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We were on the ½ Day Buggy Expedition with Pro Excursions in 2015. We had an awesome experience. With Joy as our guide, we began our trek with a 20 minute ride through the countryside of Benerito and arrived at a ranch where orange and black tiger striped all-terrain vehicles were waiting for us!

This buggy expedition offered us a thrilling adventure over back dirt roads and rough terrain and included stops at a sugar cane field and rail station, a Batey, a banana plantation and the Chavon River. Since sugar cane was out of season, we did not have the opportunity to sample any or see the cane workers in full action, but we did get to visit a Batey, which was an interesting and memorable experience. A Batey is a poor cane cutter village inhabited by Haitians who work for $5.00/day. Children of the village were so excited to see the buggies roll in. Many greeted us by running out to the dirt road with an arm outstretched so we could slap their hand. A highlight for some was to get their picture taken and then view themselves in the viewer; others just wanted to climb on top of the buggies; and then there were a few who entertained themselves by hitting each other with sticks! It is at this village where the pastor’s wife collects gifts to distribute to the villagers. We brought some school supplies, note books, crayons, colouring books, coloured pencils, and small toys—but wished we would have brought more! These are very needy people who were so eager to receive anything that they were already lining up outside the pastor's door! I commend Pro Excursions for their role in helping to meet some of the needs of these people!

Our next stop took us to the Chavon River—the film location for such movies as Rambo, Anaconda and Apocalypse Now. After splashing through the mud with our buggies (and getting dirty), it was our turn to get wet and cool off in the refreshing, calm water on this remote end of the river. Then it was off to a private banana plantation where beverages and yummy treats where served. We sampled fresh, juicy mango, banana chips, yucca chips and grilled salami all prepared by the farmer on his outdoor wood stove! We toured his tiny one-room home and we're surprised to learn that a family with 9 children would all sleep in here! Just behind the farmer’s home, Joy pointed out and provided information about banana, mango, grapefruit and lime plants.

This ½ day expedition was a fascinating adventure that took us to remote places and provided insight on the lifestyle of the people who live here. This excursion of fun and discovery most definitely became the highlight of our week. I highly recommend Pro Excursions and the Buggy Expedition.

Watch our video below!

Y2kAVxSrZ7k

We are also considering this company. For more recent reviews, check TripAdvisor. They get great reviews.

I just recieved my confirmation from Spencer Ambrose and they give you two docking options: Pointe Seraphine or La Place Carenage. I never knew there were two places to dock. I am on the Fascination 9/24/17. Anyone know where I'll be docking? Thanks!!!

Another good source is the St. Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority website (slaspa). Cruise schedules as well as the actual berth ships are expected to dock at are listed here. It looks like for the month of September, the Carnival Fascination will be docked in Pointe Seraphine.

Wow! What a fantastic review of your cruise. Great information, descriptions and pictures!

 

My family will be going on our first Alaskan cruise next August on the Carnival Legend. We have a similar itinerary to yours and loved reading about all of the things you did and saw.

Thank you so much for your glowing compliments. I appreciate you taking the time to read through my whole blog and for taking the time to share your thoughts.

We have sailed on the Carnival Legend before--on an exotic Western Caribbean itinerary. It is a smaller ship than the Crown Princess.

Have fun planning your upcoming Alaskan cruise for next August!

Thanks! That's what I was thinking as well. Plus with Cosol you get the volcano, mud bath & waterfall - which you don't see with the Spencer's beach break.

 

Have to pack my teen some Dramamine though, he's not terribly fond of driving around mountains. Doesn't get sick, but feels icky.

 

 

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I have not toured with Cosol, but I have toured with Spencer. Although our experience goes back a few years now, my family have toured to Soufriere both by land as well as by speedboat.

You can visit Sulphur Springs (volcano or mud bath) and Toraille Waterfall on Spencer's Land, Sea & Beach Adventure.

In considering whether you would like to go down by land or travel by speedboat, here are a few points to consider:

1. If you are coming down to Soufriere by van from Castries you will be driving on curvy and winding roads for a good 60-90 minutes. If you are prone to motion sickness, this drive could get to you. However, the drive is broken up by stops which really helps with the long drive on the winding roads.

2. If you are coming down to Soufriere by speedboat you avoid the ride on the curvy and winding west coast road. You will still see the fishing villages of Anse La Raye and Canaries, but from the sea instead of by land.

3. Travelling by speedboat is faster than travelling by land. This means you can beat the crowds and get to the sites in Soufriere ahead of those arriving by van. Also since you save time travelling by speedboat, you can get more time to enjoy the sites and you can get up to 2 hours at the beach. On the land tour, we only got 45 minutes at the beach.

As for my family, we enjoyed the thrill of a speedboat ride over driving on the winding roads.

Whether you choose Spencer Ambrose or Cosol, I am sure you will have a great experience with either one.

Hi! Has anyone done the Gros Piton hike with Spencer Ambrose?

 

 

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I am surprised that you have not yet received a response as there are many that have done the Gros Piton climb with Spencer Ambrose Tours and have posted their experience.

My family climbed the Gros Piton with Spencer Ambrose Tours during a land vacation, but if you are arriving by cruise ship, it can still be done. Spencer will take you down by speedboat which will get you there faster than travelling by road. This also means you will begin your climb right down at sea level rather than in the village of Fond Gens Libre (this is where we began the climb from). Spencer's tours include lunch and beverages as well.

You can check out these Cruise Critic links to read reviews, see photo's and get more information about climbing the Gros Piton through Spencer.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1931025

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1557393

There are also reviews on TripAdvisor too!

Really enjoyed reading your report. I have a trip planned for next May, and your report -- and especially all the photos--make me even more anxious for next May to arrive! Thanks SO MUCH for sharing!

Thank you so much for your kind comments. I am glad you found the photo's helpful. Enjoy your cruise next May!

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading your blog. I spent a good part of today and read EVERY...SINGLE...WORD! You are a great writer and your photos were fantastic. We are planning our second cruise to Alaska next May and I am already getting excited!

 

I feel bad that you encountered so many problems on your cruise...and especially the change in itinerary that messed up so many of your plans and made you miss the inside passage. I do think that your opinion of Princess may be different if you sailed on a non-Alaska cruise. With the cooler weather, people tend to congregate inside and it just seems so much more crowded. On a warm weather cruise the crowds would be outdoors around the pool.

 

I was surprised at your lack of wildlife sightings...especially since you had a balcony cabin. We did a whale watch tour and another wildlife cruise in Seward, but besides those, we were able to see porpoises, whales, sea otters and eagles from our cabin! We also saw bears 3 different times, sea lions, and a moose up close!

 

Thanks again for sharing your journey with us. It was an enjoyable read and will be a good resource to many as they plan future trips!

Thank you AryMay for your uplifting compliments. Yes, it is true we did not see much wildlife sightings. Considering flightseeing bear viewing tours was not yet offered this early in the season and since it was too early to see the salmon spawning, I guess contributed to why the bears were a little harder to spot!

Enjoy your Alaskan cruise next May and hopefully your ship will depart on time so that you can experience everything you planned on!

What a gorgeous display of photos and wonderful narrative! We're headed out on the Island Princess next week to do a Northbound cruise and totally enjoyed your blog. Excellent job!!!:D

Thank you so much for your encouraging compliments! Your kind words are much appreciated. Have a wonderful Alaskan cruise!

Thank you all for your encouraging comments. Sorry I have not been able to respond sooner as our home internet is currently down.

Any questions, I will be happy to answer once our home internet service is repaired and up and running again.

I have finally completed what you've all been waiting for (or not)--a pictorial blog of our Alaskan Cruise!

This blog is loaded with photo's and information about our adventures as we cruise along the Inside Passage aboard the Crown Princess, as well as our pre and post cruise Vancouver excursions.

Here is a sneak peak!

Vancouver, Friday, May 6: “My husband and I arrive at the cruise terminal at Canada Place ready to embark on an exciting 1-week, once-in-a-lifetime, Alaskan adventure. . . .We were lead to a large holding room where we were shocked to see thousands and thousands of people sitting among rows and rows and rows of neatly aligned chairs. . . .Little did we know we had just become part of the May 6th embarkation fiasco!”

So, if you are ready to join us on our Alaskan Cruise, click on the link below!

Alaska awaits you!

https://alaskacruisewordpress.wordpress.com/

Altho we knew 3 ships in Port and that security and customs likely to be slow, we went at 2:30 and sat in a huge room for 4 hrs waiting to get called for Security line/ then Customs, got on ship at 7PM....lost 6 hrs. Some went at 12 and got on at 6PM.

 

Capt had to reroute us next day because we lost entry to Glacier Bay due to this delay,........

The weather was unbelievably gorgeous the whole trip. However, it felt like a 6day cruise.......never again will I tolerate this. One person with us had Global Entry and was able to use it AFTER we went through security (4 hrs). There were not enough interpreters for the foreign groups + too many people.

We were also part of the May 6th embarkation fiasco! We arrived shortly before 2:00 pm, thinking that we would be able to board quickly. Boy, were we wrong. We were lead to a large holding room where thousands of people were sitting among rows and rows of chairs—everyone waiting to board one of the three ships (Crown Princess, Celebrity Solstice or Norwegian Jewel) docked at Canada Place.

I was given group number 89, my husband number 90 and we sat down to wait as they began to call out numbers 45-47.

Worried we might miss our ship, we were assured that the ship would not leave until all passengers are boarded. Needless to say, our dreams of enjoying lunch in the dining room and perhaps hanging out in the hot tub before sail away soon diminished. After 4 hours, our numbers were finally called and we were able to head over to security. Long line ups waited for us there, but at least it was moving. Once we passed through security, we were dismayed to learn that we had to wait in yet another waiting area. About 30 minutes later, we could finally leave this waiting area and join the line going through US customs. We were told the delay was due to a lack of US customs officials and that there were only 10 officers to process approximately 7,000 passengers wanting to board the 3 large cruise ships in Canada Place. Moreover anyone who was not a US or Canadian citizen had to be photographed and fingerprinted which further delayed this whole process. Consequently it was almost 7:00 pm before we finally boarded the Crown Princess. Never had we experienced such a lengthy embarkation procedure. It took so long for us to get through US customs and security that by the time we arrived at our stateroom our luggage was already there waiting for us! Now, that was a first!

The Crown Princess finally set sail shortly before 8:00 pm, almost 3 1/2 hours behind schedule. We missed watching sail away as we were in the dining room finally getting something into our empty stomachs!

To make matters worse, the next day we were informed that since the ship sailed out so late, we missed the tide conditions that would enable us to travel through Seymour Narrows. Therefore the Captain took us out to sea where we had to now endure with rough sea conditions. With the ship rocking back and forth and bouncing up and down, like an untamed amusement ride, many were beginning to feel queasy—myself being one of them—so much so that I missed dinner that evening! And that is not the end of it either. Since we sailed out so late, we would have to miss Glacier Bay, unless the itinerary changes. So the Captain changed the itinerary. Now with a strange itinerary in place we were able to sail through Glacier Bay but this screwed up our Juneau and Skagway port stops and excursions. In both ports we had to cut our excursions short or give them up completely and we could no longer see and do everything as we originally planned and looked so forward to experiencing. This Alaskan cruise was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us and although we tried to make the best of a change in itinerary, not being able to do and see everything we had eagerly anticipated on doing was a huge disappointment! Yes, our itinerary and planned excursions ended up being screwed over all due to departing late because of the lack of US Custom Officials in Canada Place!

We have a late flight out of Vancouver after cruise {9:45pm}. Any

ideas for luggage so that we could enjoy the day?

Thanks

Another idea would be to take a post cruise excursion. We booked a post cruise excursion with LandSea Adventures. They pick up right from the cruise terminal, handle your luggage, take you on a guided tour and then drop you and your luggage off at either the airport or your hotel.

Just realized Amber Cove is in Puerto Plata, Pro Excursions is in Bayahibe, close to the La Romana port. Therefore from Amber Cove, this buggy expedition is too far to be feasible.

We will be sailing to Amber Cove the first of June. Carnival's outback terracross adventure (dune buggy) excursion is sold out. My husband and son (age 11) are bummed. Has anyone done a private tour similar to this? If so, name of company, review, price? Would you do it again? Thanks

I don't know if this is too late or not, but we did a Dune Buggy Expedition with Pro Excursions. This was not a private excursion but it was informative, insightful and alot of fun. My family truly enjoyed this excursion and is something we would do again! This expedition took us into the outback of the Dominican Republic, pass fields of sugar canes, a visit to a Batey and also included snacks and a tour of a local farmer's plantation with time for a swim in the Chavron River.

Watch my YouTube video to see what this expedition was all about:

[YOUTUBE]Y2kAVxSrZ7k[/YOUTUBE]

For more information about our experience, you can read my review on TripAdvisor. (Our Buggy Expedition is located in the second half of this review). I have posted lots of photos there as well.

So, about 4 or 5 days ago I posted a review of the Robinson Speed bout tour. In a nut-shell due to conditions it was cancelled. It was a 3 or 4 paragraph review that has been removed now. Again, this was a fully positive review for them for their decisions and their re-imbursement policy. Why would Cruise Critic delete?

Cruise Critics will only accept posts that are in response to a question and will delete any new threads that do not follow this guideline. Therefore your review was deleted because you started a new thread that was not a reply to someone's quest for information. To prevent your review from being deleted, it is best to post it in an existing Robinson Speed Boat Tour thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2022385

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45597810#post45597810

Below is the Cruise Critic "Sticky" guideline for posting.

Reviews/Recommendations of Tour Operators/Guides

Legitimate third-party reviews/recommendations for tour operators/guides *must* be posted as a reply to a request for the information. Do NOT start a new thread with an unsolicited review/recommendation. It will be removed and your posting privileges may be suspended. Additionally, repeatedly posting the same “review” over and over in response to many threads is considered “spamming”. They also will be removed from the boards and posting privileges may be suspended.

After having been to St. Lucia many times over the years we now like to do it ALL BY SEA! :)

Yes, I also preferred the thrill of a speedboat ride over driving on those winding roads!

I have not toured with Herod, but I have toured with Spencer. Although our experience goes back a few years now, my family have toured to Soufriere both by land as well as by speedboat.

In considering whether you would like to go down by land or travel by speedboat, here are a few points to consider:

1. If you are coming down to Soufriere by van from Castries you will be driving on curvy and winding roads for a good 60-90 minutes. If you are prone to motion sickness, this drive could get to you. However, the drive is broken up by stops which really helps with the long drive on the winding roads.

2. If you are coming down to Soufriere by speedboat you avoid the ride on the curvy and winding west coast road. You will still see the fishing villages of Anse La Raye and Canaries, but from the sea instead of by land.

3. Travelling by speedboat is faster than travelling by land. This means you can beat the crowds and get to the sites in Soufriere ahead of those arriving by van. Also since you save time travelling by speedboat, you can get more time to enjoy the sites and beach.

4. I do not know if Herod stops at the Morne Fortune Overlook--this is where you can see your ship below--but on the land tour with Spencer we stopped here. This stop is not included in Spencer's Land & Sea tour. I also do not know what stops by boat are all included in Herod's tour. Does he also stop at the Bat Cave or drive through Marigot Bay?

You do not need to worry about the 8:30 departure time. If the ship is late, the tour operator will wait as they know you can not get there any sooner.

I am sure you will have a great experience with either operator.

Any recent 2015 or 2016 experience with booking direct vs through cruise line?

If arriving on a cruise ship, you are not able to book the zipline direct anymore. Sky Safari now has a contractual agreement with the cruise lines and will only accept bookings made through the cruise line.

http://www.skysafaristkitts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118&Itemid=761

My vote goes to bus first...

• you already identified the bus leaves later.... an extra hour in bed or at the breakfast trough!
  
• in my two trips..... the fog was in the morning.... save the better train views for the warmer afternoon is my strategy.
  
• left side for train up.... otherwise right side for train down. The main view is on the West side of the train.... the right side is a rock face inches from your window.
  

This is very helpful information. Thanks!

The bus or Klondike highway is on the West side of the canyon. The train travels on the East side of the canyon.

 

There is more to see on the East side of the canyon.... it's preferred to take that segment when it's clear.

 

The White Pass trail is only 12 inches wide.... visible only by train on the East side.

Thanks so much for the clarification. This makes alot of sense and helps me to understand the difference between the train and bus route.

I agree the road delays are more likely than train delays.

 

I prefer bus up and train down..... yes, to avoid the morning fog.

I was also wondering if it would be better to take the train or bus first. If it's foggy would the fog affect both the train and bus route...or does the train route tend to get more fog than the bus route?:confused:

We are looking into the Yukon Train and Bus with Dog Kart Experience with Chilkoot. Besides the hour difference in the departure times (train leaves at 7:30 and the bus leaves at 8:30), is there a preference in taking the train or bus first and why?

There are cab lines, or you can have a cab waiting for you, just call from the ship. I've used Capital, and Evergreen. listings http://www.traveljuneau.com

 

You pay the driver of the shuttle bus. the buses, load from the parking lot before the Visitor Center, on the other side of the road.

Thank you once again Budget Queen for your wonderful advice and suggestions. Your helpfulness and expertise is very much appreciated! Going down by taxi and returning by shuttle bus is an excellent idea and a fantastic solution for us. We never considered the taxi option and did not realize we could take the shuttle one way. We were beginning to think we may have to forfeit the second 12:30 excursion as all other tours I found leave at 9:00 or 9:15 arriving back between 11:30-11:45 but have limited time at the Glacier (we would like to have enough time to walk down to Nugget Falls). I am very excited to know there is a way to get to Mendenhall Glacier in the morning, beat the crowds, and not have to settle with a rushed 1 hour experience in order to fit in another excursion in the afternoon.

Important facts for anyone considering a visit to Mendenhall Glacier in the morning:

1. Shuttle service runs every 30 minutes beginning at 9:00 am. It is approx. a 30 minute drive to get to the visitor centre.

2. Although the visitor centre is opened from 8:00 am - 7:30 pm, May-September, the trails are opened and your visit is not restricted to the visitor centre hours. Therefore Budget Queen's suggestion to arrive early by taxi is very doable and an excellent way to maximize our time in port!