Spencer Ambrose Tour Question

[Marylandteachergirl]

Are admission fees to any additional sites (such as botanical gardens) included in the Spencer Ambrose tours? They are with Cosol, but I just couldn't tell from the Ambrose website.

 

I know someone here on CC will know the answer to this, so please accept my thanks in advance. :)

[will work to cruise]

We just booked with Spencer last week and he said all admission fees are covered in the price.

[Marylandteachergirl]

Thank You!

 

I see you are in Thornton. We used to live in Aurora when Lowry AFB was still there. We loved it and miss the beauty of the Rockies. Enjoy your cruise.

[chrispycruiser]

All admission fees are paid by Spencer. We went with Spencer on tour at the beginning of April. He is an amazing tour guide. We had a fantastic day with him. He makes sure that all of your needs are met all of the time. The cooler at the back of the van is full of cold beverages which we thoroughly enjoyed. He bought us a small lunch at the Toraille waterfall. We were never hungry or thirsty. Our group had a fantastic day with Spencer and would highly recommend his service.

 

He loves apples...take him one as a treat. He'll truly appreciate your thoughtfulness.

[maygoddess]

I just got back from the cruise and I had arranged for our Cruise Critic group to tour with Spenser and it was the most awesome part of my whole trip! St Lucia was my favorite island as it is very lush and tropical!

 

We had 30 of us total and we split into 3 vans with his two brothers driving the other 2 vans. I was with Spenser. he had cooler loaded with local beer, a knock you on your a$$ rum punch, soft drinks and waters. we had a stop mid way for lunch at a small restaurant. They had a lunch prepared just for us of jerk chicken, johnny cakes, plaintains and what they called a "fig salad" but was really bananas that was more like a potato salad. Sounds wierd but was yummy!

 

We then split into two groups. Those that wanted to go to the waterfall and botanical gardens and those of us who wanted more time at Jalousie Beach. I went for more beach time. It was very pretty there. It was raining a little off an on, but overall very relaxing!

 

I would highly recommend his tour. He is the best! He was a former cop on the island so he knows it well and everyone knows him! He has a great spirit!

 

Also..I totally forgot about this before I left..but his wife LOVES almonds which are hard to come by on the island...so if you do his trip..pack some almonds in your luggage and give to him to bring to "The Boss". He would love that! She likes any kind!

[will work to cruise]

Thank You!

 

I see you are in Thornton. We used to live in Aurora when Lowry AFB was still there. We loved it and miss the beauty of the Rockies. Enjoy your cruise.

 

We are originally from NJ. Moved here 14 years ago and love it out here.

[Marylandteachergirl]

We loved it too. Stuck on the east coast now. :(

[just G]

Spencer is awesome. He came highly recommended from Levi of Bumpiing Tours on Dominica. I was not disappointed. All fees were covered - even a little food. We stopped at a neat little cafe for some chicken. Two of us on the tour were vegetarians but hadn't said anything to Spencer. He was so devastated that we were not eating, that he stopped at another place and got us both a veggie meal even though we assured him that we were fine. He would not hear of it. He also treated us to rum punch, beer and ginger beer. Since we liked the ginger beer so much, he stopped and bought more!

 

My only suggestion to anyone driving around St. Lucia - if you are prone to car sickness, TAKE SOMETHING before you head out. Two of us got car sick. Not Spencer's fault - he is a great driver - very safe - the island is just so hilly - up and down - turn and turn - it's kind of like a roller coaster, but you're on it for hours. I'd do it again for sure, but i'd take a pill first.

[CCJersey]

Hi - We got back 2 weeks ago from our cruise & did Spencer's tour. He is so great. I think if you have more than 1 couple (2 couples or 4 paying people) he pays for all entry fees. He pays for fruit along the way, lunch, etc. at all the stops. It is really, really worth it. And he is so nice you feel relaxed & know he is in total control so you can just kick back & have a good time. Even on the winding roads - he does such a great driving job!! The sites are gorgeous! The most beautiful island really!! Have fun & enjoy!

[rxnrn]

Just off Carnival Victory 6-14 sailing. We took a private tour with Spencer and he is hands down the best tour we have ever taken.There was never a dull moment the entire 7 plus hrs we were with him. Spencer should be St.Lucia's tourism director because he does it right.

[RCrpntr]

Spencer finally has a new website! There may still be some minor changes but you can find it at:

 

www.spencerambrosetours.com

 

and I'm proud to say you can type his name into Yahoo and it's at the top of the page!

[texasmomoftwo]

OK....I have not posted a review and I apologize, as I have been home for about two weeks. I promise to do so this week. However, Spencer was the absolute HIGHLIGHT of our trip. Hands down..he is the BEST. You must book with him. And PLEASE bring school supplies for the children in St. Lucia. The poverty will kill you. It broke my heart to see children that could not go to school due to uniform and book fees, along with the costs of supplies. Spencer's wife is a school teacher and she can deliver school supplies to the schools! But BOOK SPENCER! He is SUPER...GREAT hospitality. AWESOME!

[dz63]

Our family took the West Coast Island Delight Tour with Spencer on July 9, 2009. We had a bit of a later start as Spencer was waiting for another family to arrive. After waiting around for 35 minutes, Spencer decided that we couldn’t wait any longer as any more time wasted would defeat the purpose of missing the large cruise ship crowds plus cut into the time needed to complete everything on the tour. Spencer felt really bad about leaving the other family behind but felt it wasn’t fair for those of us that arrived on time to have our time sacrificed. About 1/2 hour later, Spencer received a call from the missing family. Apparently, they were not pleased that Spencer left without them!

 

Altogether there were 11 people on this tour. Our family and another couple toured with Spencer while another family went with Spencer’s brother Small. I cannot say enough good things about Spencer and his services—he was an awesome tour guide and by far the best tour guide from all the islands we visited on our Carnival Victory cruise! He really knows how to take care and look after his guests. He had a cooler stocked with soft drinks, water, beer and home-made rum punch which we could help ourselves to at any time. Our boys loved the access to the free coke!

 

Spencer was very accommodating and flexible and was willing to cater the tour to our interests. We wanted to see everything that was advertised in his tour as we have never been to St. Lucia before—even if it would mean shorter stops at places.

 

Our first stop was at a banana plantation. Here Spencer gave us some fresh delicious bananas to sample and explained the harvesting procedure.

 

 

After that we continued on our way and stopped at a high overlook at Anse la Raye. Here we could take pictures looking down onto a Fishing Village.

 

 

From there we saw the “snake man” standing on the side of the road with a large Boa Constrictor. Spencer asked if we wanted to stop and we all agreed—like I said we wanted to do everything--even though I do not particularly like snakes. This Boa Constrictor was picked up on a beach just the day before. (I’m glad that I wasn’t on that beach!) The snake man encouraged us to touch the snake--my youngest did. We took a picture of it, tipped the man and then continued on.

 

 

We made another stop at an overlook where we could see our first glimpse of the Pitons and the town of Soufriere. Even though the Pitons look like they are at the same height, one of them is actually 600 ft higher! My DH thought it would be a real adventure to climb the Piton—Spencer says that he would have to be crazy to do that!

 

 

We continued down the winding hillside and arrived at the Toraille Waterfall and Botanical Gardens.

 

 

 

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[dz63]

After a short dip in the cool falls fed by spring water, Spencer pointed out some of the Botanical plants in the garden.

 

 

 

At the exit to the Waterfall, a lady was selling love apples. Spencer bought some of these apples for us to sample. I thought it had a similar consistency to that of a pear.

 

From the Torialle Waterfall Spencer took us to a local restaurant in Soufriere called the Big Yard for lunch. Spencer had called ahead to order the meals. We arrived at a rustic, open-air restaurant that looked like it was operating in the ruins of some old building. The front of the restaurant was open to the street and we could see chicken frying on a large grill. We passed through an opening in a stone wall and continued to the back of the building where the picnic tables and bar were set up. The ceiling was naturally constructed from some kind of vine that cascaded across and over the restaurant with long, string-like roots dangling down. This all added to its rustic charm.

 

 

 

Spencer’s brother Small and his group met up with all of us at the restaurant. Both Spencer and his brother proceeded to serve us. They brought us our meals and drinks and did not eat lunch until we were at Jalouise Beach, as their priority was to make sure that all of our needs were met first! They served us some local cuisine which included grilled chicken, rice, potato salad, a noodle dish, and a potato-fish salad. The food was very good and flavorful.

 

 

Once we were back in the van, Spencer served us dessert--fresh Coconut Cakes which he bought from a stand near the Toraille Waterfalls. We were all pretty full from lunch but we did sample them. They also were very tasty.

 

Our next stop was the Sulphur Springs—the world’s only drive-in volcano. Since we lost time in the morning waiting for a family to show up, we had limited time here. Spencer arranged for us to get a shortened 15 minute tour of the Sulphur Springs rather than the full 1/2 hour tour. This worked fine for all of us.

 

 

Amazingly, the sulfur smell was not as strong as I thought it would be. Spencer said that some days it is so strong that it makes your eyes water. I guess we were lucky to be there on a day when the smell was less putrid. Nonetheless, the boys still thought it smelled bad and proceeded to pull their shirts over their noses to mask the odor.

 

 

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[dz63]

Our last stop was Jalouise Beach—a beautiful, tropical beach nestled between the majestic Pitons. Again we had limited time here and were only able to enjoy 45 minutes of paradise.

 

 

The boys proceeded to swim out to a dock in the water where they had lots of fun jumping into the calm ocean water.

 

 

 

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the ship. Spencer is very conscience of the time and it is his goal to get everyone back to the ship one hour prior to sailing. He said that if he had too, he would pull up his pants and go into the water to pull you out in order to get you back on time!

 

The roads are pretty winding heading back and my youngest two sons were feeling a touch of motion sickness—or maybe the 5 bottles of coke they drank had something to do with it?!

 

Spencer made another stop to pick up some delicious, fresh from the oven, hot Creole bread, served with either peanut butter or cheese. Spencer was willing to make another stop to pick up some jerk pork for us to eat, but we were all too stuffed to eat anything more. There certainly was no shortage of food on Spencer’s tour!

 

Spencer is an awesome guide that offered us the best tour and service ever! Not only will his stories entertain you, but by the end of the tour you have gained a new friend. No wonder Spencer is such a well respected and popular man—you wouldn’t believe how often his phone rang! Spencer pays for all the admission fees and food and doesn’t require payment until the end of the tour. Be prepared to have fun and enjoy your best excursion ever touring the beautiful and lush island of St. Lucia with Spencer Ambrose!

 

 

 

cz

[IslandToIsland]

dz63,

Awesome review! Thank you so much, I am even more excited now!