Caution when booking a "Private" Tour

[#1TravelMom]

We just returned from Falmouth. Several months in advance, I had booked a "private" tour to Dunn's River Falls and Tubing with a very well known and highly recommended driver. We cruise several times a year. When not renting a car, we always hire a driver at each port for only our family. I love to take photos and want to be able to stop if I see something interesting. Often, we will stay at a sight much less time or much longer than others may like. For us, we have found that it is worth a little extra money to have complete flexibility.

 

With 6 ships in Jamaica, we knew traffic could be an issue and the falls would likely be extremely crowded. With Ocho Rios more than an hour's drive, we wanted to get the earliest start possible and do the tubing first, then the falls, hopefully avoiding the majority of the tours there. In communications with the driver(I have the emails), we agreed to this plan. We got off the ship as early as possible and found our driver. He was so friendly and things were off to a great start. My heart sank as soon as we saw his vehicle - a shuttle-type bus that held 20 +/- passengers. There were only 6 of us. I immediately mentioned that we had agreed on a "private" tour. He said that when he uses the word "private", he means that it's a privately arranged tour, not one that is a cruise excursion. I told him that he knew what I intended as my emails said that the 6 of us were looking forward to spending the day as we pleased with a driver just for our family. In the emails he clearly understood our intent. He repeated his meaning and asked us to please wait while he walked back over to the pier to meet "3 or 4" more people that had reserved with him. Reluctantly, we got on the bus.

 

We had a quick family meeting and decided we were definitely not happy with this, but we always try to make the best of everything(whiners annoy me). We waited and waited..... he didn't come back. I am extremely patient, but was getting more frustrated by the minute. Everyone waited in the hot bus while I went to find the driver. As I got close, I saw him approaching different people as they walked through the shopping area. I asked on couple what he said and they said he was trying to convince them to join our tour - they declined. I approached him as he was talking to another family and told him we wanted to leave or we were finding another driver. I don't think he believed me as he kept talking to the family. I found another driver(awesome) who was reluctant at first as he didn't want to ruffle anyone's feathers.

 

I went back to the van and had the family follow me. As we approached the shopping area, he asked us to please wait he just found the "other group". I knew this wasn't true - they were no where in sight. He said they were coming soon for sure. Then he said we would go, but had to make a stop in Ocho Rios to pick up some other groups - WHAT?!?!? This was the last straw.

 

We wasted at least an hour on the original company. Every one was hot and grumpy and we hadn't even left the port. We got in our new guide's vehicle and ended up having a SPECTACULAR day but we had to rush more than we should have! When I returned home I had an email in which the original driver told us the people arrived later and apologized for their delay. I understand everyone can have a bad day and that his goal was to fill his bus - but there is no excuse for his dishonesty.

 

Our new driver definitely saved the day! Loooong story short - clearly confirm that "private" means private if that is what you intend.

[Westbank is bestbank]

that's too bad...its all about the money.

[Marie51]

Thanks for letting us know. Which company was it that you booked with?

[#1TravelMom]

I hesitate to mention him. His name is Mark Morris. I read a hundred great reviews, so I was extremely disappointed when he lied to us. Keeping us waiting in a hot bus while he solicited more passengers is unacceptable. When traveling from Falmouth, time is precious - so a long wait and a stop in Ocho Rios was never in our plans.

 

I will highly recommend the driver we found at the pier - Noel. He was wonderful and definitely valued our business.

[alicam]

I hesitate to mention him. His name is Mark Morris. I read a hundred great reviews, so I was extremely disappointed when he lied to us. Keeping us waiting in a hot bus while he solicited more passengers is unacceptable. When traveling from Falmouth, time is precious - so a long wait and a stop in Ocho Rios was never in our plans.

 

I will highly recommend the driver we found at the pier - Noel. He was wonderful and definitely valued our business.

I would go onto Tripadvisor and make a comment on what happened so that others who don't necessarily go on CruiseCritic may find out what happened to you

[OCruisers]

I hesitate to mention him. His name is Mark Morris. I read a hundred great reviews, so I was extremely disappointed when he lied to us. Keeping us waiting in a hot bus while he solicited more passengers is unacceptable. When traveling from Falmouth, time is precious - so a long wait and a stop in Ocho Rios was never in our plans.

 

I will highly recommend the driver we found at the pier - Noel. He was wonderful and definitely valued our business.

 

Thanks for letting us know about this. Some independents are better than others. Knowing which to avoid is always a good thing.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[#1TravelMom]

I hesitated to mention his name - I'm not out to ruin his name or business. I really value honesty - so this guide is not for us. There are tour guides I just love and I get defensive when someone posts negatively about them. My post was mainly to help others avoid tour with a bus full of people and stopping at the other port when they intend on a truly private tour.

[bpphoto]

FYI- I have a tentive booking with Mark Morris and have very mixed feelings on where to go from here....???? Anyone one else have this type of experience with Mr.Morris???? I won't hessite to cut ties if this is the case!!! :mad:

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Forums mobile app

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

keith

[Lionesss]

Thank you for posting.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your story.

When we go to Jamaica we try to only book ship sponsored excursions, to hopefully avoid what happened to you.

Better luck in the future.

Sea Ya

[twinbee]

FYI- I have a tentive booking with Mark Morris and have very mixed feelings on where to go from here....???? Anyone one else have this type of experience with Mr.Morris???? I won't hessite to cut ties if this is the case!!! :mad:

 

 

 

I have not, but when I was looking into tour companies for our November cruise I checked into this one. After speaking to other people who had similar complaints as the OP I decided to go with Liberty Tours instead. Best decision. We had a wonderful time.

[bpphoto]

Can I ask where you went w/Liberty tours and how much did they charge you? Was it a private tour as in your own party or other people mixed with your group????

 

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[ravenator]

FYI- I have a tentive booking with Mark Morris and have very mixed feelings on where to go from here....???? Anyone one else have this type of experience with Mr.Morris???? I won't hessite to cut ties if this is the case!!! :mad:

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Forums mobile app

 

Hi, we have used Mark Morris tours numerous times in the past, and I have always found him to be very personable, pleasant, and honest. He has a great knowledge of the Island; and in my opinion, you won't find a better tour operator! We had a tour with him this past September; and we are booking another tour with him this coming January. I'm sorry the other passengers had a bad experience; but I would definitely give Mark a chance, you won't be disappointed.

[milhouse0506]

Hi, we have used Mark Morris tours numerous times in the past, and I have always found him to be very personable, pleasant, and honest. He has a great knowledge of the Island; and in my opinion, you won't find a better tour operator! We had a tour with him this past September; and we are booking another tour with him this coming January. I'm sorry the other passengers had a bad experience; but I would definitely give Mark a chance, you won't be disappointed.

 

 

I agree 100% with this post. Mark was a wonderful tour guide and a class act. I would use him again without hesitation if I'm back in Jamaica. I'm sorry the OP didn't get the tour they thought they were getting, but as long as you understand that you will most likely be sharing your tour with other people you'll have a fantastic time.

Edited December 19, 2013 by milhouse0506

[rosebud1g]

Thank you for posting.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your story.

When we go to Jamaica we try to only book ship sponsored excursions, to hopefully avoid what happened to you.

Better luck in the future.

Sea Ya

 

This past August we booked our own private excursion to Secret Falls with Libertytoursjamaica, and it was the highlight of our cruise! The ship tours do not offer tours to this private paradise. Had we not done this on our own, we would have not gotten our own taste of the true Jamaica. Ricardo was our driver who told us about the history of the island, showed us maps and currency and answered all of our questions. After Secret Falls, we stopped at Scotchies for some of the best jerk chicken I've ever tasted, saw how it was prepared and learned of the spices that are used to make it. Years ago I went on a Carnival excursion to Dunns Falls and I would never do that again. Too many passengers on a large bus was not enjoyable. Libertytoursjamaica customizes your tour to suit your needs. This was the best private tour IMO I have ever done, you will miss out if you do the ship tour.

[rosebud1g]

Can I ask where you went w/Liberty tours and how much did they charge you? Was it a private tour as in your own party or other people mixed with your group????

 

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

We went to Secret Falls, sight seeing to Shaw Park, 2 in our group went River Tubing, Scotchies for lunch. There were 8 of us in our group, we met ahead of time on our Allure roll call and we arranged our tour that way, then contacted LTJ.

[twinbee]

Can I ask where you went w/Liberty tours and how much did they charge you? Was it a private tour as in your own party or other people mixed with your group????

 

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk[/quo

 

 

It was a private tour. We originally had 6 people going, but that grew to 17. Liberty had no problem with us changing the amount of people a week before the cruise. They just supplied us with a bigger bus. We went to Irie Blue/Secret Falls, Scothies, then some sightseeing & shopping. We paid 60.00 per person. We also requested a wheelchair lift van/bus due to me being wheelchair dependent. This tour was the highlight of our cruise. Family members have used other tour companies in the past while in Jamaica, but we all agree that Liberty was the best hands down.

[fgc15527]

Our group of 8 went with mark morris last week and had a great time with Mark. He met them at the pier and spent the day with them - kayak and lunch. When they got back to the ship they said they had a great day and that it could not have been more perfect. I too had read many great reviews about Mark and that is why we booked with him.

[Klutz]

We just used Marks Tours last week. We did the Hilights of Ocho Rios tour, which included Dunns River Falls and Fern Gully. Mark took us on a fantastic toura nd he was so imformative and knowledgable! We never felt rushed and he even took us to Scotchies when we asked aftet the tour was complete and had lunch with us. We will DEFINITELY be using him again on every trip to Jamaica! I highly recommend him!!

[sunsetbeachgal]

We did a tour with Liberty Tours (Ricardo) November to secret falls, Scotchies, etc. he called me about a week prior at home to see if our group of four minded having two other couples join us, and it would reduce our price a little bit. We said yes, and it turned out they were from our roll call and we had a blast. It was a great day!

 

Secret falls is a long way from Falmouth.

Edited January 22, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[nealybob]

I have to add my recommendation for Liberty Tours because we had such a great day. We just returned from 6 days on the Breeze. We had a group of 18, ages 6-73. We went to Secret Falls, Scotchies and a little shopping. Just an amazingly fun day. Ricardo rented a van big enough for all 18 of us and the communication before and after the excursion was great. We all agreed that it was our best excursion.

[moesyk4]

It sounds like you did all you could to make sure of the details ahead of time, I'm sorry! It is always good to confirm like you tried to do...we booked with Courtney Taylor tours and had looked into Peat Taylor, and I had read somewhere that his "private tours" are also groups. We walked past his van on the way to our van with Courney and sure enough it was about 30 people in a bus. I suppose it could've been just a large group, but it looked like they were waiting for more, so I would doubt it. We planned (and thankfully got) with Courtney Taylor a completely private tour, so it was perfect!