We booked an excursion through the internet with Phil Lafayette. Phil IS great. I can't say enough fabulous things about him. First, after our booking, he called us personally to inform us that he was looking forward to showing us Jamaica. Let me add a segway. The cruise ships say: 1. You can't book a tour within x number of days prior to sailing. 2. You can't be guaranteed that if you book a tour through other means (i.e. the www) that you won't be guaranteed to be back at the ship by sailing time. Let me set the record straight. The first may be true for the ships; however, through the web is entirely false. Booking through the web is fine and sometimes actually better. For me, I got a real good price, personalized service and was delighted with the results. Let me proceed to tell you about Phil. Next, on the telephone conversation, he told me he didn't want any money (no money) up front! Totally different from other bookings which required you to pay first and tour later. Phil said, "No Mon". He then told me at the present time we were the only people on that particular tour on Monday and asked if there was any possibility if we could see if someone on ship would be interested in joining us on the tour. I informed Phil I would be happy to check for him. He also informed me at that time, that no matter what, (# of people) he would NOT cancel our tour. He then thanked me and said he would see David and me on Monday. (By the way, I was able to find two other couples on the ship who joined us for the tour. They were terrific people from Dublin, Ireland; my husband and I are from Saratoga Springs, NY and had met these couples at lunch the second day of the cruise.) We were met at the end of the pier after leaving the ship just as Phil had said he would. He had a beautiful air-conditioned transport that held up to 12 people. Phil introduced himself and as he drove on the left side of the road (my stomach tumbled as we took corners on the "wrong" side of the road) he talked about his wonderful country. He showed us the affluent and the not-so affluent sides of Jamaica. We stopped by the sides of the road and we were able to disembark the bus and meet the locals and see how they earn a living with their abilities to carve beautiful works of art from the wood on the island. We also stopped by one fellows home and he was able to balance himself on one leg while eating fire, laying on top of fire and not getting burned and blowing fire from his mouth. Here, we were able to get involved by having a ring of fire placed upon our heads (individually) and having our pictures taken. It was really neat. Phil then took us to this out of the way place that few seldom see and we had a personalized "leisurely" trip, with a little white water I might add, through the most gorgeous scenery. There were also children swimming and men fishing along the way, but, alas, no tourists! What a treat. The guide that took us on the tubing was miraculous. He kept all of us pretty much together. If we were getting a little too much distance between us he would "herd" us back to one another. We had the best time and my husband was the camera man. He took pictures of us all and is sending some to the folks in Dublin. At the end of the tubing, there was Phil, all smiles and waiting for us. He then took us to Dunn's River Falls and introduced us to our guide. Let me say, you need a guide. You can climb the falls by yourself but it is not half as much fun. Everyone was climbing 700 feet of falls in one long chain. Not us. Our guide took us his route and we were able to circumvent the long chain. We couldn't have done that without him. Also, I personally couldn't have done the falls without him as I have a hip problem and the guide took my hand and practically "pulled" me up the falls in a kind, gentle and reassuring way. He was certainly instrumental in my being able to do the climb. I gave him a big hug and thanked him immensely when we reached the top. Thank you again, Kind Sir. (By the way, this man must have been 60? or 70? and was a bitty little thing himself. How he did this for me, I'll never know.) Thanks again to Phil for chosing him as our guide. Phil then took us to lunch at this out-of-the-way restaurant. It had all the ambience of Jamaica. We sat outside under thatch umbrellas while Phil ordered us lunch in his native language. We had no idea what was being ordered but when it arrived, it was absolutely mouth-watering. And then there was the "Ting". It was Jamaica's soft drink. It was a cross between a lemon-lime effervescent. It was different from anything I had tasted but it certainly was good and very thirst quenching considering the temperature of the day. After lunch, Phil asked us if there was anywhere in particular that we wanted to be dropped off. We chose shopping and Phil suggested the area next to the pier. He had us there in plenty of time to go shopping and still make the ship for departure. In fact, Phil's first question to us when we started the tour was, "when does your ship sail?" I have to say that the tour with Phil was fabulous, fantastic, frisky, fun, fact-finding, familarizing with Jamaica's rich history, showed us many features, he created fellowship amongst the 7 of us (6 tourists & Phil), he was very forthcoming with folklore, and when we were famished, he saw to it that we were fed. Furthermore, I can honestly say that Phil was fundamental is all of us having a famously outstanding time. Also, another segway: David & I were able to have lunch with Patsy and Adrian (our Dublin friends) in the airport before our separate flights home. Patsy informed me that when she had been asked by other cruisers what the highlight of the shore trips had been, she said, "It was most definitely Phil in Jamaica." I second that opinion. Phil, you should be famous!!!! Thank you so much for showing us your beautiful Jamaica, Mon.