Port change for 3/1/08 Quest Panama Canal sailing

[susiesan]

As I was looking at Quest shore excursions for our March 1 Panama Canal cruise I noticed there weren't any for Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. Then I checked the itinerary. We aren't going there anymore-now it is Puntarenas. And there are no shore excursions on the AZ web site. Was AZ going to let us know? This impacts those of us making independent arrangements for shore excursions. Anyone doing a Panama Canal cruise better recheck their sailing. This is the second port change AZ has made since I booked this cruise.

 

Susie

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Susie,

 

It looks like all the future Panama Canal Quest itineraries have changed to this new port. Hmmmmmm..... what gives? :confused:

 

Brenda

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Susie,

 

I just went over to Holland America's website, and they stop in this port. They've got about 15 shore excursions listed. We should be able to find something like these with no problem.

 

I wonder when they changed this?

 

Brenda

[karolm]

I was on the Quest 12/8 sailing. Puerto Caldera is a shipping port and there is really no town there. Puntenaras is a better choice and about 20 miles away. We had

a early tour and had to tender in because a ship had not left the dock.

The Quest was later able to dock.

BTW, you should hope that they eliminate

Santa Marta, Columbia from the itinerary. It is not ready for us.

 

Carol M

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Carol,

 

Thanks for the info on the new port. I've seen several posts about Santa Marta. We think that will be an "on board" day for us.

 

Thanks again,

Brenda

[susiesan]

I hear the thing to do in Santa Marta is take a taxi to some of the small towns nearby and go to the beach. That's what we plan to do. Did anyone on your sailing, Carol, do this? What sort of report did you get from them?

 

Susie

[karolm]

I don't know of anyone who took a cab in Santa Marta. We had planned on staying on the ship because of many previous negative comments about this port.

We had been at sea for 3 days because we couldn't dock at Port Antonio

due to weather conditions so we wanted off the ship for a while.

We took a ship excursion called the Taste of Tayrona Park. This excursion (as their eco excursion) was not what it had been

presented as in the shore excursion presentation. This turned out to be

a very strenuous hike, thru mud, uphill and 132 uneven rock stairs.

There was a very large military presence in Santa Marta and in the park. Our tour bus

had an armed military escort.

 

I personally would not have gone off the ship unless on the ship excursion

which turned out to be an awful experience.

 

Carol M

[susiesan]

Are any of the ports on the Panama Canal itinerary tender ports? And what about using US money while in these different countries-did you have to change money to the local currency or did everyone take dollars? or maybe euros that I have left over from a Europe trip since the dollar has fallen out of favor abd is so weak. I count 5 different countries we will be visiting.

 

Susie

[cruiseyguy]

Panama uses the US$ as the official currency.

[susan420]

Are any of the ports on the Panama Canal itinerary tender ports? And what about using US money while in these different countries-did you have to change money to the local currency or did everyone take dollars? or maybe euros that I have left over from a Europe trip since the dollar has fallen out of favor abd is so weak. I count 5 different countries we will be visiting.

 

Susie

We were on the 12/8 Panama Canal Cruise. We used only American money everywhere. We got off Quest in Santa Marta Columbia, without a tour and just walked around the city. There is a church and a museum. It is a small town and safe to walk within certain boundaries. Not much ....could easily have been skipped but hey we had been at sea for 3 days and wanted to get off.

[Napi's Mom]

Are any of the ports on the Panama Canal itinerary tender ports? And what about using US money while in these different countries-did you have to change money to the local currency or did everyone take dollars? or maybe euros that I have left over from a Europe trip since the dollar has fallen out of favor abd is so weak. I count 5 different countries we will be visiting.

 

Susie

San Juan Del La Sur was a tender port...was not listed as such in itinerary, but guess they discovered it needed to be afterwards. We also tendered at Caldera as there was a container ship still in our berth until 10am and our tours left earlier,we boarded on the dock when we returned. Could be problems like this was why they decided to use the other port (Punenaras) which caters to the Cruise ships not the shipping lines, besides there being nothing to do in Caldera. I think the ships tours from Caldera could be just as easily run out of the other port which is 20 mi away, and most of the tour locations are at some distance from Caldera anyway.

We used US everywhere, local street vendors won't take the charge cards but cash was OK, Didn't seem our money wasn't welcome anywhere, but everywhere you need to bargin with the vendors (I'm not good at that). These people are too poor to get fussy about money!!

[capegranny]

We're on the 1/19 Panama Canal sailing and our travel agent forwarded this morning the fax she'd received from Azamara notifying all passengers of the port change from Puerto Caldera to Pantarenas, both in Costa Rica. Two things: 1. The previous change we received was really irrelevant; just eliminated a stop at the end of the canal transit and from what I was told, no one was allowed off the ship there anyway. 2. I haven't searched my map yet, but wonder if there's a chance that the same excursions could still be offerred. From what I read here, some of the excursions in Puerto Caldera were not well-liked and required long bus rides over bad roads. Even so, the issue for those of you who made your own arrangements for an excursion are somewhat different, so you may want to talk with the tour operator.

[Napi's Mom]

We're on the 1/19 Panama Canal sailing and our travel agent forwarded this morning the fax she'd received from Azamara notifying all passengers of the port change from Puerto Caldera to Pantarenas, both in Costa Rica. Two things: 1. The previous change we received was really irrelevant; just eliminated a stop at the end of the canal transit and from what I was told, no one was allowed off the ship there anyway. 2. I haven't searched my map yet, but wonder if there's a chance that the same excursions could still be offerred. From what I read here, some of the excursions in Puerto Caldera were not well-liked and required long bus rides over bad roads. Even so, the issue for those of you who made your own arrangements for an excursion are somewhat different, so you may want to talk with the tour operator.

The bad roads were in Nicaragua, we loved the Costa Rica Traditions" and some of the others also very much enjoyed the Scarlet McCaw Sanctuary. You will probably get offered similar tours as the 2 ports are only 20 mi apart. Yes the rides for some were long...but then you actually saw the country, not just the coast!

[murphysmum]

Hi!

 

We're on the 2/02 (+/- one day) Quest cruise from Acapulco to Miami.

Strangely, although Puerto Caldera IS listed in their large color brochure, I've always had Puntarenas listed as our west coast Costa Rica port and I booked nearly a year ago.

 

After booking, I turned the reservation over to my travel agent to coordinate flights, etc. I was surprised today when she called and said she'd received an Azamara email "changing" us to Puntarenas.??????

 

I'm a "little" compulsive when it comes to planning and I always feel more secure when the ship knows where it's going!

 

I'm sure that we'll all have a good time. It does make it difficult when planning independent excursions and I hope that not too many people have been inconvenienced.

 

Happy sailing! murphysmum;)

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

I read your previous post about the roads in Nicaragua. How bad is bad?

I was thinking of taking a private excursion to Granada, Masaya, Catarina and possibly San Juan de Oriente if time allowed.

 

I've read previous posts about buses barely fitting on the roads and your post and I'm curious....How bad is BAD???

 

It looks like it should take about two hours by car to get to the area. However, if the roads are such a nightmare what is the actual approximate time to get to this area? I love to collect ethnic or primitive art/ naif paintings, etc. and it looks like Nicaraga is a wonderful place for finding "treasures".

 

Would love some feedback from you or anyone who's been to this area.

 

Thanks so much.

 

murphysmum;)

[cruiseyguy]

I took a ship's tour to Granada from San Juan del Sur on a Seabourn Panama Canal cruise. The roads are about as bad as you can imagine. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the hemisphere after Haiti and the infrastructure reflects it. I think our bus took about 3 hours to reach Granada. As long and tedious as the ride became, however, I was never bored. The sights, through villages, towns and countryside, were incredible. There is virtually no motorized traffic (many locals are lucky to have a bike) but the two lane "highways" are full of potholes and washouts. As always with a cruise (even Seabourn) there were a few complainers on the bus; most passengers, however, thoroughly enjoyed the excursion.

[Napi's Mom]

I took a ship's tour to Granada from San Juan del Sur on a Seabourn Panama Canal cruise. The roads are about as bad as you can imagine. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the hemisphere after Haiti and the infrastructure reflects it. I think our bus took about 3 hours to reach Granada. As long and tedious as the ride became, however, I was never bored. The sights, through villages, towns and countryside, were incredible. There is virtually no motorized traffic (many locals are lucky to have a bike) but the two lane "highways" are full of potholes and washouts. As always with a cruise (even Seabourn) there were a few complainers on the bus; most passengers, however, thoroughly enjoyed the excursion.

Was this a couple years ago??? There are plenty of even taxi's from San Juan, the road was awful, but had plenty of traffic! Didn't you travel the Pan American Hwy. about half the way??? It was in decent shape, had to be, and very busy. The strangest vehicle I saw (besides Oxcarts with Oxen pulling them) Was a SEMI on the Pan American which was from The USMC...bold advertising...The Few the Brave... etc... Hat & Sword.. all the symbols of the Marines...no A real Marine truck...what would it be doing there :confused: (I'm afraid to ask!)

[cruiseyguy]

I should have said "as compared to other countries" there was little traffic. And in actual terms, the traffic didn't grow until we neared Granada. Traffic did back up, giving the impression of lots of traffic but even compared to Costa Rica, it was light. We went through one fair-sized town where most people were on bikes and the local taxis were pedi-cabs. Two years ago there were zero cabs in San Juan del Sur when Seabourn Legend docked there. But there are more cruise lines and tourists visiting the area now.

[susiesan]

This is why I'd like to go to Granada on a private tour that involves a vehicle smaller than a bus. It shouldn't take as long to get there. Big buses are always slow. I have requested that Tierra Tours hook us up with other visitors who may be taking their tour on March 12 or if someone else from the Quest contacts them to go. Hopefully it will come through and we won't have to take the ship's tour.

 

Susie

[Napi's Mom]

I should have said "as compared to other countries" there was little traffic. And in actual terms, the traffic didn't grow until we neared Granada. Traffic did back up, giving the impression of lots of traffic but even compared to Costa Rica, it was light. We went through one fair-sized town where most people were on bikes and the local taxis were pedi-cabs. Two years ago there were zero cabs in San Juan del Sur when Seabourn Legend docked there. But there are more cruise lines and tourists visiting the area now.

We did see the Pedicabs in one of the cities on the Pan American. San Juan was a quagmire from what the others that stayed in port stated, actually up to ankles in mud.

 

Susiesan: It would be well worth the trip...we enjoyed all but "The Road" especially the Boatride on the Isletas. Saw a program on the Travel Channel with their female travel reporter "Something" (Susannah?) Brown who went to Grenada..did the boat tour. If you don't like boats there was a tour to the nearby Volcano and Grenada. She went there also, plus a town that specializes in handicrafts (The pottery is beautiful..and cheap...sorry I only bought one but was afraid of transporting it easily, buy one of the whistles from the children!)

[Hoosier Croosier]

I suggest hanging out at the buffet that day

[susiesan]

I suggest hanging out at the buffet that day

 

A few bad roads won't stop me. I didn't go all the way to Nicaragua to stay on the ship!! This itinerary was chosen for its' adventurous ports. Never have understood people who take cruises and don't get off the ship.

 

Susie

[Napi's Mom]

"

I've read previous posts about buses barely fitting on the roads and your post and I'm curious....How bad is BAD???"

 

REad my review of the 12/8 cruise....(Somehow it lost all it's paragraphs in the Posting to the Review...and all reads like one long story, but it's in there) Bad is like we called it "The minefield" or the "Moonscape", the trip IS well worth it unless you have a weak heart or very bad back!!! The weak heart refers to the constant dancing of the cars (I call it the "Nicaraguan Minuet" ) back & forth across the road to avoid potholes 6' across, while THEY are doing the same thing from the other side!!. Near the end of our return trip..some of us "lost it" and got just dopey trying to come up with descriptions of the road. But we all really enjoyed the day anyway. It's what we came on the trip to see. If we wanted Bermuda or Cozmel...we'd have saved a lot of money and gone there! HAving one's nails done in Pt Limon is hardly worth the cost of the trip, however nice it was, there is SOO much to learn there.

[murphysmum]

Thanks to both of you for the information on the roads in Nicaragua. Based on your information, I've decided to go for it but to take a private tour (smaller vehicle) with a guide to see Granada, Masaya, etc. I love the idea that you've seen the oxen pulling carts and other small farm communities as well.

 

Someone mentioned being afraid of purchasing too much pottery due to fragility. We've shipped a lot of pottery from other places in Central America with no breakage and the pictures I've seen in the Nicaraguan pottery are quite spectacular. Go for it!

 

Happy sailing everyone!

 

murphysmum;)

[captfred]

Thanks to both of you for the information on the roads in Nicaragua. Based on your information, I've decided to go for it but to take a private tour (smaller vehicle) with a guide to see Granada, Masaya, etc. I love the idea that you've seen the oxen pulling carts and other small farm communities as well.

 

Someone mentioned being afraid of purchasing too much pottery due to fragility. We've shipped a lot of pottery from other places in Central America with no breakage and the pictures I've seen in the Nicaraguan pottery are quite spectacular. Go for it!

 

Happy sailing everyone!

 

murphysmum;)

 

Are you on the Feb. 2nd cruise? We are also looking at a private tour in Nicaragua. Which one have you decided on?

 

Barb