Sunny? Godfrey? Spiderman? Air Force 1?

[arlee]

I agree that $7.50 is alot for a drink - I didn't have any liquor in mine. Maybe it was just the gorgeous scenery that made the daquiri taste so good!!

[ABC Cruisers]

What is the reply time any of you have encounted with AF1? I emailed them 2 weeks ago regarding booking them for our Nov. cruise and have not heard back from them. Have they been really good about returning emails or more laid back?

[RubySoho]

What is the reply time any of you have encounted with AF1? I emailed them 2 weeks ago regarding booking them for our Nov. cruise and have not heard back from them. Have they been really good about returning emails or more laid back?

 

 

You may want to check your email filters. I emailed him about a month ago and got a response the same day.

When in November will you be there? We will be there on the Costa Atlantica on November 10th.

[ABC Cruisers]

Thanks Ruby, I'll send another email. We are in St. Thomas Dec. 1 on the NCL Pearl.

[dz63]

What is the reply time any of you have encounted with AF1? I emailed them 2 weeks ago regarding booking them for our Nov. cruise and have not heard back from them. Have they been really good about returning emails or more laid back?

 

 

We booked with Airforce 1. Papa Bear was very prompt at responding back quickly and answered all of our questions. We had no communication problems with AF1. I noticed that all of his responses came in the evening...I suppose they are busy doing tours during the day.

 

Try emailing again and hopefully you will hear back this time!

[NCTribeFan]

I'll be seeing Papa Bear on Monday!

 

When we toured with him before, he had his cell phone and was checking messages during every stop. I think he was retrieving emails, too.

 

The email address that comes from Armitage (and I've had no problems with receiving his emails at work, and we have pretty serious spam and junk mail filters) is.

 

InFo@HaveFunWithUs.Com

 

I usually hear back from him within minutes, which makes me think he's using his cell.

[ABC Cruisers]

Thanks everyone, I sent a seperate email to them & filled out the reservation form again and they got right back to me. For some reason the original resv. form must not have gone through. We prefer non-ship organized tours - we usually take the ferry over to St. John, so we are looking forward to this tour.

[beansatw]

We spent last Tuesday with Papa Bear from Air Force 1 -- he's an excellent ambassador for St. Thomas, and a fabulous tour guide. He took us all over the island, stopping to point out various interests in his hometown, plus a stop at the Mountain Top, and two hours at Coki Beach. Papa Bear is a great guy; I can't recommend him any higher.

[Sgt. Jeff]

Would somebody please tell Papa Bear that Sgt. Jeff said hello?? !!! I think that he and Henry Christopher with EEE Tours are becoming the most popular tour guides in St. Thomas and on these boards! They are the best of friends and treat their customers great!!! After a tour with either of them, you are no longer just a customer, you are family!!!

[semu76]

We also spent last Tuesday (May 12th) with Papa Bear. I strongly recommend him. He is a very honorable man. He trys very hard to serve his guests. We had rain showers and fog which hampered visibility so he took more time so we could still see everything. he was very patient and really enjoys wha he does. it was a very pleasant, relaxed, tour.

 

It appears all the operators in St Thomas are reputable. You wont go wrong with Papa Bear

[dz63]

We booked with Airforce 1 for July. Hearing all these great reviews about Airforce 1 Papa Bear is very reassuring:)--we know that we made a wise choice choosing him and we can't wait to go!

 

However I do have a question. Airforce 1 offers 6 different tours. I can't image that Papa Bear can be the tour guide for all 6 tours.:confused: Has anyone who booked with AF1 had someone else as their guide? It seems that everyone has had Papa Bear (Armitage) himself--and hearing all these great reviews about him, I hope that we get him too!

 

Also what is an acceptable tip to give at the end of the tour?

 

Thanks for your help!

[semu76]

On the day we were in port, May 12, he had two seperate tours going on. He did ours and his wife was doing a second one. Now, there were only two ships in port that day. I dont know if he operates more if there are more ships in port

 

You can likely email and he will tell you. I found when I sent an email question, I always got a response withing 24 hours

[dz63]

I did email Armitage (Papa Bear) from Airforce 1 to inquire if we would get him for our guide.

 

He emailed back and said that he would try to be our guide but he couldn't make any promises. :(

If for some reason he could not be our guide, he would send someone else from his team either Richard, Henry or Lake.

He also said not to worry, as they would all take great care of us.

 

Has anyone ever had Richard, Henry or Lake? What was your experience with them?

 

I guess we won't know who our guide will be until we get there--we are still keeping our fingers crossed for Papa Bear though!

[*Luv2Cruz*]

I did email Armitage (Papa Bear) from Airforce 1 to inquire if we would get him for our guide.

 

He emailed back and said that he would try to be our guide but he couldn't make any promises. :(

If for some reason he could not be our guide, he would send someone else from his team either Richard, Henry or Lake.

He also said not to worry, as they would all take great care of us.

 

Has anyone ever had Richard, Henry or Lake? What was your experience with them?

 

I guess we won't know who our guide will be until we get there--we are still keeping our fingers crossed for Papa Bear though!

He told us he may not be able to make ours either and boy was I pleased when he showed!:D Great guy, great beaches, great tour!:cool:

[alicam]

Just to add my 2 cents worth...PapaBear is the best tour operator on St. Thomas as far as I'm concerned...very polite, informative and communicative....you will not go wrong with him and AF1

[CrusinAgain]

Godfrey's, we tried Sunny's and it was a real letdown. But everyone we saw on Godfrey's was having fun. Air Force 1 was out of service at the time but they had a good reputation also.

[anita0427]

Just got my confirmation we are booked with Airforce 1 on July 21. I cant wait.:cool:

[NCTribeFan]

We toured with Papa Bear on 5/18, the morning of the fire that destroyed Mountain Top!

 

Armitage picked us up from Carnival Victory, calling out my name the minute we stepped off the ship (we toured with him in December, 2007).

 

We then went over to Crown Bay and picked up 10 folks from the Princess ship stopping on her repositioning cruise.

 

We did our island tour, then went to Coki Beach. Papa Bear told us that things at Sapphire weren't in very good condition. He wanted us to go to Lindquist, but there are no facilities there, and some of the people hadn't (for what reason, I have no idea) worn their suits, and insisted on somewhere that they could get lunch, so we ended up at Coki, which was rather crowded and full of vendors pushing you to rent their chairs or buy their food.

 

We did neither, taking our towels down to the end of the beach and just lying out.

 

Papa Bear sent me an email the next day (which I just saw this morning as I don't check email while on board and we stayed a couple of extra days in San Juan) about Moutain Top burning. What a shame! At least no one was injured.

 

I cannot recommend anyone else, as I've only ever toured with Papa Bear, but he knows his island and he provides a wonderful tour. You can't go wrong with him!

[CrusinAgain]

We toured with Papa Bear on 5/18, the morning of the fire that destroyed Mountain Top!

 

Armitage picked us up from Carnival Victory, calling out my name the minute we stepped off the ship (we toured with him in December, 2007).

 

We then went over to Crown Bay and picked up 10 folks from the Princess ship stopping on her repositioning cruise.

 

We did our island tour, then went to Coki Beach. Papa Bear told us that things at Sapphire weren't in very good condition. He wanted us to go to Lindquist, but there are no facilities there, and some of the people hadn't (for what reason, I have no idea) worn their suits, and insisted on somewhere that they could get lunch, so we ended up at Coki, which was rather crowded and full of vendors pushing you to rent their chairs or buy their food.

 

We did neither, taking our towels down to the end of the beach and just lying out.

 

Papa Bear sent me an email the next day (which I just saw this morning as I don't check email while on board and we stayed a couple of extra days in San Juan) about Moutain Top burning. What a shame! At least no one was injured.

 

I cannot recommend anyone else, as I've only ever toured with Papa Bear, but he knows his island and he provides a wonderful tour. You can't go wrong with him!

 

I wonder why they keep going to Coki when so many people keep reporting that Coki has gone downhill with trash everywhere and smells bad. Coki is where we went and only 2 people were impressed enough to stay at the beach on the tour. Seen it reported on cruisecritic and tripadvisor. Meagan's is beautiful but has the fee which is why they don't go there. I hadn't heard about Mountain top burning. Did the building get destroyed also?

[NCTribeFan]

I got the impression from him that Coki was better than Sapphire these days, and he used to take lots of folks to Sapphire.

 

They're doing work at Coki; lots of construction going on around the site, so things should be pretty nice there when that's done.

 

It was OK. I would've happily gone to Lindquist. Can't imagine why people would have a tour booked with a beach stop and assume that there were changing facilities and food. I never do. I always wear my suit under my clothes and take snacks, just in case.

 

Of course, I do my homework here before I book, also, so pretty much know what to expect.

 

Yes, the building was destroyed.

 

http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?v=d&i=&s=News:Local&p=1223618647#continue

[dz63]

We did the Sightseeing and Beach stop tour with Airforce 1 on July 6, 2009.

 

Our tour began sharply at 9:30 am—with Armitage Allembert, otherwise known as “Papa Bear” as our guide.

I believe everyone on this tour were Cruise Critic members.

 

The day was overcast and looked like rain as we made our way through Charlotte Amalie. We climbed up the hillside and stopped at a look out overlooking a bay where the Emerald Beach resort is located. Papa Bear explained that this bay used to be called Mosquito Bay but its name was changed to Lindbergh Bay, in honor of an aerial pilot that landed nearby in 1928. Papa Bear wanted us to remember that even though this beach is commonly referred to as Emerald Beach, its correct name is Lindbergh Bay!

 

 

We traveled a short distance and made another stop looking down on the Cyril E. King International Airport.

We learned a little about the history of the airport and how after a plane crash, the mountains were cut out to lengthen the runway.

 

 

We also made a stop overlooking Dorothea Bay, located on the Atlantic side of St. Thomas.

 

 

Along the way Papa Bear showed us such plants as the Soursop—used to help cure insomnia and the Breadnut tree.

 

Soursop

 

Breadnut

 

Papa Bear pointed out the beautiful flamboyant trees—presently in bloom with either brightly colored red or yellow flowers.

He also picked some fresh Bay leaves for us to smell. We learned that Papa Bear’s mother used bay leaves as air freshners!

 

A yellow flamboyant tree

 

continues

[dz63]

We stopped at the side of the road at the Solberg Overlook.

Here we got a great view of Charlotte Amalie and the two cruise ships in port—the Carnival Victory and RCI Grandeur of the Seas.

 

 

We could also see the Water Islands, where the wealthy reside! The home with the red roof is for sale. . .for only 4 million dollars!

 

 

 

continues

[dz63]

Since Mountain Top was destroyed by fire in May, we did not go there. Instead we went to St. Peters Great House and Botanical Gardens, which Papa Bear said would offer us the same panoramic view. It is also the new home for the world famous banana daiquiri. We spent about ½ hour here.

 

 

We walked through the Great House which was built in the 1800’s. . .

 

 

. . .and got a view of the world famous Magen’s Bay, 1,000 feet below!

 

 

We walked along the boardwalk that winds through a nature trail and saw exotic plants, waterfalls and parrots.

 

 

 

Of course, we couldn’t leave without trying one of those world famous banana daiquiri’s!

 

 

 

continues

[dz63]

From here, it was time to go to the beach. Papa Bear gave us a choice as to which Beach we would like to go too--Magens, Sapphire or Coki. We all decided to go to Sapphire Beach. On our way to Sapphire Beach, it began to pour, but by the time we got to the beach, the rain had stopped. We spent 2 hours here!

 

 

There were many large iguana’s running around on the beach. My youngest son was fascinated by them and enjoyed following them around.

He even had one of those friendly visitors come right up to him begging for Cheerios!

 

 

At 2:30 we boarded Papa Bear’s taxi and made our way back to the cruise ship pier. Papa Bear dropped off those that wanted to go shopping in Charlotte Amalie—the rest he took back to the terminal. We arrived back around 3:00 pm. Papa Bear was an excellent tour guide and an exceptional driver who really knows how to take care of his guests. He did not require payment until the end of the tour. He said that since our youngest son was so good, there would be no charge for him!

 

We had a wonderful day touring the island of St. Thomas with Papa Bear!

 

 

The boys with Papa Bear from Airforce 1

[kona_wahine]

Awesome pictures. Thank you for taking the time to share. We'll be there next May and can't wait. (I do have to say I'm praying it's sunny that day. :o)