Voyage 5202 Panama Canal & South America

[Ravenscroft]

This cruise is in January, embarks at Fort Lauderdale and has the following ports:

 

Cartagena Colombia

San Blas Island Panama

Panama Canal Transit

Manta Ecuador

Salaverry Peru

Pisco Peru

Matarani Peru

Callao Peru

Coquimbo Chile

Disembark Valparaiso Chile

 

Any advice for tours/excursions in these ports ? I probably won't do Macchu Picchu and there is an overnight in Callao.

[Ravenscroft]

45 views and no replies? This part of the world is completely new to me and I was very much hoping to learn some more about the SS excursions or even private tours or even just general advice about the trip.

I am very surprised that nobody has any comments or experience in any of these ports. :confused:

 

Or is there some weird newbie initiation ritual that I have to take part in before anyone will reply to me ? :D

[dusababy]

Hey, give it time. This is a holiday weekend. Not everyone is standing by to respond to your post.

 

Sometimes it takes awhile -- and sometimes there will be none -- but there are plenty of places to research your question. Try the SEARCH link for Silversea Panama Canal and other.

 

And don't take it personally either way......;)

[Ravenscroft]

Hey, give it time. This is a holiday weekend. Not everyone is standing by to respond to your post.

 

Sometimes it takes awhile -- and sometimes there will be none -- but there are plenty of places to research your question. Try the SEARCH link for Silversea Panama Canal and other.

 

And don't take it personally either way......;)

 

Thanks for your reply. At least now I know that my posts aren't invisible ! I have tried search - what a wonderful invention that is - but I was hoping for some more recent perspectives and to actually open a dialogue rather than just to read old posts, if that makes sense.

 

And of course, it's a holiday weekend in the USA, but I'm not in the USA so that never crossed my mind.

 

So, as all the posters on this part of the board are apparently American and enjoying their weekend, I'll wait patiently until Tuesday ;)

[Emtbsam]

Okay, you shamed me into replying. We did BA to Fort Lauderdale on the Whisper this past January. We did not do a lot of shore excursions but preferred to walk in many of the ports.

 

In Coquimbo, we took the complimentary SS shuttle to La Serena and shopped. Alpaca sweaters for $24 were a big hit. We also walked to the point in Coquimbo, but were warned by the local tour person who came on board not to walk up the hill to the cross.

 

Matarani was a curious port. A number of passengers took shore excursions inland which took several hours each way in a bus. We were bored with buses by then and opted to walk around the port area (desolate) and up the hill to the little village (hardly quaint). Although it appears to be a “God forsaken” area, the vistas of coastal desert were beautiful. Once is enough.

 

The stop in Salaverry was cancelled due to high seas.

 

Our tour in Manta was good. Although some on our tour did not enjoy it, we loved the tour to the factory where they make buttons out of the tagua nut followed by a trip to Monticristi where the original Panama hats are made. The tour also included a stop at the monument to the Revolution above Monticristi and the modern art museum in Manta. The museum had a floor dedicated to showing paintings by children as young as 4 who are participating in a special art education program in Manta. Some of the paintings were astounding and well worth the time.

 

The transit of the Panama Canal is fascinating as is the view of Panama City on the Pacific side of the Canal.

 

Our cruise did not go to San Blas Island or Cartagena.

 

Valparaiso was the end point of our first cruise and the beginning of the second cruise. Unfortunately, we had to change cabins, so part of our morning was taken up with that. The rest of the time in port, we walked around the city and enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

The SS tour to Machu Picchu is terribly expensive, but it was a bucket list item which we thoroughly enjoyed. We got off the ship in Pisco and flew to Cusco. We stayed at the Monasterio Hotel (in an oxygenated room) and had no trouble with altitude sickness. We also took acetazolamide pills to help counter the effects of altitude. We had lunch at the hotel followed by a tour of several high points of Cusco. Dinner was at the hotel. The next morning, we took a bus several hours to the train station where we boarded the Hyram Bingham train to Machu Picchu. The train ride was very enjoyable. The time at Machu Picchu was simply beyond description. We were extremely fortunate that we had good weather but still got to see a rainbow. Since we enjoy hiking, we opted to leave our tour group behind and began walking around the ruins. A local tour guide joined us and gave us an individual tour of the area – well worth the tip. It would have been nice to stay overnight at Machu Picchu, but time did not permit it. We reboarded the Hyram Bingham train for the trip back to Cusco and arrived sometime after 10 pm. After a great breakfast the next morning, we were off to the airport for our flight to Lima. In Lima, our bags were taken from us and transferred to the ship while we had a tour of the city and lunch at a private home in Lima. We got back to the ship some time around 3 or 4 pm exhausted but happy.

 

I hope this helps. And Happy Fourth!

[Wellseasoned]

We are sitting in an airport lounge, waiting to fly to London to board the Cloud tomorrow. We were aboard the Whisper cruise with our good friends the Emtbsams. We also visited many of these ports several years ago.

 

Cartegena is a very interesting city, and we enjoyed SS's general city tour. We also drove around with a friendly young cabbie, and this is probably the best way to do it. Great for emeralds.

 

San Blas islands was a quick stop to observe native crafts and buy them and required tendering. We skipped it.:o

 

Panama Canal is fascinating.

 

In Manta, the general tour is nice and Montectristi is the place to get a good panama hat. On the recent cruise we took a rainforest trek excursion. It was very strenuous, steep, and muddy, be forewarned.

 

Salaverry can be very interesting. There is an excursion to Trujillo which has a lot of history. We also did an excursion to wonderful Moche Civilization archeological sites and ancient temples. On the recent cruise we could not dock due to the seas. A big disappointment for one in medicine, since I had wanted to see the origin of the famous "Salaverry glands". (Ha Ha)

 

Pisco wasn't much, but It was our origin for a flight over the Nazca Lines, which was spectacular.

 

Matarani is a tiny industrial port mainly to take long bus tour to the White City of Arequipa (?sp). we stayed aboard.

 

Callao is the port for Lima and there are many nice tours of Lima and surroundings. And Callao and Pisco are also associated with the Machu Picchu visits, which are really spectacular "bucket list" trips, as Emtbsam has said.

 

At Coquimbo, we did the nice city tour the first time. But last time we took the long, spectacular bus tour through the Elqui Valley, where most of the Pisco grapes are grown, to the famous Cerro Tololo Observatory high in the Atacama Desert. If you are at all an astronomy buff, this was great!

 

Valparaiso is worth a city tour. Much history, great hillside views, tour of Pablo Neruda's house, good Pisco sours.

 

That's about it. Almost time to fly. Now we are really in cruise mode!

[WesW]

Wellseasoned/Dieter; Hope Debbie and you have an absolutely terrific Cloud sailing. Can't wait to hear/view pix in early October...best.

[duct tape]

Interesting,I cannot reply to you via that website...

[Ravenscroft]

Emtbsam and Wellseasoned -thank you both so much for the information. It's very helpful for my planning. I'm also trying to take the likely weather conditions into account in my plans - I realise Panama and Ecuador will be tropical, with heat and humidity but am not sure about further south.

We are also considering doing the B2B and disembarking in Buenos Aires.

 

I would like to visit Macchu P but have some concerns about health, I'm not sure I'd handle the altitude very well. I am going to discuss it with my doctor when I see her next month. I'd love to see it, but on the other hand I would hate to be sick and ruin the trip for myself and for my husband.

 

The excursions mentioned are mostly the ones I've been considering, so I have a lot to think about. I may well be back with further questions.

 

Wellseasoned - I do hope that you're having a wonderful time on the Cloud. I'm sorry that you missed the 'Salaverry Glands' on your South America cruise :D

[Emtbsam]

We and Wellseasoned did the B2B cruises starting in BA and ending in Fort Lauderdale. We'd be happy to share more information on other ports. If you go, you'll want to take both warm and cold weather clothing.

[cruisedeity]

I am brand new to the cruise critic forum but my wife and I are also brits and regular SS cruisers. We are taking the B2B Fort Lauderdale to Buenos Aires cruise - our first time on the Spirit and to much of South America although we have been through the Panama Canal before. We visited Cartagena on a previous cruise and were not impressed - the town itself is interesting enough but you have to run the gauntlet of beggars and would be pick pockets at every corner. The Canal transit is awesome. We did start a South Pacific cruise from Valparaiso and arranged a fantastic tour of the Casablanca wine region with a local company (who much to our surprise was owned by a Brit who had married a Chilean and sttled there - he was a terrific guide) I have received very good feedback about a private tour guide who provides tours in Lima and also one for tours in Buenos Aires.

 

Happy to give more info if you would like it

 

Emtbsam and Wellseasoned -thank you both so much for the information. It's very helpful for my planning. I'm also trying to take the likely weather conditions into account in my plans - I realise Panama and Ecuador will be tropical, with heat and humidity but am not sure about further south.

We are also considering doing the B2B and disembarking in Buenos Aires.

 

I would like to visit Macchu P but have some concerns about health, I'm not sure I'd handle the altitude very well. I am going to discuss it with my doctor when I see her next month. I'd love to see it, but on the other hand I would hate to be sick and ruin the trip for myself and for my husband.

 

The excursions mentioned are mostly the ones I've been considering, so I have a lot to think about. I may well be back with further questions.

 

Wellseasoned - I do hope that you're having a wonderful time on the Cloud. I'm sorry that you missed the 'Salaverry Glands' on your South America cruise :D

[timetravelers]

We are also on the B2B cruise from Fort Lauderdale to BA. Looking forward to our 4th SS cruise. We have a few side trips planned but looking for ideas in Lima. Your winery trip sounded great!

[dougburns]

If you have an overnight in Callao you might want to try the La Rosa Nautica restaurant on a pier in the southern part of Lima. Excellent seafood!

[DPWnRBW]

You also might want to check the CC board for Ports of Call/Shore Excursions. There is a link to South American ports of call. It can be found by scrolling further down the bulletin board page.

[Silver Spectre]

We are sitting in an airport lounge, waiting to fly to London to board the Cloud tomorrow. We were aboard the Whisper cruise with our good friends the Emtbsams. We also visited many of these ports several years ago.

 

Cartegena is a very interesting city, and we enjoyed SS's general city tour. We also drove around with a friendly young cabbie, and this is probably the best way to do it. Great for emeralds.

 

San Blas islands was a quick stop to observe native crafts and buy them and required tendering. We skipped it.:o

 

Panama Canal is fascinating.

 

In Manta, the general tour is nice and Montectristi is the place to get a good panama hat. On the recent cruise we took a rainforest trek excursion. It was very strenuous, steep, and muddy, be forewarned.

 

Salaverry can be very interesting. There is an excursion to Trujillo which has a lot of history. We also did an excursion to wonderful Moche Civilization archeological sites and ancient temples. On the recent cruise we could not dock due to the seas. A big disappointment for one in medicine, since I had wanted to see the origin of the famous "Salaverry glands". (Ha Ha)

 

Pisco wasn't much, but It was our origin for a flight over the Nazca Lines, which was spectacular.

 

Matarani is a tiny industrial port mainly to take long bus tour to the White City of Arequipa (?sp). we stayed aboard.

 

Callao is the port for Lima and there are many nice tours of Lima and surroundings. And Callao and Pisco are also associated with the Machu Picchu visits, which are really spectacular "bucket list" trips, as Emtbsam has said.

 

At Coquimbo, we did the nice city tour the first time. But last time we took the long, spectacular bus tour through the Elqui Valley, where most of the Pisco grapes are grown, to the famous Cerro Tololo Observatory high in the Atacama Desert. If you are at all an astronomy buff, this was great!

 

Valparaiso is worth a city tour. Much history, great hillside views, tour of Pablo Neruda's house, good Pisco sours.

 

That's about it. Almost time to fly. Now we are really in cruise mode!

 

Thanks for all the info on the ports we visit.

 

I have a couple of questions about the flight over the Nazca lines from Pisco. Can you remember which airline SS used for the flight, was it done in a 12 seater Cessna Grand Caravan and were there more than 8 passengers on the trip.

 

I also assume it was somewaht cheaper than the current quote of US$399 per person (increasing fuel costs seem to have pushed all the local operators prices up this year).

 

Thanks for your comment on the Whisper thread about the air sickness issue with the flight, hope no one was actually ill.

[machotspur]

Hello Silver Spectre

 

My wife & I appear to be on the same cruise as you in a week or so (5202 Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso).

 

If you haven't already done so, you may wish to take a look at the comments made on the UK Foreign Office website regarding the air trips to the Nazca Lines.

Whilst this sort of thing is of course a matter of ones personal attitude to risk, we chose to skip the Nazca Lines flight on the back of the UKFO advice.

 

You pays your money you takes your choice !

 

Happy new year !

[Wellseasoned]

Silver Spectre, the Nazca flights last January were on Aero Transporte S.A. flying out of Pisco, Peru airport. The plane was indeed a Cessna Grand Caravan with 10 passengers and two uniformed pilots. Our plane was arranged with 5 rows of passenger seats, one on each side, aisle in the middle. Prior to boarding, each passenger was weighed in the terminal by stepping up onto the regular luggage scales, so don't try to carry a lot on board.

 

There were three different flights leaving an hour apart, and the group before ours was on a Cessna arranged differently, with rows of two seats on one side and one on the other, so the inside passengers saw very little. They were very unhappy and Silversea refunded the cost of their excursion, so try to check on how your plane is arranged.

 

The pilots were safe and competent, but don't do this if you are prone to airsickness, because the steep, swooping turns over the lines will be tough (just ask my wife).

 

The price was about what you mentioned, nearly $400 per person, but the views of the Nazca Lines were spectacular.

 

I can e-mail you a few photos of the plane and views if you contact me at wellseasoned1@gmail.com.

[CASHIPman]

I did the Nazca Lines tour through Silversea and felt no fear about the flight. On our flight everyone had a window seat, (I think there were 6 or 8 people on board.) I'd happily do it again, FCO warnings notwithstanding.

 

Here are my pics of the Nazca Lines:

 

Nazca Lines

 

Hope you enjoy and are able to see them for yourself.

[Silver Spectre]

Silver Spectre, the Nazca flights last January were on Aero Transporte S.A. flying out of Pisco, Peru airport. The plane was indeed a Cessna Grand Caravan with 10 passengers and two uniformed pilots. Our plane was arranged with 5 rows of passenger seats, one on each side, aisle in the middle. Prior to boarding, each passenger was weighed in the terminal by stepping up onto the regular luggage scales, so don't try to carry a lot on board.

 

There were three different flights leaving an hour apart, and the group before ours was on a Cessna arranged differently, with rows of two seats on one side and one on the other, so the inside passengers saw very little. They were very unhappy and Silversea refunded the cost of their excursion, so try to check on how your plane is arranged.

 

The pilots were safe and competent, but don't do this if you are prone to airsickness, because the steep, swooping turns over the lines will be tough (just ask my wife).

 

The price was about what you mentioned, nearly $400 per person, but the views of the Nazca Lines were spectacular.

 

I can e-mail you a few photos of the plane and views if you contact me at wellseasoned1@gmail.com.

 

Thanks for your response and the detailed answers. I am planning to ask the Tour Manager when we get on board how the seating is arranged and and just who will be providing the planes. Some of the operators seem to have a very poor reputation and would not wish to fly with one of them.

[Silver Spectre]

I did the Nazca Lines tour through Silversea and felt no fear about the flight. On our flight everyone had a window seat, (I think there were 6 or 8 people on board.) I'd happily do it again, FCO warnings notwithstanding.

 

Here are my pics of the Nazca Lines:

 

Nazca Lines

 

Hope you enjoy and are able to see them for yourself.

 

Thanks for info and photo's, they look spectacular!!