Cosol or Spencer Ambrose

[vawalkers]

We will be in St. Lucia in January 2011. Can anyone offer insight to help us decide between Cosol and Spencer Ambrose for a tour of the island. Both seem to have good reviews. Any thoughts?

[cruzobsessed]

i have spencer ambrose booked for early july as a gift for my son's wedding (they are cruising for their honeymoon). they are taking a full day tour that spencer and i have put together and i'm sure there will be a review upon their return.

all i can say so far is that spencer responds very quickly to email and was very professional, knowledgable and i have every confidence that it will be an awesome day:)

[bethie853]

Cosol hands down. Just did it last week. It was amazing and St. Lucia is definitely somewhere I would like to go back to as a result.

[Seavoyage]

Hi Vawalkers..

 

We booked a tour with Spencer 2008 - we actually ended up touring with his friend Neptune. While we had a wonderful time (let me explain here - DH and I will always make the best of any situation - we are together, we are on vacation and we were in St. Lucia - how lucky are we?) That said, there were a couple of negative issues that did arise here....

 

The my 2 cents portion of this response...

I do think if you have a private tour booked in the morning and you know your clients only have a short period of time available, you should be prepared the night before - especially since we did book with Spencer months in advance. Our St. Lucia stop time was (8a-3p).

 

The day we were in St. Lucia there was a government gasoline restriction, the station owners were picking and choosing who they would sell gas to...Neptune had less than a half of tank of gas - while waiting a long time in a long line, we were not one of the lucky ones. Picture this-we were going to see the volcano in Sofiere (its a little more than and hour away), plus make various stops along the way - waterfall, views, beach etc(that was the plan anyway). We could not get gas in anywhere in Castries - time was ticking - so up the windy narrow roads and hills we drove on our way to our adventure. Man did it start to rain, rain, rain!:eek:

 

We had to once again stop so Neptune could get drinks and ice for the ride - this again took a bit of time. While on our way we did stop at a little road side stand that was selling some kind of cakes - while not pressured to purchase - we just felt obligated. Then, even though I asked him not to, we stopped roadside by a guy with a snake:eek: - the snake actually bit the guy - it was awful - I am terrified of snakes (apologies to any snake lovers out there - but ick) - of course this is how these folks make their living - so I suggest you bring $5 and $10 bills along....so you are able to get through these situations quickly..because they do expect to get paid something.

 

It was pouring when we went to see the waterfall - but we did see it and it was beautiful even in the deluge. Then we just drove and drove, we did experience a small mud-slide on the mountain so it took a while, because of traffic, to get around it...we just looked at scenery - it was beautiful but a bit tense due to rain and roads.

 

When we arrived at the volcano Neptune introduced us to a park guide - they actually take you to viewing points and explain how the drive-thru was formed - it really was a great experience and quite fascinating. Then we went back into Sofiere downtown and tried to get gas - no one wanted to sell us gas - DH did become a bit concerned as we did not have enough gas to return to Castries and also did not have a cell phone with us and Neptune's cell phone was out of "pre-paid" minutes:eek: so we could not even call Spencer for assistance...finally some good and gracious folks off the beaten path sold us some gas (just enough to get back to Castries..) Man we were sweating bullets at that point. This took so much time we did not have enough time to go to Jalousie beach as planned - as we did not want to risk missing the ship.

 

So with that - we did finally get back to the ship on time - - we did have a good time but just because of our personal experience we will not again venture on our own in St Lucia unless we feel we have more than ample time allotted....

 

Hope this was helpful - Have a great time and happy sails!!!

[Capt. Mike]

Cosol, look no further. Just was with him last week. The great blue van with all the free booze and beer will not be far behind!

[dz63]

We will be in St. Lucia in January 2011. Can anyone offer insight to help us decide between Cosol and Spencer Ambrose for a tour of the island. Both seem to have good reviews. Any thoughts?

 

Since Cosol and Spencer Ambrose both get good reviews, I know it can be difficult in deciding who to choose for a tour of the island. Although we did not tour with Cosol, we did tour with Spencer Ambrose. All I can say is, we were not disappointed. Hands down, Spencer was the BEST tour guide from all the islands we visited on our Carnival Victory cruise! We absolutely loved our tour with him. He really knew how to take care and look after his guests. He kept a cooler stocked with soft drinks, water, beer and home-made rum punch in the back of his van, which we could help ourselves to at any time. Spencer was also very accommodating and flexible and was willing to customize the tour to our interests. We saw the banana plantation, the fishing villages of Anse La Raye and Canaries, the Snake Man, Sulphur Springs, Toraille Waterfall and Botanical Garden and the breathtaking Jalousie Beach between the Pitons.

 

Spencer also kept us well-fed all day long, with fresh bananas, a delicious grilled chicken Creole Lunch, coconut cakes, love apples and hot, fresh from the oven, Creole bread served with either peanut butter or cheese.

 

Spencer was willing to make another stop to pick up jerk pork for us to eat, but we were all too stuffed to eat anything more. There certainly was no shortage of food on Spencer’s tour!

 

We had a wonderful day with Spencer. We learned about the island and saw such beautiful and memorable sites. Spencer was also very conscientious of the time and he made sure he got us back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. He is very hospitable, entertained us with his stories and by the end of the tour we felt like we gained a new friend. We would absolutely recommend a tour with Spencer Ambrose. He is an awesome guide who offered us the best tour and service ever imaginable!

 

 

If you are still confused on whom to choose, I have put together a brief summary comparing the services between Spencer Ambrose and Cosol.

 

-both Cosol and Spencer Ambrose offer an island tour that takes you to the same sites (banana plantation, Anse La Raye, Canaries, Sulphur Springs, Toraille Waterfall and Jalousie Beach)

 

-both charge the same rate for their tours

 

-both tours include food and snacks. Cosol offers food sampling mid morning whereas Spencer offers a full lunch

 

-both tours include complimentary drinks. Spencer keeps a cooler of drinks right in the van, which you can help yourself to at any time, whereas Cosol has a blue drinks van that follows you around

 

-Spencer offers the option of riding the water taxi back to the cruise ship pier, which would give you more time to spend at the beach. I am not aware that Cosol offers this.

 

-Spencer runs a smaller tour operation than Cosol. Cosol has many more people, many more drivers and many more vans.

 

 

Overall, we chose to tour with Spencer Ambrose and his tour was a highlight of our cruise. We cannot say enough good things of our tour with him. Even today, our boys still talk about the fun time they had on his tour.

 

So, vawalkers whether you decide to tour with Spencer Ambrose or Cosol, one thing is certain--you are sure to enjoy touring the lush and beautiful, tropical island of St. Lucia!

 

Good Luck in making your decision!

 

 

P.S. If you are interested in seeing photos and reading more details about our tour with Spencer Ambrose, click on the link below and scroll down to post #104 - #107

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1038334&page=6

[inai]

Hands down!!!!!!!!!

Spencer Ambrose was the best ever!!!!:D He was informative and had a tour laid out for us. If we wanted to change anything on the tour, it was our wish.:) I highly recommend him.

[pammycakes]

Spencer is the only way to go. He was awesome. When i go back i will definatly go with him.

[BroncosFan2010]

Go with Spencer. My experience with Cosol was not very good, and I don't recommend him to anyone. Too many people were booked on the excursion (over 200) and we felt like cattle being herded all day. Cosol did not have enough food prepared, so we were hungry and ended up spending more money in addition to the cost of the tour for food. At the end, Cosol had the guts to tell everyone to go back to Cruise Critic and give him good reviews. Well, here is my review... don't choose Cosol!

[vawalkers]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I had been leaning toward Spencer and you guys made the decision easy. Thanks for the feedback. We are now booked with Spencer. All we are waiting on now is January!!!

[RCrpntr]

I guess I'm late with this... but here's another vote for Spencer.

 

Nothing against Mr. Cosol... I'm sure he is a fine gentleman. There was a vista with the Pitons in the background where my wife and I posed with Spencer and Mr. Cosol was kind enough to take the picture. Our tours stopped there at the same time.

 

That being said... I can't say enough good things about Spencer. His tour was the highlight of our 10 day cruise. He still keeps in touch. He sent us pictures of his family. (two daughters btw.) and phoned us on Christmas Day and as recently as a week or so ago.

 

With the recent trouble in St. Lucia... (NCL not going there etc.) I recall that he guarantees your safety. He was a member of the St. Lucia police force for about 12 years before he started this business. I suspected he was armed or at least had a weapon in his vehicle but have no evidence of that and we've never discussed it. I may be wrong on that point.

 

I'm sure this has been said before... but take him a few cans of Planter's Almonds and you'll have a friend for life. :)

[slowpoke58]

Cosol hands down. Just did it last week. It was amazing and St. Lucia is definitely somewhere I would like to go back to as a result.

 

What is there web address? or do you have to email them. We will be on the Emerald Princess Jan 7th for 10 days and would like to see what he can offer us.

 

Thanks

Robert & Joyce

[nikimouse]

I was leaning towards spencer because of the smaller groups. lunch and option to take the boat back for an extra $30 but now im actually going with HERODS land and sea tour because he does not charge $30 extra. he charges $70 for the whole tour including boat ride and a lunch buffet including snacks and drinks as well.. he is also taking us to have a mud bath and we will see bat caves on the way back on the boat which i dont think is included with cosol or spencer. he also has a small group of 10 minimum up to 22 maximum. we did have to join a group to make up 10 people but i met them on cc for our oct 17th sailing.

 

consider herod as well. i am really looking foward to my tour with him

[catcruizer]

I have no opinion of Cosol since we didn't use him, but did use Spencer's tour and John was our tour guide. We had a wonderful tour while on St. Lucia and had all of the same stops and same food (although the bakery was closed so we didn't get to try the homemade bread - which didn't matter to us because we were so full!) as all of Spencer's tours and got to visit with Spencer while at Jalouse beach. John was a great tour guide and I would repeat Spencer's tour again with either Spencer or John as my guide.

[pvpetcruiser]

My family just returned from a Victory cruise and spent the day on St. Lucia with John, from Spencer's tour group. It was a beautiful island and John was a great tour guide. There were a total of 8 of us in the van and we drank and ate our way through the island. The Pitons were awesome. The boat ride to Jalouisie beach was interesting in a downpour, but he was attentive to our needs and made it a great day! We can't wait to go back to St. Lucia!

[travelnut4]

I read the description of the tour with Ambrose and see that you spend 30 minutes to 2 hours at Jalousie Beach, depending on time. Does Cosol spend this amount of time here as well? Just trying to compare the two to decide, as I've heard so much about both of them!

 

Also, if you take the water taxi back with the Ambrose tour, what stops/sights are you missing of the tour by not going in the van?

[travelnut4]

I read the description of the tour with Ambrose and see that you spend 30 minutes to 2 hours at Jalousie Beach, depending on time. Does Cosol spend this amount of time here as well? Just trying to compare the two to decide, as I've heard so much about both of them!

 

Also, if you take the water taxi back with the Ambrose tour, what stops/sights are you missing of the tour by not going in the van?

 

Trying to weigh my options for this tour. Any input on what you would miss by taking the boat back from Jalousie Beach? And what are your opinions on Herods tour? I don't hear as much about that one.

[Donna_In_India]

For those who took the Ambrose tour, did you stop at any of the fishing villages or just see them from a viewpoint. Cosol's site says he stops there.

 

Tried to check Herod's but his site is not complete and have not been able to get any info regarding the tour.

 

I'm still trying to decided....not interested in spending 2 hours on the beach.

[cherbear4000]

My family did Cosol's tour July 2009. It was a great tour at a great price. Got back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

[TortieGal]

I read the description of the tour with Ambrose and see that you spend 30 minutes to 2 hours at Jalousie Beach, depending on time. Does Cosol spend this amount of time here as well? Just trying to compare the two to decide, as I've heard so much about both of them!

 

On our Cosol tour in April, we were at Jalousie for about an hour. I wil also note that the resort "police" restricted us to a very small area of the beach. Wouldn't even let us stand under one of their palm trees while we were trying to decide where to put our stuff since there are few chairs for non resort guests to use.

[lindalo5032]

On our Cosol tour in April, we were at Jalousie for about an hour. I wil also note that the resort "police" restricted us to a very small area of the beach. Wouldn't even let us stand under one of their palm trees while we were trying to decide where to put our stuff since there are few chairs for non resort guests to use.

 

Did you ever find any shade to sit under? Just wondering if you were in the sun the whole time?

[billrco90278]

Both look wonderful from their websites.

What are the the pick-up and drop-off times at the ship (Caribbean Princess)?

 

My wife is a real nervous-nellie about non-cruise ship tours. Does anybody know of an instance where a private tour such as Stewart Ambrose or Cosol did not make it back on time?

 

Princess has a "St. Lucia by Land and Sea" tour that looks similar for about $15 more. Does anybody have experience with that one? Any information will be appreciated.

[PeterPan]

I can only mention that Spencer says he has never had any of his clients miss the ship departure. He is very sensitive to making it back to the docks on time. I'm sure that Cosol is the same way.

[cruzobsessed]

after our 1st cruise...and i found cruise critic....i stopped taking ship's excursions.

professionals like spencer and cosol cannot afford to have ONE client miss the boat. that would be the end of them. between the instant reviewing here and on trip advisor it just cannot happen.

as long as you do your due diligence and research the tour operator here and ask lots of questions...here....you really cannot go wrong;)

[billrco90278]

after our 1st cruise...and i found cruise critic....i stopped taking ship's excursions.

 

professionals like spencer and cosol cannot afford to have ONE client miss the boat. that would be the end of them. between the instant reviewing here and on trip advisor it just cannot happen.

 

as long as you do your due diligence and research the tour operator here and ask lots of questions...here....you really cannot go wrong;)

 

That makes a lot of sense. Next step is to flip a coin beween Colso and Spencer Ambrose.