St. LUCIA

[Kbrauchle]

Heading to St. Lucia in February. Would love excursion ideas. Independent tour companies or excursions through the cruise line

 

We love the outdoors, the ocean, trying lcoal food. I don't think we'd be interested in anything too crowded like the mud baths. Or spending tons of tone on a bus or van. 

[Clarea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

One of the useful forums to view are the port of call forums. 

 

This is for St. Lucia:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/138-st-lucia/

[KansasBeachLover]

We did a speedboat tour that took us to the Pitons.  We used Spencer Ambrose Tours but there are several tour companies that do it.  Best day we've had on a cruise in a really long time.  It's a beautiful island.

[zebe912]

I'm of no help, but this is a good reminder that I want to look for trips that stop there. :-)

[fielddreamer]

Spencer is the best ! We loved every bit of the tour !

[kurtmp3]

Third thumbs up for Spencer...went 5+ years ago and the wife and I still speak so well of how great Spencer was!

[Hoopster95]

11 hours ago, Kbrauchle said:

Heading to St. Lucia in February. Would love excursion ideas. Independent tour companies or excursions through the cruise line

 

We love the outdoors, the ocean, trying lcoal food. I don't think we'd be interested in anything too crowded like the mud baths. Or spending tons of tone on a bus or van. 

 

I recommend a "Land and Sea" tour... but be aware. A company that is highly recommended here on CC is "Cosol".

 

 I took Herod's Tour (no longer running as he's in the Ministry Government now from what I'm seeing on Google) and it was a great bus tour to Souffriere with a great lunch, mud baths, waterfall, 2 hour beach at Jalousie in between the Pitons... and then motor boat all the way back to the ship (not just back to the bus with another 1 hour drive on winding roads all the way back). Here's a pros vs. cons written by another blogger comparing the two:

http://tourarrow.com/2014/04/06/cosol-tours-vs-herods-land-sea-tour/

 

Both Cosol and Spencer Ambrose Tour are highly rated here on CC. Spencer Ambrose takes you by boat from the ship out to the Pitons and back by boat, so you miss the drive through the mainland and view points/history/various stops that Herod's (and Cosol) tour provides. Cosol is land both there and back. I wanted a combination of both.

I would be googling to find another tour provider that does what Herod's did.

[Ashland]

This past September we did an amazing tour with Cosol that included the bus, speedboat to Sugar Beach, lot's of drinks and food. We've been to St Lucia many times but our tour with Cosol was by far the best time we've had there. Would definitely do this tour again.

[Kbrauchle]

14 hours ago, KansasBeachLover said:

We did a speedboat tour that took us to the Pitons.  We used Spencer Ambrose Tours but there are several tour companies that do it.  Best day we've had on a cruise in a really long time.  It's a beautiful island.

 

When did you do this tour? I wanted to book this but there has been a lot of negative reviews lately which makes me nervous. Crowded beaches, mechanical issues with the boats....

[JamesEM]

On my last visit I rented a taxi for a lap around the island, the cost was about the same as paying for four on a ships tour.

[JBSteelerfan]

We have also done Cosol Tours in the past and HIGHLY recommend them!

[KansasBeachLover]

5 hours ago, Kbrauchle said:

 

When did you do this tour? I wanted to book this but there has been a lot of negative reviews lately which makes me nervous. Crowded beaches, mechanical issues with the boats....

We did this in December of 2017, so one year ago.  We had no mechanical issues.  We were one of the first boats there at the Pitons, so we got good beach chair selection.  We were there all day, so many other boats came and went.  At times it got crowded because of all the tours coming, but most didn't stay long at all, so the crowd was short lived.  Our tour included all the drinks (pop, water, and alcohol if you wanted) and a pretty big lunch.  We had a great time.

[papaflamingo]

We did a catamaran to the Pitons through Royal Caribbean.  I usually book third party, but be aware, St. Lucia has limited roads.  If there's an accident, or traffic, you could miss the ship.  So we opted to do a cruiseline tour and on the water.  It was really a great tour, one of my favorites.  Mind you, it was a few years ago so don't know what they offer today.  

But keep in mind if you go by land the possibility of delays so don't plan a close return to the ship.  

[bobmacliberty]

+1 for Cosol.  We paid a little extra for a private tour (4 people).  We did the same tour stops as everyone else, but had a more comfortable mini-van and the flexibility to spend more/less time at a particular stop.  The one big difference was that the mid-morning breakfast stop was at Cosol's house.  Fantastic views.  Not sure if this is standard on the private tours.

[EeyoreRN]

Cosol no longer does the speedboat portion of the tour, the whole thing is by van. So IF you want to see the Pitons from the water do not use this company. There are many other operators who still offer the boat tour.  Check trip advisor for company ratings and customer reviews.

[do_not_spindle]

Early December trip on GOS.  The wives wanted a simple beach day.  We negotiated a cab ride outside the port area and spent a few hours at Marigot Bay.  $1 or so water taxi ride from where the taxis wait to the resort area.  Excellent calm beach and several large catamarans came in & out also one of the faux pirate ship rum cruises.  Taxi driver waited for us and other than the STEEP & NARROW roads, no issues with ground transportation.  Do allow  extra time for coming back as traffic or an accident can back up the roads quite a bit (not as bad as what we've experienced on Dominica but enough to think about it).   

[erby2283]

Another vote for Cosol.  It's stll my favorite tour to date. A full day with so much to see, eat and drink. Oh, I can still taste that bread.....MMMMMMMMMMM

[finz2u]

We took the cruise to the Pitons, booked through Royal, and it was absolutely fabulous.

[OCruisers]

The catamaran tours offered by the ship to the Pitons are very nice -- no land, all water!  

[WisconsinFan]

29 minutes ago, finz2u said:

We took the cruise to the Pitons, booked through Royal, and it was absolutely fabulous.

Glad to hear as we have this booked for our upcoming cruise. It is the only thing we have booked through the cruise line on our upcoming trip. Can't wait!