South America Balmoral 2012

[Coravel]

I have been Fred dot fan for many years and have been on quite a few cruises with them. Next year I'm doing the South America cruise and I have a couple of questions regarding excursions for anyone who may have done this trip previously:

 

Would you choose Machu Picchu or Galapagos Islands? How much does Fred dot charge for the trips? I've heard a lot about altitude sickness - exploding brains and lungs for example. :eek: OK I exaggerate somewhat but you understand where I'm coming from.

 

On such a long cruise, I'm thinking about forwarding a suitcase full of things I will use or discard as the voyage progresses. Magazines and shaving gel comes to mind. How much would a 22kg (for example) suitcase cost to send one way?

[KenQE2]

On such a long cruise, I'm thinking about forwarding a suitcase full of things I will use or discard as the voyage progresses. Magazines and shaving gel comes to mind. How much would a 22kg (for example) suitcase cost to send one way?

Just an idea, possibly impractical or impossible, but would the answer to that be to deliver it to the ship before it leaves the UK?

[Coravel]

Sorry, that's exactly what I meant. Most cruise lines offer this service which includes collecting luggage from your home and delivering it straight to the ship. I'd just like to get a feel for the costs involved before contacting them.

[Parsman]

I did the South America cruise on rh "Black Watch" a few years ago and am booked on the Montego Bay to Rio sectors in 2012. On the last occasion I did the Machu Pichu tour which was memorable. It was not cheap but it was worth every penny. Book early for on the last occasion it was heavily over-subscribed and many were disappointed. Those that went on the Gallapagos tour felt that it was too rushed. I would prefer an longer visit there.

As far as luggage is concerned I understand that the "Baggage Handling Company" are very efficient. Details are in the latest FOCL brochure on page 16. To get a quote ring 02380 87311 quoting "Fred".

I am sure we shall have a great cruise.:)

[Coravel]

Thanks for that useful information Parsman. I guessed it wasn't going to be cheap but can you give me a ballpark figure? Are we talking hundreds or thousands for Machu Piccho? I'm thinking along the lines of at least a thousand. But how did you cope with the altitude sickness? You obviously llived to tell the tale so that's somewhat encouraging! :D

 

As regards the forwarded luggage, that's where I spotted it, in the Olsen brochure. I just wondered if anyone has used it and how costly is is?

 

Montego Bay to Rio is quite a large chunk of the cruise so we are certain to bump into each other!

[Hawks11]

I did the South America cruise on rh "Black Watch" a few years ago and am booked on the Montego Bay to Rio sectors in 2012. :)

 

I am looking at these cruises and will probably do the last stage which ends with sailing home. I have only flown out to a FO cruise once when they used a Thompson chartered flight and all drinks were charged to Fred, it's a wonder some people didn't have alcohaol poisoning! I was wondering whether they use a specific airline or are pretty flexible about that?

:)

[Coravel]

When I've flown with them they used Monarch to the Caribbean, Continental to America and BA to Europe. The Monarch flight was very upmarket with special FOCL menus and free drinks. Sadly the BA ones have always been gruesome with the meal consisting of a single inedible sausage. :(

[Parsman]

Hello Coravel. I have been trying to find what I paid for the trip to Machu Pichu a few years ago without success.We flew to Cuzco to from Lima and stayed there for two nights. We did the rail trip to Machu Pichu which was an experience in itself. On arrival in Cuzco the effects of altitude were noticeable but if you walk slowly, use lifts instead of walking upstairs (something I don't normally do) and don't drink alcohol you should be fine if you are in reasonably good health. I'm no spring chiken but I soon adapted to the altitude. Machu Pichu is actually at a lower altitude than Cuzco. At a guess the cost then was close to one thousand pounds but worth every penny of it.

If I recall more I shall let you know. We might well meet on board.:)

[Coravel]

That's just the information I needed to know. Looking at the Manta excursions, it seems that the itinerary is unchanged from the one you did which means we could probably cope with it. I had visions of walking uphill at a high altitude for several miles and suffering all sorts of problems. I'm delighted to hear that Macchu Picho is lower than Cuzco! The price does seem steep but it's what I was exprecting.

[Coravel]

I've found out that the baggage collection company advertised in the FO brochure charges £30 inc VAT for any size piece of luggage. You have to book the service 30 days in advance. It seems reasonable enough to me so I'll probably take advantage of it.

[akrdeb]

Hello Parsman

We are doing Montego Bay to Rio sectors in 2012 fly cruise. Our flight is from LGW to Montego Bay is their enough time for an excursion on that day.Do we have time for an excursion in Roi before flying back.

[Parsman]

Hello AKRDEB,

I haven't contacted FOCL yet on the flight times from Gatwick. I suspect that the outward charter flight may be daytime on 29 January so there will be no time for local tours in Montego Bay. On the return from Rio I hope there will be time to take a local tour. Should I hear more I shall contact you. I hope you will do the same. :)

[akrdeb]

Hello fellow cruisers,

I have received the underlined answer from a tour operater port Manta 08 February 2012. Any one interested to share if he brings bigger carrier?

other wise I will use him for my self and wife.

 

Manta Excursion A Monti Cristo and Highlights of MantaYes, you can take the city tour Manta and Montecristi, the price will be $65 per person, includes private transportation and guide, if more passengers want to come in the same tour the price would be cheaper.

[the english lady]

Hi were you aware that if you want to know how much an excursion costs , if you pick a cruise on the website ,that is leaving shortly (I looked at Black WSatch leaving January 2012) the excursions under the cruise have prices....for Machu Picchu, it is quoting £890+.

[Freecall]

Although high by European standards, Machu Picchu is only 2,500m AMSL. You should not find this a problem unless you do something extreme such as a few dozen press-ups or something.

 

By comparison, you get out of the cable car at Pichincha at over 4,000m AMSL and it’s an uphill walk from there!

 

 

.

[Georgina1]

Hi AKRDEB + PARSMAN/BOBBY67CORAVEL/HAWKS11/KENQE2/THE ENGLISH LADY & FREECALL,

 

We would be interested in joining your private excursion for MANTA (Balmoral - 8 Feb 2012) if you could let us know what the full details are? Content/Costs etc. We are on the full trip Southampton to Southampton.

 

I have just realised that there are 3 different threads on CruiseCritic for roughly the same thing and by accident have found this thread. I posted under South American Ports - Balmoral Cruise to the New World L1201 but now use the Roll Call thread for the same cruise; link is below:-

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1492329

 

If I may put forward a suggestion that we use one and maybe the Roll Call thread would be the best as the main focus? I will post this on the Roll Call thread and see how it goes! Then if any more 'excursion sharing' posts come up then at least they will be all together.

 

Best wishes,

 

D & B

[Coravel]

Unfortunately I have already booked the Manta and Monti Cristo excursion with FOCL. The cost is actually quite comparable to the one found by akrdeb and comes in at £47.50.