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Lawrence of antigua

battybtags

By battybtags,
in Antigua

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Sheffie

Sheffie

Posted
Posted

I booked our April 2007 excursion back in June. I have lost my confirmation paper, but have e-mailed Lawrence for another one. I will let you know the price then. (Hopefully someone will chime in sooner w/ that answer.) He was going to take our 2 friends last year, but they had to cancel their cruise. :(

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Ren1216

Ren1216

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Dont think it matters how many you have in your group, its not a private tour... he will take others along with you, filling his bus (unless you book a private tour specifically). The price he quoted me earlier this year was $35 for the island tour, $45 if you want beach time too. I dont know if his prices have changed since then, you might want to drop him an email. He's prompt in getting back to you and will answer your questions. I havent been on his tour yet, going in Nov. But with any of these tours, book early of you might not get in.

 

This was from his first email to me:

Tour lasts just over three hours, we will be visiting historical sites like English Harbour, Nelson's Dockyard, Shirley Heights, infact the entire national park. There is a $5.00 each entrance fee to enter the national park, that will take care of all the sites we will be visiting inside the national park. We will be driving through the Rain Forest after, you will then see the beautiful coastline on the south western side of the island. Then if wish for the beach after tour, I will take you there, you can relax as long as you wish. A restaurant and other facilities is on the beach. I will take you back to the cruise ship at the end of the day, there is when you pay cash. Tour plus beach $45.US each. Tour only $35.US each.

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Zeno

Zeno

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I'm going on a cruise in Feb and was wondering how early to book tours through Lawrence? Can anyone give me more information on it-where does he take you, how big does your group have to be, prices,etc? Thanks-I appreciate it (first time cruiser!!)

 

I would book early with Lawrence. He is quite popular. We did his "standard" tour (note he will do some customization to suit your interests).

Our tour included: The sites of the National Historic Park (Nelson's Dockyard, Dow's Hill Interpretation Centre, Shirley Heights, The Blockhouse - all these are worth seeing!), English Harbour (where Nelson's Dockyard is located), the Natural Bridge and at the end he took us to a beach and later picked us up and brought us back to the ship. He also stopped for any pictures we wanted to take. His price varies depending on the number of people in your group (i.e price becomes cheaper per person if there are more people).

Note: you also pay an admission for the National Historic Park (but one admission is good for ALL the sites - so it is a bargain). We really enjoyed our tour with him. He is very professional and makes sure you get all the benefits of each site. At the sites that had included guided tours (Nelson's Dockyard) or presentations and tours(Dow's Hill), he made sure we got on the tours and saw the presentation. Where there is no on-site tour - he did it himself, pointing out everything of interest and any interesting facts.

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Sheffie

Sheffie

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Just an update - Lawrence e-mailed me back yesterday evening. He is quick about responding. Rene1216 has posted the info that I got.

 

Last year we had friends who were going to cruise with us and had to cancel 10 days out. :( They had booked with Lawrence, and he was very gracious when we had to cancel their tour. I am really looking forward to this tour.

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Ohio-C-Luver

Ohio-C-Luver

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Lawrence is very good about emailing back. If you don't hear from him soon, email him again. My DH and I were on his tour last week with Adventure of the Seas on Thurs 9/7! He gave us a great tour! We didn't go swimming at the beach but some other couples did, he showed us the beach and then took us back to the ship. He returned at a prearranged time to pick up the swimmers later! It was a great tour, beautiful day, and he's such a wonderful person!

PS: He keeps his bus spotless!

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CelebrationFamily

CelebrationFamily

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Just back from Disney's Wonder special 10 night cruise. We toured Antigua with Lawrence...he does a very nice job. His bus is spotless...he takes pride in his Island and his work. You'll have a safe and comfortable ride with Lawrence.

 

The tour includes some great views of both the Atlantic and Caribbean sides of the island. Beautiful! The historical museums are a little "dry" for our tastes (we're a young family...generally, older passengers enjoyed the Dockyard.)

 

Lawrence drops you at Turner's Beach, about twenty-five minutes from the ship. A taxi just to the beach will cost about $25 round trip per person, so Lawrence is a good value. There is a small outdoor diner serving seafood, burgers, drinks, etc., changing facility and little gift shop. There are a few beach vendors, with aloe, shells and braids for sale. We rented two lounge chairs for $10 and placed them under an umbrella for no additional charge. From the beach, there is a view of Montseratt. The sand is nice...a wide strip about a 1/2 mile long. The water is nice, but the surf is a bit rough and there is a drop-off not very far out. Some people on our tour were quite disappointed. We, on the other hand, enjoyed three lovely hours swimming and eating! Very nice time. The only downside for us...our ship was in Port until 9pm. We wanted to stay at the beach until 5pm. Others wanted to leave earlier...we really felt pressured to leave earlier, too...around 3:15pm. During the drive back, Lawrence told us he had a second group that he was picking up at 5:30...we could have stayed later if we had pushed it...make sure that you speak up to have your needs met!

 

Enjoy!

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jym

jym

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"Some people on our tour were quite disappointed. "

 

That must be our family. We were on this tour and felt the beach was very rough and dangerous. The surf pulled my son (6) out to sea the first time he stepped in the water. Thank heaven it turned out OK. Definitely NOT the calm beach that was promised in his e-mail. No one in our family wanted to be in the water and it was too hot to sit in the sun "bored" for 3 hrs, so after also paying $10 for two chairs ( the umbrellas were permanent wooden structures you could put your chairs under) we asked Lawrence to take us back to the ship as soon as he returned from delivering the "Non-swimmers". No offer to reduce the price to $35 or to take us to a different beach. We also felt cheated by the fact we never saw Devil's Bridge, which is listed on his website. Let me also point out this was the most expensive tour on our 10-night cruise of 4 islands , and all the other tours included lunch, drinks, admissions, or something. I guess that's how he can afford the new bus with the plastic on the curtains. BTW, if you do book with Lawrence, make sure you take a change of clothes and money for the shower at the restaurant, he doesn't like "wet seats" in his new bus.

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mc'smom

mc'smom

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"Some people on our tour were quite disappointed. "

 

That must be our family. We were on this tour and felt the beach was very rough and dangerous. The surf pulled my son (6) out to sea the first time he stepped in the water. Thank heaven it turned out OK. Definitely NOT the calm beach that was promised in his e-mail. No one in our family wanted to be in the water and it was too hot to sit in the sun "bored" for 3 hrs, so after also paying $10 for two chairs ( the umbrellas were permanent wooden structures you could put your chairs under) we asked Lawrence to take us back to the ship as soon as he returned from delivering the "Non-swimmers". No offer to reduce the price to $35 or to take us to a different beach. We also felt cheated by the fact we never saw Devil's Bridge, which is listed on his website. Let me also point out this was the most expensive tour on our 10-night cruise of 4 islands , and all the other tours included lunch, drinks, admissions, or something. I guess that's how he can afford the new bus with the plastic on the curtains. BTW, if you do book with Lawrence, make sure you take a change of clothes and money for the shower at the restaurant, he doesn't like "wet seats" in his new bus.

 

HI I'm Lisa and I am one of the non swimmers that was in this group, having already been to Antigua I wanted to share this island with my daughter. This was the cheapest privately booked tour I had taken on this 10 nite Disney cruise. I took a tour with Cosol in St. Lucia and we never got to the beach I wouldnt have dreamed of asking for a reduced price because of that.

And as for the wet seats on his new bus, That is totally understandable and out of respect wouldnt think of being wet on anyone's seats.

It being to hot to sit in the sun or too bored to enjoy the beach is not Lawrence's fault. He gave you the opportunity to get out and see the beach before leaving. The water looked calm, and it was warm. Not sure if that beach always has an undertow or not. If it does I really cannot see him putting anyone in harms way.

Sorry the tour didnt live upto your expectations. But for $ 60.00 for my daughter and I, I felt I got my money's worth and more.

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Zeno

Zeno

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Posted
"Some people on our tour were quite disappointed. "

 

That must be our family. We were on this tour and felt the beach was very rough and dangerous. The surf pulled my son (6) out to sea the first time he stepped in the water. Thank heaven it turned out OK. Definitely NOT the calm beach that was promised in his e-mail. No one in our family wanted to be in the water and it was too hot to sit in the sun "bored" for 3 hrs, so after also paying $10 for two chairs ( the umbrellas were permanent wooden structures you could put your chairs under) we asked Lawrence to take us back to the ship as soon as he returned from delivering the "Non-swimmers". No offer to reduce the price to $35 or to take us to a different beach. We also felt cheated by the fact we never saw Devil's Bridge, which is listed on his website. Let me also point out this was the most expensive tour on our 10-night cruise of 4 islands , and all the other tours included lunch, drinks, admissions, or something. I guess that's how he can afford the new bus with the plastic on the curtains. BTW, if you do book with Lawrence, make sure you take a change of clothes and money for the shower at the restaurant, he doesn't like "wet seats" in his new bus.

 

Let's see: so Lawrence should have guaranteed the conditions at the beach or refunded your money, paid for your beach chairs and allowed you to ruin the seats in his new van.

Oh and I nearly forgot taken you to opposite side of the island to see the Natural Bridge (which BTW he only does when he is taking people to Long Bay beach on that side of the island).

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Spanky My

Spanky My

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But does anyone have the e-mail addy for lawrence? It sounds like it might be a good tour and we love the beach as well. Forgeting ocean conditions did you feel it was a nice beach? Was it a nice stretch of sand? Thanks in advance for your response.....Spankymy

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Sheffie

Sheffie

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But does anyone have the e-mail addy for lawrence? It sounds like it might be a good tour and we love the beach as well. Forgeting ocean conditions did you feel it was a nice beach? Was it a nice stretch of sand? Thanks in advance for your response.....Spankymy

 

Here is his e-mail address: lawrenceofantigua@yahoo.com

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flvol77

flvol77

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But does anyone have the e-mail addy for lawrence? It sounds like it might be a good tour and we love the beach as well. Forgeting ocean conditions did you feel it was a nice beach? Was it a nice stretch of sand? Thanks in advance for your response.....Spankymy

 

 

here are some pics that someone took on their tour - down at the bottom turner's beach

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cruiseclues.info/galaxy/images/antigua/IMG_2446.JPG&imgrefurl=http://cruiseclues.com/galaxy/antigua.htm&h=480&w=640&sz=45&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=Wci5N-hysHW7-M:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dturner%2527s%2Bbeach%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

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GreasyT13

GreasyT13

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Our group of 6 adults took Lawrence's tour while on the Disney 11-night cruise. We had a great time on the tour, and were taken to all of the areas that he mentioned. Lawrence also took us to the natural bridge (he said that he would throw this in at no additional cost). He gave us plenty of time at each stop, and was very informative about Antigua. We did not stay and swim at the beach but were given plenty of time to get out, look around and take pictures. Our tour cost was $35.00 + $5.00 (park fee), per person. We had a great time on the tour with Lawrence.

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flvol77

flvol77

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I know the tour usually comes first, but I wondered if the beach is better first before it gets crowded. Any opinions. We will be there early January. Thanks. Marlyne

 

I think it depends on how many ships are in the port....and Antigua has a lot of beaches, and its not like Turner's Beach is right next to the port. So if there is only one or two ships in port I am thinking you will be fine. I will let you know more in about 30 days

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