Beware of local cab drivers.

Just a quick word of advice. Beware of being taken advantage of by the local Barbados cab drivers. My wife and I typically like to book a cab to give us a general tour of the islands we visit. After quickly snorkeling w turtles in Carlisle that am, we decided that we wanted to see Barbados in more detail. At around noon at the port, we agreed to take a 'private' tour with a cab for 30pp. He said that he would be our driver and it was 60 total for a private tour. While walking to his car, he ran into another driver and had a short (whisper) convo with him and then handed us over to him. The tour was horrible.

1) We didn't stop ANY of the beautiful beaches that we saw along the way. (I assumed that we eventually might stop)

2) He did stop at an old church that had something going on where we couldn't even go inside.

3) At about hour one, he received a phone call where he stated 'Yes, I am just about there to pick them up' ...We then pulled up to the 'Caves' where he said "This is where the caves are for your next visit to Barbados" ...then he picked up another couple. (so much for our private tour:mad::eek:)

4) The only other stop (besides the lame church stop) was a nice looking overlook on the way to the caves and we were out of the car for like 5 minutes.

5) when we were 2.5 hours into our 2 hour tour, we PASSED the cruise terminal to go to the Carlisle bay pick up spot where we (the 4 of us now) stopped and he went inside for 10+ minutes. He then came out with a family of 6 coming back from the beach.:eek:

6) after dropping the beach people off downtown, we FINALLY made it back to the cruise terminal. It was clear that he was just making his runs and wanted to soak stupid tourists for an additional $60.

We usually have great luck with this method however, this rotten cab driver ruined Barbados for us. We rushed through our am beach time so we could see the island. I ended up giving him only 50 of the 60 bucks that I originally agreed upon and he didn't say a word to me about that. I am sure that he didn't because he knew that his tour was terrible and we were taken advantage of.

If I were giving advice to anyone in regards to Barbados based on my experience, I'd say SKIP any island tour (Unless there is something very specific that you want to see) and spend the day on any of the beautiful beaches. DO NOT BITE on the cab drivers telling you that they will give you a great private tour.:mad: I was very unimpressed with the "This is where the local people get their cars serviced" and "That company makes building supplies for homes that are build in Barbados". Yes, those are some of the dynamic phrases that he used on the tour. :confused:

Go to the beach and find some turtles to swim with. :D

Cab drivers are pretty sneaky there, it's too bad your experience was so bad. What we noticed is that as we walked farther down the line of cabs the price got lower and lower. We have been there many times and use the bus. THe bus is also a great way to see the island. It's 75 cents a ride, you can get off and on when you want and if you are lucky you will meet some friendly locals who love to talk about their island and show you things. We even got invited on a picnic!

For this very reason we will only take a taxi in Barbados when we want to go directly to a beach and always get a price in advance. :o

While the excursions offered through the ship are more expensive, they normally are the best option for us. :)

LuLu

Just a quick word of advice. Beware of being taken advantage of by the local Barbados cab drivers. My wife and I typically like to book a cab to give us a general tour of the islands we visit. After quickly snorkeling w turtles in Carlisle that am, we decided that we wanted to see Barbados in more detail. At around noon at the port, we agreed to take a 'private' tour with a cab for 30pp. He said that he would be our driver and it was 60 total for a private tour. While walking to his car, he ran into another driver and had a short (whisper) convo with him and then handed us over to him. The tour was horrible.

1) We didn't stop ANY of the beautiful beaches that we saw along the way. (I assumed that we eventually might stop)

2) He did stop at an old church that had something going on where we couldn't even go inside.

3) At about hour one, he received a phone call where he stated 'Yes, I am just about there to pick them up' ...We then pulled up to the 'Caves' where he said "This is where the caves are for your next visit to Barbados" ...then he picked up another couple. (so much for our private tour:mad::eek:)

4) The only other stop (besides the lame church stop) was a nice looking overlook on the way to the caves and we were out of the car for like 5 minutes.

5) when we were 2.5 hours into our 2 hour tour, we PASSED the cruise terminal to go to the Carlisle bay pick up spot where we (the 4 of us now) stopped and he went inside for 10+ minutes. He then came out with a family of 6 coming back from the beach.:eek:

6) after dropping the beach people off downtown, we FINALLY made it back to the cruise terminal. It was clear that he was just making his runs and wanted to soak stupid tourists for an additional $60.

 

We usually have great luck with this method however, this rotten cab driver ruined Barbados for us. We rushed through our am beach time so we could see the island. I ended up giving him only 50 of the 60 bucks that I originally agreed upon and he didn't say a word to me about that. I am sure that he didn't because he knew that his tour was terrible and we were taken advantage of.

 

If I were giving advice to anyone in regards to Barbados based on my experience, I'd say SKIP any island tour (Unless there is something very specific that you want to see) and spend the day on any of the beautiful beaches. DO NOT BITE on the cab drivers telling you that they will give you a great private tour I was very unimpressed with the "This is where the local people get their cars serviced" and "That company makes building supplies for homes that are build in Barbados". Yes, those are some of the dynamic phrases that he used on the tour.

 

Go to the beach and find some turtles to swim with. :D

I certainly understand why you would be disgusted by the treatment you got. Heck...I am and it was not me.:mad:

I would not write all of our taxi drivers off however, as there are quite a few decent upstanding ones out there. We are a tourist destination and we depend heavily on your tourist dollars so when something like this happens, it affects us all and I also take it very personally.

I am asking you to treat this as an anomaly and continue to have faith in our local taxi personnel and by extension our whole island as the decent, honest folks most of us are.

I certainly agree with Mr. Keith. Your treatment was indeed deplorable.

Unlike some other Caribbean islands, Barbados depends greatly on tourism.

Experiences such as yours do nothing but lessen the perceived value of a Barbados holiday and the comfort level of our guests.

It is simply inexcusable and I apologise on behalf of the Barbadian people.

I must tell you however, that our Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, reads these posts and acts on them when necessary.

As I understand it, the taxi drivers in the ‘compound’ (the area after you leave the gift shops and before the Gate House), are organised. They pay a portion of their proceeds to the ‘union’ and pretty much stick to the posted government rates for travel on the island.

As anywhere else, there are good guys and bad guys here. Especially here.

You will pay a higher tariff for transport with these union guys and they will try and bunch you together with as many others as they can for as much money as they can.

They don’t want to take you two (2) miles down the highway to The Boat Dock when they may find a fare that wants an island tour or, at least , transport to the East Coast.

Your best bet is to walk right past these ‘organised’ guys, through the Gate House and to the roundabout on Spring Garden Highway. Here you’ll find the ‘taxi drivers’ that are reasonable and only wish to show you a wonderful time at a fair price.

Talk to a few. Ask questions. Tell them what you want and tell them what you expect. And please confirm your deal is in US dollars, not Barbados dollars.

Vet them and be selective. You’ll find the diamond.

Please return and give us another chance.

I’m hoping you’ll have a wonderful time with your new-found understanding. :)

Sorry you ended up with a bad one. On our very first cruise many years ago, at our very first port (not Barbados, but won't mention it), a taxi driver left a bad impression on us, but it wasn't about the charges...he could have left us stranded. LOL!!! We took a taxi to a popular beach destination, payed him the fare it cost to get to that beach and had an agreement with him that he'd pick us up at a certain time and spot. At least 15 minutes before that agreed upon time/spot, we were there waiting. It was getting later and he never showed up. About a half hour after he was supposed to pick us up, we lucked out in that there was a tour from our ship at the same beach so we told some of our fellow passengers what happened. They had us go with them to talk to the driver of the bus they were on and we told the driver what happened. He agreed to take us since we were on the same ship (only ship in port that day), so we basically lucked out. From that point on we did not trust taxi drivers and only booked excursions through the cruise line.

In May 2013, we were on a port heavy itinerary to the southern Caribbean and doing cruise sponsored excursions the whole time would have been way over budget, so we decided to try "going on our own" a few places. Barbados was one of them. We took a cab to the Barbados Hilton for the day. Our driver waited until the van was full before she left, but we expect that and that is normal. She got us there and we agreed on a time that she'd pick us up. We came up from the beach a little before that time and she was there waiting. There were about 8 of us and only 6 showed up. Our driver saw the two others, walked down to the beach and talked to them, then came back and said that they wanted another hour. She said she'd take us back to the ship and she'd be going back to pick up the other two after she dropped us off, but did ask if any of us wanted an other hour that she would be back since she would be picking up the other two, but we were all ready to head back. We saw the other two throughout the cruise and we asked them if our driver did go back for them an hour later or if they ended up having to call another cab. She came back for them. I forget what the price was, but we all paid the whole fee after we got back to the ship. I can't remember the exact price but it was maybe $10.00 per person, round trip + tip. We all really liked her and felt she went above and beyond. She could have told the other two that she was leaving at that set time and that they'd have to get another taxi back, but she didn't. We never did get her name.

Just a quick word of advice. Beware of being taken advantage of by the local Barbados cab drivers. My wife and I typically like to book a cab to give us a general tour of the islands we visit. After quickly snorkeling w turtles in Carlisle that am, we decided that we wanted to see Barbados in more detail. At around noon at the port, we agreed to take a 'private' tour with a cab for 30pp. He said that he would be our driver and it was 60 total for a private tour. While walking to his car, he ran into another driver and had a short (whisper) convo with him and then handed us over to him. The tour was horrible.

1) We didn't stop ANY of the beautiful beaches that we saw along the way. (I assumed that we eventually might stop)

2) He did stop at an old church that had something going on where we couldn't even go inside.

3) At about hour one, he received a phone call where he stated 'Yes, I am just about there to pick them up' ...We then pulled up to the 'Caves' where he said "This is where the caves are for your next visit to Barbados" ...then he picked up another couple. (so much for our private tour:mad::eek:)

4) The only other stop (besides the lame church stop) was a nice looking overlook on the way to the caves and we were out of the car for like 5 minutes.

5) when we were 2.5 hours into our 2 hour tour, we PASSED the cruise terminal to go to the Carlisle bay pick up spot where we (the 4 of us now) stopped and he went inside for 10+ minutes. He then came out with a family of 6 coming back from the beach.:eek:

6) after dropping the beach people off downtown, we FINALLY made it back to the cruise terminal. It was clear that he was just making his runs and wanted to soak stupid tourists for an additional $60.

 

We usually have great luck with this method however, this rotten cab driver ruined Barbados for us. We rushed through our am beach time so we could see the island. I ended up giving him only 50 of the 60 bucks that I originally agreed upon and he didn't say a word to me about that. I am sure that he didn't because he knew that his tour was terrible and we were taken advantage of.

 

If I were giving advice to anyone in regards to Barbados based on my experience, I'd say SKIP any island tour (Unless there is something very specific that you want to see) and spend the day on any of the beautiful beaches. DO NOT BITE on the cab drivers telling you that they will give you a great private tour.:mad: I was very unimpressed with the "This is where the local people get their cars serviced" and "That company makes building supplies for homes that are build in Barbados". Yes, those are some of the dynamic phrases that he used on the tour. :confused:

 

Go to the beach and find some turtles to swim with. :D

We had the same experience many years ago.

But now found Orlando Whitttaker, he is an absolute Gentleman who is proud of his country and be a honest tour provider. Next time in Barbados give him a call (246) 250 2292. Tell him the couple with the 'Bus Problem' send their best regards.

We had the same experience many years ago.

But now found Orlando Whitttaker, he is an absolute Gentleman who is proud of his country and be a honest tour provider. Next time in Barbados give him a call (246) 250 2292. Tell him the couple with the 'Bus Problem' send their best regards.

Hi,

Does he have an email address? i'm afraid calling him might cost as much as a tour:D

I appreciate your help

thx

Liz:)

Hi,

Does he have an email address? i'm afraid calling him might cost as much as a tour:D

I appreciate your help

 

thx

Liz:)

Haha - I was thinking the exact same thing when I read that post.

I too would be interested in an email so add to the stash of cruising information.

Last cruise was perfect as did a pre-arranged private tour with Glorytours. Our first experience was getting a taxi at pier to go downtown- after sitting in A very hot car at the taxi stand, we threatened to get out as clearly no one else was in sight. She wanted $12 to go downtown or $3/person and two people would only be $6- we split the difference. Short ride- exit.

Enjoyed seeing historic sights downtown and walked around by marina area with the bridge. A bunch of locals playing dominoes asked if needed a taxi. No thanks. Thought we'd walk back. About three blocks later in heat regretted decision. Here a van taxi was found and offered $10 for a return trip. Got in van (which btw had air conditioning on) and after a few minutes - he leaned in van - said get out- he is taking you. Pointing to a smaller compact car in front of us.

It had another couple in the back- verified they were going to the ship, and my DH got in front, myself being smaller squished in back. No a/c and sun was beating down - asked to turn it on - no it cost too much gas. Now we arrive back at pier the driver wanted $20. Told him we were told $10- he said that was for a different kind of taxi. How are we going to argue? Paid - and when handed a twenty he kept hand out, was he really expecting a tip? The other couple clearly paid cash also (not sure on amount.) having cruised over 13 cruises, we were mad at ourselves, but never had a dishonest driver before. Lesson learned.

So be careful of specifying - amount to be paid in $ us not Barbados money which rate is 2:1 exchange. Also specify if this taxi will be doing the driving - not switching, not stopping elsewhere etc.

So glad we did a private tour last cruise.

Just a quick word of advice. Beware of being taken advantage of by the local Barbados cab drivers. My wife and I typically like to book a cab to give us a general tour of the islands we visit. After quickly snorkeling w turtles in Carlisle that am, we decided that we wanted to see Barbados in more detail. At around noon at the port, we agreed to take a 'private' tour with a cab for 30pp. He said that he would be our driver and it was 60 total for a private tour. While walking to his car, he ran into another driver and had a short (whisper) convo with him and then handed us over to him. The tour was horrible.

 

If I were giving advice to anyone in regards to Barbados based on my experience, I'd say SKIP any island tour (Unless there is something very specific that you want to see) and spend the day on any of the beautiful beaches. DO NOT BITE on the cab drivers telling you that they will give you a great private tour.:mad: I was very unimpressed with the "This is where the local people get their cars serviced" and "That company makes building supplies for homes that are build in Barbados". Yes, those are some of the dynamic phrases that he used on the tour. :confused:

 

Go to the beach and find some turtles to swim with. :D

One thing learned through the years when getting a cab from a hustler was to ask several questions:

1. Agree on price/time and what you will see.

2. Where is your taxi? I like to see it.

3. Are you the driver? You never want to passed off to another driver.

4. Do you have air-conditioning?

5. How many passengers before we go?

You want to avoid a "tired" taxi and you don't want the tour with a different person as your discussion as to what you will see and price/time discussion is out the window.

One thing learned through the years when getting a cab from a hustler was to ask several questions:

 

1. Agree on price/time and what you will see.

2. Where is your taxi? I like to see it.

3. Are you the driver? You never want to passed off to another driver.

4. Do you have air-conditioning?

5. How many passengers before we go?

 

You want to avoid a "tired" taxi and you don't want the tour with a different person as your discussion as to what you will see and price/time discussion is out the window.

This is excellent advice. Thank you - I've copied and pasted it into my notes for my upcoming trip to the Caribbean. :)

One thing learned through the years when getting a cab from a hustler was to ask several questions:

 

1. Agree on price/time and what you will see.

2. Where is your taxi? I like to see it.

3. Are you the driver? You never want to passed off to another driver.

4. Do you have air-conditioning?

5. How many passengers before we go?

 

You want to avoid a "tired" taxi and you don't want the tour with a different person as your discussion as to what you will see and price/time discussion is out the window.

Great advice and it's something I will definitely use next time I'm in Barbados. Tourist area taxi drivers here in Puerto Rico can also be vultures at times but having been to Barbados and some other islands in the Caribbean, I had the most trouble and disappointment in Barbados....Both times I was there!! First time we were taken to Harbour lights even though we said Lobster Alive because the driver took other people that were going to Harbour Lights. He expected us to walk down the beach back to Lobster alive and we said no. He reluctantly took us and conveniently had no change for us when we paid. He owed us a about US$4 and said he'd credit it for the trip back is we wanted. We agreed on a time and he never showed up. I forget his name but when we told the name of the driver to other drivers waiting for passengers returning to the ship, they all laughed. At that point we knew we got coned. We paid another driver full price for our way back.

Second trip was this past August and we specified The Boatyard. We were being escorted to a big, nice air conditioned van when some of that driver whisper showed up and were handed to another driver with a darned-beat-to-hell van with no A/C. After nearly 15 minutes of waiting for two more passengers to fill the van, he took off after everybody threatened to get off since we were baking in the van. Since we went to the Boatyard, we didn't have any hassle on the way back (nice van BTW) since the admission price included the taxi ride back to the ship.

Sorry for your experience. We loved Barbados! We hired a local tour guide before we arrived on the island. Once we docked, everything ran like clock work. The driver had a clean van, and was very professional for a 22 year old newbie. He handed us a map and explain so much as we drove around the entire island. He stopped by a local and had the guy cut open a coconut for us, our first. There were many stops where we were allowed to get out and explore. The kid received a handsome tip after we were dropped off at the pier. Plus I wrote to the tour company to say how pleased we were.

I try to research the ports before we dock. If there is one tour company mentioned a lot with rave reviews, I tend to go with those companies and they don't' disappoint.

Please make another pass at Barbados. It's a great island!

I am a long time reader of these forums and have never posted but my experience with the taxi drivers in Barbados was so horric and pleasant I had to speak. I just arrived home from our cruise last night. My family was a group of 12 and wanted to go to boatyard. When we arrived to our taxi driver Katrina, and told her boatyard she said "ooooh you all want to spend a lot of money today!"

So of course that placed doubt upon some members of the group who just wanted a quick inexpensive day at the beach. So we asked if we could be dropped off next to boatyard where there was no entry fee. She stated this was not the best place for us and proceeded to explain she got lice from her previous trips there and she promptly drove us to Paynes bay and charged us $10/ person.

When we arrived we began asking where the boatyard was and everyone stated it was on the other side of the island. We were furious. Paynes bay was full of rocks and stones. We immediately packed up and grabbed a taxi with Ms. Eva. She was wonderful. She let us know that Katrina was completely wrong and explained that since boatyard is so close to the ship that kat wouldn't have been able to charge as much as she did. Ms. Eva was very pleasant.

We loved the boatyard.

Sorry for your experience. We loved Barbados! We hired a local tour guide before we arrived on the island. Once we docked, everything ran like clock work. The driver had a clean van, and was very professional for a 22 year old newbie. He handed us a map and explain so much as we drove around the entire island. He stopped by a local and had the guy cut open a coconut for us, our first. There were many stops where we were allowed to get out and explore. The kid received a handsome tip after we were dropped off at the pier. Plus I wrote to the tour company to say how pleased we were.

 

I try to research the ports before we dock. If there is one tour company mentioned a lot with rave reviews, I tend to go with those companies and they don't' disappoint.

 

 

 

Hi

 

Could you share the name of the Taxi Company you booked without before going to Barbados? We are going to be there the end of October.

 

Thanks

 

Gloria

We will be in Barbados in November and have nothing planned yet.. Thinking we might want to do an island tour and just pick a company when we get off the ship vs planning thru NCL.. but now I'm not sure... are there companies that we can just grab a tour guide, or would someone suggest we pick a company with the cruise line? I don't want a full day event but honestly not sure how long it would take to go around the island, and see some of it (stopping, getting out etc)???

For two adults only; honeymoon cruise.

Thanks!