Stanley tour review

[murzick]

Prior to my cruise, I read every thread about the cruise and all the islands. I read many good tips and ideas that I decided to use; such as the reviews I read of Stanley’s tours. I found the info about Stanley tour on this board and decided to call him.

Pro: I called him and he was very polite and easy to made arrangements. I asked to have a private tour four 4 people – a short tour around the island and some beach time. We called the day before the tour to confirm a time and meeting place. He promised to meet us at 9:00. We had a tender so were around 10-15 minutes away from the port.

Con (the unplanned part): Stanley picked us up and told us that there would be another family (of 3 people) from another ship. We made a couple of trips around the area to find this other family. We drove around for an hour. This was a huge disappointment for me as well as my family because none of us planned on wasting time for finding another family that we did not even know were going to be there. If I had known, I would have at least had different expectations or different arrangements.

We did a 1.5-2 hour tour around the island; stopped at Mountain Top and had great banana daiquiris and took great pictures of Magen Bay. After that, he dropped us off at Secret Harbor Resort after 12 PM. We were on NCL Gem and had the last tender at 5:15 PM and the other family was from NCL Getaway that left the port at 4 PM. So we didn’t have much of a choice and had to leave the beach before 3 PM – also unexpected.

About Secret Harbor Resort and Beach: It was a very nice and small harbor, with calm, clear water and a lot of fish swimming around. The beach itself was nice, it wasn’t long or wide but had a lot of natural shade and a bar where you could buy drinks and food.

After Stanley dropped off the other family of pier, we asked to be dropped of by the Synagogue and we walked to the ship by ourselves.

Over all, we had a great day in St. Thomas, we enjoyed the island and the beach, but we wish we could have spent more time at the beach or visited other beaches as well.

[O2B@Cagain]

Taxi drivers who have vans that carry 10 or more people want to maximize their profit. They try to fill the van and and provide services for all. This is actually a fairly common m.o. in the Caribbean. Stanley is a taxi driver,not a tour operator.

[Ms411]

But Stanley is promoted as offering private tours by someone other than Stanley.

 

If you want a private tour from any taxi driver, your group should be large enough to make it worth their time if they have a 25 passenger vehicle. Very few taxi drivers are willing to do private tours for small groups because of the govt mandated rates.

 

During off season which is summer and fall, you have better opportunities for small, private tours.

[canadarocks]

I think the OP is being very kind in their review. If I had planned a private tour with an operator, that is exactly what I would expect. :mad:

[blue_water]

Murzick thank you for your report. I am also disappointed for you because you had specified you wanted a private tour (which Stanley does promote) and you were made to accommodate another group which cut into your day at both ends. Not the experience that we had and recommended his services for.

 

We're staying on STT this week and plan to stop into SH and if we see Stanley I'll express our disappointment since we recommended his services.

Thanks again for your gracious report...

[plunker]

I confirmed our booking with Stanley today for our cruise on the regal princess next week. I asked if it was only going to be our family or would others be on the tour and he told me it would be just us. I then asked if he would be giving the tour or another person and he assured me it would be him. He said he could give us the standard 4 hour tour for 40 each or we could come up with what we want to see but I told him the regular tour would be great. I'l post on here when we get back and let everyone know how it went.

[plunker]

As long as the tour goes fine which im assuming it will would 20 dollars be enough of a tip for a family of 4?

[bjbing]

Plunked, we are interested in Stanley too and believe we are on same ship with you. We were just going to walk up the hill to town and see if we could find a local to take us around until I saw this thread.

[mjcatlvr]

Just an FYI. We booked early on with Stanley (direct by phone) for our private tour for this past week (NCL Getaway). First ones off the ship and excited for our tour but no Stanley. We looked and waited for an hour then called his direct number several times (no answer and no VM). We then called Secret Harbor directly and was patched through to Stanley himself who told us that he would be unable to take us. Wish that we had known earlier as we could have come up with an alternate plan. My advise is to confirm with him.

[plunker]

We got back from our cruise yesterday on the Regal. I talked to Stanley twice and confirmed that he would be waiting at the gate where you walk off. I should have got more details but that was what he told me. I walked around for 45 minutes asking people if they were Stanley. We finally just went on a different tour which was fine but I was pretty mad he didn't show. I would have booked with another company if I thought there was a chance he wasn't going to show.