St. Lucia & Antigua Excusion Suggestions

[CruzFamleof6]

We are not thrilled with the coices offerred by the AOS....I had read about a tour in St Lucia that takes you to the "drive through Volcano" and a beach between the Gros and Petit Pitons...does anyone have any info on the compnay offering that?

 

Any suggetions for Antigua....I have checked into Elis, and we do not really want to spend all day out on the boat..ANY OTHER suggetions?

 

We want to see the towns, people, historical sights, light shopping, and maybe go to a beach in both places....

 

ANY SUGGESTION VERY:o , VERY WELCOMED!!!!!!

[MercedMike]

We loved both those ports. Check out our trip report and pictures at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/serenade.html

 

We had an excellent private tour from St. Lucia Reps

http://stluciareps.com/

which included the drive in volcano. It is great. I am sure they could add a beach stop for you.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[KillaFee]

We took the tour w/Cosul in St. Lucia and it was the best tour ever!!! And we don't usually like tours! It took you through the drive through volcano (it's a sulfer crater), all around the island, to the waterfall, to the beach at Jalousie Plantation in between the Pitons, and a bunch of other places. It was awesome! And you are in a small van, not a big ol' bus like on most RCI run excursions. We never really felt like a herd of toursits while on the tour with Cosul, it was a nice change. If you wanna check out my photos just click on my webshots link down below and go to the Serenade album. The St. Lucia photos are in there.

Enjoy!

Laura

[Desert Cruizers]

We did the Catamaran on St Lucia which included a 1 hour Island Tour, back to the boat for lunch and entertainment, a private beach and cruise into a lovely cove, 3 -4 hours I think. It was a cruise tour. Antigua we did an Island tour.

 

RADIANCE OF THE SEAS, HAWAII OCTOBER 11, 2008

[kkpcruiser]

We are not thrilled with the coices offerred by the AOS....I had read about a tour in St Lucia that takes you to the "drive through Volcano" and a beach between the Gros and Petit Pitons...does anyone have any info on the compnay offering that?

 

Any suggetions for Antigua....I have checked into Elis, and we do not really want to spend all day out on the boat..ANY OTHER suggetions?

 

We want to see the towns, people, historical sights, light shopping, and maybe go to a beach in both places....

 

ANY SUGGESTION VERY:o , VERY WELCOMED!!!!!!

 

ANTIGUA:

This January on the Serenade, we did the eco kayak tour in Antigua with "Paddles". As we were also looking to book the AOS, it is available on their excursion list. This was a wonderful excursion with a little of everything including some island hospitality. Initially you kayak for about an hour..around a beautiful inlet through mangroves and close to the open waters. Then you board a boat for a FAST FUN ride to Bird island , a beautiful deserted island, hike a short trail to a beautiful spot with panoramic views and about one hour to explore or relax. We walked the trail to the opposite shore and we weer the only ones on the beach!! Heaven!!. Snorkeling available right off Bird island if you choose. Yummy snack and rum punch back at the lovely cottage of the owner along with some other lovely personal island touches. There were 6 in our party and we ALL loved this excursion!!!

 

We also had time to shop downtown before the ship left!a

 

ST LUCIA: I have heard alot about the tour with Cosol. If i had booked this AOS cruise, i was definitely looking into this option. In January on the Seranade (Same itinerary), we did the land/sea/ SOffriere tour. This was not our first choice, which was cancelled the night before!:mad: Since there were 6 of us, i was a little concerned that we would not all get on the same excursion! We choose this albeit a bit reluctantly! However it was great. A long bus ride to the good stuff but once you reach the volcano..it is all uphill from there. The bus ride even had some highlights including a beautiful long distance photo op with the pitons in the background. Stop at a small fishing town...not much here for us. Thru the rain forest with a stop for bananas (YUM), to the volcano which was interesting, a great lunch at a beautfiul plantation, onto the catamaran for a beautiful ride along the st lucian shoreline, to a black sand beach for swimming, sunning, snorkling back to the ship. ALOT packed into this all day excursion. While not our first choice, it was still fabulous.

 

As we cruised out of St Lucia. we saw numerous, no less than ten, separate distinct rainbows along the shoreline..it was magical!

 

I have to say this itinerary is great:D . I look forward to a repeat trip soon! You will love it! Any other questions, i'd be happy to answer

[Corinne Marie]

We have heard many nice things about Cosol's excursion and tours in St. Lucia and we are booked on this next week when we sail on the AOS. On Antigua we booked a day pass at Grand Pineapple beach resort for 45 dollars plus 10% service fee. We are taking a ride over there and back for 16 per person. I have read many others who have done this and they reported back that they had a great time. Hope this helps.

 

Corinne

[OHCruisinDad]

We did this itinerary in 2005 on the AOS. As I recall we did the land and sea to Soffriere (sp?). This tour included a cross island tour in a mini-bus with several stops including a small seaside town and the banana plantation for lunch. It ended at the drive-in volcano (sulpher and mud vents). We then took a catamaran up the coast from the Pitons back to the ship. We stoped along the way to swim on a small secluded beach. It turned out to be a beautiful excursion.

 

In Antigua we did the island tour than included the famous Nelson's Dockyards. There is a lot of English naval history in Antigua. We also saw some of the early settlement ruins and had beatiful views from the high cliffs on the coast. We ended our tour by getting dropped at one of the hotel resorts north of the pier and town where we enjoyed a beautiful beach. We were able to purchase a late lunch and drinks in the afternoon. The pier was only a 15 to 20 minute cab ride back to town. If I had to pick an island for a land based vacation, it would be either St. Martin or Antigua.

 

The islands are different but both have a lot to offer. Enjoy your cruise and your island visits!

[SUZCRUZ]

We took the tour w/Cosul in St. Lucia and it was the best tour ever!!! And we don't usually like tours! It took you through the drive through volcano (it's a sulfer crater), all around the island, to the waterfall, to the beach at Jalousie Plantation in between the Pitons, and a bunch of other places. It was awesome! And you are in a small van, not a big ol' bus like on most RCI run excursions. We never really felt like a herd of toursits while on the tour with Cosul, it was a nice change. If you wanna check out my photos just click on my webshots link down below and go to the Serenade album. The St. Lucia photos are in there.

Enjoy!

Laura

We did his tour a few years ago and it was one of the most memorable private shore excursions we have ever done. He is just wonderful. We wish there were more sailings to his beautiful Island just to do his tour again.

[bplazo]

Our favorite tour in St. Lucia was with Shal from Jungle Tours. He had an old beat up landrover (I wondered if we sould make it back) which took us all over the island. He provided lunch at a sugar plantation and pop and beer.

 

My daughter (who was sixteen) loved it. Shal helped her up to several of the waterfalls and swam in some remote areas.

[cruisingrightalong]

St.Lucia-Cosol

 

Antigua-Bubbles and the ATV trip (the whole island)

 

Lou

[okbowler]

As stated above by several posters we used Cosol on our tour in Feb. of this year. Believe price was $45 and tour was about 6 hrs. Included snacks local food and drinks which included beer , rum punch, water & cold drinks. Great tour. Here is his e-mail address , you can reserve but don,t have to pay until start of tour. www.cosol@hotmail.com. Have a great time.:) Bill

[ILoveScotland]

We're on the Serenade in late January. Thanks for great ideas.

[KillaFee]

We're on the Serenade in late January. Thanks for great ideas.

 

You're so lucky! We'll be on the Adventure in late January and I'm sure we'll have a great time (getting married and we'll be w/23 of our family and friends) but I'd rather be on the Serenade! The only reason we didn't book it for our wedding is that we were afraid that some first time cruisers w/us would be overwhelmed w/all of the ports and we knew that we wouldn't have enough time to enjoy the amazing itinerary. Hopefully Feb 2009 we'll be back onboard - it was our favorite cruise! :D

Laura

[CruzFamleof6]

thank guys! YOU ROCK!What great suggestions! For those going in the future...when we get back, I will certianly let you know what we thought!:D

[negc]

When we were in St. Lucia several years ago, we did not take an organized tour, just found a van and driver at the cruise terminal and arranged for him to take us to Soufriere and the drive-through volcano and then back to Castries where he dropped us off at a beach for the afternoon. Turned out to be considerably less expensive than any of the tours available and we were able to structure it to fit our own schedule.

In Antigua we took a cab to a local beach, which turned out to be the same one used by the Jolly Roger excursion. Next time we are there we might decide to go to English harbor to see more of the island.:)

[katiel53]

We had Cosol in St. Lucia and as mentioned he did a wonderful job. In Antigua, we did Lawrence of Antigua and we totally enjoyed the tour. It went to Nelson's dockyard and other scenic locations and it ended at a beach. We didn't want to stay at the beach, so he took us back to the ship.

 

This time in Antigua we are doing Gordon with the Antigua Beach Runner tour. It was highly recommended on the Antigua board, so we chose to do him this time. We will get to do a tour and end up at a beach. It should be fun.

[Cruisechic470]

Antigua - Dickensons Beach - Beautiful and lots of fun.

 

St.Lucia - We took a 2 hour tour ending at Rodney Beach :D

 

Check out my review for details:

Cruise Critic Member Reviews: Adventure of the Seas by Cruisechic470

 

You'll love the AOS! Have a great cruise :D

[CruzFamleof6]

St.Lucia-Cosol

 

Antigua-Bubbles and the ATV trip (the whole island)

 

Lou

 

Lou, Do you have any contact info for Antigua Bubbles?:confused: & the ATV trip...are those offered by RCI?

[shipknotshore]

In Antigua we booked "Lawrence of Antigua" for a tour of the island. The tour included sights of Shirley Heights-views of English & Falmouth Harbors, park headquarters to view historical multimedia presentation of Antigua, Nelson's Boatyard where you get a "guide" to talk about the history of the boatyard, and a drive thru the rainforest for a view of Monserratt. He will drop you off, if you wish, at the beach, and return to pick you up and take you back to the ship.

[cruisingrightalong]

ATV-oops its Dimples not Bubbles!!! oops here is the link

http://www.antiguaadventures.com/t-ortx-atv.html

 

It was a hoot!

Lou