Awesome Shore Excursion Alert! St. Lucia Food and Rum Tour Review

Are you looking for an authentic island experience? One where you interact with local people and taste local food without any of the cruise crowds?

If so, then this is the tour to book: St. Lucia Food and Rum Tour-Taste Authentic St. Lucian Food and Culture!

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Planning Our Day in St. Lucia

We love St. Lucia!

When we booked our cruise and saw that we were going to have a long day in Castries, the discussion began. “What should we do?” We have been to this island a few times before and have gone to the Pitons, done the mud baths, and enjoyed the beach, so what now? We decided that we would like to experience a more authentic side of the island and we love food tours, so culture and food was the mission!

I scoured the many tour options for St. Lucia and found the St. Lucia Food and Rum Tour. It looked like it would be perfect for a long day on shore, the description showed that we would have breakfast, lunch, stop at a rum distillery, then go to a spice market, and a banana plantation- they also provided transportation from the port (something I always look for). This was going to be a great excursion!

FYI

Port of Call: Castries, St. Lucia

Tour: St. Lucia Food and Rum Tour-Taste Authentic St. Lucian Food and Culture

Tour Company: The Other Tour

Booked: Viator website

Cost: $180 per person

Recommend: YES!!

All of the food and drinks were included in the cost of this excursion. The only things we paid for were the products that we chose to purchase along the way.

Are you looking for things to do in St. Lucia? Check out my Cruiser's Guide to St. Lucia.

Booking

I found this excursion on Viator and carefully read through the description to make sure this tour had interesting food stops along with the history and culture stops. I have found that we need to look closely at the tours we book to be sure that they are not to stuffy, we like some activity or food to keep us involved.

The booking process was very easy on Viator. I chose our dates and the time was 8AM, which was perfect for us, I chose that we wanted to be picked up at the cruise port in Castries, and in the notes I said that we were arriving on Virgin Voyages' Valiant Lady and the expected time of arrival and departure of the ship for the day.

We paid around $180 per person and received our confirmation right away via email.

The email gave details for managing the booking, cancellation information, name and contact information for the tour operator. It also gave the link to print out the tickets.

When I looked through the detailed information, I didn't see any specifics on where to meet at the port. I sent an email to get specifics and the tour operator got back to us quickly with directions about where to go once we get off the ship.

TIP: always print out the tickets and the name and contact information for the tour operator because when you are on an island, it is sometimes difficult to get phone and internet service like you are used to at home.

Preparation

There was not too much to do in preparation for this excursion. We made sure that we were wearing comfortable clothing, had our sunglasses, charged our phones, had some cash in small denominations, and knew what time we needed to be back to the port. It was nice to not have to get up even earlier to have time for breakfast because we were going to eat breakfast as part of the tour.

TIP: Take cash in small denominations on shore excursions, many times vendors will not be able to make change for large bills.

Not sure what cruise itinerary includes St. Lucia? Narrow your search with my Ultimate Guide to the Top Caribbean and Bahamas Ports.

Arrival at Port Seraphine

We arrived at the port on time and it was a beautiful sunny day!

We were some of the first people off the ship to meet our guide at 8AM. When we arrived at the meeting location, our guide is not there. We ask around and the others assure us that the tour operator will be there.

At this point, reach out to the tour operator to get confirmation that they are still meeting us and notice that I have a message from them saying that there are some other people coming on the tour with us and we will be leaving closer to 9AM. The tour operator quickly responds that he is filling up the cooler and is on his way. Yay! It is very comforting when there is good communication with the tour operator!

We decide to do a bit of shopping at the port area while we wait for the others to disembark the ship. This is a great port for duty-free shopping! There are many souvenir shops along with shops that offer locally made products.

Around 8:30, we meet our guide, Delvin. And at 8:45 the others arrive, we loaded up in an air-conditioned van and we are on our way! Delvin had the cooler filled with drinks for us, including the local beer, Piton. Piton beer is a pilsner style beer named for the Piton Mountains (Gros Piton and Petit Piton), which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

TIP: Know your tour operator's name. Just in case they are not at the meeting location when you get there. You can then ask security at the port if they are familiar with your tour operator and many times they will even place a call to them for you. At every port we have been to, the tour operator's know each other. So when you are entering the port area and they are asking if you want service, you can simply say “No thank you. I have a tour booked with XYZ Tours.” At that point, they will typically either show you where to meet your guide or smile and send you on your way.

Itinerary

Photo Op

Our first stop was at a scenic overlook where you are able to view the cruise ship and take some pictures

Kaye Savann

Our second stop of the day was to Kaye Savann, a local bar & restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast was salted cod, Johnny cakes, lettuce and tomato, and hot coco tea. This was a quaint little bar where the chef was ready to serve us right away! By this time, we were getting to know Delvin and the others on our tour better.

Marigot Bay Overlook

The third stop was the overlook to Marigot Bay for some great photos of famous Marigot Bay. Delvin gave us some history on the island and discussed its importance as a “Hurricane Hole”.

St. Lucia Distillers

The fourth stop was St. Lucia Distillers where we toured the facility and tasted rum.

The facility tour included a video of the distillery's interesting history, then a tour that showed and described how their rum is made and a stop in the rick house where the barrels are stored.

The next part of the tour is through the Carnival Museum. St. Lucia is one of the Caribbean's top destinations to celebrate Carnival. They have an abundance of lively music, parades, and parties.

The last part of the tour is what everyone was looking forward to most….rum tasting! St. Lucia Distillers did not disappoint because they offered 22 different rums to taste.

Some of the unique flavors included Sorrell, Midnight Ride which is a fortified wine, Sting Power which is fortified wine with vitamins, iron, and Bois Bande (an aphrodisiac), coconut cream, peanut cream, and chocolate cream.

We also really enjoyed the spiced rums, the lime and coconut flavored rums, and the Chairman's Reserve rum. It was alot of fun!

There is a simple store to purchase the rums. This is not a make you exit through the souvenir store, they only sell their rum. We ended up buying a spiced rum, The Chairman's Reserve Rum, and the lime flavored rum.

TIP: Mix the lime and coconut flavored rums together, it's really delicious!

Spice Market

Our fourth stop was to the Secret Spice Market where we tasted so many things that it will be hard to list them all, but I will give it a try!

We tasted several hot sauces from mild to crazy hot, curry sauce, tamarind sauce, garlic sauce, banana barbecue sauce, many flavors of jam including a spicy one (my favorite was the ginger jam), homemade rum punch, and she had some of the rum flavors that the distillery was sold out of!

The owner of the roadside market was great to us! She was sassy and informative while we tried everything she had to offer. When we were trying to decide what to purchase, she offered ideas for how to use them and let us resample to compare.

We ended up creating our own variety pack to take home. It included the hot sauce, curry sauce, garlic sauce, tamarind sauce (I LOVE this sauce, perfect level of spice!), ginger jam, and the banana barbecue sauce.

I did check the labels and they are all produced in St. Lucia, so you are actually supporting the local economy.

Lunch

Our fifth stop was to Delvin's mom's home where she made us a complete homecooked meal. Devlin's Mom's house was just the nicest place for lunch!!

It had a beautiful view of the ocean! We sat outside on her patio surrounded by flowering plants and she had a fan set up to keep us cool while we ate.

She served us a lovely garden salad with homemade salad dressing, saltfish curry with breadfruit, cassava, and hot sauce. She also served a tamarind drink and ginger, coconut, and guava squares.

Everything was delicious! She was kind enough to send us down the road with an after dinner drink too!

Tony's Place

Our sixth stop was to Tony's place where we were looking forward to roasted cashews and coconut drinks.

We were all so excited when we stepped out and saw the picturesque setting along a creek. There was smoke rising and a little shelter area across the creek.

Unfortunately, this is where the fun of our excursion ended. It was a no fault, split second accident. As we were all crossing the creek, we discussed that the rocks were loose and to walk carefully. The guys had made it across and were talking in front of the shelter. The ladies were taking pictures and making our way across. My husband stepped back, lost his footing and fell, breaking his leg.

Delvin and the others helped him back to the van and we all went to the free clinic. The staff looked at my husband and told us he needed additional medical care.

Delvin then took us all straight back to the port and called the ship to have them come to pick up my husband with a wheelchair.

We were all so saddened that the day ended this way. It was a fantastic excursion and we intend to go back and do it all again so we can complete the day! Delvin did check in on my husband the following day to see how he was doing. Delvin is not only a great local tour guide but he is also a genuinely great person!

Tip: Always get travel insurance! We were able to get reimbursed for the non-refundable portion of our vacation that we had to cancel after this injury. Here is an article to help you be better prepared in case of an emergency abroad.

Scenery and Atmosphere

St. Lucia is a lush, picturesque island with a stunningly beautiful oceanfront and deep green mountains. This tour allowed us to go into areas that normal cruise ship passengers would not see. We saw many of the houses, wildlife, and the beautiful flora that is all over the island.

Because this was a small group of seven, the atmosphere was perfect for making new friends! We were truly able to enjoy the experiences at our pace, ask our guide questions, and it allowed the guide to tweak the tour with our preferences.

Guide and Local Interaction

Delvin was a great guide! He was fun, friendly and provided knowledge about the area without being boring or stuffy. We were able to interact with people who are local and see their wonderful personalities shine through. Delvin was a responsive communicator before, during, and after our tour.

Overall Experience

Overall this was a wonderful experience! In my opinion, The Other Tour company exceeded my expectations on this shore excursion! They delivered local food and culture on a personal level. You could tell how much thought went into every component of each of the stops. This was definitely not a cookie cutter experience, the only place we ran into other tourists was at the distillery and that was to be expected. I would absolutely (and intend to) book this tour again and I would feel confident in booking other tours that The Other Tour Company offers.