Wanting Reviews of your Costa Rica Experience

[tweety33]

Why are there no full reviews from peoples days in Costa Rica. I would love to hear different peoples full review of there experiences on this site. Anyone just getting back from there cruise, please review Costa Rica, with the details like many give on there ships.

I'm sure others would also enjoy reading them.

Thank you in advance.

[lambs2]

Here is the review of our FANTASTIC private excursion from the cruise port in Puntarenas, Costa Rica that I had set up for interested members of our roll call board in advance: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1110144 - scroll down for my review.

In addition, before the tour van arrived to pick us up in the area near the tourist information building on the waterfront we did some souvenir shopping right by the pier, purchasing some freshly roasted Costa Rican coffee beans and a hand-painted shot glass for DH's collection. After our FANASTIC day and upon our return to the pier area, DH and I walked some more around the area near the water there. We did not purchase anything else, but enjoyed the market area and chatting with some of the local folks and merchants. Many have a great command of English.

[celem]

Why are there no full reviews from peoples days in Costa Rica. I would love to hear different peoples full review of there experiences on this site. Anyone just getting back from there cruise, please review Costa Rica, with the details like many give on there ships.

I'm sure others would also enjoy reading them.

Thank you in advance.

 

We are just off of the Constellation on a Panama Canal cruise. Here is a snippet from our journal:

2010-01-10 Puntarenas Costa Rica

We sat on the balcony and watched the ship dock, while enjoying coffee. We walked the length of Puntarenas (sandy point), about a mile each way. We spent about 20 minutes in an Internet café ($1 per half hour) for our only email contact for the trip. On our way back we shopped in a small grocery store for some souvenirs and a beer, which we drank along the beach. The town looks very poor and many buildings seem closed and for sale. I suspect that their economy is suffering. We ate no street food, and they all seemed to sell the exact same thing - fried pork skin pieces, mixed with pickled vegetables and some sort of other vegetable, possibly yucca, all placed into a cone of banana leaf. The beach is very, very littered with trash, as are the streets. This was our filthiest port of call on the entire cruise. The place is so poor that nobody seems to care about the town's appearance.

While walking along the road next to the beach, my wife spotted two men sitting in a bar with an unusual package. The responded that they spoke English and she inquired of the contents of the plastic bag, which looked like small mangos or even baby coconuts. The friendly man said that they were unripe, sour mangos with bags of salt. He said that they were very delicious - peel, salt and eat - his favorite treat. He gave us three, even offering a bag of salt, wanting us to try his personal favorite. He was right – very nice!

my wife wanted to drink a fresh coconut. The Internet proprietor told us that where we could purchase some - a nearby open sided bar. The man chopped off the top and inserted a straw. It tasted like water with just a hint of coconut flavor.

After lunch on the ship, at 1PM we started our Tarcoles River and Eco Tour. We drove for an hour to reach the Tarcoles river where we boarded a catamaran in the river (about 25 people). Very quickly we saw iguana, birds galore and crocodiles. The driver got out of the boat and fed a crocodile, attracting him by slapping the water with chicken pieces. We rode all of the way to the river's mouth at the sea, spotting hundreds of birds . my wife very much enjoyed it, although it was very hot and humid. After some complimentary fruit, juice and coffee at their gift shop, we returned to the ship.

[tweety33]

Thank you for your reviews. I love the different perspectives, and details of the area.

We are docking in Port Limon, Does any one have an experience from there. Our plan is to take a tour with Oscar Brown from there.

[Rick03Ultra]

There's a long thread on the princess website that Angel described her 10 Panama canal tour w/ a stop in Limon, Costa Rica. Attached starts on page 10 with Costa Rico part way down, post 186.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1080738&page=10

 

It's a good post with alot of info. I hope you enjoy it.

[OCruisers]

Celem ... Thanks for the "sniplet" from your journal. Appreciate knowing what the area/town at the cruise ship pier is like!

[celem]

...Appreciate knowing what the area/town at the cruise ship pier is like!

 

I've attached a photo that shows you the Constellation docked at the Puntarenas pier, the beach, the water and the ever present trash.

 

The area is very poor. Many, many of the homes and buildings are for sale or empty. Nonetheless, the people were all very friendly and we walked for miles all around and through town, often far away from tourists, and we never felt uncomfortable.

 

When you walk from the ship, along the pier, to the shore, an immediate left along the beach trail is a claustrophobic gauntlet of stalls with trinkets for sale. They were not pushy - the people are quite polite. Unless trinkets are what you seek, continue straight and skip the beach/trinket trail, and go another 30 yards to the main street. Bars are on the left and an Internet cafe is on the other side of the street, a block or so to the left. At the aforementioned bars or at a street stand across the street, you can have a coconut chopped open and a straw inserted for a coconut milk refreshment. The drinks are good at the bar and cheaper than on the ship. An Imperial brand local beer is $2USD. Yes, they take US dollars everywhere but change may be in the local currency if you are far from the ship. We shopped at a market many blocks into town and they carefully did a fair conversion of dollars with a calculator and then carefully computed the correct change in local currency.

 

We were there on a Sunday and the beaches were crowded with families swimming and eating in the shade of beach-side trees. The water is warm but the sand is black when wet, because it is volcanic in origin. If you are there on a weekday I suspect that the beach will be much less crowded.

[OCruisers]

WOW! Thank You, Celem! Exactly the informantion we wanted to know!

 

We'll be on a B2B so will be in Puntarenas twice. The first time we are taking an excursion ... but want to just walk around a bit the next. We love going to rustic bars in Spanish speaking countries and mingle. We aren't "put off" by the condition of places. Glad to know you felt safe!

 

Thanks again, you've been so much help!