Filadelfia Coffee Estate & Antigua #PQ1210A thru Princess

[ST MARTIN GAL]

My DH and I will be on the Coral Princess in Sept 08. We are thinking of doing the Filadelfia Coffee Estate & Antigua #PQ1210A thru Princess. Has anyone done this and what did you think?:rolleyes:

[paleotrekker144]

Hello St.Martin Gal,

I did the Puerto Quetzal to Antigua tour with Go-With-Gus tours this past February. We visited the Finca Filadelfia and did the coffee-production tour inside Finca Filadelfia - quite interesting - after which Gus took us on a short walk-sightseeing tour of the town of Antigua followed by a superb lunch at a very charming restaurant. On the road trip from Puerto Quetzal we had the opportunity to admire about 4 volcanoes - the road nearly seems to lie at the base of a couple of them. Quite a good day trip.

 

Hope this helps you out,

"Sea" you around, Paleotrekker144.

[EAGLESLOVER]

My DH and I will be on the Coral Princess in Sept 08. We are thinking of doing the Filadelfia Coffee Estate & Antigua #PQ1210A thru Princess. Has anyone done this and what did you think?:rolleyes:

 

 

Wondering if you did this tour and whether you enjoyed it

[southwestgal]

We went on this tour during our Panama Canal transit in March.

 

Some background - we are in our mid 40's and travel with another couple in their mid 60's. We are all active adults and usually don't take ship tours, preferirng to book independents. However, in certain ports we feel a bit more comfortable with ship tours.

 

That being said, we LOVED this tour!!!!! The coffee plantation was wonderful. Once you arrive at the coffee plantation, a guide from the plantation takes over. Our guide was excellent, spoke English better than most of the cruisers :), and was extremely personable and animated. He took us through the entire process from picking the beans to roasting. We went from building to building where the various processes take place. We went to the fields and picked coffee beans and learned about growing them, varieties of plants, etc. They served us a wonderful lunch outside underneath a huge tent. There was music, soda, beer and water. The scenery was spectacular and it was absolutely worth it. They had samples of coffee to drink and, of course, you could buy coffee beans. We did and enjoyed the coffee when we got home. There was also a gift shop with very nice items (locally made - really really nice), but a bit too pricey for me.

 

After we were done with the coffee plantation, we went to Antigua. If I remember correctly, we had about 2 hours to spend on our own in the town. There's a museum, a market (flea market type with individual stalls and vendors), lots of quiets streets with shops and restaurants. It was great, we walked around and never felt uncomfortable. Vendors stayed around the town square and if you politely told them "no gracias", they left you alone. Everyone was very nice and polite. We used USD$ in the market and they were readily accepted. Bring small bills so they don't have to mess around with giving you change.

 

You should note that this is not a good tour if you have mobility issues. There was some steps, uneven pavement, getting on/off buses, etc. Not a lot of walking (except possibly in Antigua if you chose), so stamina isn't an issue. But if you can't walk easily or need walking aids, it probably isn't the tour for you.

 

I can't recommend this excursion highly enough. Well worth the money. We loved it.

 

Hope you have a great cruise! It was a wonderful experience going through the canal.

[OCruisers]

:cool: southwestgal!

 

Great reply and much appreciated! Thank You! :)

[RENMama]

I have not been on that tour but have been to Antigua a few times.

Just another note about mobility, the streets of Antigua are all cobblestone and uneven.

Heres one of the streets in Antigua on Good Friday 2008.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c39/ERmama/IMG_1963.jpg

[Norski]

Thanks for the review. We will be doing this tour on our Panama Canal cruise 1/9. We're really looking forward to the cruise and this tour.

[lizzieb03]

Princess offers three "different" Antigua tours. "Best of Antigua with Lunch," "Antigua with lunch", and "Filadelphia coffee Plantation/Antigua with lunch." Can anyone tell me which one gives you the best/most guided time in Antigua? Thank you!!

[Putterdude]

We were on the Coral in Jan'09 and took the "Best of Anitqua with Lunch" and were extremely happy with the tour. It was pretty much a full day tour, we had a great guide and we went to a lovely hotel were we had a teriffic buffet lunch in their courtyard. One note of caution though, the town is paved with coblestones which makes very difficult for persons with mobility problems.

[JudeeJim]

We have visited Guatemala and had personal tours with our friends who live in Guatemala City. You cannot miss with an excursion to Antigua, Lake Atitlan and the Filadelfia Coffee Farm. Go to my web site and I have lots of pictures of these places. Judee's space - Windows Live Guatemala is a beautiful country.

[texasgirl29]

We did the coffee plantation and Antiqua with the Island Princess tour. We enjoyed it, even our daughters, 9 and 12.

Here are some photos of the Filadelfia Coffee Plantation:

 

[Ms. Alpha]

I realize the OP has long since sailed, but if anyone is looking at this I would highly recommend it. We booked this on board at the last minute and it was our second choice since the Lake Atitlan tour was sold out. That being said, we thoroughly enjoyed it! The previous posters pictures looked so familiar, they could have been from our tour (except there were not as many coffee beans drying in the courtyard they day we were there, and we had blue corn tortillas!)

 

We did not have as much time in Antigua as the earlier posters, but it could depend on the time you arrive/leave Puerto Quetzel. We had a short guided walking tour describing buildings in the town square, then a visit to the Jade Museum but some people declined the tour to get more time on their own.

 

Also brought home some coffee which we really enjoyed!