Full day tour with Mandoo

[cappi]

I heard great things about Mandoo tour of Grenada. Did anyone did the full day tour of the island? We'll be in Grenada on our first cruise 11/04. We have contacted Mandoo and he had recommended full day northern route tour approx 7 hours. I have only read reviews regarding half day tour of the island. Any reviews will be greatly appreciated. Thanx!

 

Cappi

[Greene]

Cappi - Are you going on a cruise? If you are, i don't know how you can do a full-day tour with Mandoo. We arriving at 9:00 a.m. and leae at 5:00 p.m. That's really not enough time for a full-day tour....at least I don't think so. Remember, the ship leaves with or without you promptly at 5 (unless you are on a ship-sponsored tour and they're running late - then they wait).

[cappi]

Dear Rachel,

 

Thanx for your reply. Yes we are going on our first cruise. I had mentioned to Mandoo that we'll be in port from 9am to 5pm and he had suggested this tour. I wonder if we could do tour for apporx 6 hours? Do you know what the 1/2 day tour entail?

 

Sarah

[Greene]

Sarah - I just got the e-mail from Mandoo yesterday. He said he will pick us up at 9 a.m. and do the "Spice Plantation Route" - Concord Falls (can swin there), Douglaston spice depot, drive to spices plantation, small walk thru plantation, Grand Etang Crater Lake, rain forest (a walk on nature trail), Grand Anse beach for swim "after that return tot he ship in time for sailing". Cost $40 US per person (beach is complimentary). Sounded like a full day to me. We are going on 8/29 Golden Princess - will let you know how we made out.

[cappi]

Dear Rachel,

 

Thank you for the information. Your tour sounds great. I'm going to contact Mandoo tour again. I'll love to hear about your trip!

 

Sarah

[dalia]

My husband and I are sailing on 29Aug Golden and are on the same Mandoo tour with you. We are using Ilva in St Kitts. She emailed me that another couple would be joining us....that wouldn't be you also??

 

Dalia

[Greene]

Yep - that would be us...I'm so happy that you picked up on this so that we can meet beforehand. My husband and I are in our 50s and as you can tell, we're from Old Bridge, NJ. I've used this board on another cruise and was very happy with the results. I like to read what other people found interesting and go from there. So, I like what I heard about Mandoo and Ilva on St. Kitts. I've booked us with Princess for St. Johns and Isla Margarita. For Aruba, we're booked with ABC Tours (a private recommendation). My e-mail is rachelgnj@yahoo.com if you'd like to get in touch. If not, see you on board....

[Wendy Mommy]

This tour sunds great! Do you have a web address?

[Greene]

You can find Mandoo Tours at mandoo@grenadatours.com

[buffett010]

Mandoo also will do custom tours for you, if you don't care to see/do all the things his tour normally takes you to. DH and I are using him for a 6 hour tour to see Antoine River Estate (a rum distillery), Belmont Estate, and Douglaston Spice Estate for $160 total. This tour is only for the two of us, so if we get to a spot and decide we're not as intersted as we thought we would be, we can continue on to the next stop without waiting for everyone else.

 

Mandoo is very easy to talk to, and his number is 473-440-1428. Very friendly guy and quite chatty and personable! We'll post a review when we return after Thanksgiving to let you know how it went.

[Missybud]

Greene,

 

I reserved ABC via their website after several email exchanges. Three days now and attempts to have them email me with confirmation and I have heard nothing. Did they send you a confirmation? I'm abit nervous...Missy

[Greene]

Missy - Yes I did finally get a confirmation, but it took another e-mail from me to remind them that they said that they would get back within 48 hours. If I remember correctly, it took them 4 days!! Just e-mail them again.

[Missybud]

Thanks for the quick response, I feel better knowing this is not unusual for them. Write back regarding how you enjoyed and what you did/saw! Missy

[june1300]

and defiantly our best excursion ever!!!

we wet all over the island! I am getting the spices we bought there(at the factory/processing area) ready to give out to all the family/friends who helped is with kids/dog/mail etc while were were gone!

we went to the falls Hubby swam in (be sure and try some "ting" from the local guys set up there! very refreshing drinks)

Mandoo was a walking museum and just wonderful!

we had 2 other couples with us on our tour and we all found him through the cruise critic recommendations! I am sure you will hear from them also!!!

June

[Greene]

Thanks June - Makes me feel good that we have something so wonderful to look forward to - next week. YEAH!!!

[mringenoldus]

We have contacted Mandoo for our October 10 Golden cruise. He is planning a combination historical/spice tour. For some reason however, he believes that our ship leaves 2 hours later than the literature states. I'm assuming that he got everyone back on time. I am really looking forward to this port excursion!

[cruisinmarg]

I have been trying to contact Ilva Wallace in St. Kitts, via her email, but it was returned to sender. Can you send me her correct email address or information about reaching her? Thanks! We are sailing on Golden Princess 10/10/04.

[mringenoldus]

We are also on the October 10 itinerary. If you are interested, there is a roll call thread (just search "golden october 10") Many of us are going on the Mandoo tour on Grenada.

 

My husband abd I have been hoping to find some more folks to do David's Safari Tour (minimum 4) on St. Kitts. This tour received a very nice review in Conde Nast.

 

We are meeting in the Wheelhouse Bar after muster if you would like to join us!

[Kelfly]

Greene and June 1300:

We are on the Golden in December. What time did Mondoo pick you up at the ship and what time did you get dropped off? How long were you at Grand Anse beach? Were you in a air conditioned van, or what kind of transportation? I e-mailed Mandoo several weeks ago but never heard back. Did you have to pay all up front, or a partial down payment and then remainder at time of excursion?

Thanks for your replies.

[Greene]

Firstly, I pray that Mandoo and the others on Grenada rode out Hurricane Ivan and that the rebuilding goes smoothly.

 

We were the first ones off the ship in Grenada and Mandoo was already there waiting for us. He took us (6 adults) in an air-conditioned van that can accommodate at least a dozen people. We saw all the other tour vans packed in like sardines - not us, we were very comfortable. He took us to all the places that he said he would. He is very knowledgeable. He is like an ambassador for Grenada. We stayed at the beach for about 1-1/2 hours. Enough time to grab a bite and swim/snorkel. We paid him at the end of the tour. He left us at the tenders - where there is shopping - if one is so inclined - If I remember correctly, the ship left about and hour later. Hope this helps!

[Mac Pete]

Hi Rachel,

 

We're thinking of Mandoo as well, and hope he is well and the damage to Grenada is not too severe. Unfortunately, all I have read is they took a direct hit in St. Georges. I cant even begin to imagine what those folks are going through.

 

Kelfly and others - I hope by the time you cruise Grenada is back on the itinerary, and yo get an opportunity to meet Mandoo. As Rachel has said, he is indeed an ambasador for the beautiful island. We had possibly the best day on the cruise in Grenada made better by his knowledge of the island and the new friends we met in Rachel and her DH (sorry name escapes me tonight), Tom and Dalia.

 

I've emailed Mandoo wishing him the best and telling him our thoughts and prayers are with him - soon as I get a reply I'll post it here.

Peter

[dalia]

Hi Rachel and Peter and fellow cruise critic enthusiasts,

 

Yes, Tom and I also thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Mandoo. He is such a knowlegeable man and it was so obvious that he truly loves his island. He told us about his hopes, dreams and fears for Grenada and it saddens me to think how much damage Ivan has done. It felt odd to see the pictures of the prime minister's home devastated and remember when Mandoo pointed it out to us. It's hard to fathom....90% of homes devasted and we were there less than a week before the hurricane.

 

This was probably our favorite stop, largely due to Mandoo. I also enjoyed having a chance to get to meet the other parties in our group....much easier because of it's small size. Tom and I drooled at Marty and Rachel's suite and got a great grilling tip from Peter (add a little of that Grenada nutmeg to burgers and steaks...hope you don't mind, letting everyone in on it!....we're trying it out this weekend). One more thing, it was their wedding anniversary and Mandoo had a beautiful greeting card waiting for them....how nice was that!

 

Until the next cruise,

Dalia

[Mac Pete]

Hi Dalia, Tom, Rachel and Marty.

 

No problem sharing the grill tips with everyone, and as I mentioned on the tour, every day is a good day for grilling. Yes, even if it means digging the grill out from under a snowdrift.

 

You've probably read on this board, that Mandoo has made contact with someone, and he reports he is well, apart from losing his home. I agree Dalia, it was especially hard seeing the images from Grenada less than a week after we had been there. I saw the Texaco station where we started our tour with Mandoo - it was flattened.

 

I'm glad to hear the looting is now under control, and the people of Grenada can start to rebuild their beautiful island home.

 

I also hope Princess adds Grenada back to the port list as soon as feasible - as we learned from Mandoo tourism is a $115 million a year industry and vital to the growth and prosperity of the nation.