Who's best:Victor Bodden or Diana/Cynthia?

We plan to hire a driver for the day and do our own thing in Roatan. We know we want to zipline, but we also want a guide who will show us the local culture. We like getting off the beaten path. Get away from the tourist traps. Who's a better guide choice? I hear plenty about Victor Bodden, but a few strings have had good times with Diana/Cynthia. Who's better? Are they equal?

We just got back from Roatan on April 17. We hired Victor Bodden. We had his younger brother William as our driver for the day. We payed $25 pp. Our friends just got off the boat and hired a driver for $15 pp.

We did the Jungle Canopy Zipline for $45 pp. It was a blast! Our guide was great. He taught us some tricks. By the end of the ziplining, we were going upside down and backwards.

We then went to Victor's house to see the Spider monkeys - $2 pp, and to get some Vanilla - $1.

We had lunch at Half Moon Bay (I think??), and spent the rest of the day snorkeling there in the bay. I would not recommend these guys for lunch. I thought the food was average, and the service below average. In my opinion, this felt like a tourist trap.

If we had it to do all over again, I would just hire a driver at the pier. Even though it was not bad, I did not see the value added service from using Victor. From talking to our friends, they were probably shown more of the flavor of the island with their driver.

We were on the same ship (The Grand Princess) as TJB94 and normally dive while on Roatan. This trip however we had a couple of non diver family members along so our little group of four hired Cynthia for the day at $20.00 per person. She was a really nice lady and very informative. The zip lines of South Shore were fun and she took us every place we wanted to see without question. I like at least knowing who our driver will be other wise we would just get off the ship and hire a driver for the day like some others did. We stopped by a local supermarket to buy a few locally produced items and get a couple of Lempiras (Honduran dollars). A very good day and highly recommended.

I just posted description of our day on Roatan, booked and planned months ago with Diana. Search under my name for that. The day, which i had soooo looked forward to, was huge disappointment which i attribute greatly to her, now that i know ours was NOT an isolated incident. Until i read an almost identical experience of another cruise critic writer, I had chalked her bad recommendation up to HER inexperience with the particular zipline that was so awful. Search my name for the posting (under a different thread) and whatever you do.. DO NOT USE THE PRATES OF CARIB CANOPY, which DIANA had her driver take us to.

A day that should have been wonderful and relaxing, was stressful for everyone in our group.

It's really sad when you realize you've been a sucker, and a recommended person will email you whatever you want to read, to get your business.

Next time on this beautiful island of Roatan, I will book with someone else's company.

OMG! we have been corresponding with Diana already and you're right, she keeps saying, "no problem." You give me second and third thoughts! We want to know our driver ahead of time b/c we're thinking of doing the ziplines while we leave our daughter at base camp with the driver. (That's a final decision we won't make until we're there and read the vibe, but we want the option and feel more comfortable knowing the outfit is recommended here...but I digress.) Maybe we should contact Victor Bodden. We told Diana that we want to do Palmetto specifically b/c we like the description of being in the jungle tree tops. Did you get bait and switch once there? You had South Shore booked? Wow, two weeks until we leave. But I'm glad to know this now!

DH and I just returned this evening from our fabulous 7 day Western Exotic cruise. We used Bodden Tours in Roatan (had Willson as our driver). He was awesome - showed us the best of the best and accomodated all of our desires. I would highly recommend this tour company and found that Victor was very organized and communicative prior to the journey (via email).

GL and enjoy your trip. Roatan is a gem once you get away from the port. Half Moon was my favorite - besides playing with Victor's monkeys!!!

Hi "Hooked"--Yes, read the above Roatan Board thread about Pirates of the Carib canopy to see my and a previous person's experience with them and with Diana.

She had the driver take us there KNOWING that other clients had problems, while claiming she'd never had a problem with them until our day. I now realize, she merely echos back to you whatever you want to hear. If you read the glowing description of Cynthia and Diana by a CCer named Amy Loveless-- you'll read that Diana told her "if she'd known in advance, she could have arranged for them to see the dolphins (at a much lower price than anyone else--OF COURSE--yeah, right!!)

so i wrote asking her and guess what--she wrote back that they cannot take anyone on a private excursion--the dolphin experience in Roatan is for cruise line excursion or registered hotel guests ONLY. THAT should have been a red flag--saying something to get you interested, instead of being able to actully DO it. Instead of "You won't have time for everything--let me help you narrow down to realistic limits" Diana will tell you what you want to hear.

Put it this way--if friend were coming to vist where you live, would you take them to places that previous friends had complained about? We are PAYING tour guides who claim to be experts at knowing the best places in their locales . Having just returned, SOME of our excurisons were led by honest, organized folks who are realistic about the limited time that cruises provide for shore time. (E.g.in Costa Maya, the guide told us exactly how much time we'd have in the village after our tour, and was very aware and respectful of everyone's schedules. None of this "you'll have time for everything if you go with us, we'll attend to you and give you an unforgettable day" )

Our table mates did not plan anything in advance. They found a cab dispatcher right outside the port gate, who took them to West Bay, and came back promptly at a prearranged time. The dispatcher made it clear that the driver was not to be paid until the return trip to the pier.

Diana should have said, "You wanted South Shore; do you mind trying a different company?" But she didnt . She gave instructions in Spanish to her brother in law as to where to take us, and it was not until we were there that we knew it was some other company. Knowing the long history of emails and aware of what we requested,(which she alluded to) she OUGHT to have checked with us FIRST and , given us realistic times of what we could or could not do.

Enough said. I have contacted Victor and am cancelling Diana today. Crisis averted.

Hey Beckm...I am the previous poster you refer to. I am sorry things did not work out for you. It really sucks when try to "plan" your day and when it is said and done, you realize no one was listening to you.

When I wrote my review, I did not want to come across as a "whiner" (even though I really needed to vent) I just wanted other cruisers to know that they should be careful. I guess Diane is not concerned with repeat customers, or knew I would not be one of them!!:p

As Diane says "no problem"......for her that is:rolleyes:

Denise

Thanks so much for writing , Denise. You did NOT come across as a whiner. i just woissh i'd seen you post before we went. Of course, before we let, we hd no plan to go to Pirates Zipline, so i missed your feedback on that and Diana's nonchalant attitude. I too wondered if i'd sound like a whiner, with my detailed description of what went wrong with our long-planned day.

That is why i wrote what i did-- about saving someone else the misfortune of experiencing what you and then i, did.Thanks to you for doing the same. Surely it will help someone else, even though it was too late for us. Now, i at least know there's someone else who understands the way i felt that day.

When we returned to the ship from our long-anticiapted day on Roatan, I went to the ship's internet cafe to write, while it was still fresh in my mind, about the shoddiness of "Pirates" zip line operation. I also wanted to see what others said about "Pirates" Remember, at this time, i still bought Diana's story that she had NEVER had any trouble using them for her clients.

Well, as I read what you wrote, i felt SICK--for we had ben making excuses for Diana all day. "Oh,you can't blame her, she didn't know." Well, after reading your posting, i realized, with sinking heart and knotting stomach, that she DID know.

Our small group of people trusted me to research, and i let them down.

We tourists come to the ports for a day. If we are lucky MAYBE we can return some day, off a ship, or for a longer time. But for many, this is their ONE time to see a place. And Diana encourages you with this--"We will make your day unforgettable." Unforgettable, indeed!!

Her answer to our upset with the time wasted, and shoddy treatment, at Pirates was to lower our price for the "tour." Well, that didnt help recover precious lost time, or calm our frustration, or help my daughter, who was nauseated from dehydration of 2.5 hours in the heat with no water. It was NOT about $ for us. So we paid the original price, plus tips to her brother in law who was merely folowing her directions, and i think as almost as dismayed as we were with the way it turned out. He kept saying, "I never have problems at South Shore; they are organized, not like this place." When HE said he'd never been there--i believe him. Heck, he was just taking us where the boss told him to go.

Two of our group of 4 went on the zipline. Two of us waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, the two "waiters" went with the driver for a quick tour to Parrott Tree and a nice view. (Since the zip was to take only 45 minutes, we had not left earlier--playing with the monkey at Pirates was fine, for a little while. ) Diana said by the time we got back, surely the zip liners would be finished. We got back, and did she look surprised that they were STILL not done? No. i had to remind her...well, they're not back, and another half hour has elapsed. Her answer was not concern that they were at this point moe than twice as long as promised. No--her answer was "Well, are you interested in iguanas?" I said, "I don't WANT to go to the iguana farm--i want to get the other members of our group, get out of here and have time for the promised relaxing trip to West Bay!!" She still maintained we could do it all, "even shop at West End ,no problem." HELP!!

When we asked for a recommended place to eat at West Bay, she said "Bananarama" Well, we had NO time to eat there or anywhere else.Good thing--because some friends on the cruise did eat there, and told us it was overpriced and not good. So much for Diana's expertise in restaurant recommendations.

I also learned from this experience not to trust one overly glowing review. If you read one Cynthia and Diana review, it is all capital letters, emphatic multicolored sentences, etc. I'm not saying the writere didn't have this experience, but in hindsight, why is it so overstated? Perhaps Cynthia (who is recovering from surgery) really does run it better than doesDiana

OK, enough venting! It's so nice to write to someone who understands, Denise!!!

Hey, I'm the someone you saved! It's not just a perhaps, it's true in the here and now. I've been planning the day and we'll finally have it in another week...without Diana!

HI, Hooked-on-travel!! Glad there IS at least one person who will not have to experience what Denise, and then our group, did.

Please post back here after your Roatan trip so, so I'll know what to do differently, if i'm ever fortuante enough to be there again.

Hae a great trip!!!

I am sorry to hear a couple of people had a not so good experience but we've used Diana and Cinthia for two two-week vacations so far, and they have been beyond excellent. I obtained their names off this board last year and booked them for our airport pick-ups / drop offs and island tours and they did such a great job we used them again througout our two week vacation this year (just got back).

One example of their service, last year we had someone who thought their luggage was misplaced when we got to the resort. Diane went back to the airport and made them run the security footage for her to see whether the bag was taken or not prior to being loaded on her luggage truck. We soon found out it was in one of our houses in error as someone in our group had grabbed and offloaded it at the wrong room. But Diane went beyond the call of duty in that instance.

This year, my fiance and I were getting married on the dock at Luna Beach, we had decided not to order a wedding cake (since we are doing a formal wedding back here in Atlanta next weekend) and the morning of the wedding this beautiful cake appeared in our house, compliments of Diane.

When we wanted to buy some cases of beer she stopped at a couple of different places until she found the best price, same with shopping, more off the tourist path where the better prices are found.

We used them two weeks straight for various trips and tours, to the Dolphins (Cruise line blocks them off from the public on cruise day,,,its out of control of the local vendors), to the East End of the island to this neat place called Hole in the Wall for a BBQ lunch, over to Turquoise Bay Resort, to Parrot Tree Plantation, Anthony's Key Dolphins, Shopping trips, an Island Tour, and the the West End and Palmetto Bay zip lines. Again the cruise ships call a monopoly on certain zip lines for their own tours when in port, which narrows down the remaining ones to one or two. So they can't offer all of them with the cruise lines blocking some. We like the West End one the best but that's one that the cruise lines block. The Palmetto and Pirates one are more challenging with rock walls and rope bridges, definitely for the more adventurous types.

Anthonys used to give some discounts (our friends got it last year via Diana) but when Diana called this year to see if we could get it, they have since changed their policies and no longer give it to the local vendors. And this was on a non-cruise day we went. I do recommend the Dolphin Snorkel though, we did it and it was awesome!

I am sure some have had a negative experience with Victor also, when we first contacted his group last year (again based on reviews from his board), he took a lot longer to respond and with higher prices so we went with Diane and have never once regretted it. We've had nothing but exemplary service from Diane both years.. and with 4 weeks on the island in the last two years have used her a bunch and had not a single bad experience in all of that time.

She is pretty laid back, but thats the nature of the island and the islanders in general. But she has never failed us in service, and this year we had 22 people in our group for her to deal with this year with different schedules, personalities and everyone loved her!

Just my .02 from someone who has used them a whole LOT more than once!

Andrea in Atlanta

But sometimes once is more than enough. The reality is that many of us only have the priviledge of visiting some of these exotic and beautiful destinations once. With that being the case, it is important to evaluate consistency...

I am glad you have had good experiences, but I am not sure I would be comfortable betting my long earned and anxiously anticipated vacation experience on a tour company with so-so reviews at best.

Teebucs, Great minds think alike (-:, as i was just about to write the same thing you did.

Congratulations if you are one of those who had a good experience. There are others who have--that's why i went with Diana and Cinthia, although re-reading the main positive one,,it was about Cinthia, not Diana. And re-reading that post from 2006, i see Cinthia made the same empty and false promise about showing the dolphins to ship visitors--a response that was quickly criticzed (accurately, it turns out) on a response on that same thread from a local person.

Andrea, I'm glad you enjoyed your stays on Roatan, especially as a celebration of your wedding. I'm envious that you had lots of time, which i hope to at a future visit. However, the fact that you "used them a whole LOT more than once" is exactly the point--it does NOT make your recommendation any stronger or a more persuasive recommendation for a ship visitor who does not have your good fortune and luxury of time. You had more than a 5 hour shore stop --a luxury we did not, and which Diana was well aware of. As far as being "laid back";--i understand that is part of the culture, and I enjoy it on longer trips to Latin America and the Carib.

However, the more responsible tour business folks RESPECT the value of our time, when a limited few hours only does not coincide with a too "laid back" (as you called Diana) approach. As an example, above I mentioned David from Nativeway in Costa Maya, who was aware and careful and respectful of our limited time, and how we could make the most of it--and still was relaxed, wonderful, and organized. The two are not mutually exclusive.

As far as the timeliness of responses-- yes, Diana wrote back immediately each time. Often, she would literally respond back echoing my words(a tip off for the"tell them whatever they want to hear"??) But ultimately, the speed with which she responded signified NOTHING when reality hit. Perhaps her internet connection is faster than Victor--who knows? At any rate, i now will limit the importance i place on the quickness of an email rsponse from tour companies. Maybe it means something, maybe not.

Re: some ziplines being closed on cruise days--true--which is WHY i specifically requested South Shore Canopy. Without consulting us in advance, she changed that, and had her driver take us somewhere which turned out to be a disaster (and could have been, LITERALLY, based on what my daughter reported about their rickety platforms safety, and the HAMMOCKS which were under than to catch people incase of a fall!!) I'd written many times asking if, based on her knowledge of the island and times there, we could do EVERYTING we wanted, and she continuallyy--including that day when we arrived--assured us we could. One person in our group wanted jetski, which in available only in one area. INstead of just saying, in response to my question about time, "It probably would be better to skip it" she kept insisting "No problems" we could do it all. Well, instead, we got shortchanged.

Visitors are hiring a local, knowledgeable poerson so this sort of thing will NOT happen. Furthermore, her previous clients (see Denise, above )had the same problems with that zip line company, and with Diana's lack of respect for time. Now there are at least TWO groups she met, whose much-anticipated days on Roatan were barely salvageable due to Priates' incompetence with us. Also, Diana witnessed the OUTRAGE with which every adult, including a Carnival Cruise manager, returned that day from their tour at Prates--it wasn't just my group who felt take advantage of and ripped off.

Will Diana now think twice about taking unknowing folks to that zipline off the cruise ship when she's promised them numerous other activities as well? I hope so...that at least that she'll really CONSIDER before making promises.

I am a planner! I plan every trip down to the smallest detail in order to be prepared. I wrote Victor Bodden at least three emails over the course of six months to plan our activities for the day, clarify where and what time to meet, who our driver would be, etc.. Each time I sent an email to Victor I received a response within 24-36 hrs and considered him to be extremely prompt! I can not imagine better communication...

:) :) Victor Bodden:) :)

Since our cruise was more of a last minute thing, we did not have time to plan it. In fact, in my CC Roll Call, a lady posted that she cancelled Victor Bodden's Tour because she threw her back out & had to cancell the cruise. She seemed to be a big planner so I bit the bullet and emailed him. I don't think it was but a few days before we were to leave for the boat. Victor emailed right away and again when we were on the ship. He really only had 2 or 3 correspondences from us and 2 were on the ship. I didn't even tell him too much as to what we wanted to do.

No problem...Victor had it covered. It was just the two of us and it was the highlight of the trip. We ended up getting pretty much a tour of the Island. Saw the Iguana Farm. Thought it would be cheesy but didn't say anything...Glad I saw it. It was really neat!...and it didn't take up lots of time. On to a grocery store for some drinks & Vanilla, then to 1/2 Moon bay for some Lobster Tail lunch & snorkeling. Ended up staying there longer than planned but it was great. Saw another beach (road on it), saw some other homes on the beach. Oh, and the best was going to Victor's House. I won't tell you all about it so it would be a surprise but it was lots of fun. You could not have asked for a better day.

I would not hesitate to recommend Victor Bodden. One thing, if you do go with him, his business is outside the gated area around the ship. It is smack right outside straight ahead. Like I said, we didn't have but a few very short emails and he took care of everything. Enjoy!

Maybe next week I will post some of the pic if anyone is interested. I am in the process of editing.

claudia

Hi Claudia! Thanks for posting and describing your experience with Victor. i'm jealous. Well, there's always next time for us on Roatan, and we won't wonder which guide to choose.

Are you located on that big lake that you see from the Freeway (the I-10?) as you head NE from Dallas toward Texarkana? We live in Calif, but have a little house in Texarkana, and I know that route, driving from DFW.

I LOVE Texans--friendliest, warmest folks I've ever met in the USA.

Yes, please post pix, when uyou get a chance.

Becky

Hi Becky! Wow, Texarkana is a long way from California! Do you have family in Texas?

When you go East from Dallas on I-30, you cross over Lake Ray Hubbard (reservoir) several times.

I was very pleased that Victor could get it together in such short notice. I was not sure what to expect since he really had no idea if we would show or not.

One thing that I really liked about him was several others had booked his tour. Since he was taking the cancelled couple, he got another driver for the "others". When we showed up, the "others" wanted to go with him. Our deal via the internet was 2 people, 1 car. That is what we got! (I understand that the other driver was wonderful also.)

Claudia

about RoatanBestTours. Believe me, you lucked out when Diana had to set you up with another company. Another of the company's drivers got good reviews here. I will keep that info for my next trip there.

It seems the cab companies there all cooperate and help each other. Many are related, like one big family!

Snowey--oops, sorry i called it I-10 instead of I-30. Yes, that's the lake i thought you meant.

My dtr was going to live in T'kana with her future husband. They broke off the engagement. but he still lives (rents) in the house we bought in Texarkana. I'm glad, as enjoying the town and Texas so much, i always want some sort of presence there.

I emailed Victor last night. Did you have to provide a credit card number to reserve the spot?

Did you pay before the tour started or after?

How long is included in the 25.00 rate?

I emailed Victor last night. Did you have to provide a credit card number to reserve the spot?

Did you pay before the tour started or after?

How long is included in the 25.00 rate?

You don't pay anything until the completion of the excursion - and then you just pay them in cash. It's nice because you know your information is safe and that they will provide you top notch service!

We were with our driver from about 11:30 -4pm. They will take you wherever you want to go for as long as you wish and will guarantee to make sure to get you back to the ship on time. You will enjoy! It's $25pp if you have at least a party of four. If you have two people it is $40.