Help with Lima, Peru embarkation

[Mauzac]

We've booked a last minute cruise leaving in a few weeks.  Our cruise line have arranged our air travel but are unable to help with hotels because it's too late.

 

Our ship will be docked in Lima Peru (Callao area).  We arrive 5pm the night before embarkation and have arranged our own transport from airport to hotel.  Next morning, we will arrange a taxi from the small hotel to the Port.  As I understand it, it's a very rough area, and one of the biggest shipping ports in Peru.  Has anyone been here and can offer advice as to how we actually get to the ship?  Will we just be able to sail through security points with all our paperwork or should I be contacting our cruise line for assistance with this?  I just imagine it's a working port and might be tricky actually getting to the ship.

 

Any help gratefully received.  

 

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[jccruiser]

which ship are you on? 

Our Azamara sailing Dec. 1 has just received notification that check in will be done at a Miraflores hotel and then Azamara will bus us to the port

 

[Mauzac]

We are on the Seabourn Quest and go in just over 4 weeks.  Because we've only just booked, we've arranged our own hotel before embarkation so have to make our way independently.  

[cruising cockroach]

AFAIK, you get to the port gate and have to get a shuttle from there.

 

Callao is the port of Lima.  And indeed it seems rough (as any port area worldwide seems to be).  If the check-in is in he nice part of town, all the better.

[B-HQC]

I am on the same sailing and looking to arrange transportation with a company that is authorized to drop off inside the port. Anecdotal information suggests that there are companies that have permits to pick up / drop off right at the docks alongside the ship's tours.

[4774Papa]

Traffic is heavy around the port, so make sure you go early.

[Mauzac]

Thanks for all your help everyone.  We have booked a Company who do trips from hotels to the Port so hopefully it will all work 

[B-HQC]

Hi Mauzac, we are on the same Seabourn departure. Do you mind sharing the name of the company? Will they drop off inside the port?

[Mauzac]

Hi there.  The company we've booked with are https://taxidatum.com/

 

I imagine they will drop off inside the port because they have a quoted price from different areas in Lima to the Port.  (here's hoping!)

[B-HQC]

Thanks for the information, I have emailed them and will report back on what they say!

[B-HQC]

They got back to me and said that they can't go inside the gates

[Mauzac]

5 hours ago, B-HQC said:

They got back to me and said that they can't go inside the gates

 

When I rang our TA they seemed to think it wouldn't be a problem but I'm sutre we won't be the only people catching taxis to the Port and there will be some provision for us to get to our ship!

I might ring SB and see what they say

[B-HQC]

yes, there are port shuttles from the gate to the dock but personally I find this to be inconvenient having to change vehicles at the gate (if it can be avoided) 

[kimanjo]

Old thread, but maybe those who did this in 2018 have an answer.

 

We are on the 2019  november LIM-SCL Seabourn cruise.  We are in Lima for a couple days before departure.  We too, need to get to the port on our own.  How did it work out for everyone who were doing it independently???? Taxi? Shuttle? 

[Mauzac]

We arranged our own hotel and from there a trip to the Port.  The hotel (if you can call it that!) was very small and more like staying with a family and the owner's brother drove us to the Port and she came along too!  (We had a taxi booked but they insisted on taking us so we cancelled that)  This all sounds very bizarre but she was lovely and this was a real slice of Peruvian family life.  They were both all dressed up to wave us off at the Port but it didn't quite work like that!  

 

I will say, it was quite a tricky embarkation in that we had some sort of gate number to go to at the Port (which is massive) and we just spotted some SB off duty staff and passengers standing folornly on the edge of the road (we guessed it was SB people because they looked so out of place!) and we jumped out and said our goodbyes to owner and brother!  A minibus came and in we all piled, but then we were held up opposite the actual gate for quite a while before we were allowed through.   So I would suggest you check and double check nearer the time with SB what the gate number is, because without that, it would've been quite tricky given the vastness of Callao Port.  

 

It was quite an adventure to say the least 😁

[kimanjo]

59 minutes ago, Mauzac said:

We arranged our own hotel and from there a trip to the Port.  The hotel (if you can call it that!) was very small and more like staying with a family and the owner's brother drove us to the Port and she came along too!  (We had a taxi booked but they insisted on taking us so we cancelled that)  This all sounds very bizarre but she was lovely and this was a real slice of Peruvian family life.  They were both all dressed up to wave us off at the Port but it didn't quite work like that!  

 

I will say, it was quite a tricky embarkation in that we had some sort of gate number to go to at the Port (which is massive) and we just spotted some SB off duty staff and passengers standing folornly on the edge of the road (we guessed it was SB people because they looked so out of place!) and we jumped out and said our goodbyes to owner and brother!  A minibus came and in we all piled, but then we were held up opposite the actual gate for quite a while before we were allowed through.   So I would suggest you check and double check nearer the time with SB what the gate number is, because without that, it would've been quite tricky given the vastness of Callao Port.  

 

It was quite an adventure to say the least 😁

 

So grateful for the information.  Will stay in close contact with SB as time approaches.  Our plan is/was to just take a taxi, and it sounds like we still can, just have to make sure we have the gate #.  Surely, we are not the ONLY pax to fly in early and find our own way to the port? 

I assumed it would be like the port of Civitavecchia in Italy.  A shuttle bus pick up area for all cruise lines outside the gates...you go there, and find your shuttle bus and they transport you inside the secure area.

 

We're relatively young  ( 56 and 57)and not adventure adverse, so that's a plus!

???? Thank you so much for replying.

Edited July 26, 2019 by kimanjo

[Mauzac]

Oh gosh no.  The Port is an industrial port and one of the largest commercial ports in South America.

There is no cruise terminal at all, cruise ships just don't feature and they only allow one cruise ship at a time to dock there.   Finding the right place was a feat in itself but we managed it so I'm sure you will, it was quite an adventure !  

[GeorgesGal]

Mauzak is correct in that there is no cruise terminal at all!  Two years ago we embarked O's Marina there and what a nightmare.  Where the driver dropped us off outside the gates, there was a line up of approx. 150 people standing in the hot sun - no shelter at all!   At the front of the line was a sun shelter of approx 10 x 10 with some folding chairs for a limited number of folks.  At this area they checked our documents - they being O employees - and when the small shuttle bus arrived our luggage was loaded and we were driven dockside the Marina.  The bus held maybe 30 people at a time.  Once dockside more lines in the blazing sun!  I finally got out of line and went to the gangway where we all were processed and asked if SOMEONE, ANYONE would please get water to hand out before folks passed out from heatstroke!!   My request was fulfilled and the water sure lifted our spirits.

 

BOTTOM LINE:  If the above situation still holds, BRING AN UMBRELLA OR SUN HAT to ward off the intensity of the sun.  A sense of humor, of course, certainly goes a long way under these circumstances.

 

BON VOYAGE

[Trend]

We are looking at a cruise that disembarks in Lima (Callao) anybody have any experience with that as it obviously has the same restrictions.

[LocoLoco1]

Last year, 2018, we got OFF/ON at the Port. Nobody's allowed to walk from Main Gate to the gangplank. The Harbor's Main Gate is smack on a busy Public Avenue. Yeah, it's a bit chaotic if you arrive from downtown to that Gate by Taxi. Also a bit of a scrum if you are leaving the ship there and are hailing a Taxi to the Airport or Hotel. In both cases you will be driven Gate-to-ship...maybe 1/mile away...in a Mini-bus contracted with the Cruise Line. Guests with Pre-arranged transfers by the Cruise line are whisked from the Gangplank to wherever seamlessly; avoiding the Main Gate issues completely. LocoLoco1

[kimanjo]

We are leaving in a few days for our Nov 19 Seabourn cruise from Lima ( Callao).  We are staying at Hilton Miraflores for 2 nights pre-cruise.  I have to assume that  the Hilton, JW Mariott, Belmond have had many, many cruise pax stay at their hotels, and have had the hotel summon a taxi for their guests to the port.

 

I also assume that since pax are not allowed from Main Gate at the port, where the taxi drops you off, each cruise line has their shuttle in a designated "spot" to board for that 1 mile drive from Gate to Ship..

 

Our ship, Seabourn Quest is the only ship in port for embarkation that day...