Skip the St. Kitt's "Scenic" Railway Tour

[mistereks]

Recently took the St. Kitt's Scenic Railway tour and were VERY disappointed.

 

Although you get about 15 minutes of lovely views of the mountains and sugar cane fields, much of the trip takes you through unattractive shanty towns where you look down into garbage-filled yards, pig stys, junk yards, etc. The tour even takes you past the island's large open garbage dump.

 

On top of that, the tour guide seemed quite bored with the whole thing and provided very little insight into the island's history. The seats on the upper deck face in instead of out, so if you want to really take in the scenery, you have to twist in your seat or kneel on the seat to look out.

 

For $39, I might have overlooked these faults. For $99, it's a complete rip-off. Spend the day at the beach instead.

[judyzoo]

Recently took the St. Kitt's Scenic Railway tour and were VERY disappointed.

 

Although you get about 15 minutes of lovely views of the mountains and sugar cane fields, much of the trip takes you through unattractive shanty towns where you look down into garbage-filled yards, pig stys, junk yards, etc. The tour even takes you past the island's large open garbage dump.

 

On top of that, the tour guide seemed quite bored with the whole thing and provided very little insight into the island's history. The seats on the upper deck face in instead of out, so if you want to really take in the scenery, you have to twist in your seat or kneel on the seat to look out.

 

For $39, I might have overlooked these faults. For $99, it's a complete rip-off. Spend the day at the beach instead.

 

I totally disagree. See my views in the poll thread. One of my best tours ever. As for the upper seats -- Yes, they face in, but you can clearly see out the other side that you are facing. And it's no big deal to turn slightly to see out the side that you're sitting on, or to look ahead. Additionally, the trains are not crowded, so it's easy to move around to see whatever your heart desires. And there is a lot to see -- beautiful, spectacular views, and little villages with friendly people.

[carmel]

Oh gosh, in 5 cruises and about 15 islands, this was one of my favorite tours. I would even call it magical. We had singers who serenaded us, free drinks, and a wonderful taste of a sugar cane cookie.

 

The scenery was gorgous - the shanty towns were filled with poor but very happy and friendly people who smiled and waved to us. The breeze and the gentle rocking of the train was so relaxing. I just had a wonderful time.

 

I'm sorry your experience was different. There were 6 in our party and we all adored it.

[telli01]

We loved it too. It was actually nice and relaxing (and we needed that with visiting 6 ports!). Our guide gave lots of information and like the other posters said, it wasn't crowded, I actually had enough room to sit sideways; I also stood at the back to take some pictures. We liked it because you get to see the "real" St Kitts not the made up tourist version.

[jen1jmu]

We ate dinner on the boat with some people that took this tour that day and they thought it was a waste of money. The comment that stuck in my mind was that the train and rails seemed very rickety and they felt very unsafe.

[MGH1956]

We did the train trip recently, I had read mixed reviews but the positive seemed to outweigh the negative. As we decided to do different things on different islands, this was different so we did it, at £100 for the 2 of us it was the most expensive trip we did. We were really looking forward to it. But I have to admit we were very disappointed. After 15 minutes you have really seen everything and it became boring. The train was packed when we went, no room to move, it didnt help as we had a downpour and got very wet. We only got 1 drink each and 1 cake the size of a 10 pence piece. Some of the views were very good, a lot were not. For £100 we really expected more and came away disappointed. At the end of the day everyone is different, obviously a lot of people liked the tour and a lot did not.....

Martin

[onceagain]

We've only heard good things about this excursion (with the exception of this post) and will be taking it in January. We can't wait!! :D

[BeagleOne]

I did this tour about ten days ago and it was the best tour of my cruise. If you start from the Basseterre (south) end by the airport, it is indeed not very scenic for the first couple of miles, but I thought the rest was breathtaking. Friendly people waving and kids running alongside the train, picturesque villages, and spectacular coastline and mountain views. We were offered more than one drink--the rum punch was great!--and our guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We had a small choir and there was plenty of room to maneuver and take photos.

 

I would take this tour again in a minute.:)

[BeagleOne]

I did this tour about ten days ago and it was the best tour of my cruise. If you start from the Basseterre (south) end by the airport, it is indeed not very scenic for the first couple of miles, but I thought the rest was breathtaking. Friendly people waving and kids running alongside the train, picturesque villages, and spectacular coastline and mountain views. We were offered more than one drink--the rum punch was great!--and our guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We had a small choir and there was plenty of room to maneuver and take photos.

 

I would take this tour again in a minute.:)

[BeagleOne]

Sorry about the double post! I'm a rookie!

[hermang]

I did this tour about ten days ago and it was the best tour of my cruise. If you start from the Basseterre (south) end by the airport, it is indeed not very scenic for the first couple of miles, but I thought the rest was breathtaking. Friendly people waving and kids running alongside the train, picturesque villages, and spectacular coastline and mountain views. We were offered more than one drink--the rum punch was great!--and our guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We had a small choir and there was plenty of room to maneuver and take photos.

 

I would take this tour again in a minute.:)

 

Told our daughter's inlaws who are train buffs and they loved it too - Only complaint was they couldn't but train memorabilia like hat pins or patches

[KansasScrapper]

Can anyone tell me how much this cost???

[celticd1]

Can anyone tell me how much this cost???

 

I haven't done this excursion, but last I saw it was about $100 PP, includes transportation to and from port.

[gamingchip]

Cost as a Celebrity tour was $79 per person.

 

I would have found the train more enjoyable if the track had been in better shape. The swaying of the cars and squealing of the wheels on the rails was tiring.

 

Scenery was wonderful. We were offered rum drinks and had more than one each. We went from the end of the line back to town. I would do again but I thing the wife would pass.

[popcorngal]

We absolutely loved this tour. The reason the train wobbles is that it's a very narrow gauge. We stayed in the air conditioned car and probably missed alot of the scenery from the upper level, but it was extremely warm that day.

 

Yes, you do see what some people would consider shanty towns, but the friendly people seemed very happy. You must remember, you're not in "Kansas" any more. The best part was that they gave everyone a souvenir DVD of the train ride, complete with the music they play as well as the choir. The cookies were great and the drinks were plentiful. I would do this tour again in a heartbeat!

[Aplmac]

Cost as a Celebrity tour was $79 per person. ===> Everyone else gets ripped for 100:confused:

 

I would have found the train more enjoyable if the track had been in better shape.

The swaying of the cars and squealing of the wheels on the rails was tiring. ===> Hmmmm...:cool:

 

Scenery was wonderful. We were offered rum drinks and had more than one each.

We went from the end of the line back to town.

I would do again but I think the wife would pass.

-and for 100 per person, I think I'd pass,too!

 

Sounds like a $50 ride that people are paying too much for!

[judyzoo]

-and for 100 per person, I think I'd pass,too!

 

Sounds like a $50 ride that people are paying too much for!

 

It's a $100+ quality ride that some pay less for.

[aqhacruiser]

Oh gosh, in 5 cruises and about 15 islands, this was one of my favorite tours. I would even call it magical. We had singers who serenaded us, free drinks, and a wonderful taste of a sugar cane cookie.

 

The scenery was gorgous - the shanty towns were filled with poor but very happy and friendly people who smiled and waved to us. The breeze and the gentle rocking of the train was so relaxing. I just had a wonderful time.

 

I'm sorry your experience was different. There were 6 in our party and we all adored it.

 

We did this tour with about 9 from our roll call in Dec. 07 and we all enjoyed it very much and we had a similar experience to yours:) They also supplied free sodas/water/rum punch drinks and a DVD of the tour to take home with us. We felt we had a very good tour of the island by train and also by the van tht took us back to the ship afterwards. :) I liked the idea of the option to either sit up top in the open air or go downstairs in the A/C.

We are going to St. Kitts again in April 09 and this time we are going to take the ferry over to Nevis to explore but we did enjoy the train excursion and so have many others since then that I suggested it to. everybody likes to do their own thing of course so no one excursion fits everyone.

[AMommyof2]

Cost as a Celebrity tour was $79 per person.

 

 

I just booked the train for our July cruise, on Carnival Destiny. I paid $79 each for myself and DH and $39 each for our two children. DS(4) loves trains, so this excursion is for him. We aren't concerned with the views, as much as we with him getting to ride a train.

[SanNic44]

Is this a steam powered train?

[paul58]

No, it is not steam powered.

[Pumbaamd]

http://www.stkittsscenicrailway.com/

[Kinder1]

:confused: A lot of posts about the railway tour, but has anyone taken any other excursion in St. Kitts? My hubby was talking about renting a car and driving around the island.

[OnVacation11]

We did the train ride in Dec.07 and enjoyed it. No, it is not a Disneyworld ride - the train is old and rickety but it is part of the fun ! You will see very poor villages but all the people come out of the homes with their kids and wave at the train. Some of the scenery of the coastline is spectacular, some other scenery not so much but still we were not sorry that we did it.

[fuzzywuzzy]

My DH and I are contemplating taking this tour but we don't know if it would be better to go on the ship's excursion or do it on our own. Booking this on our own would be a bit cheaper but then again we would have to arrange our own transportation to the station and return. The plus side would be that we could leave earlier than the ship's bus and be more flexible on getting to the station ahead of the crowd. Does this sound feasible? I have read some of the reviews of the trip and it sounds awesome.

 

Any advice?