Only 4 excursions in St. Lucia?!

[Airb330]

Many excursions are not available for the 1/21 Southern Caribbean on the Seranade. So I called RC and got hung up on after 12 minutes of waiting. I wasn't too happy. Called back and got put on hold again. The rather rude lady yelled at me for my name while I was telling her my problem. Then she said, "all the excursions won't be online till about 3 months before departure".

 

True? Sounds like if I wait...there will be even less available. So far only 3 out of 6 excursions we liked were available. And 4 options for St. Lucia is a joke. Any advice would be appreciated!

[imsulin]

Have you ever been to St. Lucia?? I have - several times. The cruise ships dock at Castries, at the northwest part of the island. St. Lucia is not exactly a small island (like St. Maarten/St. Martin). It is very hilly and mountainous!! Driving is very slow because of this, so please don't expect any 4-lane highways! The roads are very narrow! The excursions from Castries will be programmed to get you to and from places within a time frame. Also, the beaches near Castries aren't that great. The beaches on the southwestern side of St. Lucia are where most of the resorts are. On my first cruise to St. Lucia (1990) , we hired a taxi and went to Marigot Bay for the day. It took quite a long time to get there by van because of the roads, and we were only able to stay there for a few hours before we had to leave for the ship. On subsequent trips, I went by tall ship, docking at Rodney Bay, and spending a few days there. Because it was a small vessel, we were able to "do the coast" of western St. Lucia. If you look at a map, you'll see that Soufriere and the Pitons are a loooong way south of Castries! Your ship will probably have a catamaran or sailboat tour to see the Pitons...it's a lot faster than driving! There's not that much to see inland on St. Lucia except a lot of banana plantations. Although St. Lucia is now a British territory, it was French for many years, which is why you'll see names of places and landmarks in French. I have also flown into Hewanorra airport on the southern end of St. Lucia. Don't be surprised or disappointed by the lack of excursions in St. Lucia. It's a beautiful island, but a one-day cruise stop isn't going to give you the true flavor of this island.

[texancruzer]

according to my travel agent when I called her. I too am sailing this itinerary in Nov. and the only rcl tour we wanted to take was in St.Lucia. I kept checking back every other day or so as it kept saying it was too far away from my sail date to book and then wham....only 4 tours are listed. So I called my TA and she called rcl (she gets better response). There will be more tours: some are added about 12 weeks out from your sail date and others even closer around 8 weeks. Why they do this ??? Don't know - doesnt matter. You would think they would just post them all at one time and when they are sold out then they are sold out. But they wait so best advice is to either book private tour or keep checking back on a regular basis. Have a great cruise :D

[grvdggr71]

I would wait a little longer. I've been looking for excursions for our Majesty cruise in March - currently at shorex.rccl.com, there are only 3(!) shore excursions listed for Key West. Although we've been to Key West and already know what we are doing, there were tons more listed on our first cruise. So, there will be more excursions added...just wait awhile.

 

Also, for our Radiance cruise in November, we are holding out for an excursion to the Mayan ruins in Tulum. So far, nothing has been posted under shore excursions for that.

[Airb330]

Thanks all!

 

I was just going to try to book the ones we really wanted that were available, then check in on the others periodically. Of course, now I can't even book any reservation! :rolleyes: It's 'not available at this time'. Whatever, I'll keep looking!

[Giventofly]

Many excursions are not available for the 1/21 Southern Caribbean on the Seranade. So I called RC and got hung up on after 12 minutes of waiting. I wasn't too happy. Called back and got put on hold again. The rather rude lady yelled at me for my name while I was telling her my problem. Then she said, "all the excursions won't be online till about 3 months before departure".

 

True? Sounds like if I wait...there will be even less available. So far only 3 out of 6 excursions we liked were available. And 4 options for St. Lucia is a joke. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

This place has tons of excursion options

 

http://www.ansechastanet.com/ click on excursions or scuba or on biking (their biking is awesome) to see what they offer. I have toured with them from the cruise ship

[nerak]

Don't book a trip to see the Pitons unless you just really want the drive....the captain took us there last year and did a complete 360 so everyone got the same view. While the Pitons are beautiful, there are other things to do there.

[OCruisers]

On our last port stop in ST.LUCIA we had one of the best times we've ever had there. Here's what we did:

 

Review: REDUIT BEACH "OnOurOwn" (Click Here)

 

Just another idea.... Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[Driftwoodgal]

We used Frank this year and had a wonderful day. His van has AC and he is such a wonderful guide. He keeps panhandlers away from you, but also gives you a real taste of the island. I will use him again..... here is his linkFrank's St. Lucia Taxi Tours

 

We saw more and did more on this tour then any that we have done with the ship.

[SUZCRUZ]

I good option is to click on Cruise Critics PORT OF CALL and select St. Lucia. There are alot of good ideas there.

When we were there, we took Cosol's Tour. He had a new van, cold drinks and very pleasant way.

We have found over the years, you get a better tour if you go with the locals. The cruise ships are more expensive, rushed and you can feel like being in a herd of cattle.

Gotta say, YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH COSOL!

[cruisingrightalong]

We used Cosol...and would do again...we had a private van for $40 apiece.

Lou

[WeBeCruisin']

I was just looking at our documents booklet from our Southern Caribbean cruise over Thanksgiving in 2003 and there were 17 tours available at St. Lucia. This was on Celebrity's Summit, but usually RCCL and Celebrity offer pretty much the exact same tours in each port.

 

The tour we took was the Soody Nature Hike and Mineral Waterfall. If anyone is interested in that one, be aware that it is very, very strenuous. I had misread the little symbol and thought it was moderate. :eek: The last part of the tour in particular involved climbing at about a 45-degree angle up a ravine which was extremely muddy and slippery. I don't know if it is always that way, or perhaps there had been a lot of recent rain. Anyway, it was so bad that one woman who was in her 30s and maybe 30 pounds overweight was almost hysterical and was screaming that she couldn't do it. It finally took four people to get her up the last 50 or so feet..... two in front pulling, and two behind her pushing.

 

When I got to the top, everyone applauded. I was 62 at the time and weighed about 240 pounds (at 5' 11" tall). I do play tennis every day, though, and am in far better shape than I look, but apparently they really didn't think I'd make it to the top, where the bus was waiting.:(

 

It was beautiful scenery, and St. Lucia is a very pretty island with lots of steep hills and winding roads. We had lunch at a Creole restaurant on the docks, and it was delicious.