Tour Guide Recommendations

[Tedione]

Hi, We have just returned from a day trip in Jamaica.

Our Tour Guide was Trevor Hudlin Tours. He was waiting for us at the pier with a sign clearly marked as to who he was.

He had a very kind lady helper with him.

The van was clean and comfortable.

There were only three of us, but he gave us a complete tour as if we were a bus full.

He was articulate, well informed, not only about the island, but life in general.

He was always waiting for us and protecting out things while we were out of the van.

He took us to Dunn's River Falls, then to eat lunch at an out of the way place where tourists don't frequent, because that is what we requested.

Then he took us to the rafting tour of the White River. It was all spectacular.

The final part of the tour took us up to a lookout over Ocho Rios.

He stopped along the way and bought us all sugar cane to taste..Yumm!

Then, back to our port and ship in plenty of time so as not to be stressed.

I can't imagine a more perfect day.

Mr. Hudlin is the perfect gentleman, and has the highest integrity. I am only too happy to recommend him to your family.

His email is cooltrevh@yahoo.com in case folks need him.

Sincerely:)

[FirstTimeOnABigShip]

My 20 year old daughter and two girl friends cruising together on the Grand Princess just sent home an email after spending the day with Wentworth in Ocho Rios. They couldn't say enough about how well they were respected and treated and I think there are lots of cases where kids get less than the best treatment when travelling on their own. However, Wentworth was their Dad for the day. He had arranged a day of horse riding and river tubing, made sure they got in their shopping and lunch break and then saw that they got onto the ship in plenty of time. His contact info is at

http://wentworthtours.com/

[lifeonthewater]

we just returned from a cruise that stoped in Ochio rios. we booked an excurtion with Peate Taylor who was excellent. After a 4 hr site seeing tour he then would take anyhone anywhere they wanted to go. Dunns river was great. I wish we went to the beach tho.

[garptsmqt]

We just returned from a 7 day on the Victory. In Ocho we booked with Mark Morris for a tubing excursion, and it went well. Mark picked us up at the dock and there was supposed to be a couple of other ladies who had booked also, but they did not show so we were a little delayed. No Problem! We saved about $10.00pp from Carnival's prices, but we think we had better service plus he took us to shopping areas.

 

Mark had a huge van for just the two of us, and it was SPOTLESS. After tubing, we felt guilty about getting the floor dirty. His daughter was with us, the 9 year old, and she was very adorable. Mark is very articulate and funny, since DW and I have both been to Jamaica before, he fondly referred to us as Jamericans. For tubing, when we arrived there was a large group of ticked off French Canadian's ahead of us. Mark managed to smooth talk us ahead of the group, and we (along with our not so motivated guide Randy) had the river to ourselves. The tubing did not take long, and we were soon heading back to town. Mark took us to do some shopping, and waited for us while we shopped. I was not feeling well, so afterward we had him drop us near the dock so DW could get her Hardrock Cafe glass and shirt from Del Sol. He didn't mind that the day was shortened, and we left him with no regrets.

 

Mark is very friendly and eloquent. He loves his country, and wants you to love it also. We felt safe with him, and had a good level of trust.

 

We would recommend Mark's Tours to anyone going to Ocho.

[Lolasmom]

Hey garptsmqt!

 

I am laughing out loud over your comment about Randy "the river guide"! We just got off of the Enchantment and spent a day with Mark as well. There were only 4 of us and tubing was part of our day and we had Randy as our guide as well. We laughed afterwards about the lack of enthusiasm from him. We had the river to ourselves as well, and as we were drifting along we attempted to converse with him and simply got one or two word answers. He just seemed to not want to be there!

 

We all said that our visit to Jamaica and our day with Mark was the highlight of our cruise!

 

We HIGHLY recommend Mark as well. Especially groups with kids - he is great with them!

[aud540]

We just returned from our cruise on the Celebrity Century and used Mark Morris for the Inner Tubing Tour. It was a pleasure working with Mark from beginning to end. He was so easy to get a hold of and responded promptly to all my emails and questions. When we arrived at the port, as soon as we mentioned Mark's name, everyone went out of their way to direct us to Mark. He gave a great tour of the city and his love for his country really comes though. Our river tubing was really fun. Randy was our tour guide too. Even though he wasn't very chatty, I think he was the hardest working of the guides. He was constantly paddling around and throwing himself between our tubes and rocks and trees on the banks. We passed other tour groups where guests had collided with bushes and rocks and were really impressed with how Randy navigated us down the river so easily and seamlessly. Mark then picked us up at the end, showed us a little more of the island and took us to a local restaurant for some jerk chicken, ackee and codfish. We've been to Ocho Rios before, and honestly, the first experience left us a little wary of Ocho Rios---it just didn't feel safe. This time, with Mark, we had a wonderful experience. His knowledge and love for the island really helped us to experience a beautiful side of Ocho Rios.

[OhJoy]

We were in Jamaica last month. Marva Shaw put us together with Grace from JusDeVibes Tours (http://www.jusdevibestours.com) We wanted a tour for just me and my DH only. We had a spectacular time, saw so many things, got to stop wherever we wanted to take pictures, and never had to wait on anybody else. She was just wonderful - we feel like we have a sister in Jamaica now.

 

We had heard wonderful things about Marva Shaw, but she can't take everyone LOL so I am glad I trusted her to help us with this - she did NOT let us down.

 

Have a wonderful time

 

PS The price for our private tour was less than the group tours offered by our cruiseline too (tho we tipped really big)

[stevesul]

Hi, We have just returned from a day trip in Jamaica.

Our Tour Guide was Trevor Hudlin Tours. He was waiting for us at the pier with a sign clearly marked as to who he was.

He had a very kind lady helper with him.

The van was clean and comfortable.

There were only three of us, but he gave us a complete tour as if we were a bus full.

He was articulate, well informed, not only about the island, but life in general.

He was always waiting for us and protecting out things while we were out of the van.

He took us to Dunn's River Falls, then to eat lunch at an out of the way place where tourists don't frequent, because that is what we requested.

Then he took us to the rafting tour of the White River. It was all spectacular.

The final part of the tour took us up to a lookout over Ocho Rios.

He stopped along the way and bought us all sugar cane to taste..Yumm!

Then, back to our port and ship in plenty of time so as not to be stressed.

I can't imagine a more perfect day.

Mr. Hudlin is the perfect gentleman, and has the highest integrity. I am only too happy to recommend him to your family.

His email is cooltrevh@yahoo.com in case folks need him.

Sincerely:)

 

It was three of us with Trevor and his trainee off Voyager OTS during Presidents week last month. It was a great day. Clean, newer mini bus...it would fit at least 25 people or so. This review is right on target...I could not have said it better myself. Only thing I would add is he sings Jamacian folk songs and Bob Marley to you.

 

http://www.trevorhudlintours.com

[maggieworkman]

Do you get your head wet on the tubing excursion? My mom would like to tube down the river, but she doesn't want to go under a waterfall or get her head wet in any way :rolleyes: . Can you tell me if its possible?

 

What about Dunns River Falls. Can you do it without getting your head wet if you wanted to? (Provided you don't fall.)

 

Thanks,

Maggie

[QTMichele]

Do you get your head wet on the tubing excursion? My mom would like to tube down the river, but she doesn't want to go under a waterfall or get her head wet in any way :rolleyes: . Can you tell me if its possible?

 

What about Dunns River Falls. Can you do it without getting your head wet if you wanted to? (Provided you don't fall.)

 

Thanks,

Maggie

 

Plan to get wet during both activities; however, it's unlikely your mom will get her head wet during tubing. There are no waterfalls, and the rapids are mild. Dunns River Falls is another matter. The water is rushing and it is very likely you will get soaked (everyone in our group did!). It is possible, assuming you don't fall, that your mom *could* keep her head dry, but it is unlikely. She can always walk along the falls via the sidewalk/stairs that follow along.

 

Have a wonderful time!!!

[maggieworkman]

Plan to get wet during both activities; however, it's unlikely your mom will get her head wet during tubing. There are no waterfalls, and the rapids are mild. Dunns River Falls is another matter. The water is rushing and it is very likely you will get soaked (everyone in our group did!). It is possible, assuming you don't fall, that your mom *could* keep her head dry, but it is unlikely. She can always walk along the falls via the sidewalk/stairs that follow along.

 

Have a wonderful time!!!

 

Thanks. We don't mind getting wet (body). My mom just doesn't want to mess up her hair. :rolleyes:

 

Maggie

[Floflegs]

I'd recommend Wentworth Tours for a great day out. He will customise your tour for you.

[garptsmqt]

We both were soaked body-wise after tubing (Mark's Tours), but you don't go under unless you somehow manage to fall off in one of the few deeper areas. (not likely)...:)

[seamist08]

I'd recommend Wentworth Tours for a great day out. He will customise your tour for you.

do you have a link

[GJClay]

We used Lee's Tours last week in Ocho Rios and had an incredible day. I requested to get away from the commercialized areas for the better part of the day and was very pleased. We visited St. Ann's Bay, a school, and had lunch at a colonial home called Liberty Hill Great House where we ate fruit from the trees, and walked among tropical plants and flowers. This is an old pimento plantation-turned villa and provided an excellent atsmosphere overlooking the ocean as we ate lunch prepared by the cook on staff. We had the entire place to ourselves, with the exception of the warm and welcoming staff. Although we visited Dunn's River Falls at the end of the day since we had our teenaged daughter with us, even her favorite part of the day was the visit to St. Ann's, the school and the Great House/Plantation.

 

This company is very dependable and we always felt safe. If you tell Norma at Lee's Tours what you wish to do, she will customize your day. Their e-mail is Leestrs@yahoo.ca.

[lake powell]

AWESOME!! That's the best way to explain his tours. We booked a private tour with Mark on our recent stop there and it was awesome. It was just our family of 4 and we had a great tour. He took us first to Dunn's River. After climbing the falls we had lost some items and needed to return to the ship. He drove us back and sat in the parking lot visiting with the family while I got replacement items from the ship. Then we were off again. Mark then drove us to his dad's house and his pottery shop. His father is a wonderful artist and we bought several of his pieces, very beautiful and reasonably priced.

Mark cut sugar can for us to try and also aloe vera for our sunburns. He also brought us some fresh nutmeg to check out.

Then he took us up Fern Gully with stops for pictures. He stopped at one of the wood carving vendors, but we didn't buy anything.......now I regret that.

He next drove us to Shaw Park with the beautiful view and a stop to get fresh coconut. Then back to town and the shopping park. By then it was time to head back to the ship.

The entire tour, Mark told us about his country, the people, the land, the history, the plants. He is extremely knowledgeable about his country.

I had emailed him ahead of time with our requests for the tour. We spoke several times on email before we left for our cruise. We were very comfortable with him and felt safe with our kids there. He is very reasuring about everything, both before we got there and on the tour itself.

I just can't say enough about Mark he was such a great person and wonderful tour guide. http://www.markstours.com/home.html

Lake Powell (Bretina)

[cruizinpartyplanner]

We just returned from our cruise on the Celebrity Century and used Mark Morris for the Inner Tubing Tour. It was a pleasure working with Mark from beginning to end. He was so easy to get a hold of and responded promptly to all my emails and questions. When we arrived at the port, as soon as we mentioned Mark's name, everyone went out of their way to direct us to Mark. He gave a great tour of the city and his love for his country really comes though. Our river tubing was really fun. Randy was our tour guide too. Even though he wasn't very chatty, I think he was the hardest working of the guides. He was constantly paddling around and throwing himself between our tubes and rocks and trees on the banks. We passed other tour groups where guests had collided with bushes and rocks and were really impressed with how Randy navigated us down the river so easily and seamlessly. Mark then picked us up at the end, showed us a little more of the island and took us to a local restaurant for some jerk chicken, ackee and codfish. We've been to Ocho Rios before, and honestly, the first experience left us a little wary of Ocho Rios---it just didn't feel safe. This time, with Mark, we had a wonderful experience. His knowledge and love for the island really helped us to experience a beautiful side of Ocho Rios.

 

 

We have a tour w/ Mark booked for next week and can't wait from all the wonderful reviews we've been reading; my questions now is that I've planned to have tips for Mark because I was under the impression he was the one doing our entire tour on both the falls and river tubing but it sounds like he only escorts us to these places and we have other guides that need to be tipped? Just want to make sure we have enough cash on hand for the people who need it! Appeciate anyone's input on this!!

[QTMichele]

We have a tour w/ Mark booked for next week and can't wait from all the wonderful reviews we've been reading; my questions now is that I've planned to have tips for Mark because I was under the impression he was the one doing our entire tour on both the falls and river tubing but it sounds like he only escorts us to these places and we have other guides that need to be tipped? Just want to make sure we have enough cash on hand for the people who need it! Appeciate anyone's input on this!!

 

Just read your post and thought I'd send you an answer from my experience... Yes, Mark will be your "escort" and NOT your individual guide for each activity. You will want to have extra cash on hand for these individual activity guides (usually $5 per person is adequate, depending upon your tour... but it never hurts to ask). Don't forget, you'll want to tip Mark as well for his time and expertise. :) Have a wonderful trip!

[cruizinpartyplanner]

Thanks for the advice Michele - I would not have been prepared w/ cash for the "other" guides so I'm glad I checked back to see what people have been posting lately! Did you have a big group at the falls? We have a group of 10 w/ Mark and are hoping to get a guide for just us or even go it alone because we are not into the "big chain" as others have mentioned here on these boards. My dh and I have done the falls many years ago so we have some idea of what to expect and I think we really could manage them on our own if need be. Just curious what your group did.

[QTMichele]

You're welcome! I'm so glad I could help. :)

 

We toured with Marva Shaw (there was a family of 4 on tour with us, making us a group of 6). She was awesome & got us to the falls first thing. We were the second (maybe third?) vehicle in the parking lot that morning. We did have a "chain" that we were paired with, but there were NO crowds. I'm thinking our total falls group consisted of 15 people - 20 max. Since it was our first trip, we elected to go with the "chain" of people; however, there were a few people that came in after us who climbed the falls on their own. (they did fine!)

 

Hopefully Mark will get you to the falls as early as possible to avoid the crowds. I've seen pictures where it is wall to wall people - no fun, I would think. Have a wonderful trip!

[garptsmqt]

We tipped Randy the river guide $5.00, but he really wasn't that great of a river guide and Mark was ticked off at him because he didn't stop at the cliff. There were only two of us, our bill was $80.00 for Mark and we tipped him $10.00 more. That was it, though, but we didn't do Dunns.

[lake powell]

You will definately want tip money for the Falls guide AND photographer. You may also want some cash to buy the picture they take of you and the video they do of your tour group.........The video is $40. Im glad we have it. Not sure it's $40's worth.

Have Mark talk to the guide at the Falls, he may be able to get you a personal guide. Or if you email him ahead of time he might climb with you.

Be sure to ask him ahead of time if you can go to his father's pottery shop, wonderful items and his dad his a very nice guy. You will definately want money at that stop. We couldn't resist buying several of his items.

Lake Powell

[cruizinpartyplanner]

I'm probably asking way too many questions...:) but I like to plan ahead.

 

I really, really hate taking anything with me when we do tours! I was only planning on having the disposable camera on my wrist and letting my dh have the tip money - which I'm sure will get wet - in his swim suit pockets. Can we leave a bag w/ our cruise cards and towels in Mark's van while we do the falls and river tubing? Also, did any of you stop and have lunch on your day out w/ Mark or did you wait until you got back to the ship? Really appreciate all the replies!!

[garptsmqt]

Yes, you can leave personal items in the van. He is always close by. I was not well during our excursion, but know that he has taken other guests to local restaurants for real Jamaican food. Just ask.

[lake powell]

OK, BIG TIP........Don't take the money in your husbands swim trunk pocket!! We left most everything in Mark's locked bus. But we took all the cash and our driver's license in a ziploc in my husbands pocket.

If anybody finds a ziploc with $150.00 cash and 2 colorado drivers license, could you let me know!?!:(

Lake Powell