Cosol Tour in St. Lucia

[finucane]

Ty,

We thoroughly enjoyed the Cosol Tour. As stated, everywhere on the island is rather hilly, but it was an enjoyable ride and we were not uncomfortable at all. There was so much to look at, and frequently we stopped and got out at scenic overlook areas, or to look around at a vendor's stand and other places. Below my signature is smugmug, click on that and go to St. Lucia. There are a number of pictures there from our tour, on page five you will see a picture of the van that we were in. There was only the one van on our tour, not several others. I can't give this tour any higher marks, it was more than I had expected it to be.

Randy

 

Randy, really enjoyed your pictures of the Royal and St. Lucia.

We will be on the Royal next year (yeah, a ways to go) but want to talk to Cosol soon. An Island tour? Is that the request to Cosol, is that what you did? Our port time is 7am to 4pm.

Any advice?

Thanx again for the enjoyable pictures...

[Randy & Kathy]

Randy, really enjoyed your pictures of the Royal and St. Lucia.

We will be on the Royal next year (yeah, a ways to go) but want to talk to Cosol soon. An Island tour? Is that the request to Cosol, is that what you did? Our port time is 7am to 4pm.

Any advice?

Thanx again for the enjoyable pictures...

 

Johnny,

You will be there for the same length of time that we were, however the hours are different, we were there from 9 AM until 6 PM, still 9 hours.

As far as I know there is just one tour option offered by Cosol, the island tour. Just contact Cosol Tours dot com and there is much information on their site. Also info as to how to contact them. They were very good about contacting us back and answering any questions that we had.

We had never been to St. Lucia before and did not have much of an idea regarding what to expect. Since being there, we now understand how many different types of beauty that the island has to offer, and the terrific tour that Cosol offers made it possible for us to take it all in. We had not heard, prior to our tour, that the area was quite hilly and heard no mention of the possibility of becoming car sick, so we did not give it a thought. We never had any signs of this from ourselves, or any of the others on our tour either, so I'm not sure if some people are extremely susceptible to this or if some are blowing this up in their mind for no reason, I just can't be sure about that. This now ranks right up there as one of the best places to visit on our favorites list. There are very few tours that we have taken in the past that rank as high as this one does with us.

We absolutely loved the Royal Princess ship, and the crew were exceptional. This was just a terrific cruise and we have so many wonderful memories from this experience. I'm glad that you like the pictures, they serve as a wonderful reminder to us as far as reliving this cruise sometime in the future.

This is a cruise that is worth waiting for in our estimation, enjoy.

Randy

[finucane]

Johnny,

You will be there for the same length of time that we were, however the hours are different, we were there from 9 AM until 6 PM, still 9 hours.

As far as I know there is just one tour option offered by Cosol, the island tour. Just contact Cosol Tours dot com and there is much information on their site. Also info as to how to contact them. They were very good about contacting us back and answering any questions that we had.

We had never been to St. Lucia before and did not have much of an idea regarding what to expect. Since being there, we now understand how many different types of beauty that the island has to offer, and the terrific tour that Cosol offers made it possible for us to take it all in. We had not heard, prior to our tour, that the area was quite hilly and heard no mention of the possibility of becoming car sick, so we did not give it a thought. We never had any signs of this from ourselves, or any of the others on our tour either, so I'm not sure if some people are extremely susceptible to this or if some are blowing this up in their mind for no reason, I just can't be sure about that. This now ranks right up there as one of the best places to visit on our favorites list. There are very few tours that we have taken in the past that rank as high as this one does with us.

We absolutely loved the Royal Princess ship, and the crew were exceptional. This was just a terrific cruise and we have so many wonderful memories from this experience. I'm glad that you like the pictures, they serve as a wonderful reminder to us as far as reliving this cruise sometime in the future.

This is a cruise that is worth waiting for in our estimation, enjoy.

Randy

 

Randy,

you'll never know how appreciative I am of your time here.

My wife and I looked at your St. Lucia and Devil's Island pictures again this morning.

We have 3 other cruises booked before we get on the Royal but are putting 90% of our time into it already over the others.

We understand, as you did, that this will be a special cruise.

Our Itinerary on the Royal:

Miami, Florida (overnight before flight to Manuas)

Manaus, Brazil (overnight on ship)

Manaus, Brazil

Parintins, Brazil

Parintins, Brazil

Boca da Valeria (Amazon River), Brazil

Santarem, Brazil

At Sea

At Sea

Devil’s Island, French Guiana (Isle Royale)

At Sea

Trinidad, Trinidad & Tobago

St. Lucia

At Sea

At Sea

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

 

Do you think I am excited?

 

PS: I think I am with you on the "in the head" thing...

Thanx again so much...

[Randy & Kathy]

Johnny,

I see that your cruise itinerary is different from ours. We had a 14 day round trip cruise out of FLL. I would love to take the one you will be on, only there is one obstacle for me. I have been experiencing increasing pain in my ears when flying over the years. I just tried to endure it for a while but it kept getting worse, then the Dr. had me take some medication for the problem. Flying to the next cruise port it worked fine, flying back home it did not work at all. I had a severe double ear ache that lasted for two days, and I then discovered that I had lost the hearing in one ear, that lasted for 10 days. THAT DID IT.....no more airplanes for me, If I can't drive to the point of embarkation, (as we had to do when cruising to Hawaii a year ago) I just don't go. For us, your trip would also be a once in a lifetime adventure, as our southern Caribbean cruise was.

 

For what it's worth, you can also see where we took some pictures when visiting Tobago. We took the Princess excursion called the Tobago Highlights & Folkloric Show. This provided a nice tour of the island, but ended up with our visiting the Folkloric show. If you would like an outstanding performance including bongo drums, a steel drum and some dancers in costume performing some most unusual and entertaining dances, I would highly recommend this excursion. I took a LOT of footage of this show with the camcorder, and am very pleased to be able to review this performance while at home. This became the extreme highlight of this tour in our mind, we both were treated to something which we had not expected. But, it is all about different people having different likes and dislikes, just something to consider.

Kathy found a DVD named "Papillon" staring Steve McQueen, ordered it on-line and we watched that just before leaving on the cruise. I would highly suggest doing that as it will give you a much better appreciation of what Devil's Island was all about, and some of what the prisoners there went through. Here is a hint, when going to the island try to get on one of the first tenders to leave the ship for the island. Many people don't take into account just how close to the equator you are when there, and it gets hot and humid very quickly as compared to what things are like for people when they are back home. We took a tote bag with bottled water and snacks (something salty helps) inside, that helped a lot. We were getting back on the ship by about 10:30 AM and were glad to get back to the A/C, but some people were just starting their 2 hour walk of the island then, and came back to the ship just about exhausted. If you get back early you can be the first ones in the pool, with a Foo-Foo drink in hand. :p

 

You will just love your adventure, I know that we did.

 

Randy

[finucane]

Johnny,

I see that your cruise itinerary is different from ours. We had a 14 day round trip cruise out of FLL. I would love to take the one you will be on, only there is one obstacle for me. I have been experiencing increasing pain in my ears when flying over the years. I just tried to endure it for a while but it kept getting worse, then the Dr. had me take some medication for the problem. Flying to the next cruise port it worked fine, flying back home it did not work at all. I had a severe double ear ache that lasted for two days, and I then discovered that I had lost the hearing in one ear, that lasted for 10 days. THAT DID IT.....no more airplanes for me, If I can't drive to the point of embarkation, (as we had to do when cruising to Hawaii a year ago) I just don't go. For us, your trip would also be a once in a lifetime adventure, as our southern Caribbean cruise was.

 

For what it's worth, you can also see where we took some pictures when visiting Tobago. We took the Princess excursion called the Tobago Highlights & Folkloric Show. This provided a nice tour of the island, but ended up with our visiting the Folkloric show. If you would like an outstanding performance including bongo drums, a steel drum and some dancers in costume performing some most unusual and entertaining dances, I would highly recommend this excursion. I took a LOT of footage of this show with the camcorder, and am very pleased to be able to review this performance while at home. This became the extreme highlight of this tour in our mind, we both were treated to something which we had not expected. But, it is all about different people having different likes and dislikes, just something to consider.

Kathy found a DVD named "Papillon" staring Steve McQueen, ordered it on-line and we watched that just before leaving on the cruise. I would highly suggest doing that as it will give you a much better appreciation of what Devil's Island was all about, and some of what the prisoners there went through. Here is a hint, when going to the island try to get on one of the first tenders to leave the ship for the island. Many people don't take into account just how close to the equator you are when there, and it gets hot and humid very quickly as compared to what things are like for people when they are back home. We took a tote bag with bottled water and snacks (something salty helps) inside, that helped a lot. We were getting back on the ship by about 10:30 AM and were glad to get back to the A/C, but some people were just starting their 2 hour walk of the island then, and came back to the ship just about exhausted. If you get back early you can be the first ones in the pool, with a Foo-Foo drink in hand. :p

 

You will just love your adventure, I know that we did.

 

Randy

 

Randy, we are booked with Cosol, he got back to me within hours...

Sounds like a pretty good guy.

 

Sorry to hear about your ears. I have a solution to the flying if you want to join us. Do the b2b, an Australian couple on our CC site are doing that, WOW! Problem solved as you live in Florida.

 

I enjoyed your Tobago pictures, missed them last night. I will take your advice on the early tender to devil's Island, that seems like a no-brainer to me. My wife is confined to a manual wheelchair but we have off road tires for her chair and I am guessing devils Island will be OK.

For St. Lucia, Cosol said no problem taking her chair with us.

 

We are off to a good start, I want to really thank you for your guidence on these places.

 

Take care and talk later,

[Randy & Kathy]

Randy, we are booked with Cosol, he got back to me within hours...

Sounds like a pretty good guy.

 

Sorry to hear about your ears. I have a solution to the flying if you want to join us. Do the b2b, an Australian couple on our CC site are doing that, WOW! Problem solved as you live in Florida.

 

I enjoyed your Tobago pictures, missed them last night. I will take your advice on the early tender to devil's Island, that seems like a no-brainer to me. My wife is confined to a manual wheelchair but we have off road tires for her chair and I am guessing devils Island will be OK.

For St. Lucia, Cosol said no problem taking her chair with us.

 

We are off to a good start, I want to really thank you for your guidence on these places.

 

Take care and talk later,

 

Yup, we have discussed that b2b option before, just one obstacle to that. It would be that number to the pesky lotto......just have to keep trying.;) If we hit that number.......then everything changes.:p

On Devil's Island you will have options as to which path to take once you leave the dock. I think that the far left option will be the path with the most gentle grade and a bit easier for wheel chair pushing. The road surface is a bit more like a dirt road, rather than a loose stone walking path. With the inflatable tires I think that you will be just fine choosing that direction. Unfortunately the short-cut back to the dock has many steps involved, you will probably need to take the same longer distance path back to the dock as you took when you first arrived.

Once at the top of the island in the prison area, there is a building that is now a hotel that people can stay at. There is a food court, as well as a gift shop (with very high prices) at that location. At least you can take a rest in the shade, and there is a beautiful view from the veranda as well. You folks will do just fine, it is a place not be be missed.

Randy

[finucane]

Yup, we have discussed that b2b option before, just one obstacle to that. It would be that number to the pesky lotto......just have to keep trying.;) If we hit that number.......then everything changes.:p

On Devil's Island you will have options as to which path to take once you leave the dock. I think that the far left option will be the path with the most gentle grade and a bit easier for wheel chair pushing. The road surface is a bit more like a dirt road, rather than a loose stone walking path. With the inflatable tires I think that you will be just fine choosing that direction. Unfortunately the short-cut back to the dock has many steps involved, you will probably need to take the same longer distance path back to the dock as you took when you first arrived.

Once at the top of the island in the prison area, there is a building that is now a hotel that people can stay at. There is a food court, as well as a gift shop (with very high prices) at that location. At least you can take a rest in the shade, and there is a beautiful view from the veranda as well. You folks will do just fine, it is a place not be be missed.

Randy

 

Yeah, we could all use those winning numbers...

 

Info for the paths was very helpful. Usually we have a 50/50 chance on the best route and we usually take the worst way.

 

Thanx again Randy, pick the right numbers and join us...

[NCTribeFan]

I thought this was about Cosol's Tour in St Lucia. Did I get lost?

 

:confused:

 

Re motion sickness - try Ginger root tablets. Have suffered from motion sickness my entire life. Added ginger to the bonine 3 cruises ago and have had absolutely NO problems since (and have had some relatively rough seas). I highly recommend it.

[finucane]

I thought this was about Cosol's Tour in St Lucia. Did I get lost?

 

:confused:

 

Re motion sickness - try Ginger root tablets. Have suffered from motion sickness my entire life. Added ginger to the bonine 3 cruises ago and have had absolutely NO problems since (and have had some relatively rough seas). I highly recommend it.

 

Sorry for the intrusion upon "your space".

Your rude comment is not on topic either, actually!

Did we offend or hurt you with our brief/short exchanges of friendship???

 

No thread is 100% on issue, ever. It gave me a chance to meet a new friend Randy, and to read a lot of helpful input.

If you read back, a lot of topic on this thread is "off topic".:cool:

 

With that I am out of here... Catch you somewhere else at another time Randy, thank you for everything...

 

Some people have to complain about anything, I am sorry for hijacking your thread...:p

Whatever your name is, maybe I'll be back if your lucky!

 

One more thing, since that was your only one post on this thread w/zero contribution youself to topic, I will take that into account...

 

Good Day...

[holdon216]

MUST we be so hostile???

THANK YOU for the ginger root tip, i just might try it.

Now, can anyone tell me what Cosol has charged you for children?? Our son turns 12 just the week before we are on the tour. I e mailed him and he said it would be 65.00. Same as an adult. Might sound cheap to some, might sound a lot to others. Unfortunatly the money is not growing on trees these days. I am just wondering if the cut off is 11 for a cheaper fair.

Thanks all

[finucane]

Unfortunatly the money is not growing on trees these days. I am just wondering if the cut off is 11 for a cheaper fair.

Thanks all

You don't have a money tree?

 

Cosol also had emailed us and had told us it was $65 pp also, "regardless of age".

If your with a group I certifiably would not hesitate to ask him for an exception... Can't hurt to ask.:cool:

[Randy & Kathy]

Sorry for the intrusion upon "your space".

Your rude comment is not on topic either, actually!

Did we offend or hurt you with our brief/short exchanges of friendship???

 

No thread is 100% on issue, ever. It gave me a chance to meet a new friend Randy, and to read a lot of helpful input.

If you read back, a lot of topic on this thread is "off topic".:cool:

 

With that I am out of here... Catch you somewhere else at another time Randy, thank you for everything...

 

Some people have to complain about anything, I am sorry for hijacking your thread...:p

Whatever your name is, maybe I'll be back if your lucky!

 

One more thing, since that was your only one post on this thread w/zero contribution youself to topic, I will take that into account...

 

Good Day...

 

Yup, I agree. Maybe the "sensative one" will do better if all alone.

I'm out of here.:(

Randy

[styxscottii]

Are the Cosol island tours available every day of the week?

[finucane]

Are the Cosol island tours available every day of the week?

 

I believe the days ships are in port

[holdon216]

rrshinn, Would you recommend wearing water shoes on this tour?? Would flip flops do?? We do not need to swim in water shoes unless it is rocky.

Also, seeing you were just on this tour.....were there stops every 10-15 minutes as has been posted?? I have also read that 3.5-4 hours of this tour is spent driving......is this true??

Thanks

[swom]

rrshinn, Would you recommend wearing water shoes on this tour?? Would flip flops do?? We do not need to swim in water shoes unless it is rocky.

Also, seeing you were just on this tour.....were there stops every 10-15 minutes as has been posted?? I have also read that 3.5-4 hours of this tour is spent driving......is this true??

Thanks

This is an excellent question which I need to ask for my other ports of call. (About the water shoes)

Thanks for reminding me!!!!

[holdon216]

Swom, NO PROBLEM!!! Let's hope we get some answers!!!

[OHCruisin]

rrshinn, Would you recommend wearing water shoes on this tour?? Would flip flops do?? We do not need to swim in water shoes unless it is rocky.

Also, seeing you were just on this tour.....were there stops every 10-15 minutes as has been posted?? I have also read that 3.5-4 hours of this tour is spent driving......is this true??

Thanks

 

I was just on this excursion on 2/25. Quite frankly, I would not recommend it. It has become very much like a cruise ship excursion.

 

However, if you're going, yes water shoes would be helpful. There is a section where you have to walk over stony beach to climb into a water taxi. Barefoot not recommended.

 

Also, you do NOT stop that often, but you do make a few stops. However, you do spend at least 4-4.5 hours in the cab. I was not impressed with this tour at all. Unless you get Cosol himself, or Yellowbird, whom I've also heard is a great guide, save yourself some money and do something different.

[2Fltravelers]

Mish, i use to take Bonine when traveling. I assume your saying Bonine has different ingredients then Dramamine??? Last cruise i think i went to Walmart and bought the generic of it over the counter in the pharmacy, much, much cheaper if i remember correctly.

 

Dramamine makes a non-drowsy formula that uses the same ingredients found in Bonine. You can also find the generic at Costco or just ask the pharmacist in your local pharmacy.

[Ashley9880]

I was also on this tour on 2/25. You spend the majority of the time in the van driving around hairpin turns, going up and down mountains. There are very few stops. We were in a caravan of buses (around 10-12) around the island. When you did stop (ex. the volcano/sulphur spring), there were so many people on this tour, you couldn't get close enough to hear the guide speak.

 

Part of this tour now consists of taking a water taxi to the beach between the Pitons. You must wade into the water and climb into the boat from there. If you have ANY kind of limited mobility, injury, etc, this is going to be extremely unsafe for you! Once in the water taxi, you have to climb over several bench seats in order to load the boat from the front to the back. All the while, the boat is rocking from the waves coming in. I am under 30 and in good shape - even I fell over the bench seats a couple times.

 

This tour was so highly recommended on this site and I can't speak for the people in the other vans but I can say that of the 14 people in my van, I would bet not a one would recommend this tour!

[holdon216]

Ashley, I booked a tour with another company and he will take me wherever we want to go. I have read many posts on just how beautiful Jalousie Beach is. On this tour we do not have to take the water taxi, he is able to go by land to the beach. What i am wondering....even though you did not like this tour specifically. WHAT on it would you say i should include in my own tour?? I want to spend 3-4 hours at Jalousie. SO, what can i see on the way there and the way back that would be recommended?? THANKS!!!!

[yogamom]

rrshinn, Would you recommend wearing water shoes on this tour?? Would flip flops do?? We do not need to swim in water shoes unless it is rocky.

Also, seeing you were just on this tour.....were there stops every 10-15 minutes as has been posted?? I have also read that 3.5-4 hours of this tour is spent driving......is this true??

Thanks

 

I did this tour in mid-December and I thought it was great. Actually taking the water taxi out and between the Pitons was the highlight of the tour.

 

Water shoes are highly recommended. I always use them for any tour that involves beach and water. To get into the water taxi you have to step into the water (same with getting out). By wearing water shoes I don't need to deal with changing, etc. Either way you are going to get sand stuck in your shoes, so it might was well be water shoes. They eventually dry. This way you don't step on anything nasty. Getting out of the water taxi I actually jumped into the water. If you are wearing flip flops you could lose them and then what would you wear?

 

 

 

Also you need to take everything with you on this water taxi that you want for your time at Jalousie beach so it is helpful to just be wearing the water shoes, etc.

[OHCruisin]

Ashley, I booked a tour with another company and he will take me wherever we want to go. I have read many posts on just how beautiful Jalousie Beach is. On this tour we do not have to take the water taxi, he is able to go by land to the beach. What i am wondering....even though you did not like this tour specifically. WHAT on it would you say i should include in my own tour?? I want to spend 3-4 hours at Jalousie. SO, what can i see on the way there and the way back that would be recommended?? THANKS!!!!

 

Ashley and I were on this tour together. Maybe I can help. Keep in mind driving anywhere takes a long time because of the winding, twisty, up and down road. If you're going to spend that much time at the beach, you won't have time for too much more. The beach was in a great spot and I hear the snorkeling there was excellant. It was raining off and on for us, so I'm sure it's much more beautiful in the sun. It's also got a pricey restaurant/bar.

 

Anyway, the couple other things we did, besides stopping at a couple scenic outlooks was the "drive in" volcano. This is a bit misleading. It's actually just a section of ground where the volcano is still bubbling up. This, to me, what not that big of a deal. And it's really stinky. I wouldn't go out of my way for this. They did take us to a waterfall as well. It was pouring down rain at the time so we didn't explore. But I understand there are more beautiful falls on the island. Maybe see if your guy can take you to some. The other thing we did was stop roadside at a banana plantation for a taste of fresh banana. Again, not something that was worth going out of the way to do.

[Ashley9880]

Ashley and I were on this tour together. Maybe I can help. Keep in mind driving anywhere takes a long time because of the winding, twisty, up and down road. If you're going to spend that much time at the beach, you won't have time for too much more. The beach was in a great spot and I hear the snorkeling there was excellant. It was raining off and on for us, so I'm sure it's much more beautiful in the sun. It's also got a pricey restaurant/bar.

 

Anyway, the couple other things we did, besides stopping at a couple scenic outlooks was the "drive in" volcano. This is a bit misleading. It's actually just a section of ground where the volcano is still bubbling up. This, to me, what not that big of a deal. And it's really stinky. I wouldn't go out of my way for this. They did take us to a waterfall as well. It was pouring down rain at the time so we didn't explore. But I understand there are more beautiful falls on the island. Maybe see if your guy can take you to some. The other thing we did was stop roadside at a banana plantation for a taste of fresh banana. Again, not something that was worth going out of the way to do.

 

Basically...what she said. The "volcano" was a little disappointing so I would skip that. The waterfall/botanical garden might have been nice if it hadn't been pouring down rain. We really couldn't walk the trails at all or get close to the waterfall because of the weather. Not to mention, there were about 1,000 people there at the same time we were. If you ask to go to this place, ask your guide to attempt to get there prior to some of the tours or as was mentioned above, try another waterfall. The banana trees were kind of neat if you've never seen them up close and the bananas were good. They don't use any pesticides when they grow them so it was nice to try some real organic-growing fruit. If I recall correctly, you'll have to pass these anyway on your way to Jalousie so you might as well stop for a minute.

 

The one thing everybody was talking about on the cruise after St. Lucia (no matter what tour they were on) was the local bread and cheese that is obviously a staple to these tours. It was good and provided a good snack so have your driver pick some of that up as well on your way back from the beach. Other than that - if the weather cooperates, Jalousie will be fine. It will cost you $20 to rent a chair and again, as mentioned above, the restaurant/bar was expensive! We did hear the snorkeling was great here and the Pitons were beautiful. Enjoy your time and I'll cross my fingers that you won't have rain!

[holdon216]

THANK YOU BOTH!!! Rain on vacation is not a good thing!!! SNOW when not on vacation is a bad... bad thing. Just had 12 inches here on Monday!!!