Thorntor Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 First, this is about the vendor beach representative, not Royal, not the off-ship staff, nor the transportation provider. It is about the RUDE, INSULTING, and MENACING on site operator at Smith Bay. Yesterday our party of four went on this excursion and upon arrival at the beach a man identifying himself as Kareem gave an orientation highlighted with pointing out the large tip jar. The experience went downhill from there. We waited 20 minutes for Kareem to bring lounges, yelling at one of the ladies who went to asked for promised chairs. This was followed by him throwing three chairs down and again yelling that we had asked for three when there were four of us. Finally he returned with a fourth chair, again throwing it down with more yelling. After stewing about how bad the experience was, we decided to get a taxi (at our expense) back to the ship. On learning that we wanted to leave, Kareem approached us yelling and swearing. Yelling and becoming physically menacing, I told him twice to back off and that I wasn’t going to argue with him. All we wanted was for them to call us a taxi. Instead, Kareem , still yelling, said he was not going call a taxi and called his boss instead. Continuing to yell, calling us crazy, I walked away from him and asked that the three ladies in our group to start videoing him. At that point a taxi appeared by coincidence and we climbed in, leaving Kareem still yelling at us. Arriving back at the Oasis, we immediately sought out the ship Excursion Manager and reported our experience. Aiya, the Excursion Manager, took down our complaint and explained that she would initiate an incident report through their contracting process, but didn’t know the outcome. However, she provided us with a full refund for the excursion. Bottom line, I recommend that cruisers going to St. Thomas avoid the Secret Sands/ Smith Bay beach excursion and the possibility of encountering this out of control employee. Yo2slick, WAAAYTOOO, PeloAl and 8 others 1 1 1 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 2 hours ago, Thorntor said: Arriving back at the Oasis, we immediately sought out the ship Excursion Manager and reported our experience. Aiya, the Excursion Manager, took down our complaint and explained that she would initiate an incident report through their contracting process, but didn’t know the outcome. However, she provided us with a full refund for the excursion. Thank you for following through and reporting it when you got back on the ship. cdixon22, CrimsonCruiser and Baked Alaska 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCWind Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 Thanks for the heads up. We will be in St Thomas the week of Feb 13. Looking for another excursion as our excursion to St John was cancelled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zacharius Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 19 hours ago, LCWind said: Thanks for the heads up. We will be in St Thomas the week of Feb 13. Looking for another excursion as our excursion to St John was cancelled. Just do St. John on your own. It's oh so easy. Grab a taxi over to Red Hook, take the ferry, and a taxi on the other end to whatever beach or other part of St. John you want to go. Then reverse it on the way back...even easier if you can get your original taxi driver to meet you at Red Hook for the ride back. I always give myself one extra ferry as a buffer - if you think the 4pm ferry is the last one to get you back to the ship on time, take the 3pm ferry just in case. FireFishII and beffay 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 Thanks for reporting it to RC. Too often people rant on message boards about bad experiences but never did something to get RC's eyes on it. Baked Alaska, FireFishII, teddy and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCWind Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 3 hours ago, Zacharius said: Just do St. John on your own. It's oh so easy. Grab a taxi over to Red Hook, take the ferry, and a taxi on the other end to whatever beach or other part of St. John you want to go. Then reverse it on the way back...even easier if you can get your original taxi driver to meet you at Red Hook for the ride back. I always give myself one extra ferry as a buffer - if you think the 4pm ferry is the last one to get you back to the ship on time, take the 3pm ferry just in case. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floski Posted February 5, 2022 Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 At first I thought this was a self-paid excursion. I can't believe it was sponsored by RC. They need to have their contract revoked. Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCWind Posted February 5, 2022 Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 On 2/4/2022 at 1:53 PM, Zacharius said: Just do St. John on your own. It's oh so easy. Grab a taxi over to Red Hook, take the ferry, and a taxi on the other end to whatever beach or other part of St. John you want to go. Then reverse it on the way back...even easier if you can get your original taxi driver to meet you at Red Hook for the ride back. I always give myself one extra ferry as a buffer - if you think the 4pm ferry is the last one to get you back to the ship on time, take the 3pm ferry just in case. Any suggestions on St John excursions/sightseeing? I’m not much of a beach person. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zacharius Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 On 2/5/2022 at 4:08 PM, LCWind said: Any suggestions on St John excursions/sightseeing? I’m not much of a beach person. Thanks Ah...well, the beaches are the best part of St. John, so that cuts down on a lot of activities. Hiking around the national park (which takes up a good chunk of the island) is a nice alternative with some nice views. There's some info on individual hikes at https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/hiking-in-paradise.htm. Those are really the main things to do in St. John aside from a few shops in Cruz Bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCWind Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Lieberman Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 What are the good beaches to go to at St John? Been to St Thomas many times and looking for something different to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silenttuba Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 10 hours ago, Susan Lieberman said: What are the good beaches to go to at St John? Been to St Thomas many times and looking for something different to do. I've only been to St. John once (not on a cruise), but Trunk Bay was one of the most incredible beaches I've ever been to. Perfect if you like snorkeling; there's a trail with informational plaques underwater. Definitely worth checking out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vone Posted November 17, 2022 Report Share Posted November 17, 2022 It’s November now the same person still operates this business. I wanted to give him tips but not $20. He said he doesn’t have any change because people give him good tips. The lady that was on the same excursion told me she gave him small tips and he put he it in his pocket. Don’t fall for the “GOOD TIPS” scam. CrimsonCruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpb Posted December 23, 2022 Report Share Posted December 23, 2022 I was hoping RC had cleaned things up at Secret Sands but i went during my WOS cruise on 12/11 and it was exactly as described at the beginning of this thread. Kareem is still there and he is still harassing folks for tips. In addition they didnt have enough chairs for all the guests so we got a broken picnic table that was covered in caution tape for 3 people. I complained to excursion desk and they acted like they have never heard a single complaint about this excursion... Baked Alaska, FireFishII, CrimsonCruiser and 1 other 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy L H Posted January 12, 2023 Report Share Posted January 12, 2023 I wish I had read all these comments before I went on my WOS cruise Dec 31st!!! Secret Sands beach was horrible. The bug bites we received from that location were uncountable. Kareem was super pushy with the tips. Chairs were limited and half broken. Not worth the money at all. Jenna Delvey, Baked Alaska, MichelleB1234 and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlene Sowards Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 We took this excursion with Kareem in November. He was pleasant and helpful. PeloAl, Carlos A. and Baked Alaska 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim_swim Posted April 21, 2023 Report Share Posted April 21, 2023 We were there yesterday & had a wonderful experience. Kareem was polite, kind & accommodating to all. I’m sorry that someone else had such an adverse experience. Carlos A. and Baked Alaska 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos A. Posted April 22, 2023 Report Share Posted April 22, 2023 Kim_swim just registered to make this his/her only one post... Ryan79, PeloAl and Baked Alaska 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VACruiser Posted April 22, 2023 Report Share Posted April 22, 2023 On 2/10/2023 at 9:13 PM, Arlene Sowards said: We took this excursion with Kareem in November. He was pleasant and helpful. Kareem, welcome to the Royal Caribbean Blog. Nice to have you here. Now, let's talk about your attitude... JimnKathy, Rainmaker619, CanHardlyWait and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blah Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Just took the trip with Kareem. He was horrible and beyond rude. He was harassing all of us for tip. We tipped him a good amount but he wanted more. $20 or more per couple. When he didn’t get what he wanted he started cussing everyone out. We wanted to shut him up. So we gave him another $20. He was still not happy and talked about how he needed to support his family. We felt unsafe with him. Never again!!!!!!! Don’t get why RC would work with them, sooo disappointing! WAAAYTOOO and Baked Alaska 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaa Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Make sure to follow @Thorntor and seek out the ship's excursion director and let them know. Really sorry this happened to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexanTwoStep Posted July 2, 2023 Report Share Posted July 2, 2023 Sounds like Kareem needs some lithium and/or a good pop in the mouth with a fist. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECS26 Posted July 3, 2023 Report Share Posted July 3, 2023 Thank you for this post. I was considering this excursion with Carnival and checked the reviews.... within the last 3 weeks, 2 reviews with Kareem as their driver and they said he was polite etc. I'm sure RC and his company really gave him a talk after your unfortunate experience. I believe you, I don't want to get him on one of his "bad days" even if recently people have had good experiences. Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisingwithfamily Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 Wow!!! I was trying to decide between Trunk Bay and Secrets…. I don’t want to take the risk with what looks like an unstable or unpredictable host/guide. Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minniemouse27 Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 We have this reserved for a cruise leaving next week. Not sure what we will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 21 hours ago, minniemouse27 said: We have this reserved for a cruise leaving next week. Not sure what we will do. If you booked through Royal, go straight to the shore excursion desk once you get on board and tell them about your concerns but that you want to do something similar. You can cancel or change shore excursions up to 24 hours before they are to take place, so you're not stuck with it. If they can't recommend something similar that you want to do, you can still cancel and there's good chance there will be tour operators at the port that for similar excursions. Usually there are multiple operators doing tours to popular areas simply because they know they are popular. Also, an option, take a look at trip advisor, shore excursioneer, or shore excursion group online and see if there are other operators offering something like this. Shore excursioneer lets you book with a deposit and most of them are 100% refundable even after the excursion if you end up missing it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minniemouse27 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 We cancelled and will rebook an excursion to Trunk Bay instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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