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Is Cosol in St. Lucia as good as people say??

kellyrobin

By kellyrobin,
in St. Lucia

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Upshaw

Upshaw

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Just back and had a great time with Consol!!! It was just my husband and I, but we soon made friends with the three other couples in our van and even stopped & chatted with the one couple we ran into repeated thereafter on the ship. We did not feel rushed or herded at any time. We learned a lot about St. Lucia and Consol's pride in his country is very evident. We enjoyed the many stops for photo ops and the breaktaking views. The bar was always open and the lunch buffet was fabulous!!! We enjoyed the water taxi ride and had a great time swimming between the Pitons and the beautiful beach. The fresh, warm bread with cheese was scrumptious! Back in time for an hour to shop at the port. What a great way to spend the day! :D

This sounds like a wonderful trip ... Did you have a bus ride and snorkelling? Do you have the website or email that I can book it for my Feb. cruise. Any information would be great. Thank you

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Swann5

Swann5

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This sounds like a wonderful trip ... Did you have a bus ride and snorkelling? Do you have the website or email that I can book it for my Feb. cruise. Any information would be great. Thank you

 

Try this e-mail address: cosol966@hotmail.com. If it doesn't work just google Consol Tours St. Lucia. Consol met us right at the peir with three 15-passenger, air conditioned tour vans; a large family went together in one, two other groups went together in another van and the rest of us went with Consol. I've heard that the other drivers are also very knowlegable and fun too; one is often Consol's brother. The vans usually travel together and meet up at the same stops together. We had the bar in our van, all the water, soft drinks, beer or rum punch you wanted! :D We didn't do the snorkelling, but others in our group did and enjoyed it. The snorkelling area wasn't very big, just a small portion of the beach roped off, but there were lots of fish to see. We just swam & walked the gorgeous beach. There are several opportunities to buy souvinirs along the way (spices, jeweley, t-shirts, etc) as well as on the beach. Check out Consol's website for all the tour details, if you have further questions, ask away! I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time. :D

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SMN

SMN

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We got back yesterday from the 1/8/11 sailing of the Serenade of the Seas. We used Cosol tours for St. Lucia, and loved it. Our driver was named Baptist, and he did a great job. This was our 2nd time with Cosol tours. My husband and I did the same tour in Feb. 2010. We had our 20 year old son along this year, and booked again so that our son could also enjoy this tour. In 2010 we had Cosol's brother. Both guides were professional, informative, and fun. Cosol also met us during some of the stops. He basically said a requirement of this tour is to have a good time - and we did. We saw a lot of sights, plus the bar van follows along with plenty of beer, rum punch and nonalcoholic beverages. There is a stop where they provided our fill of local favorite foods. (Yummy!) Before the end of the tour the guide made a stop at a local bakery and gave us hot, just out of the oven, bread from a local bakery. They also provided some really good cheese to go with the bread. Beautiful sights, good guides, and our fill of beverages and food. We couldn't have asked for a better combination. Everyone on our bus indicated they really enjoyed it. As I said, we have done this tour twice. We had a GREAT day both times. I'm back now in MN with lots of snow...doing all that post cruise laundry....and I wish I could be back in St. Lucia yet again.

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tigger77732

tigger77732

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We got back yesterday from the 1/8/11 sailing of the Serenade of the Seas. We used Cosol tours for St. Lucia, and loved it. Our driver was named Baptist, and he did a great job. This was our 2nd time with Cosol tours. My husband and I did the same tour in Feb. 2010. We had our 20 year old son along this year, and booked again so that our son could also enjoy this tour. In 2010 we had Cosol's brother. Both guides were professional, informative, and fun. Cosol also met us during some of the stops. He basically said a requirement of this tour is to have a good time - and we did. We saw a lot of sights, plus the bar van follows along with plenty of beer, rum punch and nonalcoholic beverages. There is a stop where they provided our fill of local favorite foods. (Yummy!) Before the end of the tour the guide made a stop at a local bakery and gave us hot, just out of the oven, bread from a local bakery. They also provided some really good cheese to go with the bread. Beautiful sights, good guides, and our fill of beverages and food. We couldn't have asked for a better combination. Everyone on our bus indicated they really enjoyed it. As I said, we have done this tour twice. We had a GREAT day both times. I'm back now in MN with lots of snow...doing all that post cruise laundry....and I wish I could be back in St. Lucia yet again.

 

How much time did you get at the beach with Cosul?

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lovemylab

lovemylab

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We did Cosol's tour a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The only people in our van was people from our CC roll call (10 people total), however there was 5-6 other vans on the tour.

 

IMO, most of the complaints on this board are a result of people not doing their research ahead of time.

 

Before booking any private tour I always check to see how many other ships will be in port and I also ask the tour company whether space is limited. I knew ahead of time that Cosol will take as many people as he can get, but since there were only 2 ships in port that day it was a non-issue for us.

 

If you're wanting a tour with a smaller group of people (and there are multiple ships in port) than you may want to look at some of the other tour operators.

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Swann5

Swann5

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Can anyone answer whether you can pay by credit card and/or cash after the tour is over? We are trying to see how much cash to have on hand, or if he will accept a credit card.

 

Thanks! :)

 

Cash only at the end of the tour. Have fun!

 

 

For Missymac: we spent an hour and 20 min. at the beach.

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SMN

SMN

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How much time did you get at the beach with Cosul?[/quote

 

It was about 45 min to an hour...not a ton of time, but enough time to do some snorkeling. BTW, I saved a banana from the food stop (where they had tables of the various foods/fruits). I took part of the banana with us snorkeling and broke it up in the water - and a SWARM of striped yellow/black fish came and ate the banana bits. Since this was the second time we've done the tour, I knew that the area where we enter the water (not the entire beach though) has a lot of rocks - so I made sure our family had water shoes for this trip.

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sweetlisee

sweetlisee

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I took the COSOL tour last January and cant recommend it enough. It was fABULOUS! You literally see everything St Lucia has to offer. Also the drinks are plentiful!! The food was delish, our driver Adrian was wonderful and full of info. The beach break at the Pitons was breathtaking and you can snorkel there. A++++++ You wont be sorry you have booked this tour! I am heading back to St Lucia this April and am thinking of taking this tour again :)

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sweetlisee

sweetlisee

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you only stop for food once. Yes there are photo ops but you are out of the van interacting with people if you so choose to. You swim at a waterfall, eat the Caribbean buffet, visit the banana plantation and sample bananas straight off the trees, drive through the volcano (beware it stinks!! LOL), stop at a beach smack dab in the middle of the Pitons for swimming and snorkeling, plus more. Its a GREAT day!!

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reedprincess

reedprincess

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He gives a very good and full tour, though I am now disappointed that in a period of about two years he's increased the price from USD 45.00 to USD 60.00. Still worth the higher price.

 

A note on the price increas - gas here in St. Lucia has increased from $8.50EC a gallon to now at $13.63 a gallon in the last 3 years. That has had a major impact on drivers of all types.

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Upshaw

Upshaw

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you only stop for food once. Yes there are photo ops but you are out of the van interacting with people if you so choose to. You swim at a waterfall, eat the Caribbean buffet, visit the banana plantation and sample bananas straight off the trees, drive through the volcano (beware it stinks!! LOL), stop at a beach smack dab in the middle of the Pitons for swimming and snorkeling, plus more. Its a GREAT day!!

 

When you stop for swimming, can you leave your bag (camera/sunscreen) on the tour bus or did you take it with you - also did you bring an underwater camera - or see many people using them?

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TrishLoves2Cruise

TrishLoves2Cruise

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How can we find out how many ships will be in port March 11, 2011 for St. Lucia? Thanks so much.

 

You can see what cruise ships are in port here on any given day

http://cruisett.com/ports.php

 

Thanks everyone for all the reviews of Cosol Tours. I am so looking forward to this island and taking this tour with my DH. He hates bananas and coconut but I'm sure he will find something to eat on this tour. :o

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piggey56

piggey56

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my cousin and i just came back from st lucia--cruising on serenade of the seas--and did the tour with cosol on jan 12th. we had bumpy as our tour guide and he was great. we had a fabulous time and highly recommend this tour. it was a long day but well worth it to see the island and taste the local foods and also to see the pitons and jalousie beach.

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tracy515

tracy515

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Ok, ok... You all have convinced me to book this tour for our trip in February. Rum punch, the inside scoop on the island, local foods?... Can't wait!

 

My question is this: I've heard that his tour leaves at 8:30, but our ship docks at 9am. I'm sure he's an intelligent man and will work with the ship's schedule, but I just wanted to be sure that he won't leave without us! Does anybody know about his departure time?

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Gabrielle R.

Gabrielle R.

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We did Cosol in December! AWESOME!!! We had booked early, when we were on board a great couple asked us what we wree doing- since we hung out so often we told them about Cosol. We said, why not come with us and see if he can fit you in? Cosol DID and we had one of the best tours ever! wE had 8 people in our van. The hot cheese sandwhich was great. HOMEMADE bread (IT looked like a drum stick! IT was SO GOOD!) Swimming was great and just seeing everything was great too! You will have a terrific time!

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texkan

texkan

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my cousin and i just came back from st lucia--cruising on serenade of the seas--and did the tour with cosol on jan 12th. we had bumpy as our tour guide and he was great. we had a fabulous time and highly recommend this tour. it was a long day but well worth it to see the island and taste the local foods and also to see the pitons and jalousie beach.

 

Can you please tell me how you arrived at the beach (van or boat)???

We did tour with Cosol 3 yrs ago and we were able to excess beach by van thru the resort.

Have read that resort does not allow tour vans to reach beach thru the resort property.

 

Was the resort at the beach up and running??? Have read that it was still closed due to

Hurricane damage.

 

Would appreciate your thoughts and info. Will be there in March 2011 and have plans to tour with Cosol again.

 

Thanks,

Texkan

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