Gros Piton Hike cancelled

[Ruggermags06]

I just got an email from RC stating that the Gros Piton Nature Trail Hike excursion we were booked for when AOS stopped in St. Lucia has been cancelled for the remainder of the season. Beside being completely disappointed (this was the excursion I was looking forward to the most), I was wondering if anyone may know why?

[weloverunning]

Hi Ruggermags:

What a bummer!!

Is it possible this is just a RC issue? Our family has made the necessary arrangements to take a boat to Soufries and then hike Gros Piton in November on our own. NCL does not offer a Gros Piton hiking tour.

I searched the St. Lucia government website, the Gros Piton Tour Guide Assoc. website, and the Forestry Dept. website and do not see anything about the tours being stopped.

Maybe you can arrange something on your own.

When we invited (and agreed to pay) all of our adult children to go on our cruise in November they had to agree to two stipulations 1) Join us for dinner each night and 2) they must climb Gros Piton with us. They all agreed:D

[Ruggermags06]

Hi Ruggermags:

What a bummer!!

Is it possible this is just a RC issue? Our family has made the necessary arrangements to take a boat to Soufries and then hike Gros Piton in November on our own. NCL does not offer a Gros Piton hiking tour.

I searched the St. Lucia government website, the Gros Piton Tour Guide Assoc. website, and the Forestry Dept. website and do not see anything about the tours being stopped.

Maybe you can arrange something on your own.

When we invited (and agreed to pay) all of our adult children to go on our cruise in November they had to agree to two stipulations 1) Join us for dinner each night and 2) they must climb Gros Piton with us. They all agreed:D

 

Would you mind sharing who you booked your hike and transport arrangements through? This is our honeymoon trip so I had been booking most of our tours through the cruiseline for ease and piece of mind (getting back to the ship on time) but this was the one tour I was really looking forward to. I let my fiance pick most of the others. Any info you have would be appreciated! Thanks!

[KroozFoolz]

I just googled GROS PITON NATURE TRAIL and found lots of sites with information on this, including

http://www.geocities.com/sluforestrails/newpage15.htm

 

ShoreTrips lists an excursion for this, but according to the website, only from Coconut Bay Resort and it takes 8 hours.

http://www.shoretrips.com/common/search4.asp?rcode=CAR&lcode=SLU&tcode=008676

 

Good luck! I hope you can find a way to do this!

[weloverunning]

Hi Ruggermags: This is the correspondence between myself and Caroline at mysticmantours.com I am still waiting for the final info from her. You may want to look at their website and contact Caroline directly. Please let me know how it goes.

Good morningI have read wonderful reviews about your services on cruisecritic web site. So I am looking to you for advice. Please excuse my ignorance regarding St. Lucia. I have my plan in mind, but do not know how to go about it. Maybe you can help. Our family of 8 is arriving in St. Lucia in November by cruise ship. Is it possible to use your services to transport us by boat from Castries to Soufriere or wherever it is we can get a guide to climb Gros Piton? We were in St. Lucia in January and realize it is a long road drive to Gros Piton. Being on a cruise ship, we have a limited amount of time to get to Gros Piton and climb it : ) and get back to the cruise ship. Would water transportation be faster? Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.Warmest regardsAnn and John

 

Caroline Aimable <aimablec@candw.lc> wrote:The best way to travel to Soufriere is by water appro. 35 minutes from your boat to Soufriere. Yes you can arrange to climb the pitons if you leave your ship early. For the group 1 to 6 persons US$65.00 per person Group of 8 US$50.00 per person Group of 12 US$45.00 per personFor 8 or more persons we will include a cooler of drinks.Please let me know if you need any more information.Regards,Caroline Aimable

 

Dear Caroline:Thanks for the fast response. It is so refreshing to get great customer service. Is the price of $65 roundtrip per person from the cruise ship? How would we get from Soufriere to the starting point in Fond Gens Libre? Do you know what the fee is to climb Gros Piton per person? Our ship is due in port from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Please tell me this would be sufficient time to get there, climb, and get back. : ) Thank you so much for your help. Hi,

 

We like to spice up vacations ( give it that extra flavor) Your group of 8 persons would be US$50 per person return. I will contact a local guide with the exact duration of the climb, pick up points and cost for the climb for 8 persons.We can drop off at the beach on the foot of Gros Piton so that should be a good place to begin the climb. I will be in touch soon with the info on the climb. Caroline

[weloverunning]

Hi Carol: I bumped up our post from back in April. We are going to St. Lucia in November. Our family is determined to climb Gros Piton. As it gets closer, I will post our final information from Majesticman (transportation by boat to hike area) and the guide service to let you know how we made out. Upon our return, I will let you know how it went.:D We were in St. Lucia on a cruise in January 2007 and I set a goal for myself that I will climb Gros Piton before I get too old to do it. I am 53 so I can't wait much longer.

[weloverunning]

Still hoping to make this happen in November. We'll let you know.