SydneyOysters

I contacted Blue Lanka Tours to do a day tour with them . We would be in Columbo for the day on a cruise ship.We were a group of twenty friends,and I had never been to Sri Lanka before.All my emails were answered promptly with my queries.We had a wonderful guide who's English was excellent and was great at answering all our questions.Our bus was very clean.we had an amazing day & I was very impressed with the Sri Lankan people who were very happy.When visiting the market it was very interesting & people were happy for us to be there.We also visited a tea plantation.Traffic is quite hectic but our driver was very good and we felt very safe.Everyone said what a great day they had.

At the end of the day we were all presented with a really lovely gift from Blue Lanka Tours.I would love to spend more time in this lovely country and would defiantly use this company again.

Many thanks.

Hi Marie is this only for Australian cruises going on back to back from Singapore next month wondering if we can do it on them.

Hi wotaripper

We did this on the Ocean Princess last year & were given funds back in US$.

I checked with RCL & they do dollar for dollar,but any funds there refunded are paid back in Aust $.Call the cruise line you are going with and ask if you can add on board credit & if they do dollar for doller.

Regards

Marie

Just a little tip you can add funds to your on board credit five business days before sailing. You will get dollar for dollar,ie $1 OZ gets you $1US put $400 australian dollars and that's a saving of $90 as the rate is now.If you have funds left over will be refunded in australian dollars.You have to contact RCL and speak to Cruise Adminastration.

Regards

Marie

I was given Jaime details jaimeliebrecht@gmail.com http://www.patagoniashorex.com from a lady who had traveled to Machu Picchu with him.

How lucky was I,when ever I contacted Jaime all of his responses we very very prompt.I once asked him if he ever slept & his response was only with one eye.

He also has a great sense of humour.

We chose to come home from our traveling on the Dawn Princess which was sailing from Southampton to Sydney in July 2014 so we could do Machu Picchu.

I chose to take a group of eleven, some we had sailed with before & some who contacted me from our roll call on Cruise Critic a great site for cruisers.

We left the ship in Mantra on the 3/8/14 and took taxies ( US$15 )per taxi to the airport for a quick flight to Quito.Jaime had checked us all in on line & emailed me the boarding passes.He did this for all flights except Quito to Lima which was an international flight.

All flights were with Avianca Airlines except the short fight Manta to Quito which was with Tame. All our flights were on time unlike the some of the flights (Tame) that were used by the ships tours & some private tours delayed by 5 hours to Lima.

Jaime was in Lima to meet us 9.20pm on the 3/8 a few hours sleep at the SM Hotel & Business this hotel was a fifteen minute drive to the airport.We arrived in Cusco at 7.30am to be meet by our wonderful guide Luis Ccori who is an archaeologist.

We stayed at Palacio del Inka http://www.hoteleslibertador.com.pe

Everyone had time to rest & a few of us did get some altitude sickness (bad headache) but there was oxygen at hand when you needed it & lots of cocoa tea.

One couple did start medication for altitude sickness a couple of days before leaving the ship they had no issues with the altitude & If I was to go to Cusco again I would defiantly take altitude medication.(it does contain Aspirin so no good for those who are allergic to Aspirin)

We all loved the Palacio Del Inka Hotel amazing.

After a lovely lunch in the hotel we left for our tour around Cusco.

It's was an amazing day & we did get to see so much,Luis is so knowledgeable & passionate we felt very privileged to have him with us.

Jaime took us for drinks to his friends family house great view over Cusco,and then dinner at the hotel.

Next morning after a lovely breakfast we left to explore the Sacred Valley on route we stopped see Llamas,and how there wool is spun & dyed.There were products you could buy & people in local costume very colourful. We spent some time at the town of Pisaq with a lovely market.

We stopped for lunch Tunupa Vally,then headed for Ollantaytambo.

This was another amazing town again we were so lucky to have Luis explaining so much of what was surrounding us.

This is where we boarded the train around 7 pm to Aguas Calientes

We arrived in to the town of Aguas Calientes in the dark, the train goes through the centra of town with the river running along quite lovely. We were staying at El Mapi Hotel http://www.elmapi.com

There were porters from the hotel to take our luggage to the hotel for us,this was really great.We all kept our luggage to one small case each.

Once we arrived at the hotel in the middle of town,we were given our rooms with a voucher for a free Pisco Sours drink with dinner.

Dinner was included in the price & was very good.

Next morning up early and after a good breakfast we checked out.

The hotel kept our luggage while we went up to Machu Picchu ,and would delivered the cases back to us at the station for our return trip to Cusco.

After a very short walk we joined the very long queue for the bus.

There had been a land slide on the road going up to Machu Picchu over night.

But it was all good fun & we spoke to different people along the way & took photos.

The bus ride is about 20 minuets up to Machu Picchu great views along the way.

We arrived just after eight o'clock and after a quick toilet stop (there are no toilet on the site)then join the small queue to enter the site.

There are two ways to go left or right,we took the left turn which is a steeper climb.

This works out so much better as you arrive at the top & can then work your way around the site in decline. The climb is not hard we had varying ages 50 to 80 we all made it with encouragement from Jaime & Luis.

We had clouds early on then bright sun shine,this made for some amazing photos.

This is truly a once in a life time experience we had an amazing guide with Luis who explained the different areas of the site.

We spent about four hours on the site and everyone loved every minute of it.

Once down Jaime made sure we had our passports stamped with Machu Picchu .

We had a great lunch at The Sanctuary with a local group who played music,very colourful. It felt so very good to relax knowing we had explored this amazing site.

It was then on to the bus back down the Mountain to the train station.

Our luggage was waiting for us at the railway station, and this is were we had to say good bye to our amazing guide Luis who we will be forever grateful for his wonderful knowledge of this amazing part of the world.

At 3.30am we caught the Vistadome train back to Poroy.

This was a lovely trip, with great views & we were all seated in the same area of the train.

We were served food & a drink and once that was over the staff then changed to model all the wonderful clothes made from lama wool,which you can purchase.

When we arrived at Poroy station we boarded our coach for Cusco.

We stayed again at the wonderful Palacio del Inka hotel,

After our last dinner together we retired for a great nights sleep.

Jamie traveled with us to the airport for our flight at 7.30 am to Lima.

After a half day tour of Lima we had to say good bye to Jaime as he delivered us to the ship. Every one on this tour were so very happy with every thing & that we had a tour operator that stay with us on this amazing trip.

We had an amazing four months holiday but the the highlight of this trip was our five days with Jaime.

This man is all about customer service and he delivered so much,he joined us in Lima & stayed with us for throughout this amazing journey.

We will all be for ever grateful to him for all his work to make this dream come true.

When we plan our trip to South America it will be with Jaime.

If you decide to go it yourself before or after the cruise I thoroughly recommend patagoniashorex dot com with whom we did a 5 day side trip during our SA cruise last March Jamie will give you the best time ever and take care of everything. To confirm this try tripadvisor for his company

Many thanks Yvonne for the advise to use Jaime wwww.patagoniashorex.com.

We have just returned from our trip and wanted to share my review.

I was given Jaime details jaimeliebrecht@gmail.com http://www.patagoniashorex.com from a lady who had traveled to Machu Picchu with him.

How lucky was I,when ever I contacted Jaime all of his responses we very very prompt.I once asked him if he ever slept & his response was only with one eye.

He also has a great sense of humour.

We chose to come home from our traveling on the Dawn Princess which was sailing from Southampton to Sydney in July 2014 so we could do Machu Picchu.

I chose to take a group of eleven, some we had sailed with before & some who contacted me from our roll call on Cruise Critic a great site for cruisers.

We left the ship in Mantra on the 3/8/14 and took taxies ( US$15 )per taxi to the airport for a quick flight to Quito.Jaime had checked us all in on line & emailed me the boarding passes.He did this for all flights except Quito to Lima which was an international flight.

All flights were with Avianca Airlines except the short fight Manta to Quito which was with Tame. All our flights were on time unlike the some of the flights (Tame) that were used by the ships tours & some private tours delayed by 5 hours to Lima.

Jaime was in Lima to meet us 9.20pm on the 3/8 a few hours sleep at the SM Hotel & Business this hotel was a fifteen minute drive to the airport.We arrived in Cusco at 7.30am to be meet by our wonderful guide Luis Ccori who is an archaeologist.

We stayed at Palacio del Inka http://www.hoteleslibertador.com.pe

Everyone had time to rest & a few of us did get some altitude sickness (bad headache) but there was oxygen at hand when you needed it & lots of cocoa tea.

One couple did start medication for altitude sickness a couple of days before leaving the ship they had no issues with the altitude & If I was to go to Cusco again I would defiantly take altitude medication.(it does contain Aspirin so no good for those who are allergic to Aspirin)

We all loved the Palacio Del Inka Hotel amazing.

After a lovely lunch in the hotel we left for our tour around Cusco.

It's was an amazing day & we did get to see so much,Luis is so knowledgeable & passionate we felt very privileged to have him with us.

Jaime took us for drinks to his friends family house great view over Cusco,and then dinner at the hotel.

Next morning after a lovely breakfast we left to explore the Sacred Valley on route we stopped see Llamas,and how there wool is spun & dyed.There were products you could buy & people in local costume very colourful. We spent some time at the town of Pisaq with a lovely market.

We stopped for lunch Tunupa Vally,then headed for Ollantaytambo.

This was another amazing town again we were so lucky to have Luis explaining so much of what was surrounding us.

This is where we boarded the train around 7 pm to Aguas Calientes

We arrived in to the town of Aguas Calientes in the dark, the train goes through the centra of town with the river running along quite lovely. We were staying at El Mapi Hotel http://www.elmapi.com

There were porters from the hotel to take our luggage to the hotel for us,this was really great.We all kept our luggage to one small case each.

Once we arrived at the hotel in the middle of town,we were given our rooms with a voucher for a free Pisco Sours drink with dinner.

Dinner was included in the price & was very good.

Next morning up early and after a good breakfast we checked out.

The hotel kept our luggage while we went up to Machu Picchu ,and would delivered the cases back to us at the station for our return trip to Cusco.

After a very short walk we joined the very long queue for the bus.

There had been a land slide on the road going up to Machu Picchu over night.

But it was all good fun & we spoke to different people along the way & took photos.

The bus ride is about 20 minuets up to Machu Picchu great views along the way.

We arrived just after eight o'clock and after a quick toilet stop (there are no toilet on the site)then join the small queue to enter the site.

There are two ways to go left or right,we took the left turn which is a steeper climb.

This works out so much better as you arrive at the top & can then work your way around the site in decline. The climb is not hard we had varying ages 50 to 80 we all made it with encouragement from Jaime & Luis.

We had clouds early on then bright sun shine,this made for some amazing photos.

This is truly a once in a life time experience we had an amazing guide with Luis who explained the different areas of the site.

We spent about four hours on the site and everyone loved every minute of it.

Once down Jaime made sure we had our passports stamped with Machu Picchu .

We had a great lunch at The Sanctuary with a local group who played music,very colourful. It felt so very good to relax knowing we had explored this amazing site.

It was then on to the bus back down the Mountain to the train station.

Our luggage was waiting for us at the railway station, and this is were we had to say good bye to our amazing guide Luis who we will be forever grateful for his wonderful knowledge of this amazing part of the world.

At 3.30am we caught the Vistadome train back to Poroy.

This was a lovely trip, with great views & we were all seated in the same area of the train.

We were served food & a drink and once that was over the staff then changed to model all the wonderful clothes made from lama wool,which you can purchase.

When we arrived at Poroy station we boarded our coach for Cusco.

We stayed again at the wonderful Palacio del Inka hotel,

After our last dinner together we retired for a great nights sleep.

Jamie traveled with us to the airport for our flight at 7.30 am to Lima.

After a half day tour of Lima we had to say good bye to Jaime as he delivered us to the ship. Every one on this tour were so very happy with every thing & that we had a tour operator that stay with us on this amazing trip.

We had an amazing four months holiday but the the highlight of this trip was our five days with Jaime.

This man is all about customer service and he delivered so much,he joined us in Lima & stayed with us for throughout this amazing journey.

We will all be for ever grateful to him for all his work to make this dream come true.

When we plan our trip to South America it will be with Jaime.

Regards

Marie

Please help, has anyone used this service, and were you satisfied?

Thank you, Carlotta

I found The Dutch Travel Advisor on Cruise Critic Forum,when I was trying to put tour for 20 people together. I wanted to go to Delft & The Haig.After contacting Edwin Groeneweg he soon put together a great tour for me. Edwin was a delight to deal with very prompt with his reply's.

We did a tour with him last year while on The Sea Princess World Cruise which docked at Rotterdam.We were picked up from the port in a spotless coach .He was wonderful,in fact it was the tour of the cruise. There were so many high lights.He took us to the secret garden.Everyone loved this tour he took us to places we would never been able to find .We did a tour of Delft first great.He organise for one of the only two Delft factory's left to open for us on Saturday morning, I love Delft wear & found it very interesting.Delft was alive with a Antique market along the river every where was so very pretty. There is also a really beautiful church that has taken years to renovate very very interesting.

We also went to the Haig, during the walking tour we visited the spectacular Panorama Mesdag Museum.

The Panorama is a cylindrical painting, more than 14 meters high and 120 meters in circumference. The vista of the sea, the dunes and Scheveningen village where painted by Hendrik Willem Mesdag in 1881. The artist is the one who painted the pearl earring .This Is Not To Be Missed . I am sorry it has taken me so long to do this review as many people may have missed this tour company.This was a walking tour & Edwin adjusted the pace to suit everyone we were never rushed.He is very proud of his country. If you are visiting the Netherlands you can't find a better guide.

I found The Dutch Travel Advisor on Cruise Critic Forum,when I was trying to put tour for 20 people together. I wanted to go to Delft & The Haig.After contacting Edwin Groeneweg he soon put together a great tour for me. Edwin was a delight to deal with very prompt with his reply's.

We did a tour with him this year while on The Sea Princess World Cruise which docked at Rotterdam.We were picked up from the port in a spotless coach .He was wonderful,in fact it was the tour of the cruise. There were so many high lights.He took us to the secret garden.Everyone loved this tour he took us to places we would never been able to find .We did a tour of Delft first great.He organise for one of the only two Delft factory's left to open for us on Saturday morning, I love Delft wear & found it very interesting.Delft was alive with a Antique market along the river every where was so very pretty. There is also a really beautiful church that has taken years to renovate very very interesting.

We also went to the Haig, during the walking tour we visited the spectacular Panorama Mesdag Museum.

The Panorama is a cylindrical painting, more than 14 meters high and 120 meters in circumference. The vista of the sea, the dunes and Scheveningen village where painted by Hendrik Willem Mesdag in 1881. The artist is the one who painted the pearl earring .This Is Not To Be Missed . I am sorry it has taken me so long to do this review as many people may have missed this tour company.This was a walking tour & Edwin adjusted the pace to suit everyone we were never rushed.He is very proud of his country. If you are visiting the Netherlands you can't find a better guide.

Regards

Marie

Now that is a bit different..had me working google hard on that one. Sounds great.

 

 

 

Welcome to Cruising and Cruise Critic, Would like your named added to the list for the Sun Princess as well?

Hi David

Thank you for your greeting.

Yes would be good to add us to the list.

Regards

Marie & Malcolm

Hi

we are new to cruising. We are starting with 3 days on Rhapsody of the Seas 3/11/11. The big one for us Sun Princess Sydney to Dover 53 nights. I have loved reading all the blogs from the Dawn Princess World Cruise 2011.Can't wait.