Experiences with Welcome Tours?

[skittlebug83]

Its ranked number 3 on the tours page of Tripadvisor, but Im not seeing any posts about them on here.

 

Does anyone have experience with this company?

 

Thanks in advance.

[burnsis]

if you mean Welcome Tours with Beulah, this was our recent experience:

 

We just returned from our cruise. After reading the reviews on Beulah, we decided to go with her, thinking it would be great.

 

It was quite disappointing, to say the least. We emailed in advance, and were quoted 30.00 a person.

 

When we arrived, we were told the tour would start at 930. However, she was so busy trying to get other sales to fill the van that we were rushed away and told to go looking in the stores(but not to buy anything yet b/c prices get better in the afternoon, which they did not). She said to give her 20 minutes to try to fill the van, and she was quite pushy and rude toward our elderly driver, in order to get more sales. We ended up waiting nearly an hour for the tour to start, and then she came to get money, and left again. She did not come with us on the tour, as expected.

 

Finally, we were sent off with the taxi driver, and he went to pick up our cheap drinks, which we had to pay for(all other tours on other islands include drinks in the van). Then he remembered that he forgot to leave a drink for Beulah, and had to drive it back to her. We thought we could now start the tour, and then he got a call from Beulah that she had more people to go in our van. We had to go back yet again, and pick those people up. So nearly 1.5 hours of time wasted there.

 

We then drove very slowly around in a hot van, and stopped at the batik store(all drivers have to stay there a min of 30 mins). We were then taken back to the other side of the island and got some photos with a nice view...probably the highlight of the tour. We were offered to go to the beach at Frigate Bay or back to the ship. We opted for the beach as we hadn't seen much yet, and were directed toward a restaurant on the beach, a friend of Beulah's. The food was not good, flies everywhere such that we couldn't finish the food, even if we had wanted to. The water was dark, and the bottom full of rocks.

 

It was not the tour we had hoped for, but we did not have the heart to tell the elderly man this, b/c he had endured so much harassment at the port. And now I am reading that others paid only 10.00 for the same tour, while we paid 30.00 each.

 

I would advise you to book with one of the many people at the port ready to go, for cheap. Do not book with Beulah, and do not book anything in advance....there were so many nice people there offering tours. We regret waiting so long for nothing, and overpaying.

[skittlebug83]

Thanks for sharing your experience. We will probably take your advice and play it by ear once we get to the port.

[TravlGrl]

I'm so disappointed to hear this! Several of us on our roll call are signed up with Welcome Tours in a couple of weeks. I'll post our experience afterward, and my hope is that since we already have a group put together that we shouldn't have any waiting around. I think we have 8 people on the Full Island Tour and another 8 people on the Highlights A Tour in St. Kitts.

 

Burnsis -- How big is the van that she was trying to fill? Do you think we'll fill a van with the numbers we have? Beulah's already told us that we may not have HER on our tour, but an associate from Welcome Tours. Also, which specific tour were you signed up for?

[kkorman]

I'm so disappointed to hear this! Several of us on our roll call are signed up with Welcome Tours in a couple of weeks. I'll post our experience afterward, and my hope is that since we already have a group put together that we shouldn't have any waiting around. I think we have 8 people on the Full Island Tour and another 8 people on the Highlights A Tour in St. Kitts.

 

Burnsis -- How big is the van that she was trying to fill? Do you think we'll fill a van with the numbers we have? Beulah's already told us that we may not have HER on our tour, but an associate from Welcome Tours. Also, which specific tour were you signed up for?

 

Did you look at Royston or Javin at my island?

[TravlGrl]

Did you look at Royston or Javin at my island?

 

Oh, you know me, Kevin. I did the research months ago and checked out Royston, Javin and Thenford. A leader on our roll call had found Beulah from Welcome Tours on some other roll calls, where she had received praise. Since a group was being formed, we jumped on board. I'm thinking that because we have a group, we shouldn't have any waiting around for others. Nevertheless, you KNOW I will report back -- good or bad! :)

Edited January 31, 2012 by TravlGrl

[Whasup]

Tara,

I checked her out on TripAdvsor and most posts that raved about her were 1st time posters, that I always take with a grain of salt..........makes ya wonder if they are authentic.:confused:

[TravlGrl]

Tara,

I checked her out on TripAdvsor and most posts that raved about her were 1st time posters, that I always take with a grain of salt..........makes ya wonder if they are authentic.:confused:

 

I'm not worried about it at all. I emailed her after I responded to this thread and directly asked her about the negative review here on CC. Here is what she said --

 

Let me now clarify the position re the your questions about us.

1 woman has given us a poor review not groups as mention (against 45 who has given us excellent reviews, the basis on which Becky, the first person to come forward and set in motion the demand for this tour.The complainant comment were not factual, but she has voiced her opinion which she is entitled to, she on purpose or otherwise confused two entirely different tours, the Lunchtime Special which sell for $10/12 with the Highlights tour which sells for $30 (the cheapest price among my competitors) to try and make her point. The $10 tour we try and get as many people, otherwise it not cost effective and the people who take this tour fully understand this that we cant go with 4 but will go with 8-10 we pay $8 a gallon for gas here!! .

 

You will not have to wait around as you are booked and get an entirely different kind of service and attention from those who choose to encounter the taxi frenzy that unfortunately exist, and get who they happen to encounter, good, bad or indifferent, but of course,as a travel agent that is not the kind of experience you and the others who have booked are after, professional, safe, responsible and knowledgeable hands are what we offer. Those who manage to encounter me later in the day and get a fabulous 1hour tour from me are blown away by this, but I feel that this is the exception not the norm. I hope I have clarified things for you.

 

Looking forward to meeting you,

and the rest group soon for a wonderful day here with us!

 

Beulah

It's apples and oranges to me. We have a pre-planned tour with two groups of 8 people each paying $30+ for fairly extensive tours -- not the $10 lunchtime tours that need a full van to operate.

 

I also checked her out on TripAdvisor and happy to see Senior Contributors who gave her the thumbs up as well. I was hoping Burnsis could clarify their negative review. I was truly interested in more information, but instead, they've made 5 identical posts (the ONLY posts on CC Burnsis has made) slamming her. They have just cut and pasted the same review 5 times on CC...and haven't come back. Anyway, I'm not worried about it. Becky and I both have communicated with Beulah multiple times over the past few months and feel very comfortable with her. Just sad Becky and Bob won't be able to join after all.

Edited February 4, 2012 by TravlGrl

[TravlGrl]

Just got back from our cruise today and am looping back to give a quick recap of our tour with Welcome Tours (Beulah Mills), http://tourstkittsandnevis.com/?page_id=2 -- especially since Burnsis (an apparent troll) typed such disparaging remarks and has never bothered to return to actually engage in a dialogue or answer any clarifying questions.

 

There were 8 of us from our roll call who chose the Full Island Tour and another 8-10 from our roll call who chose the Highlights Tour. I was one of the people on the Full Island Tour. We drove around the ENTIRE island (68 miles), led by York, our driver. I think he may have been a native of the island but I'm not positive. We stopped at Romney Manor, the Batik Factory, the Wingfield Estate, Palms Court Garden (for only $10/pp you can use this house/resort all day -- infinity pool, lounge chairs, amid a tranquil setting up on the hill overlooking the ship down below -- this is what we'll do next time since we've now had the full island tour!), saw the black beaches and lava rocks, heard the history of Basseterre, and stopped at the Ottley Plantation. If I were to do it all over again, I would plan to have lunch at the Ottley Plantation as we were only there for 20 minutes. If we had planned for lunch advance, we could have stayed there for an hour.

 

The entire full island tour only cost us $38/pp, which is what we had agreed upon in advance. Beulah greeted us at the end of the tour and thanked us each with hugs, the same way she greeted us at the start of the tour. Note that if you have less than 4 people in your group, you might be waiting for the van to fill. It's best to put your group together in advance and you'll be on your way!

Edited February 18, 2012 by TravlGrl

[ewg963]

Its ranked number 3 on the tours page of Tripadvisor, but Im not seeing any posts about them on here.

 

Does anyone have experience with this company?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Yes I do skittlebug83.!!! I had the experience of touring with Welcome tours (2 times) in November 21, 2009 and on March 16, 2012. The first one was the 1 hour (which closer to 2 hours) with Beulah and Everton Delaney. I was sold!! What a bang for the buck!! :) I promised myself if I returned that I would take the full island tour. I'm glad I did!!! On second tour two people in my group chose to opt out at the last minute (their lost!! :D). At first I thought that I would be getting Everton on this tour again... wrong!!! I honestly was disappointed at that point. I did ask Beulah why Everton wasn't on this tour. She replied I have the perfect man for this tour and his name is Edmund better known as "York". York seemed very quiet as first and I'm thinking "Oh boy!!!. I'm happy to say that my initial disappointment soon faded as the key hit the ignition. York revved into action as his passion for the island and it's rich history shone through his voice. If you're thinking that this one of the typical tours where get a guide who speaks in montones guess again you're wrong!!! Edmund kept the group engaged by asking trivial questions throughout the tour of American, Canadian, European and of course St. Kitts/Nevis history!!! The man's scope of knowledge was amazing he missed his calling as a world history teacher!!! At first to be honest the group thought York was overbearing but they soon realized York was very passionate and they warmed up to him. Our stops on the island was the Palm Court Gardens, The Romney Manor, The Black Rocks, Ottley's Plantatation Inn, and the beach and a few other stops. Edmund allowed me to take many pictures while on the tour. He was very courteous and gracious. I also would like to state that vans was very clean and COOL:)!! The tour had plenty of stops for bathroom breaks :) that's very much a plus for our group. For under $40 you can't go wrong!!! I will be coming back to St. Kitts again for 3rd time and Welcome Tours will be the tour w/York or Everton Delaney that I will chose again!! I hope this helps skittlebug83:)

Edited April 12, 2012 by ewg963
adding information

[ewg963]

Just got back from our cruise today and am looping back to give a quick recap of our tour with Welcome Tours (Beulah Mills), http://tourstkittsandnevis.com/?page_id=2 -- especially since Burnsis (an apparent troll) typed such disparaging remarks and has never bothered to return to actually engage in a dialogue or answer any clarifying questions.

 

There were 8 of us from our roll call who chose the Full Island Tour and another 8-10 from our roll call who chose the Highlights Tour. I was one of the people on the Full Island Tour. We drove around the ENTIRE island (68 miles), led by York, our driver. I think he may have been a native of the island but I'm not positive. We stopped at Romney Manor, the Batik Factory, the Wingfield Estate, Palms Court Garden (for only $10/pp you can use this house/resort all day -- infinity pool, lounge chairs, amid a tranquil setting up on the hill overlooking the ship down below -- this is what we'll do next time since we've now had the full island tour!), saw the black beaches and lava rocks, heard the history of Basseterre, and stopped at the Ottley Plantation. If I were to do it all over again, I would plan to have lunch at the Ottley Plantation as we were only there for 20 minutes. If we had planned for lunch advance, we could have stayed there for an hour.

 

The entire full island tour only cost us $38/pp, which is what we had agreed upon in advance. Beulah greeted us at the end of the tour and thanked us each with hugs, the same way she greeted us at the start of the tour. Note that if you have less than 4 people in your group, you might be waiting for the van to fill. It's best to put your group together in advance and you'll be on your way!

 

I agree this Burnsis is a troll:mad:

[chismrules]

What did you do on the 1 hour tour, we(my kids) are not interested in the fort etc. just want to see some pretty views, rocks, beach etc. Thanks

[ewg963]

What did you do on the 1 hour tour, we(my kids) are not interested in the fort etc. just want to see some pretty views, rocks, beach etc. Thanks

Hi chismrules,

 

It was a tour of the city and the surrounding area which included the old sugar factory, the fire station, the governor's mansion and it was $10 in 2009. Beaulah took the group up to a high point of the island where there was some breath taking views...great for photography. Also during the during gave history of the island. I found Beulah to be very honest and not pushy which was a plus for me. That why I sought her out again on my return trip to the island. I will use here again I when return for the 3rd time. I would like to add Beulah allowed me to get out of van (where it was safe) to take some pictures several time the during the hour tour. This island is rich in history I hope this helps chismrules!!!! :)

Edited April 14, 2012 by ewg963

[ewg963]

if you mean Welcome Tours with Beulah, this was our recent experience:

 

We just returned from our cruise. After reading the reviews on Beulah, we decided to go with her, thinking it would be great.

 

It was quite disappointing, to say the least. We emailed in advance, and were quoted 30.00 a person.

 

When we arrived, we were told the tour would start at 930. However, she was so busy trying to get other sales to fill the van that we were rushed away and told to go looking in the stores(but not to buy anything yet b/c prices get better in the afternoon, which they did not). She said to give her 20 minutes to try to fill the van, and she was quite pushy and rude toward our elderly driver, in order to get more sales. We ended up waiting nearly an hour for the tour to start, and then she came to get money, and left again. She did not come with us on the tour, as expected.

 

Finally, we were sent off with the taxi driver, and he went to pick up our cheap drinks, which we had to pay for(all other tours on other islands include drinks in the van). Then he remembered that he forgot to leave a drink for Beulah, and had to drive it back to her. We thought we could now start the tour, and then he got a call from Beulah that she had more people to go in our van. We had to go back yet again, and pick those people up. So nearly 1.5 hours of time wasted there.

 

We then drove very slowly around in a hot van, and stopped at the batik store(all drivers have to stay there a min of 30 mins). We were then taken back to the other side of the island and got some photos with a nice view...probably the highlight of the tour. We were offered to go to the beach at Frigate Bay or back to the ship. We opted for the beach as we hadn't seen much yet, and were directed toward a restaurant on the beach, a friend of Beulah's. The food was not good, flies everywhere such that we couldn't finish the food, even if we had wanted to. The water was dark, and the bottom full of rocks.

 

It was not the tour we had hoped for, but we did not have the heart to tell the elderly man this, b/c he had endured so much harassment at the port. And now I am reading that others paid only 10.00 for the same tour, while we paid 30.00 each.

 

I would advise you to book with one of the many people at the port ready to go, for cheap. Do not book with Beulah, and do not book anything in advance....there were so many nice people there offering tours. We regret waiting so long for nothing, and overpaying.

 

First of all the vans are clean and cool. We also stopped on the black rock area to eat and no there was no flies on the food there. I found Beaulah to be very polite. The $10 price you stated the other people payed on your tour will not get to you to the Black Rock area. Please be factual when posting reviews because I find your statements here lack credibilty!! Although I cannot speak on your experience at Frigate Bay. I've done two tours with Welcome Tours and I've experienced nothing but honesty with Beulah yes of course she is a salesperson. I'm looking forward to doing number 3 when I return!!

[darcien007]

Just got back from our cruise today and am looping back to give a quick recap of our tour with Welcome Tours (Beulah Mills), http://tourstkittsandnevis.com/?page_id=2 -- especially since Burnsis (an apparent troll) typed such disparaging remarks and has never bothered to return to actually engage in a dialogue or answer any clarifying questions.

 

There were 8 of us from our roll call who chose the Full Island Tour and another 8-10 from our roll call who chose the Highlights Tour. I was one of the people on the Full Island Tour. We drove around the ENTIRE island (68 miles), led by York, our driver. I think he may have been a native of the island but I'm not positive. We stopped at Romney Manor, the Batik Factory, the Wingfield Estate, Palms Court Garden (for only $10/pp you can use this house/resort all day -- infinity pool, lounge chairs, amid a tranquil setting up on the hill overlooking the ship down below -- this is what we'll do next time since we've now had the full island tour!), saw the black beaches and lava rocks, heard the history of Basseterre, and stopped at the Ottley Plantation. If I were to do it all over again, I would plan to have lunch at the Ottley Plantation as we were only there for 20 minutes. If we had planned for lunch advance, we could have stayed there for an hour.

 

The entire full island tour only cost us $38/pp, which is what we had agreed upon in advance. Beulah greeted us at the end of the tour and thanked us each with hugs, the same way she greeted us at the start of the tour. Note that if you have less than 4 people in your group, you might be waiting for the van to fill. It's best to put your group together in advance and you'll be on your way!

 

Hi Tara,

Thank you for the review! I also am thinking of using Welcome tours on our cruise in Sept. I also really want to spend part of the day at Palm Court Gardens as this cruise is so port intensive we may want to do nothing but sit at a pool time. I know she has custom tours that would include this. I also know PCG is withing walking distance from the port so could save some money. If we do use her she would take us to PCG and then to a beach of our choice later in the day. Can you recomend a beach to go to that day? I am thinking that for 38.00 each with Beulah (116.00) this may be more than the ten dollars each at PCG and still be cheaper to taxi to a beach.

Thanks for your help!

[TravlGrl]

Hi Tara,

Thank you for the review! I also am thinking of using Welcome tours on our cruise in Sept. I also really want to spend part of the day at Palm Court Gardens as this cruise is so port intensive we may want to do nothing but sit at a pool time. I know she has custom tours that would include this. I also know PCG is withing walking distance from the port so could save some money. If we do use her she would take us to PCG and then to a beach of our choice later in the day. Can you recomend a beach to go to that day? I am thinking that for 38.00 each with Beulah (116.00) this may be more than the ten dollars each at PCG and still be cheaper to taxi to a beach.

Thanks for your help!

 

Good friends of ours plus a couple who was on our roll call all recommend Frigate Bay. There is an area there (sure wish I could remember) that is away from the more crowded section of Frigate Bay, and the pricing is cheaper in this particular area (for the lounge chairs and umbrella). I bet you could do a search of Frigate Bay on here and perhaps someone will mention which area is less spendy. I also know of Cockleshell Beach, but from what I've read, it gets really crowded there. Have fun! We really, really enjoyed St. Kitts!

[caribhasher]

PCG is approx. a 15 min easy walk from Port Zante or 16 US return for 4. It is 24US return for 4 to Frigate Bay. Usually the taxi driver drops you at the Timothy Beach end of Frigate Bay. It is the least crowded and is the nearest to the port. It is not as popular as South Friar's or Cockelshell with the taxi drivers but it is still a good beach.

[jankie]

if you mean Welcome Tours with Beulah, this was our recent experience:

 

We just returned from our cruise. After reading the reviews on Beulah, we decided to go with her, thinking it would be great.

 

It was quite disappointing, to say the least. We emailed in advance, and were quoted 30.00 a person.

 

When we arrived, we were told the tour would start at 930. However, she was so busy trying to get other sales to fill the van that we were rushed away and told to go looking in the stores(but not to buy anything yet b/c prices get better in the afternoon, which they did not). She said to give her 20 minutes to try to fill the van, and she was quite pushy and rude toward our elderly driver, in order to get more sales. We ended up waiting nearly an hour for the tour to start, and then she came to get money, and left again. She did not come with us on the tour, as expected.

 

Finally, we were sent off with the taxi driver, and he went to pick up our cheap drinks, which we had to pay for(all other tours on other islands include drinks in the van). Then he remembered that he forgot to leave a drink for Beulah, and had to drive it back to her. We thought we could now start the tour, and then he got a call from Beulah that she had more people to go in our van. We had to go back yet again, and pick those people up. So nearly 1.5 hours of time wasted there.

 

We then drove very slowly around in a hot van, and stopped at the batik store(all drivers have to stay there a min of 30 mins). We were then taken back to the other side of the island and got some photos with a nice view...probably the highlight of the tour. We were offered to go to the beach at Frigate Bay or back to the ship. We opted for the beach as we hadn't seen much yet, and were directed toward a restaurant on the beach, a friend of Beulah's. The food was not good, flies everywhere such that we couldn't finish the food, even if we had wanted to. The water was dark, and the bottom full of rocks.

 

It was not the tour we had hoped for, but we did not have the heart to tell the elderly man this, b/c he had endured so much harassment at the port. And now I am reading that others paid only 10.00 for the same tour, while we paid 30.00 each.

 

I would advise you to book with one of the many people at the port ready to go, for cheap. Do not book with Beulah, and do not book anything in advance....there were so many nice people there offering tours. We regret waiting so long for nothing, and overpaying.

This has been my experience on many different Caribbean islands:

 

the first people to book with a particular tour/taxi or van or boat pay the most. As they try to fill up seats they will bargain with people. Sometimes if I know I paid more, I will not leave a tip unless the tour was Excellent!! I hate the waiting too - one time I told the other people in the van that we would leave if they did not take off in 10 min (after already waiting a long time).