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Loved Cosol tours April 15, 2010

GaryNFla

By GaryNFla,
in St. Lucia

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GaryNFla

GaryNFla

Posted
Posted

We had the pleasure of a tour with Cosol last week and loved every minute of it. We had Cosol himself and he was fantastic. The food was abundant and delicous and there was always plenty of water, beer, or rum punch.. This was one of our best days ever on a tour and I would recommend it completely. It never got too crowded and his vans are huge and very comfortable and very new.. Cosol is a good man and he wants nothing more than to share his love of the island..

 

Gary

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aislynmae

aislynmae

Posted
Posted

I would like to second that!

We did our tour on 4-13-10. We had Bumpy. He was so informative. The breakfast, and lunch was to die for. Plus he stopped and got fresh cookies.

I never knew that so much went into growing banana's as well as cashews. No wonder they cost so much.

All the stops we made were great. It was the highlight of our vacation.

Would recomend this tour 100%.

They really want the customer to enjoy, and strive to do so.

 

:D

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tiyana4

tiyana4

Posted
Posted

I just want to chime in to add that we, too thought Cosol's tour was absolutely amazing! It has been almost 2 years since the tour, but can remember it just like it was yesterday. We had a private sedan (their equivalent of a Toyota Avalon) that met up at all the stops with 2 other vans. We had Baptiste who was an excellent guide. What a great day!

 

Were you guys able to do the beach time between the Twin Pitons? I know in 2008 they mentioned that the hotel was trying to privatize the street that ran down to the beach. Just curious.

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Deckhandoug

Deckhandoug

Posted
Posted

We toured with Spencer last year and many got motion sick on the way back, thanks to the drivers wild driving. We had heard about it here on CC and it turned out to be true.

 

I know this is subjective, but did you experience any of this on Cosol's tour?

 

Thanks in advance! :)

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BALLERINA

BALLERINA

Posted
Posted

Not at all. our tour was very relaxing, no rushing, besides all the stops on our tour, our driver ( Fatman) we called him handsome Berard, pointed out points of interests. Where the Bachelor was filmed and things that seemed to interest our group. there was 10 people in our van. The vans were high top vans very spacious.

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tiyana4

tiyana4

Posted
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I was one of those who got sick on the way back. Nothing to do with Baptiste's driving, but the winding roads coming back down the mountainside. Going up I was fine because we made quite a few stops. On the way back there was only one or two stops. I guess they wanted to ensure they get us back to the ship on time.

 

I get queasy when others are driving anyway, but add a full day in/out of the sun, multiple food/rum punch stops, swimming and no dramamine.....you get the idea. I am usually OK in a larger vehicle, but we were in a sedan. It's really weird because I'm not affected by motion on the ship at all.

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Deckhandoug

Deckhandoug

Posted
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Thanks for your replies, my wife is VERY sensitive to motion sickness in cars, and it was coming back that she also got sick, I agree, no stops might be the issue.

 

I think we might try ziplining, and let the others take the tour this time!:)

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tiyana4

tiyana4

Posted
Posted
Realy nice reviews. is lunch included on cosols's tours?

 

Here are a few pics of the tour:

 

Our brunch was served at a hillside overlook - gorgeous place! If I recall correctly, there was fresh tuna salad (and I mean fresh!), bread fruit balls, fresh fruit (several kinds), maybe 2 or 3 other items, dessert, and plenty of rum punch!:D

 

 

2520749350101210541S425x425Q85.jpg

 

Here is Cosol himself sharing a special sauce:

2121024090101210541S425x425Q85.jpg

 

 

The view from one of the lookouts - breathtaking:

2350183240101210541S425x425Q85.jpg

 

Our driver, Baptiste and Cosol with his famous rum punch:

2722555110101210541S425x425Q85.jpg

 

There was also a pitstop on the way back for fresh baked bread and cheese. We were stuffed! As much as I enjoyed this tour, I don't think I could come down that mountainside again!

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miss meow

miss meow

Posted
Posted

We were on this tour on April on April 14, Bumpy being our guide. It was WONDERFUL as Montie above indicated. Plenty to eat and drink. I just made sure that I took something for motion sickness before we left and all was good. I'm just prone to motion sickness on windy roads no matter who's driving. Learning about banana's, cashews, doo doo's, etc....we had a great time and would recommend this tour and our buddy Bumpy to anyone!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
PreciousCruiser

PreciousCruiser

Posted
Posted

I just have three words to begin "COSOL", "COSOL, "COSOL"!

 

OMG, what a great tour. Our guide Baptiste was great, as well as the whole tour. Tasted the best bananas, mangos and spiced rum punch! Beautiful island, wonderful food, and the snorkeling at Jalousie Beach was awesome! And The Pitons, what more could you ask for.

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CruiseLover824

CruiseLover824

Posted
Posted
We toured with Spencer last year and many got motion sick on the way back, thanks to the drivers wild driving. We had heard about it here on CC and it turned out to be true.

 

I know this is subjective, but did you experience any of this on Cosol's tour?

 

Thanks in advance! :)

 

We just did a tour with Cosol last month....the roads are crazy in St. Lucia. The driver we had was very cautious and was not a wild driver at all. There were just a ton of hairpin turns and it is very hilly.

 

If you are prone to motion sickness, it is likely you will experience it on the roads of St. Lucia.

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BroncosFan2010

BroncosFan2010

Posted
Posted

I would caution those of you planning on doing this cruise IF you have many ships in port. I did the Cosol tour in March and there were 6 ships in port. There were over 200 people on this tour and about 25 vans. We had 10 people in our van, and it was somewhat crowded. The tour started about an hour late because of all the people and we were literally HERDED into vans for a drive. We did not have a good driver, and he was quiet for most of the tour. We had to cut out one of the options because of the late start, so we were unable to go to the beach. The sights were SO crowded that we felt very rushed. There was not a lot of food because of all the people, so we were hungry most of the tour. The bathrooms often had long lines and cost $1 to use. Be sure to bring singles.

 

I think this tour COULD be enjoyable had we been the only ship in port. There were just too many people to get to see all the sights and enjoy the food. To add insult to injury, Cosol kept telling, no, DEMANDING that we come back to Cruise Critic and post good reviews. It was very off putting.

 

I know that so many people have had a great time on this tour, but I want to warn people to CHECK THE NUMBER OF SHIPS IN PORT before you book. If there are more than 2-3 ships, you may want to find something else to do, especially if you don't want to feel like a herd of cattle all day.

 

St. Lucia is a beautiful island, and DH and myself will be returning there in August. We will be finding a beautiful beach and avoiding the island tours this time.

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Delta Dear

Delta Dear

Posted
Posted

How much walking is involved at the stops on the tour. My husband and I have some mobility issues.

 

Also, I see you mentioned the cost for using a restroom. Are there several stops along the way for using the restrooms ?

 

With the newly posted cautions re;safety, would it be best to stay with the larger tour groups ?

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welldone60

welldone60

Posted
Posted

Not alot of walking at the stops, but at the beach you do have to climb in a boat in the water (get your feet wet). The restroom was a dollar I think (did not use it) at one stop. Not alot of restroom facilities on this tour.

Not sure what you mean by safty issues, we had no problems.

 

Go here to see more photos of St Lucia.

http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/tt25/welldone60/St%20Lucia/

 

5071.jpg?t=1273973006

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Delta Dear

Delta Dear

Posted
Posted

Ok, thanks for the picture. That would be fine, husband has back problems if a lot of walking is involved. I just have an arthritic knee. We could handle the boat, no problem.

 

Safety issues was refering to whatever caused NCI to pull their ships out of St. Lucia for through 2011. I'm not letting that deter our visit, but I won't choose tours that might be targeted, either.

 

Thanks for the input.

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