so now what since the floods

[gr8tfulscott]

Since we haven't finalized booking with cosol tours. it sounds like a tour like his might not see the the things on tour. i am going next week arrive on the 9th.

 

if it were you would you now just play it by ear versus going ahead a booking something since i am so close.:confused:

[ve2dx]

Since we haven't finalized booking with cosol tours. it sounds like a tour like his might not see the the things on tour. i am going next week arrive on the 9th.

 

if it were you would you now just play it by ear versus going ahead a booking something since i am so close.:confused:

 

 

was also woundering??? any updates? any cruises change their scedulre and rerouted?

[stcruise]

Unfortunately, I don't have any updates to offer. However, it I were planning this trip, I would go ahead and contact the various tour operators and find out what they are doing and how they might be changing their itineraries to accommodate closures of some of the sites.

 

There are some postings on this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1959930 where people explained how Cosol and James Tours handled things immediately after the rain and floods. Even though they didn't get to see many of the sights they had hoped for, it sounds as if they still had a wonderful time.

 

Although I am not one to be opposed to sometimes winging it, I really feel that St. Lucia is so lovely and has so much to see I would rather book something in advance rather than taking a chance with and unknown tour and/or taxi driver.

 

Full disclosure - I have been on two tours with Cosol - one group tour (2009) and one private tour (2010). Both tours were wonderful. I know he takes great pride in his island and would provide the best tour possible under the circumstances.

[gr8tfulscott]

cosol tour told me today in an email that the only thing off the tour is the visit to the Waterfall.

 

we told we were with them and that we have heard many good things

[travelloverontario]

Spence said the same thing...waterfalls is currently closed, but that should be all.

[happy40th]

Spence said the same thing...waterfalls is currently closed, but that should be all.

 

I'm going 2/19/14 Do you think there is hope te waterfall will be reopened?

[happy40th]

I just called Carnival and they said the waterfalls are now open. Can any recent cruisers verify this?

[OCruisers]

Thanks for the updates. It's very difficult to get info on the current situation resulting from the floods.

 

LuLu

[readytotravel44]

We were there Dec. 26. As I've already stated on these boards, the damage was devastating.

 

If my cruise was still in the future, I would still book an independent tour. We were with James. He was terrific. It is his island and he really knows his way around. That certainly came in handy on 12/26. Sure, the mud baths, waterfall, and all sorts of things by that were closed, but James had ideas and took us to other must sees, such as the boat used in the filming of the Pirates of the Caribbean and Roots. He even arranged it for us to crawl all over it. Too cool! Couldn't have been more pleased. In addition, on that day, roads and bridges were being closed without warning. Thank goodness we were with James. He knew his way around and whipped us around neighborhoods to avoid the traffic and the closed roads.

 

I had never thought of booking privately as being such an advantage in an emergency situation like that, but it is a HUGE advantage. A Carnival tour could never have done what James did. So obviously my advice is to book with a private tour - course, I recommend James.

 

BTW - One other thing. One of the things our party of 6 loved about James was that he took care of everything. We wanted a chair at the beach, he arranged it. We wanted lunch. He took us to an awesome place and ordered for us after we told him the type of authentic food were were hoping to try. He knew everyone and took good care of us.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are booked with Serenity Tours this May for a land only tour. Has anyone toured with them lately? I am hoping the restaurant overlooking the Pitons has survived ubscathed.

 

My heart goes out to the poor people affected by the devastation.

[reedprincess]

We are booked with Serenity Tours this May for a land only tour. Has anyone toured with them lately? I am hoping the restaurant overlooking the Pitons has survived ubscathed.

 

My heart goes out to the poor people affected by the devastation.

 

Little damage at all to the Soufriere area, all the hillside homes and restaurants and guesthouses are just fine.

you can read loads of reviews of Serenity at TripAdvisor.

enjoy your visit.