Costa Rica's Favourites with lunch tour Coral princess

[sandav]

Has anyone done the Costa Rica's Favourites with lunch Tour on Coral Princess on Panama Canal cruise. This includes the aerial tram ride and the Tortuguero Canals. The description states significant level of activity and walking or hiking boots needed. How much walking is needed and how difficult? is it?

[goat rancher]

If this is the tour that goes from the port of Puntarenas, we ALSO are interested in information. The only report I could find is from one person who said it was a great tour but that they got behind and were NOT able to shop for any souvenirs before reboarding the ship.....It does sound like a great way to see a LOT of different things; however I am a souvenir oriented person too so don't want to miss out on at least a "little" shopping, even if it is just at the pier.......Hope SOMEONE has an answer out there:)

[luv2c00k]

Just back from the Coral Princess and we did this tour - myself, husband, two sons (23 & 19). Great tour!

Our guide for the day was fantastic - you could tell that he was very passionate about preserving the wild life and the rain forest. He knew so much about the various plants & animals.

We did the Tortuguero Canals first so it was a short bus ride to our boat. The boat ride is approximately 2 hours. The boat has a top to it so you are not sitting directly in the sun. Your guide and boat captain will look for and point out various wild life and plants. We saw black monkeys, iguanas, sloths, many different birds, bats, mangrove trees and so much more.

After the boat ride before boarding the bus you are given a snack of various fresh fruits. There is a restroom to use at the boat dock.

From there we headed up to the rain forest. The two hour drive went quickly as our guide was pointing out sites and talking about the Costa Rican life the entire way. Our bus did have a restroom in the back.

Once you arrived at the reserve that has the aerial tram ride it is a short wait for smaller buses to take you up to where the tram ride starts. Restrooms available.

You take the bus up to the Rain Forest Cafe & tram. We did the tram ride before lunch. Short walk from where the small bus drops you off to where the tram ride starts. 6 people per tram with a guide. The tram ride takes about 1 hour 15 minutes. You travel through various heights in the rain forest. We did not see many animals - a couple of owls and some birds. We did hear the howler monkeys but did not see them. Our guide on the tram was our tour guide for the day and he knew all there was to know about the rain forest. Even without seeing many animals the tram ride was interesting.

The day we went - there was no rain and it really was not very humid although we were prepared with rain jackets. I did use bug spray although my husband and boys did not. The guide did tell us that we would not need the bug spray.

After the tram ride we had lunch - fresh fruit, salad, chicken, black beans, rice, plantains and drinks. We then had plenty of time to shop - t-shirts, coffee, chocolates, pottery, jewelery & much more.

On the way to catch the small bus back they had a telescope set up on a momma sloth and her baby.

Two hour bus ride back to the ship. Our guide gave us some rest time and then gave us more information on Costa Rica. We did a quick "side of the road" stop when our guide & driver ran off to catch some poisonous frogs to show us and to take pictures of a banana farm. We stayed on the bus for both of these stops.

Arrived back to the port just in time to board the Coral Princess for Sail-Away.

We all enjoyed this tour - especially the boys. My 19 year old did have his hiking boots on (but he wears them all the time anyway!). The rest of us wore sneakers and we were fine.

[Stepilyn]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write your experience on this tour. We are booked on this tour on our 3/06/08 Panama Canal Cruise. Glad to hear hiking boots are not necessary. We will carry our traveling ponchos and bug spray.

 

Both my husband and I are not great on long bus rides. We tend to close our eyes. We always have a plan in place--when one dozes, the other wakes the other up and says "Trip of a Lifetime" and we seem to come to life--until the next nap.

 

Can't wait.

[Lorabelle]

We're considering this tour for our Oct 08 visit to Costa Rica, but I have an issue with heights and the tram part of the tour worries me.

 

How far above the ground does the tram travel? I'm picturing it high off the ground like the gondolas at ski resorts. Is that correct, or is it closer to the ground?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Lori

[ericosmith]

The tram goes up through the upper canopy and down through the lower canopy. I didn't notice a sensation of height, but I think that was mostly because there is a lot of vegatation between you and the ground. Also, the trams are very steady, have a floor, sides and a roof.

[Love Cruis'n]

Our cruise just got changed, and we’ll stop at Puerto Caldera instead of Puntarenas. Any idea if this is available from that port?

Thanks.