Godfrey Tour 4/5/05

[ericosmith]

I thought I'd take a minute to outline my experience on this tour last week.

 

Godfrey was right on time for our 9:00 pickup. He had a sign with our names on it and we hopped on his truck. We were the first pickup so we moved on to a second ship. At that time we were asked to move to a different truck and he explained that this truck would take us into town and that he would meet us there as he had other pickups yet to make. He also explained how we would have our choice of beaches, etc. He further indicated that the tour would not start until 12:15 because the Carnival Glory was going to be 15 minutes late docking. Don't ask me why that should effect a tour scheduled to start well after that docking.

 

Driver took us into town and dropped us off with instructions to be back at 12:15 or, if everyone was back at noon, we would start earlier. Arrived back at the meeting point and they were loading people onto 3 different trucks, none of which were Godfrey's. Some people were rather upset that their belongings were still in his truck and they couldn't get to them. Much cellphone converstion ensued trying to locate and coordinate with Godfrey. As it ended up, we waited for some time for him to show up with his truckload of passengers. Off we went in a tour of not one vehicle, but rather 4 vehicles. The one we were on had a really crummy speaker and you couldn't really understand what the driver was saying.

 

We made a stop or two and it was becoming obvious that we were getting further and futher behind schedule. Basically it was because nobody could leave until all four trucks were full and ready to go. At some point Godfrey called for a vote of going to Secret Harbor rather than any of the other beaches because the other beaches were going to be very, very crowded. Well, there were 8 ships in port that day so yes, the town was a zoo. But he knew that from the start of the tour so why did he give the speech about the choice. At that point, nobody was going to vote against Secret Harbor as there were people starting to worry about the time already. Now, Secret Harbor was a nice little beach, but with 4 truck loads of people, and only three one person rest rooms, it took forever to get changed. By the time you got into the water it was practically time to leave.

 

In all fairness, it was a $20 tour and there was no guarantee about how many people would be on it. I never specifically looked at my watch after leaving but I did feel very rushed most of the time. Godfrey did give his speech at several stops (I don't believe me made it to all the spots on the web page though), and did try to be a good host. He obviously knows his stuff. It just wasn't the tour I was expecting. It definately wasn't a personal small group experience. They were still selling the tour to people on the street as we waited to leave.

 

I don't want to bash the guy, as he tries hard, but on the other hand, what I experienced wasn't what I expected from reading this board. If I had it to do over, I would look elsewhere.

[herb]

8 ships!? St. Thomas must have been a mad house!!

 

good thing for us there will only be 2 other ships besides ours in St. Thomas when we go there!

[rtluvr]

How do you find out how many cruise ships are in port at the same time?

[herb]

go to http://www.cruisecal.com and fill in the blanks

[JB Albany]

I am hoping for a good experience with Godfrey on 5/11 because there is only one ship in the port.

 

Another follow up general question, how many of you check to see how busy a port is when choosing a cruise date and booking excursions?

 

-JB

[ericosmith]

With 8 ships you can't walk down the sidewalk. Shoot, it's tough to even buy anything. It wasn't too bad once we left town, but town was a zoo.

[dhowell]

Just so you're aware, I just checked that website to see what ships would be docked with ours and realized the schedule doesn't reflect the change in itinerary that was made a while ago. We're not sailing until July, but that site shows us going to St. Thomas the day before Road Town, and that has since been changed. Don't know if it will ever be updated, so don't rely on that site!!

[smurf1635]

I'm starting to get nervous. I booked with Godfrey after reading many good reviews. This is the second review since booking that has made me wonder if I have made a good choice. As best as I can tell there will be 4 ships docked on April 26, hopefully it will be a good tour.

[sealegs9]

Smurf- we have the same concerns. AliceJ is also on the Godfrey tour. We can discuss at Skywalkers on Sunday......See ya in less than a week! I almost think the positive reviews may have been plants??? Or- is Godfrey now over-extended? Well, $20pp, you get what you pay for. Too late to change plans - and I'm not in the mood to do all the transportation modes to get to Trunk Bay on St. John- so I'm thinking positively.

[stan wood]

Since you don't pay until the tour is over, why is it too late to change?

[pholter]

There were at least 3-4 ships in town when we were with Godfrey in October and I loved Godfrey!!! If you are concerned, please drop him an email with your questions/concerns and discuss them with him. He is wonderful about returning emails within about 1 day depending on how many ships were in town touring.

 

If you address your questions in advance, I cannot see where there would be any problems at all.

[ericosmith]

I would ask him how many other people he has reserved for your date. I would certainly recommend him if he was traveling by himself or with perhaps one other vehicle. That would be maybe 15 to 30 people. I think he had over 70 the day I was there.