Thenford Gray vehicles

What type of vehicles does Thenford Gray (or other tour operators mentioned) use? We just don't want to be stuck in a large bus with 20-40 or more people.

Thenford uses a large van/bus, but has the best tour going .

We had a lovely tour with Thenford this past spring. We had about 16 people on a 20-seater, air conditioned bus that was in very good shape.

It wasn't too noisy, and everybody could hear him with the headset/mic he used (and he didn't 'over-talk' during the tour).

Thanks--as long as we aren't all crowded in, especially with jumpseats! My husband gets very claustrophobic in crowded vehicles.

Have this tour booked for next week and excited about it..:)

Book it, you won't be disappointed....:)

We took a tour with him in September. His brother Sackville was our tour guide and was wonderful! My husband and I and two other couples were in a ten-passenger air-conditioned van. Very comfortable, easy to see everything and he was very informative.

Had a great day with Thenford Gray. We toured the island of St. Kitts last week and thoroughly enjoyed the day. We met at the Pier, got in an air conditioned van that sat about 15 people and followed his advertised itinerary. Thenford is very well spoken and very easy to understand. He is very articulate and professional. We stopped to have a picture taken with a local monkey which was fun. He has bottles of water if you get thirsty but there is no food so bring a snack. We found the people on St Kitts to be very friendly and the tour perfect. At the end he will drop you at a local beach and pick you up about 2 hours later to make the ships all aboard time. The island is beautiful.

Hi, We just came back from St. Kitts and toured with Thenford Grey. We did the Grand tour of St. Kitts. It was a great tour and Thenford was terrific. The Bus was about a 20 seater, air conditioned and in excellent shape.

The tour itself was fun and he is very informative about the history of the island. The Brimstone Hill Fortress was amazing and Frigate Bay Resort is very nice.

It was a very enjoyable tour and I highly recommend it.

Hi, We just came back from St. Kitts and toured with Thenford Grey. We did the Grand tour of St. Kitts. It was a great tour and Thenford was terrific. The Bus was about a 20 seater, air conditioned and in excellent shape.

 

The tour itself was fun and he is very informative about the history of the island. The Brimstone Hill Fortress was amazing and Frigate Bay Resort is very nice.

 

It was a very enjoyable tour and I highly recommend it.

Was there a place to eat at the beach he brought you to? and did you rent beach chairs? If so, do you remember cost of chair rentals? Just don't want to spend a lot to have chair for hr or so and will most likely want to purchase food if available. Thanks in advance for any answers!

Was there a place to eat at the beach he brought you to? and did you rent beach chairs? If so, do you remember cost of chair rentals? Just don't want to spend a lot to have chair for hr or so and will most likely want to purchase food if available. Thanks in advance for any answers!

Interested in the same exact questions....thanks!

Interested in the same exact questions....thanks!

Well, I will answer my own question for you! Just returned from our cruise & our excursion on St. Kitts. It was a nice day. Spent most of it going to Batik store/Romney Manor and the fort which took up a good 3 hrs or more. Then we went to Shipwreck beach for a little over an hour. It was not a nice beach. Very little beach area and sand is very dark, almost black. Water is clean, but lots of shell & difficult to walk out into. Some people did snorkel for short period of time & said they saw fish.

There really wasn't any sense in renting chairs for the short time there & like I said the beach leaves a lot to be desired. The beach bar is very rustic, but we like that. Had a good strong drink called Sand Dollar for $6 and my husband & I shared some chicken nachos for $8 or $10. I'm not sure of exact price. We just sat up at the bar area most of the time since the water was cool & I didn't like the sand or the beach area. Was pretty to look out over the water though.

All in all the excursion was well worth the price!

Hope this helps you!

I booked Thenford Grey's tour for my upcoming cruise to St. Kitts in January. Now I'm am wondering if there are any narrow roads or steep hill to climb up or down. I read on these boards of a bad accident yesterday in Tortola, where 2 cruise ship passengers were killed and many more injured. Just nervous about steep inclines with poor weather conditions. I was going solo on this cruise and my DH almost begged my sister to accompany me, so now she's booked it. Stuff happens, that's for sure but I'm done with steep hills with vehicles that are not in the best shape. Thanks for any input.

Well, I will answer my own question for you! Just returned from our cruise & our excursion on St. Kitts. It was a nice day. Spent most of it going to Batik store/Romney Manor and the fort which took up a good 3 hrs or more. Then we went to Shipwreck beach for a little over an hour. It was not a nice beach. Very little beach area and sand is very dark, almost black. Water is clean, but lots of shell & difficult to walk out into. Some people did snorkel for short period of time & said they saw fish.

There really wasn't any sense in renting chairs for the short time there & like I said the beach leaves a lot to be desired. The beach bar is very rustic, but we like that. Had a good strong drink called Sand Dollar for $6 and my husband & I shared some chicken nachos for $8 or $10. I'm not sure of exact price. We just sat up at the bar area most of the time since the water was cool & I didn't like the sand or the beach area. Was pretty to look out over the water though.

All in all the excursion was well worth the price!

Hope this helps you!

His website says that payment is collected in cash at the beginning of the tour, but but does anyone know if he requires a deposit at the time of reservation? If so, what are refund terms if the reservation is canceled.

I have already booked his tour for my upcoming cruise through his website and no deposit was required. Cash at the end of the tour, I guess.:)

His website says that payment is collected in cash at the beginning of the tour, but but does anyone know if he requires a deposit at the time of reservation? If so, what are refund terms if the reservation is canceled.

We were there 2/15 and had a van holding 10 people. No treacherous roads, comfy vehicle with Ac. Driver had water for us. We toured around (wonderful) and after he dropped us at beach for a couple hours then picked us up again. Would book again!!

Well, I will answer my own question for you! Just returned from our cruise & our excursion on St. Kitts. It was a nice day. Spent most of it going to Batik store/Romney Manor and the fort which took up a good 3 hrs or more. Then we went to Shipwreck beach for a little over an hour. It was not a nice beach. Very little beach area and sand is very dark, almost black. Water is clean, but lots of shell & difficult to walk out into. Some people did snorkel for short period of time & said they saw fish.

There really wasn't any sense in renting chairs for the short time there & like I said the beach leaves a lot to be desired. The beach bar is very rustic, but we like that. Had a good strong drink called Sand Dollar for $6 and my husband & I shared some chicken nachos for $8 or $10. I'm not sure of exact price. We just sat up at the bar area most of the time since the water was cool & I didn't like the sand or the beach area. Was pretty to look out over the water though.

All in all the excursion was well worth the price!

Hope this helps you!

Thenford Grey's literature said we go to Cockelshell Beach. You mentioned Shipwreck. Is it the same beach? Just wondering beause I had read that Cockelshel was one of the nicer beaches. thanks

We were on the Summitt that had the accident at Tortola. I can say that st. Kitts was the least windy roads of any of the islands. The on,y narrow windy roads were the ones up tot the fort. The rest of the roads were came compared to Tortola and Dominica.

Had a great tour with Thenford Grey. We had a private 8 person tour. The van was comfortable with extra room. Driver was fantastic. We spend most of our time at Romney manor and the fort. Only spent about an hour at the beach but that was our choice. Water wa rougher than expected and we had several none swimmers in our group.

The driver was very accommodating about dropping some of the group back at our ship which was docked at the industrial pier and the rest back in town for some shopping.

Would use Thenford Grey tours again, we had a lovely time .

On December 16th, we booked the "Grand Island Tour" with Thenford Grey. We docked at 10:00 in the morning and we were to meet outside the port at 10:30 for the tour. We ended up leaving with a group on 10 people at about 10:45. We were put into a "Taxi" van driven by an older gentleman named Merritt! We have been on many tours, and this was by far the WORST one ever! We drove around the city in circles forever, then we began the drive to the Batik Factory. When you entered the area, there were some pretty sights, but Merritt said he wouldn't stop because the area was just too crowded...so get out your cameras and I will drive by so quickly you can't even see the sight! When we reached the top, he told us we could walk around for 30 minutes. Other guides accompanied their group in and explained what you were seeing... But not Merritt, he just sat in the van! 30 minutes was way too long at this sight. Next we went to Brimstone Fortress. This was probably my favorite part of the trip as the sights were beautiful. However, Merritt told everyone that they could leave their belongings in the van so they didn't have to carry them up to the fort. He assured everyone that he would stay with the van. When we returned from the fort about 30 minutes after arriving, Merritt was not in the van and the Windows were down and the van unlocked. Now, we didn't leave our things in the van, but others did and they were not happy. After the fort, it was time to head to the other side of the island to see the hotels and beaches. We drove for what seemed like forever with absolutely no narration from Merritt. We finally reached the other side of the island and drove up Timothy Hill. Again, this had a beautiful view. After stopping at Timothy Hill, we proceeded to the beach...I think cocoburn or something like that. It was a very crowded and dirty beach. Only two in our group choose to stay and the rest of us couldn't wait for the tour to be over! To say this was a tour, is an out right lie. This was nothing more than a taxi driver driving 10 very unhappy people around the island and then charging them an outrageous price for nothing! This tour was $48/pp and in my opinion it wasn't worth $10/pp. This was the absolute worst tour we have ever been on.

I did the city tour and beach trip and really liked it. Small (8 people) van with good AC, driver stopped at a cheap store for us to buy beer, ended up on a nice beach for a couple of hours.

We just did his tour last week and thought it was very good. We did have Thenford himself in a mid-sized bus which was not nearly full. He did full narration and we enjoyed the tour.

Romney Manor stop (batik factory) was fine but could have been skipped, for us, but the gardens were pretty. We really loved the fort--it took some super driving to get us up that hill! We did not expect nor need the guide to accompany us around the fort as it is pretty self-explanatory.

We also went to the view stops and then stayed at a beach. I'm not sure of the name--Car--something, but it was not crowded and was clean. Yes, there is a lot of driving from one point to another, but this is typical for island tours where roads are limited and often windy and busy.

While we don't usually especially like island tours, this one was very well done; I took it because we wanted to go to the fort. I thought the price for a tour from 9-3:30 was excellent.

Sorry you had a bad experience; sounds like your tour guide needs to be replaced.

The beach stop was probably Carambola, it is on the north end of South Friars Beach on the Caribbean side of the island just below Timothy Hill.

I'm pretty sure it was Carambola. It was neither crowded or dirty.

I also had a bad experience with Greys excursions last week. Although, Thenford himself was not our tour guide we did meet him for approximately 30 seconds while he was putting us into a van which was a taxi with about 10 other people. Our tour started about 30 minutes after it was scheduled too (which should have been our first clue as how the day was going to go). The sites that we visited included the Batik Factory, Brimstone Fortress, Timothy Hill and the beach; however, only 2 people stayed at the beach as it was dirty and we had concerns that he would return to pick us up for the return to the ship. We were left alone to visit the other sites ourself. The fortress was interesting and the view from Timothy Hill was beautiful; however the roads were very narrow. It appears Greys excursions are hit and miss depending on the tour guide. Good luck if you decide to book this tour.

We were at St. Kitts on December 30. We were fortunate to have Thenford conduct our tour. We were provided cold water but there was no food. We had brought some bags of peanuts with us from our ship. We always bring some snacks with us from home when we are doing long excursions on the islands during the day. The trip up to the Brimstone Fortress was tight a few times but not in a way where we felt at risk. The beach we went to was more than clean. I highly recommend this tour if it is conducted in the manner that ours was. Can't speak to what might happen if you do not get Mr. Grey. I have included my review that I posted on TA. I rate this tour very high...excellent was my rating. For those who have done Bernard's Tours on St. Maarten....this tour is a bit more rustic (but so is St. Kitts) but equally good. We did Bernard's the next day (our 2nd time) and really enjoyed it.

Here is my review from TA:

We booked a tour with GIE after reading through the reviews posted on Trip Advisor. Our stops included Romney Manor, the Fort and a beach stop at Friar's Beach. We also stopped up on Timothy Hill to view the meeting of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Our family of 5 - mom and dad with 3 sons - 12, 15, and 18 were greatly warmly by Mr. Thenford Grey, himself as we walked into the port area. Our tour consisted of 15 or so folks.

There was plenty of room on the van/bus. Myself and our 2 older sons shared the back seat that could have seated 4. Youngest had a single seat to the left in front of us and wife had a 2 person seat to herself in front of us opposite the youngest.

Some might find being in the back to be a negative but Mr. Grey spoke over a headset that was easily heard in the back. Thenford (I am calling him by his first name because our family has a kinship with him after spending such a wonderful day with him) was amazing. Articulate does not begin to describe him. His manner and knowledge of all things St. Kitts and beyond was tremendous. But his humor, smile, and grace, along with his booming but soothing voice made our tour a very special experience.

He wowed us with the historical facts of his island. He entertained us with anecdotes about many topical incidents that impact St. Kitts. He did this in such a way that was so very entertaining and heartfelt. The way folks on the island addressed him at our stops showed that he is held in very high regard.

His knowledge about the plant life at Romney Manor was mind boggling. The information gleaned at this stop was worth the price of the tour. The way he took his time assisting us in taking photos there was so kind.

The drive up and down the narrow roadway to the Fort really impressed our 2 teenage drivers. Mr. Grey carefully guided his driver on the best way to traverse the narrow entrances up and down the mountain. All the while he was still sharing interesting tidbits about what we were viewing.

When he recited the epitaph from one of the early governors tombstones word for word to us in his wonderful lilting voice....it was again, amazing.

One of the shorter stops on our way to our beach visit was a fabulous vista where the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea (Timothy Hill) meeting and words just cannot due the views justice.

While this was a private tour and not a cruise line excursion, Mr. Grey implored us from the start to relax and enjoy the day with no worries about getting back to our ship on time. He said that was his responsibility and that he had it all under control.

Boy, was he ever right. Right up to the sincere and heartfelt goodbye when we were departing the bus at the pier, we were in the best of hands. Thank you, Thenford.