grandmaR

Barbados - Revisiting St. Nicholas Abbey

next is Bequia

I,m not finish yet - Working on Barbados

6 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

Looking forward to your links, thanks! 
From someone who is an amateur genealogist, I truly appreciate your contribution to the gravestones!  I've had people go out in hurricane warnings to get cemetery pics for me so I know how dedicated you all can be.  They really do help so many people that you may never know of! 

Thank you.

The first page of the narrative is on the drive down to the port, but I figured most people on CC would be more interested in the cruise ship stuff.  We stopped on the way down and took about 350 photo in a cemetery in Selma NC which I was working on until we got to St. Barts.  I still have over 100 of those photos to process. 

I generally write a journal when I am on a trip, and when I get home I put pictures to it (I take photos of all the food) and post it on the internet.  We did the Caribbean Connoisseur cruise on the Pacific Princess over Christmas and New Years.  I am halfway through writing up the ports.  We do cemetery documentation - we visit cemeteries and take photos of the gravestones and post them on the internet, so you can skip that part of these posts without missing much.

Checking In and Checking Out the Pacific Princess

Two Days at Sea 

Christmas in St. Barts

Boxing Day in Antigua

Tiny Terre-de-Haut

Five Cemeteries and a Hot Dog in Martinique

All the Hairpin Turns in Tobago

I'm working on Barbados and still have Bequia (The Grenadines), Dominica and Virgin Gorda to do.

On 7/12/2015 at 7:36 PM, srice said:

 Ship : Pacific Princess

 

Class

 

Deck 4

 

Stateroom #4052

 

Category  Ocean View Window

 

Port/Starboard/Bow/Stern - stern port

 

Connects With Cabin #

 

Accessible yes

 

Quiet - sometimes

 

Balcony Size none

 

View yes

 

Privacy Issues no

 

Wind no

 

Soot no

 

Problems: mattress sags in the middle;  No place to put stuff on the sink in the bathroom; no place to hang wet bathing suits; phone does not fit on the bedside table; very little storage.  Small TV screen makes writing (like scores) too small to see

 

Comments: Nice roll in shower with a seat.  Windows were kept washed.  Has a refrigerator

mine worked and I think the new one does too.

I could not find the countdown clock when I searched the website. 

I wanted to do a second one, but the ship I am sailing on is not available (AmaCello) and it is in France which is also not an option.  I tried to do it with another AmaWaterways ship, and the second one would not work. 

I can't find out how to make a new count down timer and I can't figure out how to delete the old one.  It doesn't appear in my signature file.  Every time I click on one I get to the Generic Cruise Critics page where I am encouraged to find a cruise.  I already HAVE a cruise. 

On 8/19/2018 at 9:13 PM, ArtsyChic said:

Can someone help me get a better picture as to the sites and benefits of maybe ya doing a private tour one of the days there. We have done Bermuda in the past for three days and did st. George and the fort, the lighthouse, elbow and horseshoe. My son still speak of the time at the fort to this day. I wonder if all the construction by fort Catherine finished by now with I think new homes or hotel they were building. It was back in July 2017. Where would a private tour take us outside of the above that people have done and would highly recommend?

Appreciate it

The construction at Ft St Catherine was nowhere near done in November 2018.    There are other forts and other lighthouses (other than Gibbs Lighthouse) and other things to see in Bermuda.  There is a fort in Hamilton, there is the lighthouse in St. David, and you can tour the Maritime Museum which is right there at the Dockyard without a guide.  You might like the Caves, and I always go to the BAMZ (Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo) in the Flats. 

The beginning of this blog is a list of the places in Bermuda

The Nine Tribes of Bermuda

You are right that it isn't on an official government website. The one I was looking at said:

Unlike the case when you take metered taxis, the rates for taxi tours do not change even on Sundays or public holidays, or at night. The above rates are excluding gratuity or tips. A 15% tips is appropriate. You can also book a taxi for half-day or full day.

Another website says "An appropriate tip for the driver is 15% of the fare. Don't make the assumption that taxi drivers are making a fortune. They are not. A lot of the drivers are quite old but are still working to make ends meet." I have had a least one guide that died a couple of years after we met him - he was already ailing a little at the time we hired him.

Tipping 15% is a suggestion. I think 15% or more is appropriate but it is not required. If guides add to the government rate some might take that into account, it might be self defeating. Some who are cognizant of the government rate might reduce their tip.

 

 

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The government rate on the website says $$ per hour (depending on the number of passengers) plus %15 tip. So I conclude from that, that the tip should be at least 15% - optional for more, but not optional for less. In some places (outside the USA) people do not regularly tip, so it may be necessary to educate them about what is required.

I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning a deposit on a taxi tour before so I was surprised about that. Some of the private tours not on taxis require 100 per cent prepayment but this is the first I heard of a deposit on a taxi tour. The taxi tour rate of $70 an hour for 5-7 is set by the government. I don’t know if there is a loophole for prearranged tours or the driver is ignoring the regulated rate. Also if the driver takes credit cards and you are paying with a card they add on a fee for that. I have heard of Blue Flag guides charging more than the regulated rate but it seems to me that all you can do on a pre arranged booking is decide not to make the booking. I don’t know of any recourse tourists would have. The other thing you could do is mention they charge more than the government regulated rate if you write a review. So comparing the offers seems to be your best bet.

 

When you think of it in terms of that each person will be paying $70 or $75 for a six hour private guided tour the cost for either guide seems reasonable to me. If the other guide does not require a deposit I would likely pick that guide.

 

 

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The taxi tours and the Blue Flag Guided tours have the same rate now. You can't make a distinction between them.

I think the behavior of cruisers is responsible for guides asking for deposits - I think it is not that uncommon to stiff the drivers or change their minds about taking a guide and not telling the guide. When a guide commits their time to a party, they are there waiting for you and if you don't show up, they have very little recourse.

Thank you all for your information. Yes, I have a party of 6 adults and I am looking at a private tour booking in advance a blue flag taxi recommended guide. I am checking with two and have found a $70 and $75 per hour pricing/vehicle for a tour of 5 to 6 hours, one requires a $200 deposit with $100 nonrefundable in case of cancellation and I am waiting to hear back from the other guide for their deposit policy. If rates are set by the Government, why are they different for the same thing? Anyway, I will compare both offers and take the one that appears to be the best since both guides seem to be highly recommended. I understand a deposit because of the risk they are taking, but I was surprised at the amount. Thank you.

You are supposed to tip them at least 15% and some people don't tip appropriately, so I think some of the guides add a little to account for that. The government rate isn't necessarily enough to allow them to pay for gas etc.

Apparently you can rent a little two passenger electric car at the Hamilton Princess for $85.00/day.

Yeah, that's why I said it depends on how many you have going. I don't think the original poster said how many were going. One other thing Arthur would do is count two children under 12 as one person. So you could have 4 adults and 2 children under 12 for $62.00. Again, his rates may have changed, but I'd definitely recommend him if the original person is looking for a very flexible tour.

Jo

Two children and three adults under that system would be $50/hour plus $10.00 tip (20%) which would be $60/hour. If you had two children and four adults that would be 5 people and it would up the rate to $70/hour, unless it was long enough ago that it was before the rates changed.

This is the official Bermuda information on taxi rates:

While you can take any taxi for a tour, ideally you should look for ones that have blue flags fluttering or a blue flag insignia on their bonnets. Then you know that the taxi driver is also a government certified tour guide of Bermuda. Such taxis are known as Blue Flag Taxis and the drivers are Blue Flag Certified Tour Guides. Their tour rates are the same as any other taxis which is fixed by the government. These taxi drivers usually have a wealth of knowledge about the island. They have successfully gone through the test and certification process of Government of Bermuda.

Update May 2014: The taxi tour rates have been revised effective May 1, 2014. This is the first revision since December 2007. Up to 4 passengers, the rate is now $50 per hour (instead of earlier $40 per hour). For 5 to 7 passengers, the rate is $70 per hour (instead of earlier $55 per hour). Note that if a larger taxi agrees to carry 4 or less passengers for sightseeing tour, they should charge the lower rate (i.e. $50 per hour). This rate is fixed by the Government. The Blue Flag taxis should also charge the same.

Unlike the case when you take metered taxis, the rates for taxi tours do not change even on Sundays or public holidays, or at night. The above rates are excluding gratuity or tips. A 15% tips is appropriate. You can also book a taxi for half-day or full day. But remember that the taxi drivers in Bermuda are all self employed. So they usually work based on their own convenience.

Taxis in Bermuda come in two sizes - the smaller ones can carry up to 4 passengers and the larger ones up to 7 passengers. Taxi tours operate by hourly rate.

Some taxis in Bermuda are wheelchair accessible and are suitable for persons having physical challenges or disability. Taxi drivers in Bermuda are not allowed to charge any extra for the persons with disability. Some of such taxis may be suitable for electrical wheelchairs and some for manual, but usually not for both.

Taxis will wait when you take time to visit an attraction or plan to take your lunch. However this waiting time will count as part of the total time for which you book the taxi. While having lunch or snacks during your tour, you can invite the driver to join you, although it's not necessary. But if you invite him, then a general courtesy would be to pay for his bills.

The taxi tours take place on an hourly rate. You will need to book the taxi minimum for 3 hours. Typically island tours by taxis last for about 4 hours.

While you can get taxis (including Blue Flag Taxis) at the taxi stands like in Dockyard, but it is advisable to book one in advance in case you want to ensure the tour. Blue Flag Taxi drivers are usually busier than the others.

Here are some of the popular taxi tour operators in Bermuda who have been serving the tourists since several years in the island and have made good names for themselves (also read the reviews below):

Millard Lightbourne of Mills Taxi Service

Millard, known as Mills, has over 50 years of experience in the tourism industry. He worked in the 5-Star Elbow Beach Hotel in Paget for 55 years before retiring as the Assistant Chief Engineer. However he has also been a certified Tourist Guide and a driver since many years. Very well behaved, polite and having awesome knowledge of the island and its flora & fauna, Mills is one of the great drivers in the island for taxi tours. Phone: (441) 238 5690; Email: millarda@northrock.bm

Lewis Foggo

He is the owner and operator of Reliable Taxi Services. He has had his taxi license since 1993 and has been driving part time up until 2001, and full time ever since. He specializes in island tours of Bermuda, and also offers services for corporate, weddings, parties and street pick-ups. Lewis is a Bermuda Government certified Blue Flag Tour Guide. Email: lewis_foggo@hotmail.com; Call: 441/704-2109

Access Bermuda (For physically handicapped)

Keith Simmons of Access Bermuda organizes tours and airport pickups for people with disability or special needs. He has a custom built van with side entrance and an attachable ramp to make it easily wheelchair accessible. This purpose built vehicle also has auxiliary services for ventilators and recharging of electric wheelchairs.

He operates several sightseeing tours including a 3 hour east end tours of the island, 3 hour scenic west end tour, and 5 hour full island tour with certified blue flag tour guides. All tours start and end at the Visitors Center near Hamilton Ferry Terminal. On request, he can also organize glass bottom boat tours for the physically challenged. Address: 1 Loyal Hill, Devonshire.

Phone: (441)295-9106; Email: keithsimmons@logic.bm

Bermuda Island Taxi

A popular large taxi service in Bermuda operating for over four decades. While they have a number of taxis which are engaged in transfers between places, they also offer great island tours and have knowledgeable drives who are excellent tour guides. They also have wheelchair accessible taxis. Their main office is in Hamilton City although they have operations in St. George as well.

Phone: (441) 295-4141; Email: info@bermudaislandtaxi.com

I've used Lewis Foggo and have booked him again. But if you browse down on the list of recent posts, you can get recent recommendations

Lewis Foggo has a big van and he was able to take my scooter in it, but my scooter folds up and I was able to climb into the van on my own. I don't know if his van will take 5 or not. Lewis Foggo <lewis_foggo@hotmail.com>

Shopping in the Queen Victoria Building There is an Art Museum, the Maritime Museum and there is also the Australian Museum. If you are going to dive or snorkel later, the Aquarium.

We are doing an NCL cruise, so we have a day in Kona. Can you please tell me what you love and what you would recommend. Since we have 6 back to back port days, I don't want to overdo it on the Kona day since we will be doing the Volcanoes and a bunch of walking on the Hilo day.

I don't go until Feb 2019, so if you think of anything else after your cruise, I would love to hear about it.

I was in Kona on NCL and I have restricted mobility and not a lot of energy. I did the Seahorse farm (which was fascinating) and then in the afternoon my grandson and I did a outrigger canoe ride which was fun for him but did require that we wade out to the boat to get on. So you might not want to do that one.

In Hilo we did the Circle of Fire Helicopter tour and the bus tour to Volcano National Park. When we were there on Princess we did the progressive brunch

https://grandmahawaii.travellerspoint.com/18/

It is too bad we cannot talk specifics about TAs on here.

I do not have any local person I know who specializes in cruises.

 

Why do you want someone local? My first agent lived in California - the one I use now lives in Texas I live in Maryland

PS - I do not use Trip Advisor since what they did to VirtualTourist. I am now using Travellerspoint and TravBuddy

I booked with the TA. She consistently gets me the best price but I still do all my pre-boarding stuff on the Princess site.

I do the same. A travel agent can't do the pre-boarding information unless they also have your passport number and expiration and know your credit card number that you want to use on the ship (not always the same as the one that you purchased the cruise with) and also know what excursions you want to take.

I found my current travel agent back when there were newsgroups -text based internet groups and also travel groups on AOL. One of the ones I used was rec.travel.cruises. I found not only cruise specialist travel agents, but also information on guides at different ports.

I started out with putting a cruise out for bids on the internet (back in 2004) and booking with the agent who could give me the best deal. (I don't know if that is possible anymore.) I stopped doing this when I booked a cruise and then decided to do a b2b. My husband agreed to this as long as we would not have to move so I went to a lot of trouble to get the same cabin on both trips. But the cruise ship upgraded me for the first part of the cruise. My travel agent hadn't said anything to me about it, and the check-in desk people said it was my fault for not checking. It was at that point that I stopped trying to get the cheapest rate and decided to use someone who would pay attention to what it was that I wanted.

using this logic, then inside (working for Princess) vacation planners work for free? that's ridiculous..

But they are working for the company and not for you. There's no personal relationship and you don't get to go to a specific one and complain if they screw up. I've been told absolutely wrong information by the vacation planner. I am thinking that those people do not have much training and are not equipped to deal with any unusual situation.

There are a lot of people working for the cruise lines that work on commission (the photographers, and the spa people on the ships for instance). Just because they work on commission does not make them better (or worse) than an outside TA, but they have less accountability

From my understanding, this is not true. I've always heard the cruise lines are happy to have you book with a TA. In the long run it's cost effective since the TA is handling all the administrative tasks that would otherwise be the cruise lines responsibility.

 

As far as the pros and cons of booking with a TA, I think it simply depends on your choice of TA. I would venture to guess that you are more likely to be working with a less experienced TA if you patronize the big box store travel departments or the large well known web based travel companies. My TA is self employed, does very high volume, is an extremely experienced cruiser, absolutely "knows her stuff" and always provides significant savings over the Princess website pricing. In addition, I've never had an issue taking advantage of better pricing or promotions after the initial booking.

 

This has been my experience. :)

My travel agent that I used from 2008 to 2016 was not only able to get me great rates on the cruises but was also able to book hotels (in foreign countries - I book the US hotels myself) where I could not find any availability. He was self employed. Unfortunately he died unexpectedly in 2016 (cancer). My last cruise was a group cruise with another agent that I always had my eye on to use but in 2008 he was not doing Europe. This group cruise had over 30 rooms booked, and we got a number of savings and perks and this included getting everything we had originally booked including the original cabins after Princess changed the date on the cruise from the 29th of October to the 25th of October.

I don't know whether cruise lines are 'happy' to have you book with a TA or not. I do know that they don't rebate you any money that they do not have to pay in travel agent commission. So it is no cheaper to book direct - it is the one place where it still pays to use a travel agent.