Ash1012

We’ve done a tour with Charlie’s Custom Tours and just booked another tour with him for the spring. It was one of our favorite tours. He picked us up at our hotel, gave our tour, took pictures and emailed them to us, picked our luggage up at our hotel and dropped us off at port.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We liked Harrison's. It was interesting to see and the kids did fine with it. We rode the tram and there are lit paths so you can see. There are a couple places were they let you off the tram to take pictures. We really liked the sea turtles. Our kids are 3 and 5 and even though they don't really snorkel they could see the turtles. The people who ran the boat were really good with the kids too. They liked Welchman's gully as well which I think you would stop at on your tour.

Ash did you do a Personnal tour it a group tour.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

We have done both. Last year we did a group tour. We went to Harrison Caves and the animal reserve. All entrance fees were included.

This year we did a private tour. There were 7 in our group and we took the 6-7 hour private tour. We had to pay the entrance fees to the animal reserve and the boat at Harbor Lights to swim with the turtles. It was nice though to go where we wanted and not feel rushed. Sarah was really helpful with giving suggestions. Originally, we were going to go to the Animal reserve and up to North Point for lunch and see the sea caves. A couple weeks before the cruise we decided to go swim with the turtles instead of north point and there were no problems switching that. Once we got to Barbados, we went over where we wanted to go with our driver. He had a few suggestions for us. We ended up going to Bathsheba which was beautiful. Next, we headed to the Animal reserve and saw the monkeys there. After that we headed to Harbor lights, ate lunch and then saw the turtles. Then we had maybe 30-45 min just to hang around the beach before we headed back to the boat.

We stayed at the Hyatt House right, sort of right across from the pier. We booked Charlie's custom tours for the day. He picked us up at the hotel and took us around. He even took pictures of us and emailed them to us that evening. When the tour was over, we picked up our luggage at the hotel and he took us to the port.

We loved our tours this cruise. In St. Kitt's, we toured with Javin and had snorkeling and beach time. St Maarten we went with Amigo tours and saw the airport, stopped at another beach and a few other spots around the island. Barbados we did a private tour Glory tours. St Croix we went Kayaking. We had younger kids so we had to find a good mix for everyone in the group :)

We were just on the Adventures of the Sea. I was nervous the first time too :) Calvin, our driver, took us to Bathsheba, the animal reserve and then Harbor Lights to have lunch and swim with the sea turtles. We had young kids with us. We never felt rushed and was back to the boat in plenty of time to talk a few of the vendors at the port. Sarah at Glory Tours was also very helpful with planning our day. You'll love all the stops on the cruise! Have a great trip!

We have used them twice. We made it back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. When we went in 2015, we did a half day tour. When we went this March we did a 7 hr private tour. Both were great.

Thanks for your response :)

Has anyone used Bushtribe Eco Tours while in St Croix?

We took glory tours last year (went to the cave and animal reserve) and liked them. We will be doing a private tour with them in a couple weeks.

We went with Glory Tours, but I believe when we showed up we had to wait a few minutes for the next tour (movie and tram). Not sure if that helps or not...

We booked a tour through Glory Tours and went to Harrison's Cave and rode the tram and then went to the Wildlife Reserve. Our kids were 4 and 2 (almost 3) and loved it. They took us back to port and then the rest of the group went to the beach to swim with turtles or something along those lines.

I too did that tour and he had explained that people didnt have the money for school or a means of getting there.

Is that not correct?

I guess when I am there and Volunteering I will get the answers.

Tammy

Have fun on your trip!! You are going to love it! By the way our cab driver did not know where it was and dropped us off at a church down the street. They were very helpful though pointing us in the right direction!! Have fun!

Well we just got back from our cruise. I would have to say that I also disagree from what I saw. The kids at the preschool were incredibly smart and so well behaved. They knew all their months, days of the week, counted and did the ABC's. They also worked on Spanish. I was really impressed!!

Anyways, we really enjoyed our time with the kids very much. We did leave a little early because quiet time started and we didn't want to be disruptive. Plus, we had our own children with us and the kids all wanted to play. There was a local volunteer there and she took us to a local restaurant afterwards. It was really good to get some local food and then we walked back to the ship. I'm planning on posting some pictures on Hope Floats Facebook page.

Thanks for the suggestions!! I think we will look into the market or Vigue beach before getting back onto the ship :)

Maybe Vigie Beach? Sounds like its a couple miles from the cruise terminal and quiet. I also thought about the market in Castries...

I haven't really found anything. How about you?

The information they sent included Salvation Army's address, taxi info and the contact there. It didn't really go into details on what we are doing.

Fun! I'm really looking forward to St. Lucia!! Yes, I will let you know how it goes! Also I'm going to try and post some pictures on their (Hope Floats) fb page.

Also I think on the Hope Floats website they have 4 options so you may want to check there too!!

I booked through Hope floats website. They were updating their website when I tried booking so my total was wrong. I just emailed them and they were able to get it all sorted out for me. They sent the contact information after a couple weeks, but they've always been good at returning my emails and keeping in contact with me.

We went on a cruise in March and I struggled to find places to volunteer or donate. We were headed to different islands this time and wanted to look into our stops. I stumbled upon shoretrips.com who partners with hopefloats.org. They have 6 or so different islands they have volunteer "excursions" with. You can choose anything between helping at the Salvation Army, soup kitchen, animal care, community cleanup. I felt like each website offered different opportunities. We go in a couple weeks and can let you know how it goes, if you would like.

Hello! We will be in St Lucia the week of Jan 18. My family will be volunteering at the salvation army's preschool in Castries. We are done volunteering at 1 and we would like something to do afterwards. Are there any recommended beaches close to that area or any must dos? My husband would like to snorkel, but any suggestions would be helpful!

Thanks in advance!!