For those that have sailed out of Chile....

[colombiangirl]

Are we able to leave our luggage at the pier early in the day and then go out and explore the city? We will be staying in Santiago for 2 days prior to departing on our cruise. We'd love to be able to tour without worrying about our luggage. Help!

[CSGuy44]

My wife and I, along with three other couples, stayed in Santiago before our cruise last March. While I can't directly answer your question, what we did was hire a van thru the hotel(Marriott), which took us on a daylong sight seeing trip and dropped us off at the ship in the afternoon. This may be one way to solve the problem.

[Can'tstopcruising]

Last January, someone on our roll call organized a van to pick us up at our hotels with our luggage and take us sightseeing before going to the ship. I think we paid $75 US. I can't remember if it was pp or for the 2 of us.

[alcpa1]

We have sailed out of Valparaiso.

I think if you arrive after 10:30 or so you should not have a problem dropping off your luggage.

I don't know where you want to go or what you want to see but you should be aware that the terminal is a shuttle bus ride away from the ship. It's basically a three step process - drop your luggage, check in, and wait on the bus until it fills and takes you to the ship. It's no big deal but you may want to allow a little extra time as you want to return to the pier before the mandatory 90 minute pre-cruise check in.

There are a few recommended transfer/tour operators listed on the Ports of Call boards and Trip Advisor. You would probably see more if you could use one of these companies as some of the sites are between Santiago and the pier. It's about a 90 minute drive from the area near the Marriott. I'd imagine that there are groups forming on your Roll Call for such a tour.

Enjoy your cruise!