Caribe Tours .... take notice!

Feb 7, 2007
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So I am boarding a famous yellow bus from the main bus terminal in the capital city's downtown, to take a long distance trip. I have my ticket in hand, and hand it over to a nice lady - "cobrador" who signs off on her pad. I board the bus. The famous yellow bus is about half empty, some more passengers will board later on.

The bus is leaving. The the pleasant voice of the young lady who was previously checking the tickets spreads out around the bus on the PA system. Our trip will be about 3 and half hours long.

Another anouncement comes. We are to put a seatbelt on! A seatbelt? On a bus? Come on! No joke... the young woment comes across teh aisle and is quite persistent.

A buzzing noise starts as a multitute of LCD displays are being lowered from the overhead compartments, all throughout the bus...about 8 of them. The movie starts on, it even has English subtitles.

The young lady who was checking the tickets at the bus boarding time is now doing her second job - she has turned into a bus attendant. She passes through the aisle and hands over the headphones to each and every passenger. After she finishes at the rear part of the bus, she starts again, now offering a variety of about 6 different magazines. After she gets to the rear, she starts again, and now offers a selection of three different daily newspapers. Fine selection.

Wait.... the young lady (bus attendant) is restless....cannot she just sit and watch the movie, does she have to walk up and down the aisle? What does she want now? Oh... do I want coffee, cappuccino, tee or hot chocolate.,.. adding "complimentary" ... I opt for the hot chocolate .... after a short while, she brings a styrofoam cup full of hot sweet chocolate. As she leaves she says, that if I want more, anytime, to call on her. She also gives me a menu of other (cold) soft drinks and snacks, such as dried fruits, energy and chocolate bars...all with supermarket prices...right - even cheaper than supermarket. Have I gone into paradise or what?

I am getting to like these yellow buses.... I plug the headphones into a jack on the side of the seat, just right by the seatbelt. I turn up the volume, and browse - there are 8 channels, one is for movie, two for FM radio statiosn and there are 5 music channels.

I listen to music while I watch TV and browse through the magazine and the daily paper complimentary given to me by the company that runs these great yellow buses, while sipping on my complimentary hot chocolate.

I start browsing through the seat pocket in front of me... wow... that's not possible. An IN-Flight magazine... well, not in-flight, maybe in-road, but a magazine to the style you can find on any major airline. The only difference - much less advertisement, and much more interesting articles.

And wait... what do I find... a placard... saying ...what.... is this possible? That really can't be true. A free WIFI Internet on borad. I quickly pull out my laptop, boot up, and do a wireless search. yes...I DO have a wireless connection. I connect and the speed is great. I make a crystal-clear VOIP call from my laptop, while traveling on a bus on a highway. Incredible.

I adore these yellow buses. Caribe Tours had made a big progress.... WAIT!

That ain't Caribe Tours.... just the same yellow color. But the buses are operated by STUDENT AGENCY, a big private bus carrier in the Czech Republic, and I am heading out of the capital city Prague...

My 330 kms journey cost me (calculating the exchange rate) about 550 DR pesos... that's about 1.65 DR pesos per kilometer traveled. An express bus from Higuey to Santo Domingo charges 1.45 DR pesos per kilometer. And I don't have LCD screens, headsets, 8 audio channels, free magazines, free daily papers, free complimentary drinks, rock-bottom-cheap snacks, and most of all free wifi Internet on board, the whole trip.

So, Caribe Tours, Metro, Sichoprola and others... learn how the bus business is done! These guys can make money with all the frills, while paying diesel and wages much more expensive than you do, but still charging prices similar to what you charge! Stop gauging customers, and offer some value for the money the customers pay!


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melvyn

New member
Dec 2, 2006
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Well, interesting. I agree with you a lot. Anyways, I disagree a lot too.

The market in DR isn't big enough to offer the same as the first world to the local citizen. Of course we offer first class service in Punta Cana, Casa de Campo and more, of course first class to who can pay it.

I'm pretty sure about one thing: If a high number of travelers can pay the cost in the route Santo Domingo-Santiago, Metro will do it.
Free magazines, stuff and services are offered to people with purchase value.

Another thing: Cost isn't the same in Europe and here. Transportation uses oil. The price come higher for a lot of reasons.

We can reach it, we need to work for it. The first is education. We need to learn. More classes, less beer. And start thinking like "white" people (no ofenses).
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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dr1.com
Now that is a cool bus. My father has a house in Prague, visited many times.

What "melvyn"said....
 

london777

Bronze
Dec 22, 2005
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As an occasional visitor to the DR, and hopefully a permanent resident soon, I have always said that Caribe Tours is one of the few institutions which operates at First World standards and at a very cheap price. Maybe they can improve, but they would be approximately 2,467th in priority on my list of DR entities which need to do so.