Spencer Ambrose - Land and Sea vs. Jaloise Beach Break

[CLS/KAS]

Don't like being herded. this is reason we did not book w/cruise ship

price is not much of a diffrence between them, either.

I see you were just there also.

not liking this- heading there soon

[Fourseventeen]

Yup I to avoid the cruise ship excursions for this reason. I hate to be piled into a large crowd. It is not only uncomfortable to be rubbing elbows with a bunch of strangers but it also makes me feel like im at Disneyland and not some exotic island. I also like to take the tour on my time...not everyone elses. The more people on the tour the less time you will end up having on your excursion.

[ilandlvr]

Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:28:47 -0400

Subject: Re: Book a Cruise Ship Tour ExtendedForm Submission

From: spencer7114@gmail.com

 

 

Thanks ***, you Will have a great time on the beach. The left side of the beach is use for snorkeling and the right for swimming. You will be able to use the whole beach so don't you worry .The beach is public but you cannot wander on the property or use their swimming pools, you can patronise the bar though if you wish

 

If you want a chair with umbrella you will get it for $20.00 if there are Any available but other that that the beach is yours. Normally we leave the beach about 2.30 to 3.00pm , in all you get to spend about 4 to 5 hrs on the beach.

 

I look forward to meeting you all.

 

 

Warm greetings from The Jalousie Plantation and beautiful St Lucia!

It is wonderful to hear from you and equally a pleasure to know that you wish to visit our beautiful resort while on our exquisite island.

I am pleased to confirm that the below information is correct.

Should you require any further information or assistance, please feel free to let us know and we will be delighted to assist you.

Regards,

Korina Hippolyte | Reservations Agent (The Jalousie Plantation)

Val Des Pitons | Forbidden Beach | La Baie de Silence | Post Office Box 251 | Soufriere | Saint Lucia | (:+ 1 (758) 456 8042 |7:+ 1 (758) 459 7667 |*: korina@thejalousieplantation.com

** Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2010 Winner of “Favourite Leisure Hotel, The Americas & the Caribbean” **

The information contained in this e-mail is intended only for the named recipient(s) and may be confidential and or privileged. Unauthorised use or reproduction (including storage or re-distribution in any media) is prohibited.

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

From: Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 11:29 AM

To: reservations@thejalousieplantation.com

Subject: Question about use of the beach at the resort

 

 

 

Before booking with Spencer I wanted to confirm that the information in his email below is correct. Otherwise I may consider a day pass if they are availabe through your resort. Can you email me back and let me know the correct information.

 

Thanks,

[Jenbo57]

Wow, I'm surprised to hear that; that wasn't our experience with Spencer in December at all! His was one of the best tours we've done on all of our cruises, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone.

 

But I suppose anyone can have "off" days...

[izzy19]

Hi, we also just returned from Spencer's Jalousie Beach tour on Jan 28/11 and everything was exactly as it was advertised...the boat ride there took approx 90 mins and we stopped at Anse Chastanet for 30 mins to snorkel, stopped at the "bat cave", toured a couple of the other bays such as Marigot and Cochon. Clint and Capt Kirk were very knowledgeable about their island and did not hesitate to answer questions...we used the whole beach but kept our chairs on the snorkeling side...the nice thing was that we got to Jalousie before everyone else and had our pick of the spots and chairs on that side of the beach...the food was good and the drinks were plentiful...We stayed at the beach until 230 and had a nice ride back with a short stop to pick up one of the ships entertainers at Marigot...:)I would not hesitate to book this tour again or recommend it to anyone

[DDEMOM]

I also had a bad experience with Spencer last week. I had an e-mail from him stating that the meeting time for the Land and Sea tour was 10:30. My husband and I showed up but, Spencer was no where to be found. Eventually, (after around a half hour), the taxi cab drivers tracked down his brother who came and did not even apologize. Apparently, Spencer had given me the wrong time (I showed him the e-mail). There would not be ample time to do the land part in the Land and Sea tour or we would have to forfeit most of our beach time on Jalousie Beach. Neither my husband nor I wanted to do this, so we opted out. At that point, his brother called Spencer and both were pretty rude. We ended up just taking a taxi to the beach. We were pretty disappointed after all of the high recommendations for Spencer Ambrose on these boards.

[dz63]

I noticed Cruise Critics has moved a few threads into this one. I have attached the link to another good thread which includes some recent reviews of Spencer's Jalousie Beach Break excursion as well as photos of this beautiful beach and boat ride.

 

For those that are interested, you can check it out at this link below:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1318425

 

 

By the way, thanks ilandlvr for confirming that the Jalousie Plantation does allow cruisers access to the beach--and do not need to be restricted to a certain area. It looks like that securiy guard which BonnieLark and litebender encountered on their tour was definitely "pulling his muscle". Perhaps this security guard should be reported?

[amazonlady]

Have just returned this morning from a two week cruise on the Ventura, one of our ports was St. Lucia and we had booked the Jalousie Beach break with Spencer Ambrose. The ship was over an hour late getting to port but spencer was waiting for us. There were 14 of us on a wonderful speed boat, very comfortable. There were driniks on board, sodas, water, beer and run punch. We went down the coast into marigot bay, then on to Anse Chastenet where we had a 40 minute snorkel or swim. Then on to Jalousie, where we had 3 hours, more drinks and lunch, which was very nice. We were told that we could hire the chairs and umberellas at $10 but there were plenty of free sunbeds which we pulled under the trees. We had a wonderful time with Spencer, leaving the ship at 9.45 and getting back at just after 4, would recommend this tour to anyone.:D

[amistad]

Thanks Amazon Lady, I was really getting worried since we have this booked for April. It is unfortunate that the other folks had a really bad experience.

[UMTerp]

Just got back from there and personally would not recommend his services. Read my review on this forum.

 

I am having trouble locating your review. Would you please post a link?

 

TIA!

 

UMTerp

[LNew]

Have just sent an e-mail off to spencer ambrose about his land and sea adventure tour (my wife is already planning gifts of banana jewelry).

Just seeing if anyone else has done this trip - will be there in March on

the Caribbean Princess.

Also just a thought - do I need to start queing to get off the ship an hour

before I really want to - I hear it can take a while to get ashore.

 

 

Hi, We just got back on Sunday. We were in St.Lucia on 2/9 on RCL Adventure of the Seas. We went on the Spencer Ambrose Land & Sea and loved it! Our driver/guide's name was "SMALL" and he was awesome! We saw all the sites listed on his website (except the waterfall and gardens damaged by the hurricane and we knew this in advance) and had plenty of time at each site. It was my husband and I, and we were put with a group of only 4 others so we only had 6 in our van. If you email Spencer he will add you to the list, so you don't have to find others to take the tour with you.

 

The banana plantation is a stop on the side of the road,and there are ladies there selling banana ketchup and other things. We made multiple stops and Small always asked if we were ready to go and if there was anything we needed. There was plenty of water, sode and Piton beer in the cooler in the van and native snacks along the way. We stopped for about 15 min at the volcano, but that was plenty of time. The guide at the volcano explained everything and we were ready to move on because it was crowded and smelled of sulfur.

 

We had almost 2 hours at JaLouise beach. If you bring a towel you can sit right on the beach. My husband can't be in the sun long, so we rented chairs and umbrella for $40 (very pricey!) but worth it. The bay is gorgeous set between the Pitons.

 

Our water tour back was on a speed boat and was very bumpy, but we had rain and the water was rough. When we got to a site, our driver stopped the boat and explained the site and made sure we had time for pictures and asked if we were ready to go on. We got back to the ship with 30 minutes to spare, plenty of time.

 

It was a full day, very informative, and a lot of fun. I highly recommend it!

[dz63]

*There is a beautiful beach there but not the one his tour is allowed to sit on. The picture shown at top on his website is the Plantation Resort beach. That is where we all went when we arrived and their security told us to leave. We went back to much less beautiful side of the beach to plastic chairs to sit in the less white sand and rocks. It is a rustic beach. There is a very, very small area on the tour's side of the beach with white sand. You can rent an umbrella for $20. The area is shown on the picture on his website where the boat is at the pier. It's the beach behind the boat. My husband and I sat under a sea grapes tree out of the sun.

 

Not the relaxing beautiful beach we were looking forward to.

 

After reading BonnieLark’s encounter with security at Jalousie Beach restricting them to a certain area (which was such a contrast to our experience there), I decided to write to the Jalousie Plantation in order to clarify what their policy really is in regards to non-resort visitors visiting the beach and specifically if their security is restricting guests to stay in a designated area. I would really like to come back to St. Lucia this summer (thinking of a land vacation this time) and I want to make sure that my family could enjoy the same beach access as we had the last time we where there. For your interest, here is the reply which I received from Molly McDaniel, Jalousie Plantation Director of PR.

 

Thank you very much for your email.

I am concerned to read about the negative comments you have come across on the Cruise Critic forum. As you quite rightly point out, all of the beaches in St Lucia are part of the Queen's Chain and are therefore open to the public. The Jalousie Plantation has never restricted access to the beach so I am a little perplexed by the comments you say have been made by cruise ship passengers on day trips to the south.

 

In fact, the resort has created a special area for non-resident guests to enjoy which includes complimentary sun lounges and restroom facilities close to the main snorkeling area, the same facilities you no doubt enjoyed during your recent excursion to our shores.

 

We do charge individuals if they want to use facilities set aside for resident resort guests, but we do not charge for the use of sun lounges put in place soley for the use of non-resident guests. As you can imagaine, we have guests paying a great deal of money to stay at Jalousie and we must ensure certain facilities are for their exclusive use (sun lounges, the pool, the restaurant at peak times).

 

 

At no time have any of our security staff ever instructed a non-resident guest to leave the beach. Nor have they instructed guests that they can only enjoy a portion of the beach. The only restrictions we have in place are for the use of facilities set aside for the exclusive use of our guests such as the swimming pool, cabanas and sunlounges on the far right hand side of the beach (when looking from the water). In addition, in periods of high occupancy, we give preference to our resident guests when it comes to lunch time seating in the Bayside Restaurant. We have also prevented non-resident and resident guests from hanging their wet towels and other items on the railings around the Bayside Bar and Restaurant for the comfort of others.

 

 

We can get upward of 100 cruise ship guests arriving on the beach enmass and our security staff work hard to ensure they are informed about the facilities set aside specially for them. Perhaps you are correct and in their desire to ensure everyone knows what has been set aside specifically for their use, their message is being misconstrued.

 

I have discussed this with our head of security and at no time have his staff prevented guests from putting their towels where they would like to be on the beach. Your own experience would certainly support this.

 

The resort is not being sold and the owner is committed to preserving the rights of St Lucians to use and enjoy the beaches of the island. He is also instrumental in having set up the complimentary facilities for non-resident beach goers. At the same time, he has invested over US$100 million on the property to produce a luxury product and we must ensure some things remain for the exclusive use of our guests and that their enjoyment of the beach is also not compromised.

 

Our policy has not changed since you last visited us and non-resident guests continue to enjoy the wonderful snorkeling at the base of the Petit Piton and the complimentary facilities we have provided for their use.

 

Thank you once again for your email and we look forward to welcoming you back in the not too distant future.

 

 

 

Best Regards,

 

 

Molly McDaniel

Director of PR/Associate Director of Sales & Marketing

The Jalousie Plantation Sugar Beach

St Lucia

 

 

 

Therefore in summary,

-Jalousie Beach is a public beach

-Although the Jalousie Plantation has designated a certain area for non-resort guests which includes free lounge chairs and restroom facilities (which their security may direct you to), guests are not confined in this area. Guests may lay out their towels anywhere they like on the beach, or rent a chair with umbrella.

 

It is unfortunate that BonnieLark and litebender felt they were restricted to a certain area and could not enjoy the full beauty of Jalousie Beach. If I had security tell me to stay in a certain area, I would feel intimated by that too. However, the letter from Molly McDaniel confirms that security can not confine guests to stay solely in the designated area and hopefully now that this was brought to their attention, security will be more careful what they say. Since Spencer Ambrose was not mentioned in these reviews, I am assuming his presence was not there that day? This is also unfortunate because had he been, I am confident he would have straightened this whole misunderstanding up and not let security give the impression that the rest of the beach is off-limits to non-resort visitors.

 

I hope this information helps anyone visiting Jalousie Beach to clarify what their beach rights are so that all can enjoy the full beauty of this tropical beach between the Pitons.

[marylizcat]

We were on St Lucia about a week ago and visited this beach as part of our Cosol tour. Our driver warned us to expect security to tell us to move off the main section of beach, but said we must take no notice as it is a public beach. He was very surprised on our return to learn that we had had no encounters with security.

 

So:

(a) It must be common to have a run-in with security

But

(b) from our experience you may not!

 

Incidentally, there are not all that many free sunbeds and they were all occupied when we arrived, so don't count on using them. The area they are in is only for snorkelling. We lay on our towels on the main swimming part of the beach. But then there is no shade.

 

There are two unisex restrooms which are free and you can change in them.

[ciera123]

Thanks dz63! We have reserved Spencer's Land and Sea for June 8. I'll print off your e-mail and take it with us, just in case...

[TEADEESEA]

My hubby and I took this tour 12 days ago. They took us to the two best places for snorkeling on the island. There was easy access to the snorkeling too. There is no way to get to either of these places for a cheaper price, let alone have a lunch, drinks, and tour included. We were extremely happy with this tour and the beauty of this place will stay with us forever.

[amistad]

TEADEESEA, Thank you for posting your recent experience, I have been watching this thread and trying to come up with a backup plan if things hadn't improved by the time we cruise in April.

[calisunnfun]

TEADEESEA, Thank you for posting your recent experience, I have been watching this thread and trying to come up with a backup plan if things hadn't improved by the time we cruise in April.

 

I am watching this thread as well. Had wanted to secure this tour but now I am having my doubts. Been reading a few other threads as well and it seems as though since the hurricane that there have been some more than normal "unpleasant experiences". Wonder if the locals are making do with what they can for the time being until they can get "back to normal" with other adventures back up and running?

 

Thanks for all the feedback. Much appreciated!

[TEADEESEA]

My understanding is that the hurricane affected land tours. It created some bumpy roads and destroyed the waterfall. This is one of the reasons we chose the beach break which is total travel by water in a boat.

[imdawn]

Without rewriting the entire St. Lucia part of my review-we went on the Spencer Ambrose Land and Sea Tour and we also wouldn't recommend it I think we will most likely try Cosol Tours next time we take the Victory Cruise as he gets great reviews too.

 

See my review in my signature for details. It definitely wasn't what the website described the tour as being. Also for the record, the security guard told us when we were there that we COULD rent a chair, but NOT one of the umbrella chairs just one of the chairs that were out in the sun for $20 each...so we opted to go to the rocky part of the beach and try and find an open FREE chair instead. We were also on the same tour as Fourseventeen-the tour was WAY overbooked and started about 45 minutes late at LEAST so we didn't stop at all the places we were expecting to stop...maybe we should have rented a cab as well!

[amistad]

Dawn, that is an excellant review. We are not going on the Victory, but you touched on several of the ports we will be going to. I have the Spencer Ambrose Jalousie Beach Break booked and I hope it isn't a mistake. I think most of the people that read these boards are kin of nervous at this point about Spencer. The main reason I booked this is so we won't be bothered all day by people tring to sell stuff. I'm glad to know that you thought the food was ok at least. Again great review I read the entire thing tonight even though it isn't the cruise we are going on.

[TOlson70]

Took the Spencer Ambrose Jalousie Beach Break tour on our cruise the week of 2/20. Had an awesome time. Every stop mentioned on his website was hit, lunch was great, beaches at Anse Chastent and Jalousie were awesome. His crew, Clint and Capt. Kirk were great. All the beer, water, rum punch you could handle.

[golffore2001]

We were on the Summit 2/26 sailing and did the Jalousie Beach Break. All was as advertised and had a great time. Left pier about 8:30 and returned at 3:30. Jalousie beach is magnificient. The lunch was good and the Piton beer and rum punch fantastic. We were a party of 6 and all loved it. One thing though, be sure to give your tip to the guides on the boat and not to Spencer when you pay. I did this, but some did not and we got the feeling the guides might not see the full tip...As they told us, never tip the Captain.

[nytonowhere]

I'm not going to rewrite everything i already did but this is a link to my review of my carnival victory cruise 3/6-3/13 i have a full review of my Jalouise Beach Break Tour. It was awesome! I recommend it to anyone!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1379222&highlight=

[amistad]

I'm not going on the Victory, but I really appreciated your review. We are booked with Spencer next month and it seems like there have been some recent complaint's. I am really glad you enjoyed the day. Thanks

[nytonowhere]

Yea it was a beautiful day!