Seabourn St. Lucia Tours

[ciaoYacht]

Looking to sail on the "7-Day Classic Yachtsman's Caribbean" (https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/C3S07B/8319.html) this upcoming winter and a major selling point is the stop in St. Lucia, as I've always wanted to see and hike Gros Piton.  I see Seabourn does offer a tour to Gros Piton that includes hiking, but its not offered on these particular sailings.  Here is the tour:

 

Gros Piton Hike & Lunch At Ladera Resort: A UNESCO Partner Tour

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/shore-excursions/SLU/SLU018.html

 

This tour is only offered on other sailings which I am not interested in/unable to do the dates.  I believe the only difference is on the other sailings the ship docks in Castries, St. Lucia instead of Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  Castries is closer to Gros Piton, but only by about 20 minutes from what I can tell on Google Maps.  Do you think there is a possibility that Seabourn might offer this tour on my sailing if I ask them?  I'm sure there would be others interested as well.  And who would I even contact to inquire about this?  Or do you think my best bet would be to do the private vehicle for the day so that I can just do whatever I want.  I would okay with the private vehicle option, but I like the idea of having a hiking guide during the tour offers, and the lunch seems nice.

You insight is greatly appreciated.

Edited June 16, 2022 by ciaoYacht

[cruiseej]

@ciaoYacht We've been on two Seabourn cruises which stopped at St. Lucia in the past year, both of which anchored in Rodney Bay — and the Piton excursion you mentioned was not available. I don't think you can ask them to add an excursion which isn't listed; there are myriad factors which go into their booking of tour operators.

 

If you know what you want to do, and are willing to spring for the cost of the private vehicle, then that's probably the route to go. Or see if you can find out what company in Castries provides this tour, see if you can book directly with them, and if they'd pick up at Rodney Bay. 

 

I think most of the tour companies in Castries who offer that tour are likely to depart early in the morning, before you can be off the ship. So you might need to book a custom tour with someone. (If you can find others on your cruise who would sign on to do it with you, it might make it easier to find someone, or at least soften the price for the all-day outing.)

 

The feasibility of doing this excursion largely depends on how much time you have ashore. Figure roughly four hours for the trip down the coast and back. I've read to allow two hours up and two hours down for the hike. (If you're in excellent shape, you might be able to do it a bit faster.) So that's 8 hours — not including a lunch stop — do you have 9 hours ashore to pull this off? On our trips there, we were listed as 8 am to 5 pm, which is 9 hours. But 8 am means the first excursions depart at 8 am, and you need to add at least 15 minutes for the tender ride ashore. And 5 pm generally means "all aboard" is at 4:30 pm. So our 9 hours in port really amounted to, at a maximum, just over 8 hours ashore. So this sounds very tight to me. And unlike if it's an excursion offered by Seabourn, if you get back too late, you will be stranded there!

 

Also, while I'm a huge fan of Google Maps, I can tell you that you can't always judge travel time on St. Lucia by Google Maps! 😉 On our first stop there last fall, we did a rainforest tram excursion. The traffic on the 2-lane road around the Gros Islet area (between Rodney Bay and Castries) was awful, and it took us more than an hour to travel what should have been a 20-25 minute ride. Friends of ours did the same excursion on our second cruise, and they hit the traffic on the way back. Even if you don't hit that traffic, leaving from Rodney Bay instead of Castries adds at least 45 minutes round-trip, and that's likely enough difference why Seabourn doesn't offer this excursion when they anchor in Rodney Bay.

 

Not that it's at all the same thing, but I'll mention that on our cruise in March, we departed Rodney Bay and the captain sailed down the coast of St. Lucia to the Pitons, where we sat and circled the bay for about half an hour as the sun went down. It was glorious seeing the Pitons at close range from the sea during that golden hour. I know, that's not the same as hiking up the mountain, but with champagne in one hand and my camera in the other, I was a very happy camper! (This all depends on the weather, the timing of sunset, and how far the ship has to travel that night, so you can't know in advance if you'll get such an opportunity.)

[ciaoYacht]

Thanks for the feedback. If I did anything I’d absolutely book the Seabourn private vehicle for the day so id be covered by the return to ship guarantee. I’d also try to work with the excursion desk or concierge to detail plan the day. 
 

Also seeing the Pitons from the ship while sipping champagne at sunset sounds amazing! I would love if my cruise did that as well! We’re you traveling northbound or southbound?