Santo Tomas deCastilla, Guatemala anyone?

Going on a Western Caribbean cruise (again) Feb. 5-12 with Holland America. One of the ports will be at Santo Tomas deCastilla, Guatemala. There's nothing being offered by the ship for shore excursions that interests us. Any suggestions or does anyone know what the shopping and people are like there? Are there any shops near the ship? Not sure I want to wander too far away and might just stay on the ship this day unless there are some shops nearby.

We are also on that cruise! I think it will be a ship day for us. See below. I found it on another message site. We sent an email to Holland but did not get a good answer back. Just an automated response with the cruise itenerary on it. I was not happy. We paid for a cruise with stops at ports. After you read what the state department says you won't be getting off the ship.

Post from a cc message site:

Guatamala has a State Dept "Public Announcement" regarding the crime and corruption there and advising Americans to be aware.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1769.html

I think the State Department's warning is overwrouhgt. Unfortunately, the entire coastal strip of Guatamala is, inclduing the town where the ship dock, is not too interesting. About 90 minutes away is one of the highlights of all Central America and one of my favorite places anywhere - the small city of Antigua.

It is the former capital, but because of earthquakes (none lately :) ) the cap. was moved to Guatamala ciyt in 1773. Prior to that the city was one of the most important Spanish colonial cities in the hemisphere. The city became sort of frozen in thime, never really grew, and thus is a greatly preserved Spanish colonial town. Also, it is framed by 3 beautiful volcanoes.

I looked up the HAL tours for your stop - they had one to Antigua for about $129. Way overpriced and implied that a (wasted) shopping stop outside of town was included, this taking away valuable time in the town itself. If money is not a hindrance, I would suggest the previous posters on this thread to take this tour.

For others willing to be more adventureous, you probably could hire a private van for about $25 to $35 per person. Antigua is easily navigated on own's own. However, you could also arrange some sort of walking tour, very cheaply for part of the time. (I am not suggesting this for the previous posters here, since I am sure I could not convince them from the current thought of staying on the ship all the way to striking out without the ship's excursion).

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I'm having difficulty finding a typical cruise ship tourist map of the area around Santo Tomas. If anyone has found one I'd appreciate a link.

Thanks.