sis0876 Posted February 26, 2006 #1 Share Posted February 26, 2006 We got off ship and ended up hiring a taxi driver with 8 others ( people we didnt know.) the driver came across very friendly until he got us all in his van and sealed the deal. He became very rude and aggressive, ordering us all around. I felt like I was in boot camp! he told us at the batik factory we only had 15 min and he would leave if we were not back! we also went to brimstone fortress (very nice place) we had 45 min there. on the way back to the ship he was driving fast passing cars and honking his horn. He was a very angry man and all that were in his car felt the same way. HIS NAME IS ELIVIS AND HE LIKES TO CALL HIMSELF DR. ELVIS, DO NOT HIRE HIM YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laceyjane Posted February 26, 2006 #2 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Thank you very much for taking the time to post this warning. We will make sure we do not get Elvis for our day in St. Kitts on our upcoming cruise. This is our second time to St. Kitts, and we also had a very bad experience with the taxi driver that took us to Turtle Beach on our last trip there. Thanks again for the important information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casshew Posted February 26, 2006 #3 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Sounds like a scary & disappointing experience :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methow Cruiser Posted February 26, 2006 #4 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Thank you very much for taking the time to post this warning. We will make sure we do not get Elvis for our day in St. Kitts on our upcoming cruise. This is our second time to St. Kitts, and we also had a very bad experience with the taxi driver that took us to Turtle Beach on our last trip there. Thanks again for the important information. laceyjane, We will be in St Kitts in late march Empress of Seas RCCL. Since you have been there before, do you see any problem in renting a car as opposed to taking a taxi? Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SqueakyDust Posted February 27, 2006 #5 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Our taxi driver wasn't that great either. He went so slow, everyone passed us and he wouldn't vere off his circuit. He wanted to avoid the Fort, just pointed out the Carib stone, and only gave us short times to see places. I think they want to just do a tour, get you back and get on to the next one. Sad really, as if they give a bit more then they'll receive a bit more, and also get recommended on places like here. Our driver did mention that things were bad on the island with regard to the Sugar Cane and it was the people who were suffering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coolmama_1 Posted February 27, 2006 #6 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Thank you, thank you very much!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laceyjane Posted March 5, 2006 #7 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Does anyone have an email address for either Annette or Terry Williams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calliecat Posted March 5, 2006 #8 Share Posted March 5, 2006 We went with a driver named Jordan. He said he was a policeman on the island as well. Very pleasant and everyone we passed along the way waved to him. We would go with him again. His van had his name across the front windshield and a red basketball player (Michael Jordan??) on the back window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loucat Posted April 10, 2006 #9 Share Posted April 10, 2006 We cannot say enough good things about the tour we hired off the ship in St. Kitts. We sailed on Empress of the Seas and could not find any good information prior to our sailing. So- we arrived without plans. We were fortunate to meet up with Rose of Rose and Jim'sTaxi Tours. She is British and has lived on the island many years. Her van is clean, well air conditioned it works. She is a delight and very caring about the island and it's history. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtaylor Posted April 21, 2006 #10 Share Posted April 21, 2006 We got off ship and ended up hiring a taxi driver with 8 others ( people we didnt know.) the driver came across very friendly until he got us all in his van and sealed the deal. He became very rude and aggressive, ordering us all around. I felt like I was in boot camp! he told us at the batik factory we only had 15 min and he would leave if we were not back! we also went to brimstone fortress (very nice place) we had 45 min there. on the way back to the ship he was driving fast passing cars and honking his horn. He was a very angry man and all that were in his car felt the same way. HIS NAME IS ELIVIS AND HE LIKES TO CALL HIMSELF DR. ELVIS, DO NOT HIRE HIM YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.:mad: WOW! It's been several years, but we had a great tour with Dr. Elvis. Maybe you got an Elvis Impersonater :) ? Dr. Elvis was recently recognized by Princess Cruises for his personalized quality tour service. See the links here and here. p.s. Noticed that the original poster has never posted since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trovador Posted July 3, 2006 #11 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Just a heads up... When paying for such services, ALWAYS leave something for the end. Offer 50% upfront and then 50% when it ends. You'll get much better service and will completely avoid those "15 minutes or I'll leave" rude remarks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongoally Posted December 12, 2006 #12 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Last year we did a tour with Rose Herbert and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I believe it was about 15 dollars apiece in a mini van. Her email is Jim@caribsurf.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Mango Posted December 13, 2006 #13 Share Posted December 13, 2006 I'm going back to St. Kitts this year. I was there maybe 10 years ago for a week. The taxi drivers were all licensed not only to drive to taxi but had to go to school to learn the history, geography, etc. of the island to be proper tour guides. Sounds like things have slacked off. Too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandRaven Posted December 14, 2006 #14 Share Posted December 14, 2006 That's terrible to hear about such a pressured tour! Our taxi driver was also named Elvis; Elvis Wilson. He was a young guy, very sweet, and incredibly patient. He took us to several different beaches, and we finally picked Cockleshell Beach. He left his card with the bar owner in case there were any changes of plan, and said he'd be back at our requested time of 3:30 to pick us up. We liked the beach so much that we had the bar owner call Elvis to come back an hour later. Elvis was ready 30 minutes early, but hung out with my parents and a British couple at the bar until 4:30. On the way back, he stopped to point out monkeys and a mongoose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kates70 Posted December 18, 2006 #15 Share Posted December 18, 2006 I appreciate that sometimes these things can happen ... I have had similar experiences at home and on vacation. I have recently returned from St Kitts and had a very positive taxi experience. Our taxi driver's name was Warner ... he took us to White House Bay ... and returned promptly when we asked him to. His price was fair. He was very pleasant and professional. What more can you ask for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attack Dog Posted January 30, 2007 #16 Share Posted January 30, 2007 I haven't decided yet if I will take a tour through the cruise line or take a taxi on my own. If I take a taxi on my own to Cockleshell would it be hard or risky to just hire a cab at the peir? I noticed that there are lot of suggestions posted throughout this forum to arrange for a taxi service in advance. Also has anyone actually used "The Adams Group" who keeps advertising his services all over this forum? If so how was he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attack Dog Posted January 31, 2007 #17 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I find myself thanking you again Liz. :) If my family and I can decide to use a taxi then I will try to use Thenford. I'll even tell him you sent me. As always thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attack Dog Posted February 1, 2007 #18 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Liz, I tried contacting Thenford. However, he is booked for April 4th. Based on his e-mail message he seemed very profesional. I noticed that you recommended other cab drivers as well so I will attempt to contact one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natcarm Posted February 3, 2009 #19 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Unfortunately, I have another really negative taxi experience to report from St. Kitts. My wife and I just returned from a 7 day cruise and this was definitely the low light. After arriving in port we decided that we wanted to see Romney Manor and Brimstone Fortress. The first thing we did was decline all the advancing taxi driver offers and headed to the rate board to see what we could expect to pay. Well, the rate board was confusing and within about 30 seconds we had another taxi driver on top of us trying to get some business. He was a “Rasta Man” named Adonis. You’ll know him by his dreads and Rasta clothing. We told him the sights we wanted to see. He told us it would be the best deal to just do a full island tour for $80 and that it would be so good we would want to give him a tip. Since we were also interested in seeing Black Rocks on the back side of the island we agreed. Things were fine for about the first 20 minutes. He told us how everything was laid back on the island and it was stress free. The next two hours were anything but. He escorted us quickly through Romney Manor however he did take our picture which was nice. I don’t think he was actually trying to be nice by doing it but rather using the “service” to leverage more money from us. In the taxi he kept on recapping what great service he was providing and how we would give him a big tip! The next stop is where the tour went really bad. We told him we wanted to spend about 45 minutes at Brimstone Hill since it was the main site we were interested in seeing and there was quite a bit of ground to cover. He initially suggested 15 -20 minutes. It would have taken that just to walk up and down the hill to the fortress. He made a big deal about the 45 minutes and stressed how important it was that we “take care of him”. After we got back in the taxi he now suggested the price for the tour should be $100! Having to haggle through the tour made me so mad. I told him we could just skip one of the sights if time was an issue. We stopped at Black Rocks for his suggested 10 minutes and drove the rest of the way around the island and finished the tour in a little over 2 hours. Both my wife and I were so frustrated by being rushed and the haggling that we were ready for the tour to be over. I wondered about the price of our full island tour afterward and checked the rate board before we got back on the ship. The price listed was indeed $80 for 1 - 4 people; however it also stated there was to be a 4 and half hour minimum. There was absolutely no reason why we should have been rushed. That was plenty of time to see everything we wanted at a relaxing pace. We were no doubt rushed because the drive wanted to snag another fare before the cruise ship left port. I felt liked we got worked over. The saddest part is that drivers like this, who will likely leave the biggest impression of the island with the tourists, are killing an already struggling tourism industry. If you plan to have a driver take you around St. Kitts please be sure to arrange it with a well recommended driver prior to your trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul58 Posted February 3, 2009 #20 Share Posted February 3, 2009 It is too bad that you had an experience like that. Was he a member of the taxi association? The members of the association have photo ID's which they do wear. Did his license plate on his vehicle begin with a T and yellow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVegasMan Posted February 4, 2009 #21 Share Posted February 4, 2009 We had very pleasant drivers on St. Kitts. We just went to Cockleshell Beach and back. Sorry, didn't get their names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natcarm Posted February 4, 2009 #22 Share Posted February 4, 2009 It is too bad that you had an experience like that. Was he a member of the taxi association? The members of the association have photo ID's which they do wear. Did his license plate on his vehicle begin with a T and yellow? Yes he was indeed a member of the taxi association. He showed us the photo id he was wearing around his neck. I'm not sure how to or if it is worth reporting him. Hopefully drivers who rush passengers through the island at a breakneck pace are the exception rather than the rule. My only advice is to just make sure what you are supposed to get and for how much before you ever get in the taxi. Because the rates are fixed on St. Kitts, there should never be any haggling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suezmr Posted February 5, 2009 #23 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Just back from a cruise last week, used Jim and Rose Taxi ( written accross the van) had a wonderful time. Jim was very knowledgable of the whole Island, took the time to show us our interests as well. No hurry at any stops. I had read a review (I do a cut & paste document and take it along for each port). We actually saw the van from our ship and approached him. Ended up with 8, our choice as we let others join us. Offered a great rate and a great tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotshub Posted February 5, 2009 #24 Share Posted February 5, 2009 could you please post "Thenford's" e-mail address again. Sounds like he might me someone we would want to contact. We willbe in St.Kitt's in October.Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chamima Posted February 9, 2009 #25 Share Posted February 9, 2009 could you please post "Thenford's" e-mail address again. Sounds like he might me someone we would want to contact. We willbe in St.Kitt's in October.Thank you thenang06@yahoo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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