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James, Real St. Lucia, Consol??

readytotravel44

By readytotravel44,
in St. Lucia

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readytotravel44

readytotravel44

Posted
Posted

There are lots of posts both positive and negative about these three tour operators. I'm attempting to compare what they offer. For example, Consol tells me his tour is between 5.5 - 6 hours but James just states 5 hours. RSL only 4 - 5 hours. Both Consol and James are $65. RSL is not listed.

 

Other differences?

 

Why did YOU pick one over the other? What was the deciding factor.

 

I'm working on a comparison chart to help tabulate which company offers what.

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jasminelee

jasminelee

Posted
Posted
There are lots of posts both positive and negative about these three tour operators. I'm attempting to compare what they offer. For example, Consol tells me his tour is between 5.5 - 6 hours but James just states 5 hours. RSL only 4 - 5 hours. Both Consol and James are $65. RSL is not listed.

 

Other differences?

 

Why did YOU pick one over the other? What was the deciding factor.

 

I'm working on a comparison chart to help tabulate which company offers what.

 

We went with Herrod's , but Spencer Ambrose has a land and sea tour, also-why not add them to the comparison . . .

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girlscruise2011

girlscruise2011

Posted
Posted
We went with Herrod's , but Spencer Ambrose has a land and sea tour, also-why not add them to the comparison . . .

 

I have Herrods booked for my January cruise on a recommendation from a friend who has used him before.

 

jasminelee, can you tell me and OP a little about him and his tour? This way OP and others may add him to the list of excursion operators to consider.

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t_car

t_car

Posted
Posted

We just came back from our cruise, and in St. Lucia, did the Cosol tour.

 

I primarily chose this tour from the reviews on Tripadvisor. They rate it as #1 and after reading some of the reviews and discussing it on my roll call, most of us did the Cosol tour.

 

And we are so glad that we did. Truly a professional outfit. Knowledgeable drivers/guides ( ours was Bernard "Fat Man"), clean, new vans, good local foods to try, kept us hydrated well ;).

 

From the tour vans we saw at the various stops, they probably all cover the same spots for similar cost. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Cosol.

 

All in all a great tour. Scratch that. This was by far the best tour we have taken of all our previous tours of our 16 cruises.

 

For anyone that has cruised on the Carnival Valor lately, a great Woo Hoo!! to you all. :D:D

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  • 4 weeks later...
reedprincess

reedprincess

Posted
Posted
We're considering a Consol tour in November. How much time did you actually get to spend on Jalousie Beach? Thanks!

On Cosol's tour, (or most of the land or land/sea combos) you get about 45-1.15 hours by the beach. Some will depend on how long your particular group takes at each stop before hand. Usually not more than that though - enough for a swim and relax and take in the views, not a whole beach break for hours on end.

Enjoy your visit.

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  • 2 weeks later...
inmyfootsteps

inmyfootsteps

Posted
Posted
We used James a few weeks back, had a blast, would do it again in a heartbeat. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have specific to his tour.

 

We will be sailing into St. Lucia in Dec and may be consider booking a tour with James. Questions include: where did you go (which tour did you book) ? Price per person? How many in your party? Was there a lot of walking?

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

inmyfootsteps

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rsquared11

rsquared11

Posted
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We will be sailing into St. Lucia in Dec and may be consider booking a tour with James. Questions include: where did you go (which tour did you book) ? Price per person? How many in your party? Was there a lot of walking?

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

inmyfootsteps

 

We went to the mudbaths, waterfall, the banana plantation, through Anse La Raye. We saw a lot (I have a lot of pictures on my Flickr, just scenery I don't post of people often) and he makes a lot of stops at overlooks. Desiree took our camera and got a ton of pictures of us and for us at stops as well. I would say my favorite part was the little extras... He stopped and got some bread from a local baker that was amazing, popped open a coconut for us to try, and stopped and picked fresh fruit. Really cool way to sample the local flavor.

 

Our tour was $65 per person. There were two of us. There was not much walking at all. Hope that helps!

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Cairnmom

Cairnmom

Posted
Posted
We just came back from our cruise, and in St. Lucia, did the Cosol tour.

 

I primarily chose this tour from the reviews on Tripadvisor. They rate it as #1 and after reading some of the reviews and discussing it on my roll call, most of us did the Cosol tour.

 

And we are so glad that we did. Truly a professional outfit. Knowledgeable drivers/guides ( ours was Bernard "Fat Man"), clean, new vans, good local foods to try, kept us hydrated well ;).

 

From the tour vans we saw at the various stops, they probably all cover the same spots for similar cost. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Cosol.

 

All in all a great tour. Scratch that. This was by far the best tour we have taken of all our previous tours of our 16 cruises.

 

For anyone that has cruised on the Carnival Valor lately, a great Woo Hoo!! to you all. :D:D

 

I have to agree. A well run operation and a fantastic tour. Don't hesitate to book with Cosol.

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beebop77

beebop77

Posted
Posted

To all you Cosol Fans,

We really want to go with Cosol in a couple of weeks. We're on a HAL cruise that is in port at Castries from 8am-3pm. We have to be back to Castries by 2pm. Cosol has indicated that all will be fine.

 

I want to hear from those of you who have toured with Cosol that 'all will be fine'. Is his tour doable in such a short amount of time or will it be modified? As much as we want to do this, don't want to miss a ship...

Thanks!

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pita2

pita2

Posted
Posted
There are lots of posts both positive and negative about these three tour operators. I'm attempting to compare what they offer. For example, Consol tells me his tour is between 5.5 - 6 hours but James just states 5 hours. RSL only 4 - 5 hours. Both Consol and James are $65. RSL is not listed.

 

Other differences?

 

Why did YOU pick one over the other? What was the deciding factor.

 

I'm working on a comparison chart to help tabulate which company offers what.

 

 

 

Not sure how many people you have, but James is more personalized, 6 of us went on nov 6th and everyone had a blast. We chose not to do the beach, he will take you to see what you want. Amazing rum punch..I chose James cause it was more personalized and after seeing people driving on the island was glad I did. James is very safe driver. Desiree is his tour guide she was a lot of fun.

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Traveler417

Traveler417

Posted
Posted

Hi Girlscruise2011

I think my sister and I are on the same cruise in January the Ryndam leaving Tampa 1/5/14

Can you tell me about what tour you booked with Herods? We are interested in touring the island and seeing as much as possible thanks

 

Traveler 417

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girlscruise2011

girlscruise2011

Posted
Posted
Hi Girlscruise2011

I think my sister and I are on the same cruise in January the Ryndam leaving Tampa 1/5/14

Can you tell me about what tour you booked with Herods? We are interested in touring the island and seeing as much as possible thanks

 

Traveler 417

 

Traveler417, I am on the Carnival Valor leaving San Juan on 1/12/14 so you are there a week ahead of me.

 

I booked the Island Splendor Tour. I attached the link so you can check it out for yourself. It sounds exactly what we are looking for and also having a few from our rollcall joining us.

 

http://www.herodstours.com/island_sp_coastal_cruise.html

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SF

SF

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the email address. Apparrently that's the same one I wrote him at but so far have received no reply. Thought maybe I had the wrong address but since it isn't not sure why he has not responded.

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girlscruise2011

girlscruise2011

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the email address. Apparrently that's the same one I wrote him at but so far have received no reply. Thought maybe I had the wrong address but since it isn't not sure why he has not responded.

 

I tried to email Herod and didn't hear from him after about a week. I sent another inquiry from his website saying I hadn't heard and he ended up calling me directly. It seems he wasn't able to get through to my Yahoo email for some reason. It kept getting kicked back.

 

Maybe try sending another email address to him or possibly your phone #. Maybe there is something with the internet on St Lucia

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SF

SF

Posted
Posted (edited)

I sent an email to two different addresses that were listed on Jame's website with no response. I know it's not my computer as I've had no problem getting replies from other tour operators we are looking into for our other port stops. Not sure what the problem is but guess it's time to look around for another tour guide for St. Lucia. Anyone have some suggestions on who to contact?

Edited by SF
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pita2

pita2

Posted
Posted
I sent an email to two different addresses that were listed on Jame's website with no response. I know it's not my computer as I've had no problem getting replies from other tour operators we are looking into for our other port stops. Not sure what the problem is but guess it's time to look around for another tour guide for St. Lucia. Anyone have some suggestions on who to contact?

 

 

I had just sent James an email, he responded immediately to me, not sure what you are doing or if you are blocking something. In all the dealings and correspondences I have had with him he was quick to reply to me. Make sure all your contact information is showing. Besides that I don't know what to tell you. His tour was awesome and he was very accommodating to what our group wanted to do and see.

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pita2

pita2

Posted
Posted
Yes the reviews from his tours are very good that is why we wanted to book with him. Disappointed we haven't heard from him.

 

Make sure you don't have anything blocked when you send to him, maybe that is a reason he can not reply.

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