Peru Callao Port Shuttle

[the1gq2nvy]

Hello,

 

I have an upcoming South American Cruise with Princess in December that will stop 2 days in Lima. I done some research and I understand that there is a free shuttle from the Port to San Miguel Plaza for passengers. My question is- Does anyone know if the same shuttle is availble from San Miguel back to the Port? If so, is the pick up/drop off location the same and is there a time that the shuttle stops running?  If there isn't a shuttle option back to the port...did people have success with uber or cabs back to the ship? I read that the port is very large and industrial and some services are not allowed into the port. 

 

Thanks in advance!

David

[capriccio]

In December 2016 the drop off and pick up points were exactly the same place in San Miguel Plaza.  I know it was running as after 10 pm.  The exact times will be in the Patter.  When we arrived from our day and evening long tour, we had to wait a while (it was a Friday night before Christmas and the shopping center was open late and the usually bad Lima traffic was even worse than usual) but there was a Princess rep on site who was in contact with all the shuttles so we just had to have some patience.

[the1gq2nvy]

Thanks very much for informative post. Helps a lot with the planning. 

[the1gq2nvy]

Just an update on my recent cruise stop in Callao. I was there in December with Princess Cruise line. The courtesy shuttle now drops people off at Real Plaza Salaverry instead of San Miguel. This plaza is more upscale model and little more closer to downtown or Miraflores. The plaza had free WIFI in the mall or if you want faster wifi..you can buy a drink at starbucks and log on there. The first day we arrived was a friday and the shuttle took almost 1 hour in traffic to go no more than 15 miles. The 2nd day was much better and was half the time. I want to point out that Uber in Peru is dirt cheap. I want to say about 1/3 the price of taxi's. I used both since i didn't have a cellur plan and only used uber when i had wifi. If you plan to take taxi, always negotiate before hand. The taxi's do take usd.

[mcmarya]

Thanks for the heads up.  We will be back in Lima in April and it will be helpful to know where we will end up.

[DJ Cruisers]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 1:35 PM, the1gq2nvy said:

Just an update on my recent cruise stop in Callao. I was there in December with Princess Cruise line. The courtesy shuttle now drops people off at Real Plaza Salaverry instead of San Miguel. This plaza is more upscale model and little more closer to downtown or Miraflores. The plaza had free WIFI in the mall or if you want faster wifi..you can buy a drink at starbucks and log on there. The first day we arrived was a friday and the shuttle took almost 1 hour in traffic to go no more than 15 miles. The 2nd day was much better and was half the time. I want to point out that Uber in Peru is dirt cheap. I want to say about 1/3 the price of taxi's. I used both since i didn't have a cellur plan and only used uber when i had wifi. If you plan to take taxi, always negotiate before hand. The taxi's do take usd.

You mention a courtesy shuttle from Callao to Lima.  We will be  on Princess in March  and stopping at Callao.  They have a shuttle to Lima in the Shore Excursions for $29.95.  Is that the shuttle you took or is there  also a free shuttle from Callao?  Thanks.

[Crewbie]

I was on this same cruise; I hope you don't mind the additional data point: 

 

The courtesy shuttle is a mandatory one as no unauthorized persons/cruisers are allowed in the zone between the security perimeter of the ship and the entrance to the port area. Anyone that wanted to get off the ship had to take this courtesy shuttle to be dropped off at Real Plaza Salaverry. (Anyone who had arrangements at El Arco / the port gate had to be in this same line and request to be dropped off at El Arco, after which the bus continued on to Salaverry.)

 

The courtesy shuttle does not make any additional stops and Salaverry is still a distance from Miraflores, which is where these two differ - the shore excursion listing in the Princess website seems to send guests directly to Miraflores and includes an Indian Market stop before returning at a definite time. Those waiting for the courtesy shuttle were reminded that they would have to make their own arrangements by taxi to get to anywhere else in Lima - the bus only went between ship and Salaverry. (The excursion also has the benefit of not being mired in the shuttle ticket system.)

 

Hope this helps!

[DJ Cruisers]

45 minutes ago, Crewbie said:

I was on this same cruise; I hope you don't mind the additional data point: 

 

The courtesy shuttle is a mandatory one as no unauthorized persons/cruisers are allowed in the zone between the security perimeter of the ship and the entrance to the port area. Anyone that wanted to get off the ship had to take this courtesy shuttle to be dropped off at Real Plaza Salaverry. (Anyone who had arrangements at El Arco / the port gate had to be in this same line and request to be dropped off at El Arco, after which the bus continued on to Salaverry.)

 

The courtesy shuttle does not make any additional stops and Salaverry is still a distance from Miraflores, which is where these two differ - the shore excursion listing in the Princess website seems to send guests directly to Miraflores and includes an Indian Market stop before returning at a definite time. Those waiting for the courtesy shuttle were reminded that they would have to make their own arrangements by taxi to get to anywhere else in Lima - the bus only went between ship and Salaverry. (The excursion also has the benefit of not being mired in the shuttle ticket system.)

 

Hope this helps!

Yes, very helpful.  Thanks for your response.

[mcmarya]

Is this going to be true of all cruise lines or just Princess  Anyone been in Lima on HAL since October?  Trying to make plans taking into consideration the drop off point.

[Crewbie]

My guess - it would apply to anyone arriving in Callao regardless of cruise line as it's an industrial port and there is no infrastructure in place for the usual cruise protocol (nor walking paths for cruisers to the port gate). There is a Live post for a HAL South America going on - itinerary including Callao on January 15 - that might be a good source.  

 

 

[mcmarya]

Apparently there will be a shuttle to the Marriott in Miraflores on Scrapnana's cruise but this is on the Prinsendam and it is one of HAL's "Grand" cruises--lots of extras on those.  Since the shuttle apparently will take about an hour, I can't imagine using a shuttle going that far for larger ships.  In October, the Zaandam had shuttles to the Plaza San Miguel.  I guess we will have to wait and see.

[Crewbie]

Real Plaza Salaverry was still at best a 45-minute one-way from Callao to Lima for Princess, and we were furthermore told that no dedicated shuttle for the port gate was possible. The Friday morning was definitely where Princess ran into trouble on our journey as the first round of shuttle buses became mired in the morning Lima traffic, extending the 90-minute round-trip time significantly and with a good number of passengers just waiting for a port gate drop-off. (We felt very bad for crew members who were trying to get in to Lima as the buses filled, emptied half at the port gate, and then continued on to Lima).

[jascal]

On 1/15/2019 at 9:30 AM, Crewbie said:

Real Plaza Salaverry was still at best a 45-minute one-way from Callao to Lima for Princess, and we were furthermore told that no dedicated shuttle for the port gate was possible. The Friday morning was definitely where Princess ran into trouble on our journey as the first round of shuttle buses became mired in the morning Lima traffic, extending the 90-minute round-trip time significantly and with a good number of passengers just waiting for a port gate drop-off. (We felt very bad for crew members who were trying to get in to Lima as the buses filled, emptied half at the port gate, and then continued on to Lima).

From your experience which would you recommend to be the BEST option ?  The booked Princess excursion, “Lima on your own” or the courtesy shuttle? 

Edited February 18, 2019 by jascal

[Crewbie]

Hi, jascal - I know it's probably not a satisfying answer, but it really depends on what you're looking for and what you're comfortable with. I also did not join the "Lima On Your Own" Princess excursion, so I cannot specifically (or personally) "recommend" it. 

 

Lima has a lot to see and a lot of opportunities to do so - since the Princess itinerary overnights in Lima, to me it made more sense in our planning to maximize the time on the first day. With the 'On your own' duration listed as only five hours, we - a group of five people - thus didn't even consider it as a first-day option. The courtesy shuttle might've been a pain to work with in getting out (and getting back in), but it was free and did get people into Lima to get the most out of the day as long as they were willing and comfortable doing the legwork to get elsewhere.

 

We took the "Larco Herrera Museum and Indian Market" four-hour excursion on the second day, for comparison. We enjoyed it for the most part - definitely could have been a little longer for the museum and YMMV with the Indian Market - and it felt like a very comfortable fit for the time we had in port before departing for Pisco. If we had felt like we wanted a "Time in Miraflores and Indian Market" excursion and hadn't been worried about redundancy in visited sites, then maybe we would have done the "On your own" option on the second day as a Princess-based option.

 

I hope that relating our reasoning and experience helps to answer your question!

 

 

[jascal]

5 hours ago, Crewbie said:

Hi, jascal - I know it's probably not a satisfying answer, but it really depends on what you're looking for and what you're comfortable with. I also did not join the "Lima On Your Own" Princess excursion, so I cannot specifically (or personally) "recommend" it. 

 

Lima has a lot to see and a lot of opportunities to do so - since the Princess itinerary overnights in Lima, to me it made more sense in our planning to maximize the time on the first day. With the 'On your own' duration listed as only five hours, we - a group of five people - thus didn't even consider it as a first-day option. The courtesy shuttle might've been a pain to work with in getting out (and getting back in), but it was free and did get people into Lima to get the most out of the day as long as they were willing and comfortable doing the legwork to get elsewhere.

 

We took the "Larco Herrera Museum and Indian Market" four-hour excursion on the second day, for comparison. We enjoyed it for the most part - definitely could have been a little longer for the museum and YMMV with the Indian Market - and it felt like a very comfortable fit for the time we had in port before departing for Pisco. If we had felt like we wanted a "Time in Miraflores and Indian Market" excursion and hadn't been worried about redundancy in visited sites, then maybe we would have done the "On your own" option on the second day as a Princess-based option.

 

I hope that relating our reasoning and experience helps to answer your question!

 

 

Yes thank you, appreciate your detailed answer. It is very helpful

[CCBB]

Our upcoming Princess cruise is scheduled to arrive Callao at 5 am. Did someone have a similar experience and can tell me when may be the first shuttle bus to leave the port? Also someone mentioned shuttle bus ticket - how does that work?

 

Thanks in advance 

[Crewbie]

Hi, CCBB - Your Princess Patter (the daily print-out newsletter) will include information about when the shuttles will first begin running, their expected intervals, and their destination. The 'shuttle bus ticket' is a small paper ticket (about the size of a business card, nothing fancy) with a number on it - it is essentially a "tender boat ticket" system except that the tender boat is the shuttle bus. The system is different for Elites, but, alas, I am not. 😂

 

For both tenders and ticketed shuttle bus, the numbered tickets are handed out to each person as they enter the designated waiting area of the ship - your Patter will have information on the waiting area and approximately when the tickets will begin to be handed out/when passengers will be allowed to enter the waiting area. Once the tenders/shuttles begin running, staff members will be calling out brackets of numbers to exit the waiting area to board the transportation.

 

I have a more detailed reply elsewhere of my experience with the Star Princess and Lima traffic situation, if you're interested - I hope that your day is more straightforward and less complicated, but I think it has some relevant information that I would've liked to have known in my own planning of the trip. I hope this helps!

 

 

 

[Ombud]

On 2/20/2019 at 1:55 PM, Crewbie said:

Hi, CCBB - Your Princess Patter (the daily print-out newsletter) will include information about when the shuttles will first begin running, their expected intervals, and their destination. The 'shuttle bus ticket' is a small paper ticket (about the size of a business card, nothing fancy) with a number on it - it is essentially a "tender boat ticket" system except that the tender boat is the shuttle bus. The system is different for Elites, but, alas, I am not. 😂

 

For both tenders and ticketed shuttle bus, the numbered tickets are handed out to each person as they enter the designated waiting area of the ship - your Patter will have information on the waiting area and approximately when the tickets will begin to be handed out/when passengers will be allowed to enter the waiting area. Once the tenders/shuttles begin running, staff members will be calling out brackets of numbers to exit the waiting area to board the transportation.

 

I have a more detailed reply elsewhere of my experience with the Star Princess and Lima traffic situation, if you're interested - I hope that your day is more straightforward and less complicated, but I think it has some relevant information that I would've liked to have known in my own planning of the trip. I hope this helps!

 

Just that 1 line: do Elites have priority for all shuttles? Sometimes there's so many of us, it doesn't matter but it could. Trying to decide between Lima On Our Own vs shuttle

[Crewbie]

Hi, Ombud - I honestly can't speak to what the Elite transport experience is like or if it differentiates from any previous experiences you've had - I hope that maybe someone in your Roll Call or another person passing by this forum might be able to provide more information. As far as I could tell, a staff representative directed Elite-class travelers to sit nearby and then they were out first. As a note, the 'shuttles' we encountered in Lima were bus capacities - for Lima first day on a Friday morning, though, the entire issue for Star Princess, Elite or not, was that no shuttles were making it back from the first round for independent, non-excursion travelers. Apologies that I can't provide more on that!