Post Santo Tomas de Castilla Info Here

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I've already had mail back from him, thanks. My husband thinks some of it looks "hokey" (he saw the video too, frankly some of the Livingston stuff looked hokey to me too.) What can I tell him?

[monicajay]

I never thought of any part of this trip as "hokey". Maybe you should do a search and see what others have thought of this excursion. Most of the reviews have been very good.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yeh, well we'll see. I thought some of the scenes in Livingston were fairly staged looking. But then that's pretty common where the locals are dependent on tourism.

 

I'm looking at two tours--Gus's, and a similar one that's run from by our ship (RSSC Voyager). The latter is pricier, but has only 15 in a boat outfitted for 30. Gus said there would be a maximum of 26 in his boat. Otherwise it sounds very similar, although there's no mention of swimming. Lunch is at the Hotel Caribe.

 

But for the convenience of doing the ship's tour, and the small number of guests, we would pay $50 pp more. I've booked it anyways, can always cancel while we're musing about the differences.

[mikvie]

I've already had mail back from him, thanks. My husband thinks some of it looks "hokey" (he saw the video too, frankly some of the Livingston stuff looked hokey to me too.) What can I tell him?

 

Anything but "hokey". This is A wonderful experience for anyone who has a heart. Believe me, nothing is staged. In fact, the tour is better than the video. This was one of the best tours we ever been on, if not the best. Bring school supplies for the kids. When you hand them out, it is like Christmas for them. No other tour offers lunch in Livingston that I am aware of.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

The ship's tour that I've been offered includes lunch at Hotel Caribe. It appears to be the only other hotel in Livingston of note. It's perhaps a bit fancier, but hard to tell, since the pricing seems fairly close.

 

The "hokey" part to me seems to be the dance performance and fiesta in the town--I'm thinking some of that wasn't actually on the tour. Like the Mayan performance? The ball game?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yeh, I've got that. Still musing about just booking a cab like the OP said, from the port. I'm in discussions with Gus, and with my cruiseline, not sure what to do, but I am very much looking forward to this port. LIvingston is not a must.

[nealstuber]

I saw a tour to Playa Blanca on the Casa Rosada site.. Has anyone done this straight from the ship?

[awatt]

The video is from a tour different than Gus' tour? Thanks.

[nsj]

Does anyone know of any small tour operators who go down the river? Say 8-10 people max.

[monicajay]

The video is from a tour different than Gus' tour? Thanks.

 

Actually the video link that I posted is from Gus' tour and it is from the day I was there. That is how I am sure. I recognize my husband, my kids and myself. I am one of the people swimming in the water who has trouble getting out. Gus has since built a ladder at this dock. He sent me a picture because I made him promise he would build it.

[flashdog_1]

I saw a tour to Playa Blanca on the Casa Rosada site.. Has anyone done this straight from the ship?

 

If you or anyone else is interested in doing this, just contact Javier Putul, the owner, thru the website and he will arrange something for you. I think the tours & prices he has listed on his website are for guests staying at the hotel. Timewise he'd have to make adjustments for cruise ship passengers, and the cost would much more since he'd have to make two round trips from Livingston to Santo Tomas, 25 minutes each way. I know that he plans on updating the website with a section for cruise passengers, but that hasn't happened yet.

[cmom]

I dont know how great i can answer things but we booked in the terminal with a group and they took us all around the two main towns and we stopped at the waterfalls. If walking is a challange for you dont do the water falls., Please email here or my personal email and I will so my best to help you. mjones624@yahoo.com

[firebuffgal]

Does anyone know if there is snorkeling available at the private resort that NCL Cruise members can go to? Thanks in advance!

[firebuffgal]

Hi, cmom, thanks for you willingness to answer questions. Do you know if snorkeling is available near the port or at the resorts? Thanks in advance. :)

[cmom]

Im sorry I dont,. We took a tour that put us on a boat then over to this beautiful resort that was so great you didnt see anyone . The plant life was out of this world. Then a tour of the two cities by small bus then a tour of the waterfalls. I do remember thinking that the water at least in the bay area where we were on the small boat did not look beautiful at all like the islands. dark. Im sure it was better out in the ocean but this was the one thing i thought was odd.

 

Either way this Island was beautiful. and the people so friendly.

[DebsUK]

Hi cmom, Which port were you docked at?

[cmom]

St Tomas.

[xhlowner]

Anyone know where abouts i can buy this Ron Zacapa Centenario rum, and also what it runs in US dollars?

[pasha2004]

I would like more info on how to contact Gus for a tour of Livingston that includes a boat ride on the Rio Dulce, plus lunch, and how much it would cost per person for 2. Anyone who has done this, please respond with more details. We are on the Spirit 2/6/08. Thanks:)

[cusyl]

Anyone know where abouts i can buy this Ron Zacapa Centenario rum, and also what it runs in US dollars?

I googled the name and came up with a list of importers for each state:

 

http://www.danaimporters.com/danamain.html

[VTcruisenut]

See the thread for the Amitique Resort above on this thread under Guatemala. Someone just was there and put great pictures out! It sounds very much like the area at Costa Maya, so if you are going to both places, you might want to think twice. Costa Maya was built just for cruise ships. There wasn't any sandy beach at all when we went there. Well there is beach, but you can't get in the ocean, too many rocks. They have a large pool area with swim up bar, and fountains etc. Lots of shops an a couple of restaurants.............

[tropicaltammy]

For those of you looking for a way to spend your day without booking a ship excursion, here is some info on hiring an independent cab driver for the day.

We got off the ship and walked all the way through the "big building" surpassing all the tour offers being directed our way. Once outside we asked for an English speaking cab driver that could take us to a banana plantation and the waterfalls.

We hit the jackpot!!! for $150 for the four of us for the day, we had the most awesome cab driver and had an truly amazing day. Ask for Gerson Mendez. He treated up like family and we feel so blessed to have spent a day with him.

He pointed out things and took us places that were so interesting. We got a good look at "real" Guatemala life. He took us to a restaurant down the street from his home for an authentic rice & beans meal. We got to hold a monkey (Pancha, the "good" monkey), shop downtown Puerto Barrios (where coffee was $1.50/# and smells so good in your suitcase when you get home!), see the banana plantation, see the home of 35,000 iguanas, etc. I could go on and on about the amazing things we saw that day.

We also went to the waterfalls. We were behind the cruise crowds, which was nice. We saw a snake on the trail on our way up, and later reasearched it and found it was a parot snake, or a good luck snake. Waterfalls were gorgous and we had fun swimming in the natural pools. We had taken a bunch of Beanie Babies and handed them out to children we saw throughout the day. (I think they attend 1/2 day school). That was a lot of fun.

I totally recommend going off on your own in Santo Tomas. It was the highlight of our cruise.

I will check back to this thread to answer any questions.

[adiostours]

My family will be on the Spirit March 9-16th. We will be 6 adults and 1 6 year old.We would like to do the tour you did. Do you think we will have any problem getting an English speaking driver that can accomodate all of us? what time do yo think we should get off the ship, as early as possible?

[tropicaltammy]

Yes, I recommend you get off the ship as soon as possible. Don't know if you are aware, but passengers that do not book excursions thru the ship have to wait until all the "yellow ticket" people that did book thru NCL get off first.

We talked to the head honcho of the cab company (had "Izabel" in the cab company name on their white shirts). We were allowed to speak to Gerson Mendez (pronounced Jare - son) before we agreed that he would be our driver. I will say that he was way easier to understand than it was for him to understand us, but we just had to slow down and repeat our questions and were able to communicate very well.

These particular cabs were all the same small SUV type (gold-ish beige in color) and should seat the 7 of you. They were fairly new, clean, and air-conditioned.

[ShrinkinTexas]

Can you tell me a little bit about what you did at the banana plantation? Did you just drive by or did you get to get out and tour it? If so, was there an additional charge for the tour?

 

I am part of the same group of 7 with Adios, can I have you e-mail address so that I can chat with you?

 

Thanks!