Royston vs Thenford Grey Tours

Going to St. Kitts in May and using Royston . . . looking forward it despite the unfortunate experience above. I am down for a little adventure.

Being that my wife is from the Carribbean if he tries to give her a sandwich instead of Roti on the beach she may cuss him and take it out of his tour rate lol

Thenford Grey was awesome - we were a group of 17 and had a van/bus with plenty of room. The day we were there was the funeral of the former prime minister of st. Kitts so he was dressed in a suit and tie out of respect. His knowledge about the island is incredible. Two of his children live in the states, we had plenty to talk about. All went to college here but one returned to the island. If you closed your eyes you’d swear you were listening to Morgan Freeman. He did a fantastic job.

 

 

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What of the Thenford Grey tours did you do there are several?

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What of the Thenford Grey tours did you do there are several?

 

 

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we did the Grand Tour it was around 5 hours. No beach time.

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We toured with Royston on December 26, 2017. I feel I need to contribute a head's up that our experience was a bit different than others have had. Ya know how when you read TripAdvisor reviews and there's the one really detailed bad one amid all the upbeat ones, and you think that poster must just be cranky? I wish I had paid a bit more attention to the one poster.

 

We had booked ahead of time for our party of three, and agreed to pay a nominal fee for 3 other seats so we could have a private tour. We like to get really in depth in our touring, asking tons of questions and pausing at interesting parts, and we didn't want to bore another party who might have ended up riding with us. Royston met us right on time and started driving us around the island. So far so good.

 

The van is really in bad shape. The windshield is cracked, the sliding door doesn't latch well, there were holes in the floor. It was fine, and certainly added character to the tour, but not particularly comfortable. There were several quick hard rainstorms through the day that made the lack of windows a bit unpleasant. If we hadn't brought raincoats, we would have been soaked through for the rest of the trip. The island is beautiful.

 

We got plenty of time to look at things, because Royston would pull up to a ledge and pause for long moments, lost in reverie. I assume he was giving us more than enough time to take pictures, but it was also kind of weird. There were occasional monologues about colors only he could see. In fact, we were treated to a few repeated themes of monologue as we went along. One about the students at the vet school being drunks and unChristian. Another about St. Kitts avoiding the recent hurricanes because it is a Christian island, while St. Martin deserved its damage because they have casinos and don't pray. And then the colors. Lots about the special colors only Royston could see.

 

There was a cooler in the van with a variety of drinks, which we appreciated. When I asked about lunch, around 11ish, trying to plan ahead, Royston replied that he would have to see what he could do. To be fair, this was Boxing Day and a lot of places were closed. But surely that was not a surprise? Doesn't it happen every year? Nonetheless, we toured for several more hours, with no food in sight, when finally we ended up at the Fort, which has a junky little tourist grill. By this time, it was around 2 and everyone's blood sugar was low. When I asked if there was a plan for lunch, Royston replied that he had hoped to see people grilling in the picnic area but there weren't any. So we got really bad sandwiches from the grill and made do. Royston did pay for these, as lunch was advertised as included, but as he did he commented that he didn't need food anymore, so he forgot other people did. A far cry from roti prepared on the beach!

 

We continued our tour. We saw wonderful things. St. Kitts is so beautiful. Also, kind of big for a day tour. We began to encourage Royston to wrap it up, so we could get back on time. He did not have watch or a phone to keep track of time. At this point, we were still having fun, although glad we had not laid out a ton of money. We figured it was weird but basically good. Some of the drop-offs made me a little nervous, as the van edged right along them, but all part of the adventure, right?

 

And then, the last 45 minutes: we were quzzed about our own religious beliefs, specifcally what our beliefs required of us in order to get into heaven. Once we had answered, I guess correctly, Royston felt safe to launch into his own spiritual journey, including exactly what it feels like when God comes to talk to him, what Jesus really looks like, why he was kicked out of his own church after he confronted them about using the wrong calendar since Rome and the Pagans conspired to destroy the real calendar system in the beginning (??), and who exactly the antiChrist is, and Royston's proof of this. Also, how helpful YouTube has been in interpreting all the numbers God has confided to Royston in dreams, so that he is in the process of calculating when precicely the world will end. Spoiler alert: he's narrowed it down to 2040 but still iffy on the exact day. This might sound quirky and funny, but delivered in a rundown van on the edge of a cliff, from someone who clearly wasn't joking, it bordered on scary. Like he might save us all the trouble of waiting until 2040 and just take us over the cliff now. At the very least, it was not a pleasant way to end a tour.

 

Fortunately, we did arrive back in town without the world ending. It was a funny story to tell our friends at dinner. But I wouldn't want to repeat the day. We decided that both the great reviews and the few completely negative ones are accurrate. I think Royston must take medication for whatever mental condition he has, and this allows him to focus and function the majority of the time. Unfortunately, he must have literally gone "off his meds" for the holidays, and we got the unfiltered version. My husband kept asking me, "and everyone on cruise critic loves this guy????" So I felt obligated to comment. In fact, I would have started a new thread, with a title along the lines of "Warning!" but I read the posting rules and that would seem a violation.

 

If anyone tours with him in the next couple of months, I hope you'll come back and comment. I'd love to hear that he's settled down because I'm not so sure how sustainable the current level of nuts will be. (On the other hand, I suppose he really could be hearing from above, and come 2040 I'll wish I'd paid more attention.)

I’m laughing a little bit, we took the tour in 2015 and we got the same thing. We were a group of four who are not very religious paired with another couple who was very religious, after a while we felt a little shunned. No complaints though, we enjoyed the day and since it was his Sabbath he wouldn’t accept any money from us. We paid any fees for entry and our lunch, but that was it.

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We did the Grand Tour. The fortress was awesome. The batik store was interesting. We chose to go to South friars beach because they rent paddle boards. It was pretty cool - not very busy. Hammocks in the shade and chairs in the sun by the water. Great little outdoor restaurant - very slow service but good food and drinks. If you plan to eat, order as soon as you get there!

What of the Thenford Grey tours did you do there are several?

 

 

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Going to St. Kitts in May and using Royston . . . looking forward it despite the unfortunate experience above. I am down for a little adventure.

 

Being that my wife is from the Carribbean if he tries to give her a sandwich instead of Roti on the beach she may cuss him and take it out of his tour rate lol

In November we toured with Royston. He ordered our food well ahead of time from an off the beaten path place (without prompting from us). He wanted to give the ladies plenty of time to prepare the food for the 5 of us (4 plus Royston). I just wanted to let you know that it was not Roti. It was a choice of chicken or saltfish (there may have been another option also). It was served with a couple of side items and we ate while at the Fortress. We had no complaints, but if you are expecting Roti you may want to let him know that is what you would like. ;)

In November we toured with Royston. He ordered our food well ahead of time from an off the beaten path place (without prompting from us). He wanted to give the ladies plenty of time to prepare the food for the 5 of us (4 plus Royston). I just wanted to let you know that it was not Roti. It was a choice of chicken or saltfish (there may have been another option also). It was served with a couple of side items and we ate while at the Fortress. We had no complaints, but if you are expecting Roti you may want to let him know that is what you would like. ;)

Thank you for the heads up . . Just something that isn't a sandwich will do. No worries, will get on him a bit for kicks and giggles if lunch isn't up to par.

We toured with Royston on December 26, 2017. I feel I need to contribute a head's up that our experience was a bit different than others have had. Ya know how when you read TripAdvisor reviews and there's the one really detailed bad one amid all the upbeat ones, and you think that poster must just be cranky? I wish I had paid a bit more attention to the one poster.

 

We had booked ahead of time for our party of three, and agreed to pay a nominal fee for 3 other seats so we could have a private tour. We like to get really in depth in our touring, asking tons of questions and pausing at interesting parts, and we didn't want to bore another party who might have ended up riding with us. Royston met us right on time and started driving us around the island. So far so good.

 

The van is really in bad shape. The windshield is cracked, the sliding door doesn't latch well, there were holes in the floor. It was fine, and certainly added character to the tour, but not particularly comfortable. There were several quick hard rainstorms through the day that made the lack of windows a bit unpleasant. If we hadn't brought raincoats, we would have been soaked through for the rest of the trip. The island is beautiful.

 

We got plenty of time to look at things, because Royston would pull up to a ledge and pause for long moments, lost in reverie. I assume he was giving us more than enough time to take pictures, but it was also kind of weird. There were occasional monologues about colors only he could see. In fact, we were treated to a few repeated themes of monologue as we went along. One about the students at the vet school being drunks and unChristian. Another about St. Kitts avoiding the recent hurricanes because it is a Christian island, while St. Martin deserved its damage because they have casinos and don't pray. And then the colors. Lots about the special colors only Royston could see.

 

There was a cooler in the van with a variety of drinks, which we appreciated. When I asked about lunch, around 11ish, trying to plan ahead, Royston replied that he would have to see what he could do. To be fair, this was Boxing Day and a lot of places were closed. But surely that was not a surprise? Doesn't it happen every year? Nonetheless, we toured for several more hours, with no food in sight, when finally we ended up at the Fort, which has a junky little tourist grill. By this time, it was around 2 and everyone's blood sugar was low. When I asked if there was a plan for lunch, Royston replied that he had hoped to see people grilling in the picnic area but there weren't any. So we got really bad sandwiches from the grill and made do. Royston did pay for these, as lunch was advertised as included, but as he did he commented that he didn't need food anymore, so he forgot other people did. A far cry from roti prepared on the beach!

 

We continued our tour. We saw wonderful things. St. Kitts is so beautiful. Also, kind of big for a day tour. We began to encourage Royston to wrap it up, so we could get back on time. He did not have watch or a phone to keep track of time. At this point, we were still having fun, although glad we had not laid out a ton of money. We figured it was weird but basically good. Some of the drop-offs made me a little nervous, as the van edged right along them, but all part of the adventure, right?

 

And then, the last 45 minutes: we were quzzed about our own religious beliefs, specifcally what our beliefs required of us in order to get into heaven. Once we had answered, I guess correctly, Royston felt safe to launch into his own spiritual journey, including exactly what it feels like when God comes to talk to him, what Jesus really looks like, why he was kicked out of his own church after he confronted them about using the wrong calendar since Rome and the Pagans conspired to destroy the real calendar system in the beginning (??), and who exactly the antiChrist is, and Royston's proof of this. Also, how helpful YouTube has been in interpreting all the numbers God has confided to Royston in dreams, so that he is in the process of calculating when precicely the world will end. Spoiler alert: he's narrowed it down to 2040 but still iffy on the exact day. This might sound quirky and funny, but delivered in a rundown van on the edge of a cliff, from someone who clearly wasn't joking, it bordered on scary. Like he might save us all the trouble of waiting until 2040 and just take us over the cliff now. At the very least, it was not a pleasant way to end a tour.

 

Fortunately, we did arrive back in town without the world ending. It was a funny story to tell our friends at dinner. But I wouldn't want to repeat the day. We decided that both the great reviews and the few completely negative ones are accurrate. I think Royston must take medication for whatever mental condition he has, and this allows him to focus and function the majority of the time. Unfortunately, he must have literally gone "off his meds" for the holidays, and we got the unfiltered version. My husband kept asking me, "and everyone on cruise critic loves this guy????" So I felt obligated to comment. In fact, I would have started a new thread, with a title along the lines of "Warning!" but I read the posting rules and that would seem a violation.

 

If anyone tours with him in the next couple of months, I hope you'll come back and comment. I'd love to hear that he's settled down because I'm not so sure how sustainable the current level of nuts will be. (On the other hand, I suppose he really could be hearing from above, and come 2040 I'll wish I'd paid more attention.)

I am so sorry to hear of your experience ... and I am also sorry that I am cracking up at your expense. What an entertaining review to read! I can just imagine all the "W ... T ... F" looks being exchanged in that van that day. We're heading to St. Kitts later this year on a cruise, and if it were just my husband and me, we'd jump on this adventure of a lifetime immediately (and I'd read up on various religions beforehand to prepare myself). But, since we're traveling with kids, I'd rather not subject them to our careening down non-roads while the driver / guide is spouting off about who's going to heaven and who is not.

I hope the rest of your vacation went well ... and not as nerve-racking!