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Anyone doing a trip report Chile to San Diego?

gordylad

By gordylad,
in Celebrity Cruises

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TMLAalum

TMLAalum

Posted
Posted (edited)

Quick summary of ports:

San Antonio- since we were B2B from previous cruise, booked a tour to Valparaiso, Vina del Mar & a winery w/ The German Pirates. Valpo was pretty foggy, but we did get to ride 2 different funiculars, had a walking tour of the city's murals, drove thru Vina del Mar with a quick foto op at the Easter Island statue there. Winery was ok- Indomita- crowded but the sun was shining there so a nice end to our tour.

Coquimbo- Walked this port. Gray day. Not too impressed.

Lima- Tour w/ Monica Tours. Highly recommend her. Traffic was insane but we had a brief walking tour of the old city, visited the catacombs at San Franciso, and then requested Huaca Pucllana vs a museum. Ended with the Love Park.

Manta- We were very fortunate to be in line early to disembark thanks to one of our tour members holding our place since we had 2 disabled folks participating.. Problems with the gangway led to many not leaving the ship until noon (10 am arrival time). We went with Narwell for their Manabi Diversity Tour and were on the port shuttle at 10:30 with our tour start after 11. Did not have time for Montecristi museum and only 15 minutes to shop there.

Puntarenas- Went with a roll call member who it turned out was probably a travel agent who booked with Odyssey. As promised we were on a van of 14, but also on the tour were 3 other vehicles including a large bus. So we toured en masse. Enjoyed the crocodile river tour and included lunch. Stopped by the side of the road to see capuchin monkeys and later to see macaws. Also made stops at a produce stand, souvenir store and a lookout that cost $3 although included a beverage and use of toilet.

Huatulco- Toured with Enrique. Lovely port. Would be great for the beach & old part of the city if you didn't want to tour. Appreciated Enrique taking us to his village- quite a contrast from the resort area.

Puerto Vallarta- Did the Celeb Tequila & Mariachi tour. Ok but think the included lunch gave us tummy troubles.

Cabo San Lucas- Book Alejandro of Tours by Locals. In retrospect would have booked one of the glass bottom boats on our own since the land part of the tour didn't have much to offer since we declined Tequila tasting.

San Diego- Passport check was poorly organized by Celebrity calling too many groups too quickly. There was no customs check.

Edited by TMLAalum
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jsf

jsf

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3 hours ago, gordylad said:

Looking forward to reading any trip reports comments/reviews of the recent Chile to San Diego sailing on the Eclipse

 

Cheers

I think if you go back a couple of weeks you might find that "Orator" did a day by day blog of his trip on Eclipse for this route.

J.

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loves2read

loves2read

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25 minutes ago, gordylad said:

Thanks for the summary much appreciated hopefully more trip reports to follow..........

A few comments on ports:

Coquimbo - wonderful tour of Elqui Valley with Ecoturismo. The Mercedes van was comfortable with extra seats so our group of eleven could spread out.  Martin, our guide & driver, had a great personality and spoke good English as he had worked in New York for several years. Our tour included photo stops in nearby La Serena, an hour drive inland to sunny Elqui Valley, an interesting tour of the pisco distillery, lunch of empanadas, wine tasting at Falernia Winery, and a stop for ice cream in the charming village of Vicuna.

 

Lima - Celebrity ran a free shuttle bus to a shopping center downtown as the pier area is unsafe to venture out on your own. Traffic is horrendous so it took 45 to arrive. There we met our guide, Jhony, who is the owner of Lima City Tours. Our group of 15 were delighted with our "Historical Center + Gourmet Tour" and felt it was great value at $68pp. We toured the Saint Francis Museum and Catacombs. Then had food & drink at 3 different restaurants including two located in the upscale Miraflores area. 

 

Caldera, Costa Rica - Pleasant crocodile/birdwatching river cruise with "Thumbs Up Tours Costa Rica."

 

Huatulco - We booked "Three Levels Tour" with Arturo Martinez Tours. We loved Oscar, our guide/driver, who gave us interesting information. However, we were not aware that it takes 90 minutes to drive to Pluma Hidalgo on steep, twisty, bumpy roads. Our tour was supposed to include lunch, but we were given a platter of appetizers to share with napkins, but no serving spoon, plate, or forks until we repeatedly asked for them.

Instead I would swim at the beautiful beach near the ship, and walk around the nearby shops.

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jsf

jsf

Posted
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3 hours ago, jsf said:

I think if you go back a couple of weeks you might find that "Orator" did a day by day blog of his trip on Eclipse for this route.

J.

I went back and I couldn't find the posts either, could be I'm losing my mind ...Sorry

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gordylad

gordylad

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thanks everyone....

 

Northern Aurora probably the usual questions

 

How was the weather throughout the cruise?

Did you do any excursions/ships excursions? We fancy a wine tour La Serena area but have heard La Serena is very nice to walk around? 

Did you also use the free bus to Lima? The Miraflores area looks pretty cool?

Manta we know nothing about?

Costa Rica - we will do river rafting.

Mexico - never been to any of these ports but the beaches look good?

How was the entertainment on board - we haven't been impressed recently.?

Any good guest speakers on board?

 

Anything else.....

 

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4774Papa

4774Papa

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, gordylad said:

Looking forward to reading any trip reports comments/reviews of the recent Chile to San Diego sailing on the Eclipse

 

Cheers

I am still working on my review of this cruise.  I usually do a detailed review which is several pages.

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loves2read

loves2read

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6 hours ago, gordylad said:

@loves2read.............could you send me the link for the Coquimbo - wonderful tour of Elqui Valley with Ecoturismo. 

 

Thanks

I was not the organizer for the tour, but a link to their website is ecoturismolaserena.com. It is in Spanish, but there are phone numbers and an email contact.

 

Weather was great on the cruise.

Guest entertainers were poor except for a funny comedian.

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bethtex

bethtex

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Von & John - will try to post a review

after the cruise from La to Chile, we are spending 3 days in Sanatiago then going on Silverseas to Antarctica.  So may not get to posting cruise reviews til sometime after we get home.

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Mummble

Mummble

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My hubby and I were on this cruise and LOVED it!  Having a sea day every other day made for a relaxing trip, but we still got to explore a lot of different ports.

 

1) Weather was generally nice.  However, you do start out in fall in La Serena and travel to spring in San Diego.  We thought the cooler temp in La Serena was great - but it depends on what you are used to.  We're from Colorado, so 50s-60s is pretty perfect.

2) We took a taxi to the main square in La Serena, and enjoyed walking around.  It felt like there were a bunch of locals and we saw a couple ships tours.  We enjoyed it, but felt like we had seen the area after a couple of hours.

3) In Lima we did the ruins and horse show.  We would have liked more time at the ruins, but the horse show and ranch was surprisingly interesting!

4) In Manta we did Isla Corazon, and it is one of our favorite memories!  So many birds with a very local guide who spoke passionately about the mangroves and the birds.  Saw a lot of birds and had a very home-cooked (Grandma and Mom cooking, with the sons serving) authentic meal.

5) Mexico.  We did a beach an excursion to an all-inclusive in Puerto Vallarta that was nice.  Huatulco was our least favorite port - it was fine, but all of the other ports we're great.  Very much like Mexico stops on the Caribbean side of Mexico.  Cabo was amazing!! My view could be skewed because we went whale watching and saw 3 humpbacks, including a calf frolicking in the water.  First time for is and it was incredible!

5) We only went to one main stage show 'Intimate Broadway' and we were pleased with that show!  We are usually unimpressed with the main stage show, but that one was good. Went to a couple of comedians.  One was better, but both were entertaining.  Casino was weirdly empty a lot of the time, but we still met a group that consistently we're at the tables with us.

6) We didn't attend the guest speakers, but regret that.  We heard they were amazing, especially the gal doing the nature talks.

7) One thing we noticed, and appreciated, was that the passenger make-up seemed significantly more international than other cruises - including to the Mediterranean.  All announcements were in English, Spanish and German (I think, but it could have been Dutch).  We met great people from Rio, London, Netherlands, Canada, Wyoming and Ohio.  The crowd was really friendly.

 

We had a ball.  It was our first time to South America and won't be the last.  All of the locals were very friendly, and we were able to generally communicate despite English not being as common as in Europe.  My hubby's highschool Spanish (it's been, ahem, a year or two since then 😁) and Google Translate downloaded for offline use kept us chatting!

 

I hope you love it next year as much as we did!

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Mummble

Mummble

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Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, Von & John said:

Mummble  -- 

Thanks!  In Lima, what was the ruins & horse show?  Was this a Ship Excursion or a Private Excursion or a DIY?

Thanks Again!

 

All excursions were ship excursions this time, including Lima.  With it being our first trip to South America, we were just more comfortable that way.

 

It was Pachacamac Ruins and Peruvian Horse Show.  The ruins are a large site, and it was mostly a bus tour which we were a little bummed about.  However, we did get a chance to step into the on-site museum and get off the bus at one of the buildings.  The ruins date from pre-Incan times and Incan times and are still being excavated.  The horse ranch and show was right near the ruins and was a family ranch that breeds and shows Peruvian horses.

Edited by Mummble
Autocorrect keeps turning 'were' into 'we're'! 😡
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