Final Bodden tour questions

[mermaidIamNOT]

Docking in Coxen Hole

 

We plan to pre book our private tour in afew weeks for our Feb trip:

 

Does VB offer the same priced private tour for people who just walk off the ship without pre booking? We want to book our tour but travel companions aren't into pre planning but may want to do a similar tour with different add ons then ours.

 

How far a walk is it from the gangway of the ship to his stand?

 

Does the driver come with you at the various stops other than the beach or always waits by the vehicle.

 

Do any of the cruiselines use VB for their excursions.

[crewsweeper]

Does VB offer the same priced private tour for people who just walk off the ship without pre booking? In Coxen Hole Victor had a kiosk where you could sign up. In MBCC, that's not possible. Since he's not on the affiliated excursion vendors list for theport, it's probably not viable to sit and wait for cruisers to come to him as the non-affiliated taxis and vans are un visible.

 

How far a walk is it from the gangway of the ship to his stand? You have at least 200 yards to walk up a ramp and to the main entrance from the DuFree shop at the pier. You have to walk through this shop. Then there's another 400 yards or so "over the hill" to where the vendors are. Victor's drivers have signs.

 

Does the driver come with you at the various stops other than the beach or always waits by the vehicle. Depends on the tour.

 

Do any of the cruiselines use VB for their excursions? Unless this has changed recently, the answer is NO. Victor remains unaffliated with any crusie line for tours.

[texancruzer]

Does VB offer the same priced private tour for people who just walk off the ship without pre booking? In Coxen Hole Victor had a kiosk where you could sign up. In MBCC, that's not possible. Since he's not on the affiliated excursion vendors list for theport, it's probably not viable to sit and wait for cruisers to come to him as the non-affiliated taxis and vans are un visible.

 

How far a walk is it from the gangway of the ship to his stand? You have at least 200 yards to walk up a ramp and to the main entrance from the DuFree shop at the pier. You have to walk through this shop. Then there's another 400 yards or so "over the hill" to where the vendors are. Victor's drivers have signs.

 

Does the driver come with you at the various stops other than the beach or always waits by the vehicle. Depends on the tour.

 

Do any of the cruiselines use VB for their excursions? Unless this has changed recently, the answer is NO. Victor remains unaffliated with any crusie line for tours.

 

Since the OP said they were docking in Coxen Hole - some of your info is not relevant. In fact, I found it confusing.

 

My first observation is this: You will be traveling in the high season (February) and Victors tours are VERY popular. For good reason. He provides a quality dependable tour for a reasonable price. That said, I wouldn't count on being able to book a tour of his from the kiosk. Maybe - but don't count on it especially if there are a few ships in port (whether Coxen Hole or MB) He could be completely booked up.

 

Walk from gangway: Since you are docking in Coxen Hole you need to disregard the above posters reply.....there is no "hill" at Coxen Hole (only at MB) The walk is not that far but you still have to exit the "secure" area of the port to find his drivers. I am terrible at estimating distance but it took maybe 4-5 minutes for us tops !

 

Driver waiting: depends on you. Our driver (we had a private tour - just us) and we invited him to eat with us at the restaurant he picked out for us. We were not there on a cruise (our last visit) but rather a week stay at Infinity Bay. We did a whole day tour the day before we left since we couldn't dive since we would be flying early the next morning.......

 

Cruiselines: no, Victor keeps his tours private from the ships tours.

[lovevacadays]

As Texancruiser stated if you are cruising in February you do run the risk of not being able to get a tour with Victor at his kiosk in Coxen Hole. That would be a shame! I have cruised 16 times and done many,many tours. Our tour with VB was in my top two. Sometimes I think it's #1 and sometimes #2.:):):)

 

The beauty of his tours is that there is no set itinerary. This might work for your friends. You can do exactly what you want for the day even if it is just to have Victor's tour guide take you to a beach. It sounds like there is at least 4 of you so you won't pay more than $25 a piece. You might spend that just in taxis. Coxen Hole is bit away from places you may want to go. So, my very strong suggestion is to book with Victor. I can't imagine anyone regretting it

[girlscruise2011]

I would book with VB now to just reserve it until your friends make up there mind. You just email him to reserve and there is no need to send a deposit. At least that way, you have him booked and you have time to talk your friends into it. If not, just cancel when you change your mind. On the different add ons, depending what they are, you could still possibly do this. A few in our group want to zipline while me and my DH dont. VB told me that they can drop them off to zipline and take us where we want to go, the beach, shopping, lunch and then return to pick them up. So it still may work out for you depending on what you decide to do.

 

As MichelleinOC stated, they say that taxi's in Roatan are expensive so it might just be the best thing to have a driver for the day to just run you back & forth. Even if its just to the beach and back to ship. This way you can make stops along the way if you decide.

[souperjen24]

Since the OP said they were docking in Coxen Hole - some of your info is not relevant. In fact, I found it confusing.

 

My first observation is this: You will be traveling in the high season (February) and Victors tours are VERY popular. For good reason. He provides a quality dependable tour for a reasonable price. That said, I wouldn't count on being able to book a tour of his from the kiosk. Maybe - but don't count on it especially if there are a few ships in port (whether Coxen Hole or MB) He could be completely booked up.

 

Walk from gangway: Since you are docking in Coxen Hole you need to disregard the above posters reply.....there is no "hill" at Coxen Hole (only at MB) The walk is not that far but you still have to exit the "secure" area of the port to find his drivers. I am terrible at estimating distance but it took maybe 4-5 minutes for us tops !

 

Driver waiting: depends on you. Our driver (we had a private tour - just us) and we invited him to eat with us at the restaurant he picked out for us. We were not there on a cruise (our last visit) but rather a week stay at Infinity Bay. We did a whole day tour the day before we left since we couldn't dive since we would be flying early the next morning.......

 

Cruiselines: no, Victor keeps his tours private from the ships tours.

 

Texan, did you also pay for your driver's lunch? Also, what is customary in terms of tipping? Thanks!

[texancruzer]

Yes, we did buy his lunch. A little more background on circumstances.......

 

We were staying a week at Infinity Bay. Decided to do a VB tour our last full day since we couldn't dive since we would be flying the next day and it is a no-no to dive within 24 hrs of flying. We really wanted to see as much of the island as possible - no monkeys no tourist stuff.

 

I tried to contact Victor by phone..... couldn't get through. Turns out he was in Florida on vacation :D

 

So I sent an email outlining what we would like to do and for them to contact me. Well, we then went out for the day and didn't check our email. While we were sitting at dinner at the resort we saw a man at the bar asking for us..... turns out Big Al our guide came all the way over to Infinity Bay since we did not respond to the email. We booked our tour for that Friday (it was Wed) and thanked him for his efforts.

 

I really consider this to be "above and beyond" normal service for a tour company. We really felt comfortable with Big Al and enjoyed the morning part of the tour immensely. When it came time to eat we asked him to take us somewhere good but not fancy (that's kind of a joke since most places in Roatan are not fancy) We were the only people in the restaurant when we arrived and since we had such good conversation while driving we invited him to dine with us. He informed us that that was the only place he ever ate burgers since they were the best. We had other items and turns out the chef/owner of this little place was a CIA graduate and accomplished chef. Great meal for great price :)

 

We tipped him $20.00 at the end of the tour.

 

We usually ask our tour guides to dine with us...... since we have had exceptional good luck in getting great guides and enjoy just talking and learning about them and their culture and locale. We have done this all over the world. One of the best things about travel to me is connecting with the people - guides included.

 

Hope this info helps.

[crisp1]

Texan,

We have a VB private tour booked for this November. We too want to see as much of the island as possible- not into monkeys /tourist stuff either. Any recommendations? Should we just put ourselves in the hands of our driver and let him guide us around the island?

Thanks

[texancruzer]

Texan,

We have a VB private tour booked for this November. We too want to see as much of the island as possible- not into monkeys /tourist stuff either. Any recommendations? Should we just put ourselves in the hands of our driver and let him guide us around the island?

Thanks

 

YEP :D

 

We just told Big Al we wanted to see the "real" Roatan. And thats what we got. We are going back for another week at Christmas and taking our grown kids this time........ they are divers too.... can't wait for them to fall in love with Roatan too :)

[souperjen24]

Texan, that was very helpful. Thank you!

[mermaidIamNOT]

Thanks Texan for being so helpful

 

I've seen pictures of the port was rather confused when the person wrote about a hill.

[dololie]

We had Frankie last week he was great. CarnivaL has tried to team up with Victor b ut Victor refused. Carnival wanted to jack up the price of the tour and give Victor part of it. Also Victor has been having problems with people masquerading inside the gate saying they are with Victor Boddens tours. Since he will not team up with Casrnival he is not allowed to pick you up inside the gate. When he brings you back from your tour he is allowed to drop you off inside the port.

[texancruzer]

All of Victors guides wear "Bodden Tours" shirts. Big Al had a nice teal one on when he came looking for us....... :D

[souperjen24]

Was with Tex in Roatan through Bodden Tours last week... it was one of my favorite parts of the trip! We LOVED Roatan. We are already looking into booking a house and staying there for a week. Tex drove us around the island as we asked to see the real Roatan. It was great getting to know him and learn about the culture. We paid $5 to see the monkeys, which was great. Tex took us for lunch at a little place in Half Moon Bay. We ended the trip with snorkeling off of the beach (I believe it was the West End... right next to Infinity Bay) which was awesome. Tex watched our stuff while we snorkeled. I'll have to come back and post pictures!

 

I highly recommend VB Tours. You won't be disappointed!

[girlscruise2011]

Was with Tex in Roatan through Bodden Tours last week... it was one of my favorite parts of the trip! We LOVED Roatan. We are already looking into booking a house and staying there for a week. Tex drove us around the island as we asked to see the real Roatan. It was great getting to know him and learn about the culture. We paid $5 to see the monkeys, which was great. Tex took us for lunch at a little place in Half Moon Bay. We ended the trip with snorkeling off of the beach (I believe it was the West End... right next to Infinity Bay) which was awesome. Tex watched our stuff while we snorkeled. I'll have to come back and post pictures!

 

I highly recommend VB Tours. You won't be disappointed!

 

I have Tex as my guide when I'm in Roatan in November. I would love to see a picture of him so I know who we are looking for.

 

I'm not sure exactly what to do but from what I've read, Tex will make sure we have a great day

[lovevacadays]

Was with Tex in Roatan through Bodden Tours last week... it was one of my favorite parts of the trip! We LOVED Roatan. We are already looking into booking a house and staying there for a week. Tex drove us around the island as we asked to see the real Roatan. It was great getting to know him and learn about the culture. We paid $5 to see the monkeys, which was great. Tex took us for lunch at a little place in Half Moon Bay. We ended the trip with snorkeling off of the beach (I believe it was the West End... right next to Infinity Bay) which was awesome. Tex watched our stuff while we snorkeled. I'll have to come back and post pictures!

 

I highly recommend VB Tours. You won't be disappointed!

 

So nice to hear you had a great time with Tex. He made our time in Roatan exceptional. The friend I cruised with and I are really looking into retiring to Roatan. We loved it there. Di you go to the Half Moon Bay Resort for lunch?

 

I have Tex as my guide when I'm in Roatan in November. I would love to see a picture of him so I know who we are looking for.

 

I'm not sure exactly what to do but from what I've read, Tex will make sure we have a great day

 

I have a picture of Tex but can't figure out how to attach it to cruise critic - sorry. Hopefully someone else will post a picture. He will definitely make sure you have a great day there.:)

[girlscruise2011]

So nice to hear you had a great time with Tex. He made our time in Roatan exceptional. The friend I cruised with and I are really looking into retiring to Roatan. We loved it there. Di you go to the Half Moon Bay Resort for lunch?

 

 

 

I have a picture of Tex but can't figure out how to attach it to cruise critic - sorry. Hopefully someone else will post a picture. He will definitely make sure you have a great day there.:)

 

I saved this thread on my computer to refer to for pics. I still have trouble and have to go back to it everytime...:D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1622136&page=4