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Courtney Taylor?


rickb609
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Several years ago I booked with Peat Taylor. I enjoyed the tour, but was looking for a more personalized tour on our up coming trip. I contacted Orville Taylor and expressed what we wanted, a private tour for 4. He was very helpful and have booked us with his brother Courtney Taylor. I have not seen to much on the boards about Courtney, but would really appreciate some feedback from anyone who has toured with him. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Rick

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Ocho Rios was another short day in port.

We prebooked a private tour of Ocho Rios with Courtney For 20 dollars per person .

 

Be sure to book your tour with Courtney, you won't regret it. Then you can relax and have a great day with your family and avoid the rush and congestion with a large group.

 

They wait for you in the parking lot and watch your stuff.

 

Jamaica is a beautiful island everyone recommends that you take the formal tours rather than head off on your own. We took a tour that went to the downtown, to a beautiful nature park, and then to Dunns River Falls. Be forewarned that the climb up the falls is pretty strenuous and can be dangerous. We saw several people with large bruises and scrapes from falls in the river. On the other hand, almost everyone made it all the way to the top. The Falls are beautiful and there is a path along the river with several viewing platforms where you can take pictures without getting wet.

 

Next he took up the little island road through Fern Gully with stops to see Jack in the Woods, wood carvers, native plants, and scenic vistas - beautiful. Our next stop was a quick shopping stop before heading to a restraint overlooking the ocean on a cliff for some Red Stripe beer and jerked chicken. Then back to Island Village and a stop at Jimmy Buffetts Margaritaville before leaving beautiful Jamaica.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I read some reviews online just raving about how fun their Orville Taylor tour was. He even has a website which makes it really convenient to arrange ahead of time. All he needs is a name and a date and some idea of what you want to do. He even has a description of the tours available. One thing you should understand is that many of the activities available are handled by "Outfitter groups" that handle getting the equipment ready for you and require payment (and tips) seperate from Orville. Our group did a trip up the mountain to take pictures, the Dunn's river Falls tour and Tubing tour. The Dunn's river falls does not require a tour guide but many of the tourist come in a large group with several guides who make you hold hands and herd you up the falls. If you are even half-way physically fit it is a very easy climb and an awesome experience. Only cost $15 dollars per person. If I were to do it again, I would allow time to go up twice in a row. It was a blast. One member of our group even brought her $300 dollar digital camera all the way up the falls with her. We got some great pictures. We were all carefully to help her not get in too deep of water. The deepest it got was chest high. If you have a problem with the high pressure sales tactics of the locals I would suggest staying to the left through the exit gates when you leave Dunn's river. They try to route you on the right side through a maze of trinket salepeople. The tubing was $20 per person. This is really fun but too short in my estimation but I would still do it again. Again there is some pressure to by wood carving and trinkets then they take you to a 15 foot drop of by the bank where you can jump off into the river as many times as you like. A couple brave guys in our group did this. Looked fun but I didn't want to loose my suit on the way in. That's the other thing, wear swim suits under your clothes if you want to do those tours and bring a towel. We just stripped down to our suits for both tours and then dried off and put our clothes back on before we got back in the bus. The nice part booking Orville is you can do exactly what your group want to do and take as long as you want. One heads up, Ask what Orvilles price is for the first, say 3 hours and then ask how much for say 5 hours and how much for more than 5 hours. We were thinking it was a flat rate no matter what the time which is not the case. But he was still reasonable considering the convenience factor.

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  • 1 year later...

My wife and I had the time of our life on the Bob Marley Tour with Courtney as our guide. The scenary to and from Bob Marley's estate was spectacular and eye opening. Not only was the experience one of a kind, it was religious in a sense of understanding the way of life there. Courtney gave us the sense of security while still being able to experience all that the Bob Marley Tour had to offer. We have already made plans for our cruise next year and have every intention of booking a tour with Courtney. This time we plan on sharing the experience with friends.

 

Thanks for a one of a kind experience Courtney,

Your Friends from Oklahoma, Daniel & Fallon Aberin

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  • 1 month later...

I booked with Liberty of the Seas Caribbean Cruise June 27-July 4, 2009. A week later before our SFO departure I got a call from my daughter (Karen) that due to her school summer activities she can not make Miami embarkation on the 27th. I checked with my travel agent what Island route she can join us. Ocho Rios, Jamaica...I heared so many neg comments from our friends and reviews about the place.

 

Closest airport was Montego Bay. said on reviews about 2 hours drive from Ocho Rios depending traffic and road pot holes... this makes me freaked out and think about horror movies. I almost cancel our resevations..

 

Browsing the cyberspace I came along Cruise Reviews for Courtney Taylor a taxi driver who was very trustworthy. Along our journey in the back of my minds I still have doubts and fears about Ocho Rios-Montego Bay travel experience.

 

June 30, 2009 at 10AM Jamaican time we met Courtney Taylor. I asked him do we have to pay you half the cost and pay half at the end of the tour?? he replied NO pay me at the end...TRUST was the keyword.. He trusted US so I trusted HIM. Courtney Taylor inroduced us the beauty of Jamaica..we love every minute we have him as our driver and tour guide very reserve guy but honest and funny.. I will recommend him to any of you who wants to experience Jamaica. If we only knew Courtney Taylor before hand.. we could have just enjoy the whole day in Jamaica and let HIM pickup our daughter in Montego Bay Airport.

 

We love to go back to Jamaica on our next vacation.

Caesar Jhanapin

Vel Jhanapin

Gregory Jhanapin

Karen Jhanapin

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Booked a tour with Courtney Taylor and were very satisfied with his tour.we had a little confusion finding him but there were 2 large ships in that day one at the new dock and one at the old one.Other tour operators are not very helpful, they basicly are trying to get you to go with them.So they act like they do not know what you are talking about.You feel like you are being a little conned. Of course I think pretty much all of Jamaica is a little bit this way.Dunns River Falls is great but somebody needs to get rid of the local,very pushy, almost scary little vendor town that you are misdirected to while you are trying to get out.Whomever is in charge of Dunns River Falls should understand this puts a damper on the whole experience. We will not be back.

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  • 1 month later...

After reading through the forums we decided to book Courtney Taylor for our Aug08 Liberty of the Seas Ocho Rios stop.

 

We couldnt have been happier with his services. I was a little apprehensive after reading through the forums regarding some bad experiences in Jamaica but we had a great time. My wife and daughter, two cousins, MOM, and myself had Courtneys truck to ourselves (I think his truck seats 8). He took us where we wanted to go and was very friendly. It was nice to have a place to keep our things while on activities like the Dunns falls.

 

Courtney got us to the falls before the crowds, then took us river tubing, then sightseeing stopping wherever we asked (even at a fire station). I would DEFINATELY use him again and is recommended highly by all of us after our experience.

 

PS I can see how the market place at Dunns could put some ppl off, but we knew in advanced and just rushed through it staying to the left.

 

All in all jamaica had the best activities compared to the other stops and was my favorite. If anyone has any questions about our experiance with Courtney you can email me at Zaffor@hotmail.com

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  • 1 month later...

Great job by Courtney We booked him for a few hours and he showed us around some of the island. Very nice, personable person and good driver. He pointed out some interesting areas of the island. Dunns River Falls was nice. I could not believe and I have always heard how poor some of the people are there so you have to experience it

A++ Will be back :)

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  • 1 month later...

We booked Courtney Taylor, for our group of 4, a couple of weeks ago (We were on Freedom of the Seas and arrived in Jamaica on Nov. 18th). Courtney met us at the pier and within minutes, we were off to Dunn's River Falls. It was great because we got there early and there wasn't anyone there. Courtney talked all the way and informed us of various things regarding the island. He also gave us insider "tips" of what to do/say to avoid being bothered by people selling things.

 

After Dunn's River Falls, he took us tubing. Again, he talked all of the way and provided some very cool info on the island. He was pretty funny - had a pleasant demeanor.

 

He was waiting for us at the end of the tubing and he then took us to a great beach spot for lunch. We told him we wanted authentic jerk chicken and red stripe beer. He took us there...and even walked us down to the beach and made certain we were taken care of by a server there (who also happened to be Courtney's neighbor). We were given excellent service for lunch...and the food was fantastic!

 

All and all, it was a fabulous experience and I would highly recommend Courtney Taylor to anyone going to Jamaica. You certainly don't want to explore on your own. You want someone who knows the in's and out's of the island....someone who is pleasant and informative....someone you can trust. Courtney Taylor was all of those things! I give a big "thumbs up" for our day in Jamaica!!

 

:D

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

My hubby and I arrived in Jamaica in Jan on the Costa Magica. I had made prior arraingements with Courtney Taylor from positive posts I had read from this forum. Courtney happily greeted us at the pier we were a bit early but the helpful port assistants quickly called Courtney arrived in his air conditioned mini van shortly after. Courtney is very proud and knowledgeable about his Island, he had many points of interest to show and stories to tell. The tour consisted of just my hubby and I and that was so nice, especially when we were seeing groups from the ships that have 100 or more people in them....reminded me of a cattle drive!

At any rate our day was perfect with Courtney, we first made a stop at the Botanical Gardens, simply a beautiful place and I recommend you get there early as it starts to fill up with bus loads of people. After that we drove to the East side of the Island and thru Fern Gully that was quite interesting the locals sell there wares all over on the sides of the roads in small huts...mostly wooden sclupture and there are some interesting sites of other statues of Jamaican men with shall I say "very large" genitals! LOL The artists have quite an imiganiation and I comented on this .

Moving on we toured Dunn River Falls and by the time we got there there were many bus loads of tourists which in my opinion took away from the falls, if you are trying to get a nature picture of the falls go early otherwise you will end up with pictures of hundreds of people climbing the falls instead. My hubby and I did not chose to climb the falls as their was a train of people hand in hand from the top of the 600 ft. fall to the bottom with lines of people waiting to climb from below...so we simply walked down to the beach and walked the beach to try and get away from all the people. Dunn River Falls was a bit of a disappointment for the both of us but I suppose it depends on what you are looking to do their, if you think you want to go there for the "nature thing" think again as it simply is an over priced tourist trap filled with people....nature is in second place in my opinion.

We then were taken by Courtney to a local Jerk restraunt and sampled some of the Jerk chicken and Jerk Pork for lunch washed down with the local favorite beer Red Stripe. Yummy!

After lunch we drove thru some higher end homes on the beach that the "richer" folks live in...that was fun to see how they live, we also saw Mick Jagger's Mansion (from afar ofcourse).

We did some other small sight seeing of various other points of interest but I have listed all the major stops for you.

We really enjoyed our tour with Marvellous Courtney Taylor and would highly recommend him. We were able to leave our belongings in his van and we felt very comfortable with his abilities every step of the way.

..Courtney says the real troubles and crime are more over in Kingston than Ocho Rios.

Courtney...if you are reading this Thank You my dear for a wonderful time, if we ever get back to your area we will definately look you up!!!

I am ready to go again I wish I could be on a ship every month LOL! You will like Courtney, he was good to us. One note I am not sure I mentioned courtney will stop at various people that sell "handi-crafts" along side of the roads there are tons of folks whom do this and this is how the local Jamican folks make their money. if you do not wish to make these stops than just tell him and he will gladly honor your request. We did stop at two of these little places and bought a few little goodies from alady whom makes change purses and stuff like that...these places where when we were leaving from the Botinacial Garden if you are going there. Courtney is pretty happy to do whatever you are comfortable with so....HAVE FUN!

Edited by bobbyb959
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  • 1 month later...

We went to Jamaica February 21-28 2010, we were 6 people and had a blast .. a big part was because we had this great tour guide! Courtney Taylor, he picked us up at the Resort and we did Dunn River's falls, River Tubing, and Shaw Park.. We just enjoyed the whole day it was great to have a guide that you can trust and is full of information about Jamaica and the culture. I loved Jamaica and would go back in a heart beat and when I do, we will surely be contacting Courtney again... for a great tour and great price contact Courtney Taylor (you wont regret it) I don't! Have fun! Mon!:)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm not a first timer & have used Courtney many times because I do not do crowds so will not book on a bus. I have recommened him to about 15 friends & no one has come back upset. I just booked my yearly summer cruise & will use him again. His van is clean & a/c works perfect. He takes anywhere we want & we always want local food so he takes us to the local hang out & of course & ride by Juicy Patties to take patties back to the ship.

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I was nervous about this port after reading some negative reviews. We decided to hire a private tour guide to take us to the falls & lunch. We hired Courtney Taylor and thank goodness we did he was awesome. I found him after reading some if his reviews online. He charged us $25 for adults and $20 for the kids. When we arrived he had a driver pick us up and take us a short 5 minute drive to meet him. We then transferred to his nicely air conditioned van. On the way to Dunns River Falls he gave us the history of the island and pointed out some interesting spots along the way. Once we arrived he escorted us to a tour guide inside the park. He did this so we would not be harassed by the various vendors while walking to the falls. We had 2 amazing fall guides M.Shaw and another guy named Courtney once we got to the bottom of the falls to start our climb my 7 year old slipped on the rocks. I panicked and said forget it I did not want to do this. Our guide convinced me that he would protect my children like his own and we would be safe with him. He put us in the front of the line and assisted us the entire way. I am so glad he convinced me to go because this was one of the most amazing exhilarating experiences of my life! He kept my digital camera in his bag and took pictures of us the entire way up. At some points the climb got so hairy that he literally carried my 7 year old up! I was a little naive in thinking that this was going to be an easy walk up a water fall. This was definitely a CLIMB! And make sure you take you water shoes.

 

After the falls Courtney took us for a drive into the mountains and to see fern gully. Jamaica is a beautiful place. He then took us on the beach to a great outside restaurant to have the best jerk chicken I have ever had. He once again escorted us to the restaurant and waited for us. After lunch he was ready to take us where ever we wanted to go. My group was pretty exhausted at this point so we decided to head back to the ship. I never once felt scared having my children with me or at any point in Ocho Rios thanks to Courtney Taylor! I highly recommend him for anyone planning a visit there.In order to book a tour with him simply contact him by email courtney_tay at yahoo dot com, He also has a web site that is ochoriostoursja dot com I can not say enough good about his personal tour! I would definitely use him again!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Our family of five were in Ocho Rios on May 26th recently. It was our first time in Jamaica and we really didn't know what to expect. I had done some research on Cruise Critic and Courtney came highly recommended.

 

We arrived at the port where things were a bit hectic. It was a very busy day as there were two ships in port. We told one of the port assistants that we were meeting Courtney Taylor and she called for him. After a short wait, we saw Courtney's van and he pulled up right in front of us. Courtney talked about the island and pointed out places of interest on our way to Dunns River Falls. We had considered doing Mystic Mountain also, which is near the port, but we wanted to leave it open and see how we felt after the falls. Courtney was perfectly okay with this and very accommodating.

 

Once we arrived at the falls and had gotten our water shoes on, etc. Courtney took us directly to our guide which was awesome. We had so much fun there and Courtney was right there waiting where he said he would be when we were finished. At this point we were a bit hungry and we wanted to go to a beach and eat and so Courtney took us to Mahogany Beach. We enjoyed ourselves there and once we were ready to go, Courtney was right there ready to take us wherever we wanted to go next.

 

It was so nice not having to worry or wait for Courtney at anytime. We ended up doing some shopping at both Island Village and Taj Mahal and Courtney made it very easy for us. We could not have expected any more from Courtney. We were extremely happy with him and would use him again in a heartbeat. Thank you Courtney!!

 

Here is his email and website if you are interested:

courtney_tay@yahoo.com

 

http://www.ochoriostoursja.com/escursion.html

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  • 3 weeks later...

I hire Courtney Taylor on May 19 and he did a great job, taxis at the pier cost $10 per person for going to the falls but in my humble opinion taking a private tour is worth.

 

Courtney Taylor took us to the falls then to the city, then we went tubing then he took us for lunch and to close the tour he took us to the market, it was very comfortable traveling with him, we left our staff in his car and he watched for us all the time. There was no pressure and he always followed our pace and we were able to decide where to go.

 

I really recommend him, we had a great enjoyable time.

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We are going on the FOS in early Sept. and have reservations with Courtney. We can hardly wait. Those of you who recently took a western caribbean cruise, can you tell us what sort of time difference there was (if any) in the ports. Our stops are Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Ochos Rios and Labadee. Always afraid we will miss our excursions. Thanks for the info. :)

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