trk_koa Posted December 15, 2022 #1 Share Posted December 15, 2022 Well, phooey. We are supposed to travel to Peru in two weeks on a pre-cruise tour to Machu Picchu, then be flown to Buenos Aires to begin our cruise. Now that’s looking unlikely due to the political unrest in Peru. I’ve been in touch with the cruise line and they are waiting to see how things develop. But with the 30 day lock down announced yesterday, I don’t think we even want to go to Peru right now. We have trip insurance so we are looking into whether we can cancel just the tour part and get that money covered if the cruise line doesn’t cancel. So now we need to figure out what to do with a whole week before our cruise. We have already been to Buenos Aires twice and have already done Iguazu (both sides) and Rio. Does anyone have any great ideas besides stay home that week and just fly to BA for the cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted December 15, 2022 #2 Share Posted December 15, 2022 Ugh. Reading that the airport in Cusco, Peru is also closed due to unrest. We are making plans for our March pre-cruise trip to Machu Picchu before cruising from Santiago. Maybe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccermom4 Posted December 15, 2022 #3 Share Posted December 15, 2022 Curious how the cruise lines will handle port stops in Peru (Lima and General San Martin). We don't cruise until March but those ports are 4 days. I feel for the Peruvian people. Politics is complicated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted December 15, 2022 #4 Share Posted December 15, 2022 Interesting article RE: Machu Picchu and fellow tourists that are stuck. https://www.traveller.com.au/peruvian-unrest-strands-hundreds-of-tourists-in-machu-picchu-h28pan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeorgeCharlie Posted December 16, 2022 #5 Share Posted December 16, 2022 We are on the HAL Oosterdam and are fortunate, in that we visited our Peruvian ports just prior to this current unrest. Unfortunately, some of our fellow passengers have trips to Machu Picchu, booked to go after we disembark to Buenos Aires in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolforkatz Posted December 16, 2022 #6 Share Posted December 16, 2022 We are on the following Machu Picchu cruise tour starting January 14. I contacted the cruise line but they didn't know anything. We are not sure what to do either and it is hard to plan anything. Will Princess cancel just the tour portion or the entire trip since it was bundled together? We have considered flying to Lima as originally planned and from there flying straight to Santiago and spending 6 days in Valparaiso/Vina del Mar. Have you considered other areas of Argentina to visit? Hope you hear something soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynncarol Posted December 16, 2022 #7 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Have you considered spending a week in the Lake Country of Argentina first? Supposedly similar to Switzerland. I saw videos from relatives visiting the area and it is gorgeous. Now on my bucket list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudence passenger Posted December 16, 2022 #8 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Our pre cruise tour to Machu Picchu has been cancelled by silversea on silversea facebook, passengers tell of being confined to hotel there and cannot go home many are frightened We are supposed to fly now on Monday, instead of today to Lima for cruise portion, our insurance, purchased through silversea, with Allianz, says civil unrest is not covered to cancel a cruise, only terrorism is covered How can Silversea guarantee passengers safety at Lima airport? travel from airport to hotel? from hotel to cruise port? Roads are blocked in many places. We are very concerned Last night the city of Lima was covered in tear gas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolforkatz Posted December 16, 2022 #9 Share Posted December 16, 2022 @trk_koa - when you hear something from Princess regarding all this, would you be kind enough to post? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trk_koa Posted December 16, 2022 Author #10 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Ours is actually through Azamara. We are supposed to fly to Lima on December 31. Tour starting January 2. I got an email from the US State Department today ( I had signed up for their STEP travel advisory system). It says that Cusco is now alert level 4 = Do not travel. I just sent that notice to the Azamara land programs people via email. I checked our travel insurance documents with iTravelInsured and it states that alert level 4 is a covered situation, if I’m reading it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trk_koa Posted December 16, 2022 Author #11 Share Posted December 16, 2022 1 hour ago, lynncarol said: Have you considered spending a week in the Lake Country of Argentina first? Supposedly similar to Switzerland. I saw videos from relatives visiting the area and it is gorgeous. Now on my bucket list. Thank you. We will look into that. It sounds lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlGermany Posted December 16, 2022 #12 Share Posted December 16, 2022 We booked a Galapagos cruise with Celebrity xpedition including a post cruise package to Machu Picchu. Cruise will start mid February Machu Picchu then End of February. we are following closely the situation and look forward to hear something from Celebrity, so far nothing. appreciate any information others get from their cruise lines / tour operators 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolforkatz Posted December 16, 2022 #13 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Thanks for clarifying @trk_koa Hope everything works out well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trk_koa Posted December 17, 2022 Author #14 Share Posted December 17, 2022 @koolforkatz I was just reading the Sapphire Princess roll calls and there are some interesting comments starting at #1614. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudence passenger Posted December 17, 2022 #15 Share Posted December 17, 2022 The Machu Picchu land tour portion of our trip is going to be reimbursed, yes it is a 4 on state dept but, Lima is still a 3. There will be police escort for Passengers leaving the ship to get to the airport in Lima. That makes me believe the cruise line does not believe it is safe for travel the state dept website also says road blocks can happen at any time Another passenger also told me their flight from Paris to Lima was cancelled Safety first! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trk_koa Posted December 22, 2022 Author #16 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Still struggling to convince the cruise line that it isn’t reasonable to proceed for a January 2 tour. They keep saying no changes but they are monitoring the situation. If I were to cancel they’d keep all our money. I finally got them to send a message to the local tour operator and now I’m waiting to hear back. The US Embassy website dated Dec 20 says the following: ”Demonstrations took place overnight December 19-20 in the Cusco area. The train tracks to and from Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu sustained additional damage, with rails and ties ripped out of the railway bed by protestors. While the Peruvian government assisted all tourists with departure from the Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu area on December 17-18, the U.S. Embassy strongly recommends that tourists reschedule any planned trips to Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu at this time.” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocan Posted December 22, 2022 #17 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Thanks for the update and look forward to what you may hear from Princess or the tour operator. I was under the impression that with the 30 day "state of emergency " that the January MP tour would be a no go ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolforkatz Posted December 22, 2022 #18 Share Posted December 22, 2022 I have also been in touch with Princess regarding our January 14 MP tour. They just keep telling me they are monitoring the situation. The state of emergency finishes on January 15 but who knows if they will extend it or not. I have heard that they expect the protests to be on a type of truce throughout Christmas and start up again in early January. Canada is still advising non-essential travel to the Cusco/Machu Picchu area which would certainly affect our travel insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trk_koa Posted December 23, 2022 Author #19 Share Posted December 23, 2022 Unreal. I just got an email from Azamara containing a letter they got from the tour operator saying essentially that everything is just fine. This is in spite of the US state department and the the US embassy in Peru saying not to go. I plan to contact our travel insurance to see if we can cancel and not lose our money. Very disappointed in Azamara right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlGermany Posted December 23, 2022 #20 Share Posted December 23, 2022 I am glad our cruise to Galapagos only start mid February and the post cruise tour to Lima and Machu Picchu only after that. So there is some time to find out how it will develop. However, I doubt we can make the Peru part. Will see what Celebrity says mid January Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunDog19 Posted December 23, 2022 #21 Share Posted December 23, 2022 Hi Karl, I just read that protesters were tearing up the train tracks in Cusco, so you are probably right about the potential for cancellation. Also, our State Department has Cusco listed as level 4. We are scheduled for a June tour after a Flora outer loop cruise and I am becoming concerned about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jot315 Posted December 26, 2022 #22 Share Posted December 26, 2022 We are scheduled to arrive in Lima on 1/20 to tour Machu Picchu prior Silversea cruise through .Galapagos islands. Any updates re risk in Peru since a week ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firsttimer1971 Posted December 26, 2022 #23 Share Posted December 26, 2022 I am no expert at this, but I do know that most governments advise against travelling to Peru at this moment unless absolutely necessary. You should really check with your travel agent what their plans are now for your trip to Machu Picchu. Personally, I wouldn't go with a state of emergency declared and having read about the thousands of tourists stranded last week in, and on their way to Machu Picchu. Also, if you do decide to go, check if your travel insurance is still valid since a lot of them will no longer cover a trip if negative travel advice has been issued. And if you take medicines, take lots of them with you so you won't be without them if you get stranded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocan Posted December 27, 2022 #24 Share Posted December 27, 2022 Koolforkatz is your January 14 MP tour still a go ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocan Posted December 27, 2022 #25 Share Posted December 27, 2022 On 12/22/2022 at 10:26 AM, koolforkatz said: I have also been in touch with Princess regarding our January 14 MP tour. They just keep telling me they are monitoring the situation. The state of emergency finishes on January 15 but who knows if they will extend it or not. I have heard that they expect the protests to be on a type of truce throughout Christmas and start up again in early January. Canada is still advising non-essential travel to the Cusco/Machu Picchu area which would certainly affect our travel insurance. Is your January 14 MP tour still a go ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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