St. Lucia Sandals

[nrunnion]

Has anyone ever purchased a day pass for St. Lucia Sandals? If so, was it worth it.

 

thanks

[imsulin]

Which Sandals Resort in St. Lucia are you talking about? There are three of them.

[negc]

Which Sandals Resort in St. Lucia are you talking about? There are three of them.

When we were in St. Lucia in March this year (on Brilliance of the Seas) we looked into the idea of purchasing day passes for Sandals and found that the price had been raised to $100 per person. My wife is a TA and was able to get a complimentary pass for the two of us, but the rest of our group who were willing to pay a reasonable fee (we had earlier been told that they were about $20pp) passed on the opportunity. After our visit, I think that they made a good decision. The resort was very nice but not worth $100 for the few hours they could have been there (especially when you factor in the roundtrip cab fare). We were at the Sandals Grande St.Lucian Spa and Beach Resort.

[FrankiRN]

instead of Sandals which has gotton crazy expensive, we did the Rendezvous resort there for $35pp and had a ball. All you can drink of liquor, wine, soda, water and a swim up bar, pool, ocean and a nice buffet lunch served on china. Very fun. Look it up on google, just put in Rendezvous and look for St. Lucia. Call ahead or email ahead and let them know what day and how many in your party. When you get there, go to the office and check in and pay. You can stay all day. It's a 15 minute cab ride from the pier, and the cab was about $4pp.

[imsulin]

As a TA, I don't blame Sandals ( six in Jamaica, one in Nassau, one in Antigua, and three in St. Lucia) for raising the price of their Day Passes. I've booked MANY couples to all Sandals resorts for Honeymoons, Anniversaries, etc., and the biggest complaint I've gotten was that they were really "peeved" at the "daytrippers" from the cruise ships, showing up in the middle of the week for a few hours. These Sandals clients paid a LOT OF MONEY for airfare, transfers, and accomodations for their special romantic trip (trust me - Sandals Resorts are wonderful, but they are not cheap!) My clients had to plan and save money for a long time, and I don't blame them at all for feeling like their vacation was "invaded" by cruise ship passengers. I'd feel the same way. IMO, I think it's time that the A/I resorts - that get plenty of money from clients who book several days for whatever occasion, and pay a lot of money - STOP offering putzy "day passes" to cruise ship passengers. I've complained to Sandals about this for some time, and would like to see them stop offering Day Passes altogether. Sorry, but I look out for the best interests of my clients - whether they are on a cruise or a land vacation. Thanks.

[jrm9999]

I agree with you imsulin. I stayed at one of the Sandals in St. Lucia. While I did not notice cruise guests when we were there, I would not have been happy hearing about a bunch of the crowd at the pool only paying $20.00 to get in when everyone else is paying like $400.00 a nite.

[imsulin]

Amen, jrm9999! That's what it's all about!!

[FrankiRN]

I really have to disagree. We mingled with the guest who were at Rendezvous, and they were more than gracious. It wasn't at all crowded. In my opinion, it's Sandals fault for over booking compared with the amount of guests they have registered. Rendezvous makes you notify them ahead and avoids that problem. Why shouldn't they make a little more money if they are not fully booked??? If they were booked to capacity, there would be just as many people in the pool, right? Anyway, the OP was asking about the value of day passes, not weather or not we all think she SHOULD have a day pass or not and I don't think we should make them feel bad. Also, what one person paid for their stay is immaterial to what another person paid. I paid just under $1000pp for my next cruise and I guarantee you there will be people who paid more AND less than I did. Just my opinion folks.

[stones902]

We did the St. Lucia Halcyon a few years ago on a day pass. The cost was $80. It was a fun way to spend the day. It included all food and even water skiing for the day. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[kkorman]

I agree with you imsulin. I stayed at one of the Sandals in St. Lucia. While I did not notice cruise guests when we were there, I would not have been happy hearing about a bunch of the crowd at the pool only paying $20.00 to get in when everyone else is paying like $400.00 a nite.

 

 

I stayed at the Sandals in St. Lucia and nnoticed when the cruise passegers were there. It is annoying considering I paid so much to be swamped by cruise passengers for the day. I also thought that it was a huge disappointment and would have rather taken 2 or 3 cruises for the price we paid for our stay there.

[OCruisers]

nronnion .... Just another option ....

 

On our upcoming cruise to St.Lucia we are planning to go to ....

 

Reduit Beach (click for Review and Q&A "Thread" in St.Lucia section )

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[momtobradley]

Haveing cruised and been to Sandals, I wil have to agree with some of the above posters. I would not like it if on my vacation at Sandals a bunch of people from a cruise ended up in the pool at the resort. This is an All Inclusive Private Resort, not an Amusment Park. Maybe the people staying at the All Inclusives should invade the ship. And being a cruiser also, I wouldn't want that either.

 

I had never heard of this before, but I'm glad I did now. When I was on my Honeymoon at Sandals Dunn's River, I think because ships mostly dock in Montego Bay, which is almost 2 hours away from Ocho's Rios, we did not have to deal with this. But if I ever go to an AI again, I will ask before booking if this is an allowed practice, if it is, it doesn't seem that it's as Inclusive as they say it is.

 

JMHOP

[mdmourges]

I know you asked about St. Lucia but I will address Antigua. We had actually stayed there previously and wanted to go back just to check it out. The cab let us out down the beach and we just walked in from the beach, had a few drinks and left. Anyway, instead of paying the $100, you might try this approach.... or not. lololo

 

Mark

[stones902]

While I understand some of the sentiment about sharing the resort with cruise "day passers", I think worrying what someone paid for their passes onto the property is somewhat misguided. It's kind of like getting upset because you booked your plane flight for $400 while the guy in the seat next to you paid $250. Likewise, how many times has someone booked a cruise and received an upgrade while someone else booking the same cruise does not. It happens all the time. Don't worry about what you or someone else paid....just relax and have a good time.

 

Also, those resort guests have private rooms on the property....day pass people only use the ammenities at the resort.

[momtobradley]

Maybe people should get day passes to the ships and use all that they have to offer.

 

This is JMOP, but I don't think it is right. If you want to go on a cruise, then go. If you want to do a land base all-inclusive, then do that.

 

Everyone is has a right to their opinion, but I can tell you, if the situations where reversed and a bunch of people horded onto the ship with day passes :eek: , cruisers would not like it. I know I wouldn't.

[jst4fun715]

For the OP, we bought the day pass to Sandals Halcyon while in St Lucia in Jan. We paid $50 pp plus the cab fare. We had a really nice time but I understand that since then the price has gone to about $100 pp. I don't think I would spend that much money for it. But then again, we just used the beach, swimming pool (with swim up bar :D ) and had a nice lunch in the restaurant. Unless you do a lot of the water sports, I don't think it would be worth $100 pp. JMO.

[stones902]

In reality, if people who patronize Sandals or other similar resorts don't like people who use the property on day passes, then they should raise the issue with the resort offering day passes.

 

Visitors to the islands are just taking advantage of an offer made by a local business. Obviously, it is financially worth their while to offer day passes otherwise they would not do it. Perhaps the answer is to raise prices for land only all inclusive resorts and restrict access only to resort guests.

 

Your point about day passes on cruise ships is well taken except that access to vessels is under the authority of the various port authorities as well as the companies owning the ships. As is the case with airports, port authorities limit access to certain areas of the ports to only people holding tickets.

[househunter]

Just thought I would add my opinion of Rendezvous in St. Lucia. We spent the day there in April of this year. I believe it was $40.00pp. I had looked it up on their website and from the photos it looked very nice.

It was not! The entire resort was filthy. The bathrooms were disgusting. The pool area was tiny. Yes it did have a swim up bar but the pool itself was very basic with not enough very uncomfortable lounge chairs. The food at the buffet was mediocre and the service was horrible, the bar staff acted as if they were doing you a huge favor by making you a drink.

I would stay away from this resort. I have been to several Sandals resorts and would gladly pay the extra money.

Just my opinion!