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Cosol Tour in St. Lucia


smitty1711

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Do you travel with the other vans or is your van a separate tour? Thanks!

 

Just returned from our 11/8/08 cruise on the Serenade and promised myself I would take the time to post a review of the Cosol tour in St. Lucia. Truly the outstanding shore excursion we had was with them and one which we cannot recommend highly enough. You pay at the end which was $55 pp and it ended up being 7 hours as we were picked up at 8:30 a.m. and were back at the ship close to 3:30 p.m. If anyone takes this excursion, be sure to have a light breakfast because at 10:30 all the vans stop for a real feast of different delicious food set out on long tables, including drinks. This is also a bathroom stop (charge $1) but since the route is to the Pitons, there are no bathroom facilities along the way. The road is very curvy so I sympathized with some of the people who rented cars...not a good idea on this island. We went to a banana plantation, waterfall, a sulfur volcano, but the highlight was to the beach where we were taken by boat for a 45 minute swim at a secluded resort. On the way back, our driver stopped for some hot bread and cheese which was also delicious. The reason the tour is longer is that the resort we swam at was recently sold and the new owners will not allow the vans to drive there, which necessitates the boat trip. We had Adrian as our driver and he was just wonderful, but hopefully all the drivers were as friendly and knowledgeable as he is. We had 9 vans with 10 passengers each from the Serenade and 3 vans from the Caribbean Princess, which was also in port that day, so it was quite a line of vans taking part. As you can see from our profile, we have been on many cruises, but this shore excursion you can book on line is the very best value we have seen. We were lucky with our weather the whole cruise and very impressed with the beauty of our ship. Trish

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Trish,

 

Welcome back and glad you had a good time. Maybe you could answer a couple of questions, one on Cosol, and one on the Serenade herself?

 

Regarding Cosol, how long is the boat ride to the beach you mentioned? Do you still have the full 45-60 minutes at the beach itself?

 

We are on the Serenade early next year, and still trying to determine which nights will be formal? Perhaps you could share what they did on your sailing? Also did they do the "Piton swing" on this sailing?

 

Thanks for any info,

 

bobj

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Just returned from our 11/8/08 cruise on the Serenade and promised myself I would take the time to post a review of the Cosol tour in St. Lucia..........The reason the tour is longer is that the resort we swam at was recently sold and the new owners will not allow the vans to drive there, which necessitates the boat trip.

 

Wierd.... I also did the Cosol tour on the 11/8/08 Serenade and we didn't get a boat trip! We were taken to the resort at Anse Chastelet and spent an hour on the beach there. It was nice, but very small and only the resort guests were allowed use of the chairs, etc.

 

Overall, the tour was very nice, food great and views beautiful. But, it really could be about 2 hours shorter.... You spend the majority of your time driving along twisty, bumpy roads (probably 3 1/2 to 4 of the 6 hours you are actually driving). If you get car sick at all, take your dramamine before leaving the ship! We had Claude and he was very nice, but said very little, only a short explanation at each stop and that's it.

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We were on Carribean Princess and took the tour last week. We didn't have the boat ride - had the beach at Anse Chastelet and snorked for an hour.

 

We loved the tour - it exceeded our expectations. I agree with everyone that it is the best tour I've ever done. We got back to terminal around 3;00-3:30 and had time to check out the straw market in town and also the stores in the terminal.

 

We had Yellowbird (Cosol's brother) as our driver and he was fantastic. He talked all the time telling us all about the island and life on it. Best tour driver I've ever had. There were 10 of us in the van - the roads are very curvey - glad I wasn't driving them. If you have ever done the Road to Hana in Maui - they are like that.

 

The local food that we got to have was wonderful - it made the tour special. We had a great group of people in our van and a wonderful driver - it was the best tour we did all week.

 

Mary

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Trish,

 

Welcome back and glad you had a good time. Maybe you could answer a couple of questions, one on Cosol, and one on the Serenade herself?

 

Regarding Cosol, how long is the boat ride to the beach you mentioned? Do you still have the full 45-60 minutes at the beach itself?

 

We are on the Serenade early next year, and still trying to determine which nights will be formal? Perhaps you could share what they did on your sailing? Also did they do the "Piton swing" on this sailing?

 

Thanks for any info,

 

bobj

 

We had 45 minutes at the beach which was enough as the rental for the chairs was $20 an hour so...forget that. The boat ride took about 5 minutes so it was very close. Our driver, Adrian, stopped many times; once for the jaw breaking cookies that are native to the island but were delicious and different. The hot bread and cheese on our way back was pretty unusual and also special. We had two formal nights on our 7 day cruise so I assume that would be the same if yours is the same length of time.

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We had two formal nights on our 7 day cruise so I assume that would be the same if yours is the same length of time.

 

Thanks Trish for the info. By any chance do you recall which days/nights were formal? Trying to figure out the Specialty reservations. Thanks again,

 

bobj

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  • 2 weeks later...

We used Cosol tours on our cruise in August and it was amazing. Well worth the money. I can't remember how much but cheap for all we got. We went to his website, booked through him. He had our email and met us when we got off the ship. We paid at the end of the tour. Highly recommend Cosol and his group!

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We used Cosol tours on our cruise in August and it was amazing. Well worth the money. I can't remember how much but cheap for all we got. We went to his website, booked through him. He had our email and met us when we got off the ship. We paid at the end of the tour. Highly recommend Cosol and his group!

 

We have booked Cosol for our stop off the Maasdam in January. we are totally going by the recommendations I have read here so hopefully we will enjoy this tour.

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I know this may sound crazy but my husband and I are both somewhat paranoid about access to a bathroom on a tour. Can someone tell me how long between stops which have access to facilities? Thanks.:)

 

My recollection is that most stops were not more than hour apart. The van drivers are pretty flexible and would stop when needed.

I suggest an email to Cosul with the question...

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We are contemplating between Cosol and Frank's tour. With Cosol, I'm concerned that half of the trip is spent driving in vans. Frank is offering mud baths and beach and sounds more laid back. Has anyone done both tours?

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we were also on this tour on the 18th of november. Overall the tour was very good. we had cosul as our driver but he didn't tell us about the change to a different beach until we had set off. For us the highlight of the tour was the lovely beach between the Pitons,but we were taken to a small beach elsewhere which was nowhere near as nice. some people were less than impressed. We felt we shuold have been told about the change in advance.

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I did this tour on Wednesday. Overall very impressed but the last portion of the tour was very dissapointing. We were supposed to go to the beach in the pitons. We did go, but to another beach and with the option of taking a water taxi to the piton beach. I took it, but my wife, mother and daughter did not.

 

This was because our driver did not explain what was supposed to happen. We were driven to a pretty awful fishing village full of trash and dirty and told that if we wanted to snorkel, to board a water taxi. We were not told that it was to the beach in the Pitons. We were rushed to make the decision without any explanation. I took the taxi and was driven to the most beatiful area in St. Lucia. But because of the bad handling of this, my mom, wife and daughter did not go. They would have loved it. I was pretty dissapointed with Cosol for this.

 

Beware. Ask about the beach portion.

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I did this tour on Wednesday. Overall very impressed but the last portion of the tour was very dissapointing. We were supposed to go to the beach in the pitons. We did go, but to another beach and with the option of taking a water taxi to the piton beach. I took it, but my wife, mother and daughter did not.

 

This was because our driver did not explain what was supposed to happen. We were driven to a pretty awful fishing village full of trash and dirty and told that if we wanted to snorkel, to board a water taxi. We were not told that it was to the beach in the Pitons. We were rushed to make the decision without any explanation. I took the taxi and was driven to the most beatiful area in St. Lucia. But because of the bad handling of this, my mom, wife and daughter did not go. They would have loved it. I was pretty dissapointed with Cosol for this.

 

Beware. Ask about the beach portion.

 

That's what I am afraid of, not going to the right beach. Although Cosol said we will go to the Jalousie beach, I was told by another tour operator that " Jalousie beach is not open to cruise ship passengers anymore. We use another beach." But then again, Cosol goes to two beaches you just never know which one.

 

I have a possible tour of mud baths with snorkeling on the beach between Pitons, private excursion. My question for you is: after taking the tour with Cosol, do you think the things he showed you were worth the entire trip, without the beach, OR would you rather do the mud baths and snorkeling on the beach between Pitons? (maybe mud is not for you, but my wife will love it :-) I don't know if driving on the tour half a day in a car is worth it.

 

Anyone else who has done the Cosol tour and went to mud baths and Pitons/Jalousie beach, feel free to post your opinion.

 

Thanks!

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I just received a reply from Cosol confirming that this would be the beach we will be going to in December. Did he change it for you at the last minute?

 

in his standard itinerary he has two beaches, one with black sand and the one we are all raving about. i've read in other threads that he sometimes changes it last minute. for me if there is no Jalousie beach, then no Cosol. what makes me wonder is that info from other tour op that claims no more cruise visitors on this beach.

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I went to Jalousie beach but it was not explained to us. We taken to the black sand beach and told that if we wanted to snorkel to get on the water taxi which then tool us to Jalousie.

 

The problem was that we were not informed completeley and members of my party stayed behind not knowing what was up. Im mad because my wife and daughter would have loved Jalousie.....

 

Cruise passengers cant go there by car, they can go by water taxi which is was COSOL does.

 

It's still a great tour...just make sure you get clear information on the beach.

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We toured with Cosol back in April of this year and our driver was John Baptiste. He was great and very accomodating. On the way back to the ship I really needed to stop and use the facilities. He actually pulled into the electric power station, where he had a friend working. He asked for me and a young pregnant lady to use their very clean facilities and there was no problem. We went to a beach, but don't remember the name. Even without the beach the tour itself would have been fabulous.

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I will be in St. Lucia later this December (27th I think). After reading these boards I have been very interested in taking a group tour with Cosol. However, we will only be docked from 8:00am-3:00pm. I e-mailed Cosol for price and question about time. He quoted me $65 p/p for the tour (I guess the entrance fees have gone up for some of the places) and said the tour would leave @ 8:30 but did not give info about return time. Would it even be possible to get off the ship in time to meet the tour by 8:30 and what time do his tours usually return? If anyone has helpful info to reply I would really appreciate it otherwise I will hope to hear back from Cosul so I can plan my day...not sure what best option is here...

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I will be in St. Lucia later this December (27th I think). After reading these boards I have been very interested in taking a group tour with Cosol. However, we will only be docked from 8:00am-3:00pm. I e-mailed Cosol for price and question about time. He quoted me $65 p/p for the tour (I guess the entrance fees have gone up for some of the places) and said the tour would leave @ 8:30 but did not give info about return time. Would it even be possible to get off the ship in time to meet the tour by 8:30 and what time do his tours usually return? If anyone has helpful info to reply I would really appreciate it otherwise I will hope to hear back from Cosul so I can plan my day...not sure what best option is here...

Cosul will make sure the tour coincides with your in prt schedule. that is what he does; he meets you at the cruise terminal and will show you the island and gets you back in time.

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If you are looking for a quality tour, don't miss the Cosol guys. We have traveled a lot and this ranks in the top 3 tours we have ever taken.

 

Cosol won't even charge you until the tour is completed. $55 was well spent here.

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We did Cosol last Thursday, one of the best we have ever done. Cosol was our guide and driver, he fed us all freshly baked food that was to die for, drinks all day (punch, sodas, water, beer and a homemade shot or two). We went snorkeling or swimming towards the end of the tour, was fantastic. We took a ferry to Jalousie beach because the new owners won't let the tour drive there, so this added an extra (at Cosol's expense) to see some of the Island by sea. Just got back late last night, so still tired, but if you have any questions I will try to answer. My only thought is this is a MUST BOOK TOUR for everyone.

Judy

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