MANDOO - Did you leave credit card # to hold res?

Tempted to book a tour with Mandoo out of Grenada, but he wanted a credit card # to hold a reservation. Guess I could ask him what would happen if we had to cancel due to a change of itinerary. Anybody else book with Mandoo? How was your reservation handled?

Thanks much!

Caroline

Caroline,

I had booked my reservation with Mandoo for 11/04 about two months ago (pre-hurricane) and he did not request any credit card info. I wonder if he just wants to get more info since hurricane. I can only imagine that many cruisers are canceling their tour in Grenada. By the way, which tour are you planning with Mandoo?

I'm not going on this trip. I'm searching for tours for my mom and brother. They will be on the Empress of the Seas in January. I e-mailed Mandoo prior to the hurricane. He stated he needed a credit card to hold the reservation. Leaving a credit card number over the internet makes me a bit nervous.

Caroline

Have never do that before either and would look elsewhere if that was the case... be cautious... not sorry.

I'm not going on this trip. I'm searching for tours for my mom and brother. They will be on the Empress of the Seas in January. I e-mailed Mandoo prior to the hurricane. He stated he needed a credit card to hold the reservation. Leaving a credit card number over the internet makes me a bit nervous.

Caroline

Caroline,

We're on the 1/17 Empress sailing, which one are your parents on? We're booked with Mandoo - booked it long before the hurricanes, and he did ask for a credit card. I spoke with him over the phone (he called me) and gave it to him that way. I also called him once - on my cell phone (Verizon), and it was a very inexpensive call. I wouldn't give my cc over an unsecured site, or via e-mail. We've done this with other tour operators in the past, and never had problems with inappropriate charges. If we had had to cancel the tour because we missed the port, there would be no charge, and this is how Mandoo operates, as well. By the way, a website we've found on the progress of Grenada in recovering indicates Mandoo is open for business and giving tours.

We reserved a tour with Mandoo back in Feburary for this November. He also requested a credit card to reserve the tour. We faxed the information to him and are looking forward to our tour on 11/27.

Carol

I booked pre-hurricane with Mandoo for our 11/20 Constellation cruise. He took the credit card and told me that he puts it on file - but we can pay cash at the time of the tour instead.

I emailed him to find out what our tour will consist of now that the island has suffered such devistation. We were doing the Spice Plantation Tour, but I think the plantations are not in very good shape now. I'm waiting to hear back from him as to what our tour will be.

We did a tour with Mandoo in Sept, just before Ivan stopped by to hammer the island.

I contacted Mandoo via email, and we made the arrangements with 2 other couples, I dont think anyone gave a card number to hold the reservation.

I can understand his requiring a card as security, he mentioned to our group that he had booked a large group previously only to spend 2 hours at the pier waiting for them - they never did show upon docking and he had turned away other passengers anticipating the arrival of his booked folks. They never bothered to advise him of their change in plans. Nice folks.

Considering this is how Mandoo puts food on the table, I support his covering himself in this regard. I'm sure if you did change your plans, and gave Mandoo notice, your card number would be safe and I would not worry a second about getting a charge that wasnt authorized.

On a positive note, our time with Mandoo was the highlight of our cruise, he is a true gentleman and a fine ambassador for the Grenadan people.You wont find a better tour on Grenada.

Bon voyage!

I second everything MacPete says with regard to Mandoo. While he did not ask us for our credit card (nor did he require a penny from us until he got us back to the pier), I can understand how things have now changed. If you take his tour, you will also agree that he gives it his all. He truly cares about his island and it shows! Enjoy

Has anyone toured with Mandoo in the past few weeks? Post Ivan?

I have a tour set up with Mandoo. When I expressed my concern over whether or not we would visit Grenada (Dominica being the alternate) he said that we can pay him when we see him.

If you are feeling insecure about giving that information via e-mail or fax you can divide the information. Send the company and expiry in an e-mail and the number by FAX or visa versa. The chances of someone intercepting both pieces of information are greatly reduced.

I guess this is an appropriate thread in which to ask my Grenada excursion questions...

This will be our first time in Grenada and we're not really sure what to do...We like the safety and ease of ship-sponsored excursions, but are always open to local operators who run first class operations...So, the threads on Mandoo sounded interesting here...

As a comparison, the ship's excursions we are considering are:

Grenada's East Coast - 4 Hours - 37.00 - Drive through St. George's, passing the Government House through St. Paul's and to the parish of St. David's, where you will see plantations of cocoa and spice. East Side of island -visit two villages, Marquis and Soubise then Grenville, then National Park Nature Centre at Grand Etang. Leave crater lake and descend to Annadale... return to St. George's.

Mountain Forest/Grand Etang/Annandale/Fort Frederick - 4 Hours 30 Minutes -39.00 - Travel through St. George's. Up western road to Gouyave, passing through Grand Mal and Happy Hill before arriving at Beausejour Bay- where U.S. frogmen landed during invasion in 1983. Continue thorugh Brizan, Concord, Marigot, and Grand Roy before getting to the Dougladston Spice Estate. Continue over Belvedere Road to Grand Etang Lake, descend to Annandale, continue through Snug Corner, Beaulieu, and Tempe, to Fort Frederick, where you can have a view of the horseshoe shaped harbour of Fort George. Return to St. George's Pier via Lowthers Lane.

Full Day Grenada With Lunch - 6 Hours - 95.00 - Travel through St. George's. Take the western road to Gouyave before arriving at Beausejour Bay, continue through several villages before getting to the Dougaldston Spice Estate. National Park overlooking Grand Etang Lake, continue to Fort Frederick where you will have a view of Fort George, the picturesque city, and Richmond Hills prison. Continues to Point Salines via Grand Anse, for a buffet lunch at the Aquarium Restaurant. After lunch you can relax on the Point Salines Beach for approximately one hour before returning to the St. George's pier.

4 x 4 Adventure - 4 Hours - 74.00 - Drive in the parish of St. George, continue along the scenic east coast, through the island's interior to two of the island's natural wonders. Experience the relaxing warm waters of the sulphur pond. Then the Grand Etang Crater Lake located in one of the island's National Park Reserves.

Forts, Churches and Parliament Building - 3 Hours - 37.00 - Visit Fort Frederick, Fort Matthew and Fort George-a vantage point for sightseers offering a spectacular view of St. George's tile-roofed architecture and picturesque skyline. The churches that you will get a chance to see will be St. George's Roman Catholic church, St. Andrew's Presbyterian and St. George's Anglican Church. You will also visit the Houses of Parliament, also known as York House on Church Street.

I guess the question is...How do Mandoo's tours compare to any of these? In terms of price? Time? What is covered? Does he meet you at the ship?

Is there anyone who's been both on the standard ship excursion and on one of Mandoo's tours who can give a comparison?

We are totally up in the air at this point and have no clue what to do in Grenada (or in Casa de Campo, Antigua or Barbados, for that matter!!!)

Thanls...

Where did you go? How long was the tour? How much you pay?

Thanks :)

I've been reading your interesting posts for quite some time.

My husband and I will be on the Jan 8 Constellation cruise and have booked with Mandoo. He is taking us to Concord falls where we can swim, the spice plantation, Grand Etang Crater Lake and nature walk, and then to Grand Anse Beach before returning to the ship. He says that many of the other sites have not yet been repaired.

If you are on thie same cruise it would be nice to mwwt and compare cruise stories.

Barbara

:) Just off the Golden Princess which visited Grenada on Dec 22nd. Mandoo was waiting just at the exit of the port terminal building with my name on it. Since he was waiting for more parties, he sent us on our way with our driver Patrick. There was a clean restroom at the port (which I suggest you use if you didn't before you left the ship!) Patrick loaded us into the air conditioned van and took us on a tour of St George. You can't really see the hurricaine destruction from the ship, but as we went around St George you could get a sense of how much these people had been through. Many of the homes had no roofs. Many had no walls except for the walls of the bathroom. . .with only the toilet and shower head standing. Even the churches had their roofs torn off. When you look across St George you see a lot of blue roofs. Mostly, these are tarped off roofs. Many homes and businesses did not have electricity. We were taken into the mountains where we saw an entire mountain side of nutmeg trees decimated. Patrick took us to Cocord Falls. We had worn swimsuits under our clothes in case we wanted to swim in the waterfall, but when we got there no one was interested in swimming there. It is very pretty, but I don't know about swimming there. . .The Douglas spice plantation was the highlight of our tour. We met up with Mandoo who gave a wonderful presentation on the spices grown there and we were able to purchase a sampler pack of spices for $2. . .nutmeg, bay leaf, cinnamon and cocoa. There were rest rooms there, as well as a small snack stand to purchase cold soft drinks (no diet) and water. I do need to point out that Mandoo was clearly a better guide. He had taken a number of other people up to the spice plantation. In his presentation, he reiterated some facts about the spice "business" that he had apparently mentioned in his narrative on the way to the plantation. We had not been given the same information from Patrick. So I wonder, if the tour would have been better with Mandoo himself. We were happy with Patrick, . . .just wondered if it would have been different. . .

We were taken to Grand Etang Crater Lake but did not hike down to it due to intermittent showers. We had a couple of people in our group who could not physically do the hike so we just took photos. There were a couple of local women who had dressed in colorful clothing with baskets of native flowers and fruits who would pose for photos for $2 each. They were very nice and friendly, but also very persistant to be paid when unknowing tourists tried to take their photograph without paying.

After the lake, we were taken to Grand Anse beach. . .where once again it was raining. We looked around, took some photos, and then asked to be taken to the pier for the tender back to the ship. Naturally, as soon as we headed back to our ship the sun came out again. All in all, a wonderful trip!

We were picked up by Mandoo at 9 AM and we were heading back to the ship at 1:15 PM. Mandoo charged $40 pp and we didn't have to put down a credit card to reserve.

We would recommend his tour!

Does anyone have the email address for Mandoo he sounds like he may do a good tour in Greenada. Any other ideas for what to do on the Island?

Hi Lineaway,

We always contact Mandoo at, Mandoo <mandoo@grenadatours.com> . He is very professional and prompt when returning email inquiries. We will be taking the Spice Plantation route tour with him on January 9. We'll give you our feedback when we return.

barbels,

We are also on the 1/8 Constelaation sailing and are booked w/Mandoo the same day, perhaps the same tour as he said he had 4 other guests to pick up. I'l be traveling w/ my DH and my parents. Maybe we'll see you on board. Are you signed up for the CC party?

My husband and I had a one day tour with Mandoo October of 2003. He picked us up at the house we were staying at. Took us to all different places. He told us about himself and Grenada's history. It was a great day. He never asked for a credit card and we paid him cash at the end of the day.

Sue