Caribbean pirates extravaganza on Brig Unicorn

I'm scheduled to visit St Lucia in April and was looking into shore excursions. "Caribbean Pirates Extravaganza" looks like a possibility. The sailing ship Brig Unicorn sounds lovely and historical. any feedback?

I'm scheduled to visit St Lucia in April and was looking into shore excursions. "Caribbean Pirates Extravaganza" looks like a possibility. The sailing ship Brig Unicorn sounds lovely and historical. any feedback?

Please see this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=12869944&postcount=50

Hey,

We were on this trip...Very cool, me, my wife, and 11 year old son had a great time...Nice trip out to the island, hang by the back, the captain let Trent steer for a good 10 minutes, great pics you can get...When you get close to the island, they break into this mock pirate battle, don't stand too close to the cannon or you'll be deaf for the rest of the day..

Great hike to the top of signal hill, though it's right out of survivor, really rocky in some spots but worth it...I took video with Trent the whole way up and it's still a treat to watch...

Trip back was nice and relaxing, St. Lucia would be great for sailing..Want anymore info, let me know would be happy to fill you in

Craig

Hey,

 

We were on this trip...Very cool, me, my wife, and 11 year old son had a great time...Nice trip out to the island, hang by the back, the captain let Trent steer for a good 10 minutes, great pics you can get...When you get close to the island, they break into this mock pirate battle, don't stand too close to the cannon or you'll be deaf for the rest of the day..

 

Great hike to the top of signal hill, though it's right out of survivor, really rocky in some spots but worth it...I took video with Trent the whole way up and it's still a treat to watch...

 

Trip back was nice and relaxing, St. Lucia would be great for sailing..Want anymore info, let me know would be happy to fill you in

 

Craig

cannons...hikes out of survivor? Hey that sounds cool. I love adventure travel.

Please see this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=12869944&postcount=50

read you review so thank you for sharing your experiences. That settles it...I'm booking that tour.

read you review so thank you for sharing your experiences. That settles it...I'm booking that tour.

You're welcome, and enjoy. Attached are some pics from the Pirate excursion.

You're welcome, and enjoy. Attached are some pics from the Pirate excursion.

Cool photos.. I see you got some shots of the Pitons. What's a trip to St Lucia without a photo of the famous peaks?

Hopefully Carnival will post the St Lucia shore excursions on their site soon, so I can add myself to the Brig Unicorn's manifest.

Hi We did the tour with CCL in December. On this sailing the chartered the whole ship so you were stuck with Ship Prices. If it is not chartered by your cruise line, investigate booking separately because you may get some cost savings, especially with younger sailers.

See my Webshots if you dare: http://community.webshots.com/user/CanukCruisers

There is also some St Lucia Info using the link at my signature.

Canuk

Hi We did the tour with CCL in December. On this sailing the chartered the whole ship so you were stuck with Ship Prices. If it is not chartered by your cruise line, investigate booking separately because you may get some cost savings, especially with younger sailers.

 

See my Webshots if you dare: http://community.webshots.com/user/CanukCruisers

 

There is also some St Lucia Info using the link at my signature.

 

Canuk

Those are some very lovely photos. Thanks for sharing them!

Can you snorkel anywhere on this excursion? How long do you get at the beach? Do you pass the Pitons on the excursion? If not, do you know if the Jewel will pass them on the way in or out of St. Lucia? Would love to snorkel at the Pitons but 6 hour van tours seem the only way.

thanks

Tony

My family have booked this trip in Feb and I can't wait, it looks so cool....

My family have booked this trip in Feb and I can't wait, it looks so cool....

Let us know how you liked it. Come April, it's my turn !

Can you snorkel anywhere on this excursion? How long do you get at the beach? Do you pass the Pitons on the excursion? If not, do you know if the Jewel will pass them on the way in or out of St. Lucia? Would love to snorkel at the Pitons but 6 hour van tours seem the only way.

thanks

Tony

Where the Brig goes depends on if it is chartered by your Ship or just doing the routine tour that you can book separately. In our case Carnival booked the ship and we sailed North to Pigeon Island. If you do an internet search for Brig Unicorn you will see they have a trip down to Soufriere but you will want to watch your sailing time.

We didn't have snorkel time, but time at the beach. The website by the Carnival Miracle has a page on St Lucia you may find interesting.

Canuk

While with the Brig Unicorn excursion on 1 January 2008 off the Crown Princess, I took my GPSr device and recorded the voyage track. I have overlaid the route onto a Google Earth satellite image below.

Castries harbor is at the lower (southern) part of the image, and luckily the satellite view already includes a cruise ship docked there. The top part of the track shows where Unicorn moored in Rodney Bay just offshore from the Sandals resort (the coral color building roof).

I am going to produce a related view that overlays the Unicorn's track onto nautical chart. Please stay tuned...

Here's the same pirate brig voyage (in yellow) on a nautical chart.

The magenta tracks out to the left are the inbound and outbound paths taken by the Crown Princess.

how very cool are the satellite photo and charts...this is my first cruise and do you think 55+ could do the hike, I didn't like the survivor part of the previous comments..was it buggy..can you just stay on the ship? or at the beach..

These are fantastic photos, I really appreciated them, I am getting one of the aft cabins and it was great to see what they looked like..thanks for sharing these..

Here's the same pirate brig voyage (in yellow) on a nautical chart.

 

The magenta tracks out to the left are the inbound and outbound paths taken by the Crown Princess.

 

That's cool !

What was the trek like, or can I hang back on the beach?

Once you take the launch from the Unicorn to shore, you are pretty much on your own, and can do as much or as little as you want. I hiked up hills exploring the ruins of Fort Rodney, but others took moderate pathways to the beach. The shore portion accomodates ages 6 to 60 easily.

You will love this excursion. This ship was actually in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It is the ship that Captain Jack Sparrow tried to steal first in Port Royal. If you ask the Captain - he will show you some pictures. I was able to bring the ship into the cove - what an amazing experience. I would definately do it again. You also have the opportunity to snorkel off the small beach you stop at. Nothing spectacular about the fish but the journey is really what you paid for. When they hoist the sails on the way back - it is neat to watch the crew with all of those ropes.

You will love this excursion. This ship was actually in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It is the ship that Captain Jack Sparrow tried to steal first in Port Royal. If you ask the Captain - he will show you some pictures. I was able to bring the ship into the cove - what an amazing experience. I would definately do it again. You also have the opportunity to snorkel off the small beach you stop at. Nothing spectacular about the fish but the journey is really what you paid for. When they hoist the sails on the way back - it is neat to watch the crew with all of those ropes.

Sounds great...I can't wait.

Once you take the launch from the Unicorn to shore, you are pretty much on your own, and can do as much or as little as you want. I hiked up hills exploring the ruins of Fort Rodney, but others took moderate pathways to the beach. The shore portion accomodates ages 6 to 60 easily.

That sounds right up my alley.

So we are back and did the Brig Unicorn last week, what a blast. We (the family) all had turns steering the ship. Waves were about 6ft and the hips easily handled it. I am a sailor so I thought the trip was great but the sails were pretty much just for show as we used the engine the whole time. The rigging and sails are very tired but it was still a great trip! The "taking of the island" was fun and loud. The treasure hunt was great and we came away with a t-shirt, a bottle of St.Lucia rum, a bottle of sparkiling wine and a 2 carrot Ametheyst jewel. Allot of people didn't seem to be into the treasuer hunt and we didn't have to try hard to locate the "Treasure". The Unicorn looked to be a good size until we pulled up next to the Royal Clipper which is a massive 5 masted clipper cruise ship. She was anchored in the bay, what a beautiful ship she is, I now know what my next dream cruise is! I highly reccomend this excursion!

So we are back and did the Brig Unicorn last week, what a blast. We (the family) all had turns steering the ship. Waves were about 6ft and the ship easily handled it. I am a sailor so I thought the trip was great but the sails were pretty much just for show as we used the engine the whole time. The rigging and sails are very tired but it was still a great trip! The "taking of the island" was fun and loud. The treasure hunt was great and we came away with a t-shirt, a bottle of St.Lucia rum, a bottle of sparkiling wine and a 2 carrot Ametheyst jewel. Allot of people didn't seem to be into the treasuer hunt and we didn't have to try hard to locate the "Treasure". The Unicorn looked to be a good size until we pulled up next to the Royal Clipper which is a massive 5 masted clipper cruise ship. She was anchored in the bay, what a beautiful ship she is, I now know what my next dream cruise is! I highly reccomend this excursion!