Princess excursions: Dominica and St. Thomas

[tennisobo]

I posted these questions on the Ports of Call message board and only got one response. I hope some of you can help me with this:

 

ST. THOMAS

St. Peter Great House and Gardens and Mountain Top-Princess Tour # STT100: If you have taken this tour, did you like it? Would it be appropriate for people who are older, but still mobile as long as there is not too much walking or too many stairs. Thanks for any help! :)

 

DOMINICA

Princess Tour # 110-Rainforest, Waterfalls and Bottanical Gardens: If you have taken this tour, could you comment on how you liked it? Would it be appropriate for older people who are still mobile but don't like to do too much walking or stairs? Thanks! :)

[tennisobo]

Please help if you have any information about either of these excursions. Can you recommend other excursions at these ports for people who are not able to be super-active?

[DrivesLikeMario]

I might be able to help a little with Dominica. We did a private tour with Levi Bumpiing Tours (yes, that's two I's, not a mistake). Some people rave like crazy about his tours, but I try to be a little more impartial. His tours are a good way to see this beautiful island. They are well-run and I appreciated being in a vans vs. the massive cruise line buses that were trying to navigate the very narrow, scary and uneven roads. (Traveling on their roads is an "E" Ticket Attraction.) If you don't get away from the main town of Roseau, you're missing a lot of what Dominica has to offer. Expect a lot of poverty, like with many Caribbean islands, but also a very lush, unique place.

 

If your mobility is restricted, going to Titou Gorge will be somewhat challenging and going to Trafalgar Falls will be VERY challenging.

[dbeckett]

Not sure if you are taking Princess tours or going with a guide - we did the waterfall and rain forest part of the Dominica tour. To get to the waterfall there are a number of steps - they aren't a flight of stairs but steps so it is possible to take a breather on each step. There are also plently of areas where people can rest on the walk to and from the falls. I seem to recall the most difficult/awkward part of the path was just at the restaurant area. The rain forest is part of the path so if you see the falls you see the forest. I can't remember how long the walk was but I'd say 20 minutes each way.

[jlf1]

I posted these questions on the Ports of Call message board and only got one response. I hope some of you can help me with this:

 

ST. THOMAS

St. Peter Great House and Gardens and Mountain Top-Princess Tour # STT100: If you have taken this tour, did you like it? Would it be appropriate for people who are older, but still mobile as long as there is not too much walking or too many stairs. Thanks for any help! :)

 

DOMINICA

Princess Tour # 110-Rainforest, Waterfalls and Bottanical Gardens: If you have taken this tour, could you comment on how you liked it? Would it be appropriate for older people who are still mobile but don't like to do too much walking or stairs? Thanks! :)

 

Check out Nature Isles tour company. We are not disabled but our tour of "Scenic Dominica" would be for mobility challenged. It is a beautiful island and our guide was wonderful. We had a private tour for two and it cost us $128 for two.......well worth it.

[vickie_bernie]

can't speak personally about either of the tours, but you may want to check out the ports section on the boards for both St.thomas and dominica and ask the question on those pages. Often other cruise lines do similar tours and you would have a bigger audience to answer.

 

I have visited both places numerous times but have always done private tours... to find out info on what I did, check out my blog - link below and search St. Thomas and Dominica

[tennisobo]

can't speak personally about either of the tours, but you may want to check out the ports section on the boards for both St.thomas and dominica and ask the question on those pages. Often other cruise lines do similar tours and you would have a bigger audience to answer.

 

I have visited both places numerous times but have always done private tours... to find out info on what I did, check out my blog - link below and search St. Thomas and Dominica

Thank-you for your replies. I did ask these in the ports of call boards. I got zero replies on the Dominica board and 1 on the St. Thomas board. Your replies here were helpful. :)

[calliecat]

I might be able to help a little with Dominica. We did a private tour with Levi Bumpiing Tours (yes, that's two I's, not a mistake). Some people rave like crazy about his tours, but I try to be a little more impartial. His tours are a good way to see this beautiful island. They are well-run and I appreciated being in a vans vs. the massive cruise line buses that were trying to navigate the very narrow, scary and uneven roads. (Traveling on their roads is an "E" Ticket Attraction.) If you don't get away from the main town of Roseau, you're missing a lot of what Dominica has to offer. Expect a lot of poverty, like with many Caribbean islands, but also a very lush, unique place.

 

If your mobility is restricted, going to Titou Gorge will be somewhat challenging and going to Trafalgar Falls will be VERY challenging.

We did Levi Bumpiing tours as well in Dominica last year. While we loved it, I did not fare well at Trafalgar Falls.....my son and husband did great, but I did not enjoy the steep steps and huge step downs on the rocks and the long walk to the Falls I don't consider myself in terrible shape so I didn't think that this would be challenging to me (I'm 55). I'm also not much on getting my hair wet and then not being able to dry it right away so that may have factored in the day since it was humid and wet at well.

I was glad we did it though because we got to see the Dominica countryside and that was well worth the tour. Maybe you could just stay at the landing and wait on the rest of the group if you chose not to go to the falls. If I remember, there were several locals with booths set up selling hand made and local items.

[retiredldo]

I might be able to help a little with Dominica. We did a private tour with Levi Bumpiing Tours (yes, that's two I's, not a mistake). Some people rave like crazy about his tours, but I try to be a little more impartial. His tours are a good way to see this beautiful island. They are well-run and I appreciated being in a vans vs. the massive cruise line buses that were trying to navigate the very narrow, scary and uneven roads. (Traveling on their roads is an "E" Ticket Attraction.) If you don't get away from the main town of Roseau, you're missing a lot of what Dominica has to offer. Expect a lot of poverty, like with many Caribbean islands, but also a very lush, unique place.

 

If your mobility is restricted, going to Titou Gorge will be somewhat challenging and going to Trafalgar Falls will be VERY challenging.

 

We did a tour with Levi and it was fantastic in the titou gorge is where they filmed a snippet of Pirates of the Caribbean and you get to see quite a bit and less expensive than going with Princess, we had an absolute great time, it was while we were on the Celebrity Equinox last Jan 2011.

 

Pete

[JJPacer]

The St. Thomas mountain top sounds like something you can do easily on your own. There is a tram that goes to the mountain top. You can see it from your ship, when you dock. Do an internet search for St. Thomas tourism. You can read all about the tram & the mountain top activities. I would take the tram, and not take a taxi. The taxis are like pick up trucks with benches where the bed of the truck would be. I never get motion sickeness, but I felt sick on those trucks. It could have been the exhaust fumes.

 

There is more than one waterfall in Dominica. The waterfalls we went to were quite a walk to get to the viewing platform. Then you could choose to walk down to the waterfalls. Again, my suggestion would be to do a search for a Dominica tourism website and read what they have to offer. I think you'll get a much better idea of the terrain and amount of walking involved with these tours.

 

We use the islands tourism website a lot in planning our activities in port. Good luck. :)

[alreadypacked]

What is the drive like to St Peter Great House and Mountain Top? I'm a bit squeamish about narrow roads with hairpin turns overlooking cliffs etc.:eek: Is this NOT a drive for the faint of heart?

[highheel girl]

What is the drive like to St Peter Great House and Mountain Top? I'm a bit squeamish about narrow roads with hairpin turns overlooking cliffs etc.:eek: Is this NOT a drive for the faint of heart?

 

The drive is nice, there are curves but I don't think its close to what you are thinking.

We have done it many times. ;)

[Darcy8]

We did a Princess tour that took us to the cable car ride in the rainforest. It was not strenuos, we got to see a lot of beautiful landscape and many waterfalls. Not necessarily the famous waterfalls but it was beautiful. Saw a suspended bridge where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean.

[RMM34667]

I posted these questions on the Ports of Call message board and only got one response. I hope some of you can help me with this:

 

ST. THOMAS

St. Peter Great House and Gardens and Mountain Top-Princess Tour # STT100: If you have taken this tour, did you like it? Would it be appropriate for people who are older, but still mobile as long as there is not too much walking or too many stairs. Thanks for any help! :)

 

DOMINICA

Princess Tour # 110-Rainforest, Waterfalls and Bottanical Gardens: If you have taken this tour, could you comment on how you liked it? Would it be appropriate for older people who are still mobile but don't like to do too much walking or stairs? Thanks! :)

 

I did the Rainforest Tram a few years ago and was great. My mother at the time had mobility issues as it was before her hip replacement. She LOVED it. It was one of the cruise highlights for her.

[alreadypacked]

The drive is nice, there are curves but I don't think its close to what you are thinking.

We have done it many times. ;)

 

Thanks. I've been to Magen's Bay before (7 years ago) and remember going over some sort of elevated terrain to get there, but I don't remember specifics and, back then, I also didn't have the fear of heights that I now seem to have. :)