St. Kitts - Scenic Train

Has anybody taken the scenic train excursion on St. Kitts and if so, how
was it?

Peter

Peter wrote:

Has anybody taken the scenic train excursion on St. Kitts and if so, how
was it?

We took the excursion in late January '03 and I cannot recommend it.
Perhaps the company has gotten the bugs out of the system since we took
the ride shortly after the train went into service. However, I doubt
this is the case since there were inherent problems in the design. The
cars were engineered at the absolute limit of size for the curves in the
track so the train had to travel at a painfully slow speed. Even
traveling at the slow speed, one of the cars jumped the track.
Fortunately, it was the last car in the train so that car was unhooked,
the people were distributed among the remaining cars in the train and
the ride continued. Even subtracting off the time spent merely sitting
waiting for the jumped-car problem to be solved, the excursion ran
several hours longer than advertised. Frankly, no matter how beautiful
the scenery, there isn't enough variety to warrent the total number of
hours spent on this excursion.

Karen Selwyn

Thanks for your reply.

Our problem is that we would have to book separately (it is not part of
the ship's offered excursions). And since we get in at noon, we would
have to take the afternoon train.

They tell us (by email) that the trip is over at 5:00pm and we will be
back to our ship at 5:30pm in plenty of time for a 6:00pm sailing.

If it were a ship's excursion, I wouldn't care if we were late because
the ship would be held until we got back, no matter how late.

Since it is not a ship-sponsored trip, in our case, being late could be
a major inconvenience if they didn't wait.

I think we will pass.

Peter

"Karen Selwyn" wrote in message
news:2UMBb.44473$_h.43392@lakeread02...
Peter wrote:

Has anybody taken the scenic train excursion on St. Kitts and if so,
how
was it?

We took the excursion in late January '03 and I cannot recommend it.
Perhaps the company has gotten the bugs out of the system since we took
the ride shortly after the train went into service. However, I doubt
this is the case since there were inherent problems in the design. The
cars were engineered at the absolute limit of size for the curves in the
track so the train had to travel at a painfully slow speed. Even
traveling at the slow speed, one of the cars jumped the track.
Fortunately, it was the last car in the train so that car was unhooked,
the people were distributed among the remaining cars in the train and
the ride continued. Even subtracting off the time spent merely sitting
waiting for the jumped-car problem to be solved, the excursion ran
several hours longer than advertised. Frankly, no matter how beautiful
the scenery, there isn't enough variety to warrent the total number of
hours spent on this excursion.

Karen Selwyn

Peter wrote:

They tell us (by email) that the trip is over at 5:00pm and we will be
back to our ship at 5:30pm in plenty of time for a 6:00pm sailing.

I admit they have had more experience running the equipment since we
traveled on it last January, but, like you, I would be reluctant to book
under the circumstances.

Besides -- and I can't emphasize this enough -- there is not that much
variety in the scenery however lovely. Instead, take a trip to the fort
and you'll see the waving fields of sugar car on the drive there. Climb
up to the top of the fort and you'll see vistas of island greenery
surrounded by ocean.

Karen Selwyn

Karen Selwyn

Question about the Fort.

Our ship seems to be running an "excursion". It is my assumption that
two of us can take a taxi both ways and pay the admission fees and still
save 50% on what the ship charges.

Am I correct, or is this really something we should do with the ship.

p


"Karen Selwyn" wrote in message
news:a_3Cb.4095$F22.1060@lakeread02...
Peter wrote:

They tell us (by email) that the trip is over at 5:00pm and we will be
back to our ship at 5:30pm in plenty of time for a 6:00pm sailing.

I admit they have had more experience running the equipment since we
traveled on it last January, but, like you, I would be reluctant to book
under the circumstances.

Besides -- and I can't emphasize this enough -- there is not that much
variety in the scenery however lovely. Instead, take a trip to the fort
and you'll see the waving fields of sugar car on the drive there. Climb
up to the top of the fort and you'll see vistas of island greenery
surrounded by ocean.

Karen Selwyn

Karen Selwyn

Peter wrote:

Our ship seems to be running an "excursion". It is my assumption that
two of us can take a taxi both ways and pay the admission fees and still
save 50% on what the ship charges.

Am I correct, or is this really something we should do with the ship.

I don't know about the economics. In Caribbean ports of call, my husband
and I tend to hire a van or taxi for our use exclusively if we want to
do an island tour or beach-tour combination. We had a couple of
unsatisfactory experiences sharing vans with random fellow-cruisers.
After that, we decided the extra expense is worth being able to control
where we want to visit and how long we want to stay at any site.

This will be particularly true at the fort. Visitors can race up to the
top (and a very steep race it will be!!!) give the scenery a glance and
declare themselves "done." Others will want to watch the movie,
investigate the museum displays and the fortifications that have earned
this fort the nickname "Gibraltar of the Caribbean."

Even if you expect to be one of the short-timers at the fort, going
along with the ship's excursion removes much of your flexibility.
Perhaps you want to combine the trip to the fort with beach time. Hiring
a taxi will let you do that.

Karen Selwyn

I share Karen's thoughts. The train is nice excursion but it is a slow,
loooong trip. Viewing sugar cane fields and ocean vistas was enjoyable for
the first hour. After that it became tedious.


"Karen Selwyn" wrote in message
news:2UMBb.44473$_h.43392@lakeread02...
Peter wrote:

Has anybody taken the scenic train excursion on St. Kitts and if so, how
was it?

We took the excursion in late January '03 and I cannot recommend it.
Perhaps the company has gotten the bugs out of the system since we took
the ride shortly after the train went into service. However, I doubt
this is the case since there were inherent problems in the design. The
cars were engineered at the absolute limit of size for the curves in the
track so the train had to travel at a painfully slow speed. Even
traveling at the slow speed, one of the cars jumped the track.
Fortunately, it was the last car in the train so that car was unhooked,
the people were distributed among the remaining cars in the train and
the ride continued. Even subtracting off the time spent merely sitting
waiting for the jumped-car problem to be solved, the excursion ran
several hours longer than advertised. Frankly, no matter how beautiful
the scenery, there isn't enough variety to warrent the total number of
hours spent on this excursion.

Karen Selwyn