private shore excursions

has anyone ever been to st lucia & booked a private shore excursion? what company did you use & would you use them again? DH & I have slight disabilities - mine due to bad back & arthritis & he has asthma that gets bad with a lot of exertion. We are thinking of Serenity tours- anyone ever use them

Here are some recent reviews on the St. Lucia board for Serenity tours:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1375645

If you want more opinions, you could also post your question on the St. Lucia cruise board. You may get more responses, although not everyone there would be familiar with disabilities:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=222

I used them last year in January for a private tour with my mom who is in a wheelchair. She still talks about what a fabulous time she had on that tour. I used them again last year in April when my husband and I went to St. Lucia for a week to celebrate our anniversary. Neither my husband nor I have any disabilities so we used them for a ziplining/island tour and a helicoptor tour.

I used COSOL Tours several years ago and had a nice island tour. They did not have a lift vehicle, but put my scooter in the van and helped me in. I would not hesitate to use them again.

rascalrider- Consol is one of the companies I am thinking about, the only thing is they aren't answering any of my questions. Maybe you can- is it hard to get in & out of the water taxi- if so can you skip that part ? Since we do not have our own snorkeling equipment, can we just stay on board when they do that?

By the way, by private , I didn't mean just my husband & myself,I was really meaning through a private company as opposed to a tour through the cruiseship

ehrlichpuppy, we took the van both ways because the water taxi could not take my scooter. I would certainly think that they would help you into the boat if you let them know that would be required. Maybe someone else can tell you about the water taxis.

We used them last year and found them to be very good.

Consol is one of the companies I am thinking about, the only thing is they aren't answering any of my questions. Maybe you can- is it hard to get in & out of the water taxi- if so can you skip that part ?

My DH and I did the Cosol tour in Jan 2010 and loved it. I am surprised that no-one at Cosol is answering your questions, they were so helpful to us.

Aout halfway thru the tour they take you to a beach where you get on the water taxi to go to Jalouise? beach for an hour or so. My DH did not take this taxi as he had both hips replaced and was not comfortable with getting in the boat. He stayed behind a took a nap in Cosols van! When you first get in the boat, there is no pier/dock. THe boat is pulled close to the shore and you walk a few feet into the water and climb aboard over the side of the boat. Make sure you wear good water shoes or sandals as the beach is a bit rocky, I went barefoot and ended up with a bruise on the bottom of my foot from the rocks. When the water taxi takes you to the beach between the Pitons (its lovely) I do believe they pull up to a dock. When you return to where your tour van is you will also have to disembark the water taxi into the shallow water and walk up the beach back to your van.