the taco and with the burrito. Anyway, there is sooo much to see and do on Barbados and it's really hard to find the right combination, isn't it? Not that many tour operators either.

 

I think the tours they put together are just samples. They are usually very flexible in modifying to suit everyone. I'd email him and tell him what you are looking for and see if he can accomodate you.

[CarolinaGypsy]

It's like eating in a Mexican restaurant, isn't it? You want the number 18, but without the taco and with the burrito. Anyway, there is sooo much to see and do on Barbados and it's really hard to find the right combination, isn't it? Not that many tour operators either.

 

I think the tours they put together are just samples. They are usually very flexible in modifying to suit everyone. I'd email him and tell him what you are looking for and see if he can accomodate you.

 

So true!! But I'll take your advice and keep my fingers crossed.

[swartz]

I booked a tourfor 4 about two weeks ago. My card was over charged by $45 and she has not responded to my emails...great

I tried calling her and it said her voicemail was full

[CarolinaGypsy]

I booked a tourfor 4 about two weeks ago. My card was over charged by $45 and she has not responded to my emails...great

I tried calling her and it said her voicemail was full

 

Did you book through her website, Expedia, directly or another way?

[jpedge]

My wife and I have just returned from our cruise on the Norwegian Jewel, one of our stops was in Barbados where we had pre-paid an Island tour with Glory Tours.

 

The tour included lunch and various stops around the island, one of which was a glass bottom boat cruise to snorkel with the green turtles.

 

Our pick up time was 9.45am, we arrived at 9.40am, unfortunately our driver/guide was not around. Other people waiting told us that someone from Glory Tours had been looking for my wife and I, but had now left.

 

Fortunately for us he drove around the pick up point one more time, and by chance he saw us waving. Upon getting in the van which by the way was dented and scratched down the entire drivers side, the other passengers on this tour seemed to think that we were late for the tour. It turns out they were from the Carnival Victory and were told to meet at 8.45am?? So we were quick to show them our voucher which clearly stated our meeting time of 9.45am and were not late!!!

 

After that we started our tour which went very well, we stopped for lunch where we were treated to our first taste of flying fish.

 

After lunch we were concerned about the time as the Carnival passengers had to be back at their ship by 4.30, we still had to do the glass bottom boat tour with snorkeling with the turtles. Our driver suggested we drop our stop at North Point and go straight to the pick up point for the snorkeling etc;

 

As time was of the essence we agreed, on the way to the beach our driver informed us that after dropping us off for the glass bottom tour, he would have to leave and another driver would be there to take us all back to our ships.

 

The glass bottom boat tour was very disappointing, the glass was very small, as well as dirty. As the currents and swells were difficult, and there were jet ski's flying around, we only managed to see two turtles.

 

The ladder on the boat was short and it made it very difficult for some individuals to get back into the boat.

 

In fact one lady after many efforts to pull her back into the boat was unable to re-board, so luckily enough there was another boat nearby with a longer ladder. She then swam to the other boat and was taken back to the beach.

 

When we returned to the pick up point to meet our new driver/guide, he was nowhere to be found!!! So after being promised by our original guide that a new driver would be there to take us all back to our ships, that did not happen!!!

 

The worry of course was the time!! the Carnival passengers were not going to get back to their ship in time if this driver did not show up. Thankfully there were two other drivers from Glory Tours who managed to squeeze us all into their vans and get us back to the port in time for boarding.

 

So to sum up I would have serious reservations when booking a Glory Tour, we did complain to Sarah on our return to the States, she admitted that she was very disappointed in the way our particular tour was handled and refunded 50% of the cost of the tour.

 

In her defense she was very prompt in responding to my email, and I must also commend the other Glory Tour drivers who went out of their way to make sure none of us missed getting back to our ship in time for departure.

 

My apologies for the long review but I thought it important that others who may be thinking about booking through this company do give some thought as to what happened during our tour.

[CarolinaGypsy]

Thanks jpedge,

Your review was the final nail in the coffin. I actually sent an email today to let Sarah know that I would not be booking with her because of her lack of communication and based on bad reviews about her prepayment policy and over charging. I'd be amazed if I hear back from her but I'll let y'all know if I do.

As I said to her in the email today - she may be too busy to correspond with potential guests now, but if she keeps up her current business practices she should find herself with plenty of free time. Personally I am disgusted by her total lack of concern and commitment to responding to inquiries. Great tour or not, it is simply not worth my time to deal with her.

And again - I am still open for suggestions of how to spend our day in Barbados.

[aloisia]

Thanks jpedge,

Your review was the final nail in the coffin. I actually sent an email today to let Sarah know that I would not be booking with her because of her lack of communication and based on bad reviews about her prepayment policy and over charging. I'd be amazed if I hear back from her but I'll let y'all know if I do.

As I said to her in the email today - she may be too busy to correspond with potential guests now, but if she keeps up her current business practices she should find herself with plenty of free time. Personally I am disgusted by her total lack of concern and commitment to responding to inquiries. Great tour or not, it is simply not worth my time to deal with her.

And again - I am still open for suggestions of how to spend our day in Barbados.

 

Hi,

We had specific times and sights we wished to visit therefore booked Cameron Reid to provide us with a tour. Starting times and set itinerary's from various tours were not going to work. From reading your post, it looks like you have 3 things you would like to do - what about just arranging a private person to take you around? Just a thought....:)

(Mr. Reid did not request payment up front).

[jpedge]

Thanks jpedge,

Your review was the final nail in the coffin. I actually sent an email today to let Sarah know that I would not be booking with her because of her lack of communication and based on bad reviews about her prepayment policy and over charging. I'd be amazed if I hear back from her but I'll let y'all know if I do.

As I said to her in the email today - she may be too busy to correspond with potential guests now, but if she keeps up her current business practices she should find herself with plenty of free time. Personally I am disgusted by her total lack of concern and commitment to responding to inquiries. Great tour or not, it is simply not worth my time to deal with her.

And again - I am still open for suggestions of how to spend our day in Barbados.

 

I am not sure of your itinerary but if you are going to St Lucia I highly recommend Serenity Tours. The boss John, is exactly the opposite of your experience in communication with Sarah. Our tour was with Francis and it was superb. At the end we were met by the owner John who wanted to know if our tour went well, which for me goes a long way in recommending this company.

 

Good luck with your time in Barbados

[CarolinaGypsy]

Thanks for everyone's input and I wanted to let y'all know that I heard back from Sarah today...3 times. I guess my email was a little nasty but it got her attention and she sent me several reasons for why it has taken her so long to reply to emails this week (her sister had a baby plus she has been helping with a fundraiser).

She also said that there have only been 3 instances of people being overcharged (all of which were clerical errors that she quickly fixed and reimbursed). I'm not so sure that is accurate based on what I've read here though.

But regardless I was glad she took the time to reply to my email even if it was just to offer up justification and no apology. I think she really is struggling to keep up with all the responsibilites of running a tour business and based on the glowing reviews of her tours I hope she is able to straighten out the business end of the company soon.

[ROWSE]

CarolinaGypsy: I was one of those overcharged. I think there are many more than 3. After complaining she said she would look in to it. Nothing happened.

The only refund we did get was when part of our tour was cut out because she had to go do an Expedia tour instead of ours, and we had to join another that was not going to part of our listed tour.

 

I had to remind her of her promise to refund after I watched for the refund for a couple weeks upon return home. A little bit was refunded, but nothing about the overcharge to may card. It was only about $10 more in the end she owed me anyway, so I was not going to deal with this any more.

 

We loved the tour, but with all the headaches and stress along the way, I would never book with them again. I would also think twice about prepaying the complete fee upon reservation to any company again.

 

jpedge: I have to laugh at the memory of the ladder getting in the boat. It almost came back toward you instead of up and down vertically. It did make it a challange, but thankfully we were able to do it. I can see this could be a huge problem for some.

 

They all genuinely seem like nice people, but not even a great tour is worth all the trouble.

[CarolinaGypsy]

Rowse,

Thanks for sharing your experience. You'd think she would read these review boards and know what was being said about her and try to address the issues. Surely she has to know what an impact all these negative reviews will have on her business.

[swartz]

She overcharged me $45 for 4 people. Ive emailed her 3 times with no reply and called her. Her phone says viocebox full and didnt answer. I leave in 2 weeks.

[NCTribeFan]

My problem is that it's just DD & I. I'm already spending a small fortune on 6 independent excursions, so having to book elsewhere for a "private" tour would probably be even more expensive than Glory Tours.

 

Sigh.

 

I also booked with Glory specifically because I want to see the caves, the wildlife center, and swim with the turtles. Too bad we're not on the same sailing as Carolina Gypsy and her mom. Maybe we could find something together.

 

But the above review has me worried.

 

Thankfully, we are the only ship in each of our 6 ports, so coordinating with other ship's passengers won't be an issue.

 

Still... :eek:

 

I'm not an islander. I don't operate well on "island time." I'm a get-it-organized, show-up-15-minutes-early; worry-about-seeing-it-all; worry-about-getting-back-to-the-ship; worry-about-getting-my-money's-worth kind of traveler.

 

See why I need a vacation? :o

 

Barbados Scenic Tours looks ok, but it's $30 for just an island tour and a beach. Just the caves alone would be $50 each. Even if it's possible to combine those 2 (and I'm not sure it is, but I could ask), we're talking $80 each (assuming we wouldn't have to pay more because it's just the 2 of us), and doesn't include lunch or sea turtles!

 

This is why I guess I'll stick with the reservation I have with Glory. After all this angst, it better go smoothly, and I better have a fabulous time!

 

OK, I need to stop worrying about this. It will be fine. We'll have a wonderful time. Sometimes too much knowledge is not a good thing. I don't think I'll come back and read here any more! :o

[swartz]

My problem is that it's just DD & I. I'm already spending a small fortune on 6 independent excursions, so having to book elsewhere for a "private" tour would probably be even more expensive than Glory Tours.

 

Sigh.

 

I also booked with Glory specifically because I want to see the caves, the wildlife center, and swim with the turtles. Too bad we're not on the same sailing as Carolina Gypsy and her mom. Maybe we could find something together.

 

But the above review has me worried.

 

Thankfully, we are the only ship in each of our 6 ports, so coordinating with other ship's passengers won't be an issue.

 

Still... :eek:

 

I'm not an islander. I don't operate well on "island time." I'm a get-it-organized, show-up-15-minutes-early; worry-about-seeing-it-all; worry-about-getting-back-to-the-ship; worry-about-getting-my-money's-worth kind of traveler.

 

See why I need a vacation? :o

 

Barbados Scenic Tours looks ok, but it's $30 for just an island tour and a beach. Just the caves alone would be $50 each. Even if it's possible to combine those 2 (and I'm not sure it is, but I could ask), we're talking $80 each (assuming we wouldn't have to pay more because it's just the 2 of us), and doesn't include lunch or sea turtles!

 

This is why I guess I'll stick with the reservation I have with Glory. After all this angst, it better go smoothly, and I better have a fabulous time!

 

OK, I need to stop worrying about this. It will be fine. We'll have a wonderful time. Sometimes too much knowledge is not a good thing. I don't think I'll come back and read here any more! :o

 

What cruise are you going on?

[jtrain73]

I am also having issues with Glory Tours and am close to the boiling point.

 

We are on the Celebrity Summit sailing in a few weeks and I booked (online) for the Best of Barbados for 2 adults and 2 children.

 

I received a confirmation for 11 adults and 2 children. A huge difference of over $900. I'm not sure what happened, maybe I clicked something wrong or their system screwed up, but I have been trying to get a partial refund for the past few weeks and while I first heard back from Sarah I felt better, but that was over two weeks ago, and she hasn't replied again since then and still no credit on my credit card. I got the voice-mail full error as well. This is ridiculous.

 

I've had it, I'm sending her a notice of cancellation and protesting the charge on my credit card.

[jtrain73]

LOL. I was able to finally get a reply from Sarah after I sent my note about cancellation.

 

She tried to save the booking only slightly, saying there was an error on the partial refund, but I had made up my mind to no longer use Glory Tours and she respected that decision and said that both refunds the partial and the full would be processed.

 

I started the dispute process with my credit card company too just in case.

 

I am too old and too impatient for poor or unreliable service, so I actually feel a sense of relief to have canceled with Glory.

 

Now to figure out what it is we will do in Barbados for the day.

[seaboy]

So sorry to learn of your troubles. When you arrive in Barbados, organise your own tour with a taxi by the despatcher. Tell the driver the places you want to visit. Also include Folkestone where you will get to snorkel with the turtles and at the shipwreck. You will get an overall savings.Many folks do this.

[Cruisincrazy]

Sorry to hear of the Glory Tour issues. We used Sarah for a private tour in Feb/08. I had a sore throat, and was beginning to run a fever. She offered to call her Physician for me. She was very concerned about my health. I will always remember her kindness. I struggled through the rest of our vacation.

 

I can't imagine using anyone else in Barbados. She is extremely knowlegeable about everything on the island. If you let her know what you are interested in, she tries to make it happen. Remember you are on vacation and it's all about when you get back on the ship thinking WOW! I HAD A GREAT TIME!!!

[Finback]

Are the taxi drivers trustworthy ? I've read other threads that they are vultures, always sending you to some place else other than the one you've requested. Is it better to stop a taxi outside the compound of the port ?

Thank you for your inputs.

 

Finback

 

====================================

Previous cruises :

April 2008 - Mexican Riviera, RCI's Visions OTS :D

[gbcruise]

LOL. I was able to finally get a reply from Sarah after I sent my note about cancellation.

 

She tried to save the booking only slightly, saying there was an error on the partial refund, but I had made up my mind to no longer use Glory Tours and she respected that decision and said that both refunds the partial and the full would be processed.

 

I started the dispute process with my credit card company too just in case.

 

I am too old and too impatient for poor or unreliable service, so I actually feel a sense of relief to have canceled with Glory.

 

Now to figure out what it is we will do in Barbados for the day.

 

Jtrain,

 

You made the right decision. Last Thurs. we were in Barbados off the Serenade and had prepaid for Glory Tours. It was disaster from the beginning. I wont go into detail but I will be asking for a partial refund from our party of 5. Five additional people were on the tour as well and were angry as well.