Scenic Cruising Soufriere Bay ???

[DaveOKC]

On the day we leave St. Lucia our HAL schedule shows us to be "Scenic Cruising Soufriere BAY". Has anyone done this and what is it all about??

[Alberta Quilter]

Hi Dave! I miss chatting with you.

 

Yes, I've done it. It's basically just a pickup of people who took shore excursions to the far side of St Lucia. It's faster to pick them up there then to wait for them to return to the port. They're tendered over to the ship. I think it takes about half an hour to pick up the pax.

 

You do sail past the Pitons. When you get to the bay, locals come out, in boats, and try to get pax to throw things like fruit off the ship and they'll dive for it. As you likely know, one should NOT throw anything off the ship, anywhere. When we were there, the Captain or the CD came on the PA and issued a stern warning.

[kazu]

On the day we leave St. Lucia our HAL schedule shows us to be "Scenic Cruising Soufriere BAY". Has anyone done this and what is it all about??

 

Been there done that. It was quite pretty actually.

 

I believe they make a stop to pick up tours as well but it's just a service call

 

If I remember correctly we could get a view of the Pitons (sp?) - the mountains/volcanos at one portion of the island.

Edited September 14, 2015 by kazu

[sppunk]

You sail by the Pitons and pick up pax who have been on HAL shore excursions than end there at the bay. The ship will rotate so both sides get views of the Pitons.

 

Only HAL excursions can take the tenders from Soufriere Bay to the ship, you can't DIY and end there and board there.

[shrimpboat123]

We visited St. Lucia March 2014.

 

We had arranged a private excursion on a catamaran that sailed down the coast and back to Castries. Great scenic views along the way as well as seeing the Pitons up close and personal.

 

After we got back to Castries, the ship sailed down the coast to Soufriere Bay to make a stop to pick up those people who had done ships tours and had to be picked up. It was very scenic cruising and we actually got a different perspective being so high above the water from our previous catamaran cruise that day. You will get to see the Pitons during the cruise by. Very nice scenery.

[IRL_Joanie]

On the day we leave St. Lucia our HAL schedule shows us to be "Scenic Cruising Soufriere BAY". Has anyone done this and what is it all about??

You are not there too let passengers off. It is a Service Stop to pick up passengers who've booked a HAL Excursion from Castries to Soufriere only.

 

Some of our tenders go from the ship, where it is anchored off the port and pick the passengers back to the ship.

 

We are anchored there for up to 90 minutes. Believe me when I say that even anchored the views are definitely worth it:)

 

One thing to know ahead f time is that some of the Islanders will come out in their small boats and will ask for money to be dropped down to them, where they will "Dive for Money." DO NOT THROW ANYTHING out to them. Announcements are made over the PA system regarding the No No. Unfortunately many could not hear the announcements and threw Money and Fruit over the ship to the young men, and heard about it being a No No only when we came back to CC and told them what had been done........ I will not do it again in November:)

 

Joanie

[cruz chic]

I really enjoy the sail away out of St. Lucia. It's very pretty.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done this many times over the years.

Sometimes we have picked up quite a few people who did the ships excursions. Depending on how many have booked ship excursions and how long it takes to get the tenders secured, depends on how long you are there.

We have had some days that were very beautiful and got great pictures of the Pitons.

Like others have said -- often the Captain has had to come on the PA system and warn people about throwing fruit, etc. into the water. Years ago people used to throw money to the locals.

[Randyk47]

One of our fondest Caribbean cruise memories is the "cruise", really kind of a slow float, to Soufriere on the Ryndam in March 1998. The sea was like glass, the weather just perfect.....how else would you wish it to be on your honeymoon.....and HAL had brought an excellent steel band on the ship. On that cruise that happened to be the night they had the on deck barbeque and it was actually excellent. Like I said, a glorious night and great memory.

[DaveOKC]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this. Based on what everyone is saying, I think I will look into setting up a small party for my roll call people on that sail-away. I have the deck 5 corner aft-wrap with the huge balcony, so that should handle the group. And it sounds like it will be very scenic sailing (we depart at 4 PM).

 

What does everyone think of this idea??

[mudscraper]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this. Based on what everyone is saying, I think I will look into setting up a small party for my roll call people on that sail-away. I have the deck 5 corner aft-wrap with the huge balcony, so that should handle the group. And it sounds like it will be very scenic sailing (we depart at 4 PM).

 

What does everyone think of this idea??

 

Great idea. The scenery is wonderful.

[KruzPrincess]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this. Based on what everyone is saying, I think I will look into setting up a small party for my roll call people on that sail-away. I have the deck 5 corner aft-wrap with the huge balcony, so that should handle the group. And it sounds like it will be very scenic sailing (we depart at 4 PM).

 

What does everyone think of this idea??

 

I think it's a great idea. I love the scenery in St. Lucia and it's always beautiful seeing the Pitons.

[RetiredMustang]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this. Based on what everyone is saying, I think I will look into setting up a small party for my roll call people on that sail-away. I have the deck 5 corner aft-wrap with the huge balcony, so that should handle the group. And it sounds like it will be very scenic sailing (we depart at 4 PM).

 

What does everyone think of this idea??

 

Sounds great! We always enjoy that sailing. Here is a link to a blog page I did that includes photos:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41799448&postcount=145

 

It is especially good viewing from the port side. I think your group would enjoy the party. Sometimes, the captain will open up the bow deck for viewing, and if yours does, you may want to move the group there later in the cruising, as you nudge close to the Pitons.

 

Dave

Edited September 14, 2015 by RetiredMustang

[cruz chic]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this. Based on what everyone is saying, I think I will look into setting up a small party for my roll call people on that sail-away. I have the deck 5 corner aft-wrap with the huge balcony, so that should handle the group. And it sounds like it will be very scenic sailing (we depart at 4 PM).

 

What does everyone think of this idea??

 

That would be fantastic! How nice of you!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this. Based on what everyone is saying, I think I will look into setting up a small party for my roll call people on that sail-away. I have the deck 5 corner aft-wrap with the huge balcony, so that should handle the group. And it sounds like it will be very scenic sailing (we depart at 4 PM).

 

What does everyone think of this idea??

 

 

Great idea!!

Be sure your order your appetizers before Noon from the concierges so that they can make certain will be set up on time.

Maybe even start at 3:30 so that you can see the view as you leave Castries.

[regnig]

Every time we have "cruised Soufriere Bay" there has been someone providing information over the loud speaker system giving geographic information about the Pitons and some history about the inhabitants of the area along with pointing out the very expensive resort on the hillside.

[Alberta Quilter]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this. Based on what everyone is saying, I think I will look into setting up a small party for my roll call people on that sail-away. I have the deck 5 corner aft-wrap with the huge balcony, so that should handle the group. And it sounds like it will be very scenic sailing (we depart at 4 PM).

 

What does everyone think of this idea??

 

I think your fellow roll call members will enjoy it! I know I would. Too bad I can't join you on your upcoming cruise!

 

Have you given any thought to the Rotterdam Feb 12/17 cruise? I'd love to cruise with you again!!

[cruz chic]

Every time we have "cruised Soufriere Bay" there has been someone providing information over the loud speaker system giving geographic information about the Pitons and some history about the inhabitants of the area along with pointing out the very expensive resort on the hillside.

 

Yes, they did that on the Noordam in April.

[DaveOKC]

I think your fellow roll call members will enjoy it! I know I would. Too bad I can't join you on your upcoming cruise!

 

Have you given any thought to the Rotterdam Feb 12/17 cruise? I'd love to cruise with you again!!

 

Where is that one going to?

[take us away]

One of our fondest Caribbean cruise memories is the "cruise", really kind of a slow float, to Soufriere on the Ryndam in March 1998. The sea was like glass, the weather just perfect.....how else would you wish it to be on your honeymoon.....and HAL had brought an excellent steel band on the ship. On that cruise that happened to be the night they had the on deck barbeque and it was actually excellent. Like I said, a glorious night and great memory.

 

and if you go late enough in the season, you get to see the beginning of a sunset

[dchip]

This is a lovely cruise. we were blessed with several rainbows over the coastline.

 

 

Cheers, Denise

Edited September 15, 2015 by dchip

[jimmy2x]

One of our fondest Caribbean cruise memories is the "cruise", really kind of a slow float, to Soufriere on the Ryndam in March 1998. The sea was like glass, the weather just perfect.....how else would you wish it to be on your honeymoon.....and HAL had brought an excellent steel band on the ship. On that cruise that happened to be the night they had the on deck barbeque and it was actually excellent. Like I said, a glorious night and great memory.

 

Our 1st cruise was also on Ryndam in 1998. I do remember the on-deck barbecue and the band that they brought aboard from Soufriere. It was absolutely magical and we were hooked for life. It truly is a small world - possibly we were aboard at the same time. It was a ten day cruise, probably in February.

[Alberta Quilter]

Where is that one going to?

 

The Caribbean. I posted about it on our old roll call, with a link to the itinerary. It's a 21 day circle tour; it doesn't go back to FLL in the middle. It hits the eastern, southern and western all in one go. We're booked (it has the E4 promo, too) for now but with the economy in the tank and the very real possibility of losing my job, we may end up cancelling before final payment. Thankfully, we have over a year til then.

[zackiedawg]

I have a few shots I snapped from our November 2009 cruise which did the Soufriere Bay cruise...I found the scenery lovely for photography and just enjoying while onboard - especially if while in St. Lucia you didn't opt for a tour that took you to Soufriere or the Pitons. It's best in winter when it gets dark earlier, so you can get the sunset and dusk light over the pitons, and usually St. Lucia has interior storm activity so rainbows and clouds shrouding the interior mountains are quite common. A few shots:

 

 

 

 

And this is from a different cruise, but just an idea of how often the interior rainforest areas of St. Lucia get covered in massive supercell thunderstorms, which when combined with sunset colors, and the propensity for rainbows, can make that quite a spectacular sight when sailing away: