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Guatemala Shore Excursions


TooEze
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We are sailing on the Sun on Jan 28th. One of the ports is Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala. There is virtually no info available for this port because I don't think there have been many cruise ships there in the past. Does anyone have any knowledge with this port. Also on the NCl site when you look at the shore excursions it really doesn't give any descripition or info on any of their trips. Is there some where that gives more info on the various excursions.

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I'm going on Norwegian Sun on Jan. 27 which also goes to Guatemala. There is info on the shore excursions, but you can't book them yet. There is also info under Holland America, but they have some excursions that are not on our list.

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Hi.

 

HELP please. My family isn't going to Santo Tomas De Castilla till end of March, but I'd sure appreciate it, if some of you going earlier could write and let me know what there is to do there.

 

I've already read the excursion description. My hubby is also over 200 lbs...what is the deal with that? He's 6'3", he SHOULD be. We wanted to do the Escanaba Waterfall thing, but the weight limit is there. My hubby is in good shape. He can certainly hike.

 

Right now we are considering no ship excursions. Just want to know what else there is to do. I've researched a lot too, and am finding VERY little. Please let me know when you get back, what you or others saw there. THanks so much! We are 42, 41, 17, 15 & 12.

 

Pieinsky

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Pieinthesky:

We have booked the Amatique Bay Resort excursion (the beach day) for our Jan 28 trip and I will report back about it on this board. They had some restrictions posted for it but I contacted NCL who checked with the vendor who said that there really was no need for restrictions. I was concerned because of knee problems.

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This is the recommendation I got from my Guatemalan neighbor:

"Definetely Tikal! That's the capital of ancient Mayas. Rio Dulce is very

nice as well. There is a Castillo (a fort to protect against invasors)

Quirigua Ruins are very nice, and they can be done in conjuction with Rio

Dulce. The trip will take about 1 hour by car. The roads are nice. Quirigua

is just outside from a banana plantation."

 

Tikal is not an option on Norwegian Sun. They do fly there from Belize on the Holland America ship (Veendam?)

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Thank you for the ideas. We are thinking about Quirigua. I will look forward to hearing more about this port when you all return. Is there much of a town there, even? I wish we could get to Tikal. Tikal is offered on the Sun out of Cozumel, but it's a long day on a bus, and I don't think my kids would be happy for it to take so long. We saw Chichinitza in 1999. It was awesome.

 

Pieinsky

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Thanks for the help. I have done more research and from what I've seen a boat tour on the Rio Dulce looks very interesting. I've talked to the manager at the Hacienda Tijax (the cruise ship horseback riding goes from here) and he said we were welcome to use their facilities (pool, restaurant and tours). There are also several marina's that do river tours near the town of Fronteras, where the major bridge crosses the Rio Dulce. We rarely book excursions off the ship (less crowds and less cost) but I'm slightly paranoid about Guatemala. I've also read about a town called Livingston that is on the Carribean cost that is home to the Garufuna people, who are decendents of african slaves. They say that this place is more like Jamaica than Guatemala. This place can only be reached by water, so renting a boat for the day would probably be the way to go to see this place. So we haven't decide between doing that, or renting a cab for the day and going to Fronteras for a boat tour down the Rio Dulce. By putting Livingston Guatemala or Rio Dulce into MSN's search engine brings up several great articles on this area. Regards John

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  • 5 weeks later...

I've done some research and there probably is not enough time in port to get to Fronteras by boat and back. But some of the ships offer a land trip to Quirigua ruins and then a 4 hour boat ride back.

 

That sounded too strenuous to me so I've booked a 3 hour boat ride out of Livingston to the Rio Dulce National Park, seeing the canyon, bird island, hot spring lagoons and Rio Tatin, then stopping for lunch in Livingston for the local cuisine Tapado, a walk around the center of town, and back to Puerto Barrios. All we have to do is take a 20 minute taxi from Santo Tomas to Puerto Barrios to get the boat (have been advised that taxis just outside the pier are cheaper) then the hotel will pick us up for a half hour boat ride to Livingston. We'll not leave the ship until 9 since people who've booked ship's tours get to leave first, and we still have a two hour window for getting back in time for sailaway.

 

Hotelcasarosada.com is doing it for us for $40 each for 7 pax (lunch not included, but will be ordered before we leave to save time). Javier Putul has been very helpful.

 

There are a couple of reviews of their day in Santo Tomas on this board from people returning from Norweigan Sun 2/4. Some took a water taxi (launcha) directly from Santo Tomas for $25 per person to 7 Altares which is north of Livingston for a 1 1/2 hour boat ride.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I want to travel from Puerto Quetzal (4 of us) to Antigua w/o taking the shore excursion. Can someone point me in the right direction.

 

I looked at a map of guatemala and it appeared that puerto quetzal and antigua were on the opposite side of the country- you may want to check distance to see if it is possible to do that trip on a shore day, unless your ship is staying over night.

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Travel-kat:

You are prob. docking at Puerto Quetzal, on the southern coast, correct? Otherwise it wouldn't be possible to get to Antigua from the north. Antigua is a bit over an hour from Pto. Quetzal but definately worth the visit!!! It's a UNESCO world heritage site, may not mean much but it is. Unfortunately Pto. Quetzal is far less prepared for tourism than snto. tomas de castilla on the north/east end of the country.

I'm pretty sure that there are no car rental agencies there & I don't think a taxi would be your best option either. You should look into seeing what shore excursions the cruise line offers, for sure they have something to Antigua (although it may be a bit pricey).

I go to Guatemala every year, my family is from there & my boyfriends family is from Pto. San Jose, which is the next town over from Pto. Quetzal. My bro-in law lived in new jersey over 15 yrs. and moved back last july, I'm sure he would take you if you didn't find another option. Feel free to email me if you have anymore questions, more than happy to help.

 

 

October '03 - Princess Dawn, E. Caribbean

March '05 - Carnival Imagination, W. Caribbean

October '05 - NCL Star, Mexican Riviera

March '06 - NCL Sun, W. Caribbean

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Thanks for the input. I think I have found reasonable transportation. I'm just a little concerned about someone I have only found through the internet. I am also trying to contact someone referred thru a Fodor's guide.

 

I have been to Antigua. It is a beautiful city and I can't wait to go back.

 

Re anyone thinking about going to Tikal. It was one of the most breathtaking places I've been. We would turn a corner and go "oh my God." And when you climb up to look over the tree tops, it is something you always will remember.

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cmmcruiser,

my reference to "someone on the internet" wasn't re your offer at all. It was about the tour company that responded to me so far. I appreciate your offer and infomation. Becuase there are 4 of us plus others from the cc board that may be interested, I thought my first approach should be to fnid a travel company that would definitely have a van available in case the group grows.

 

Thanks again for your input. (I was guessing it was about an hour away from the options we had when we were in Guatemala City. I appreciate your confirming that.)

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Please forgive my ignorance, but how far would Guat City be from this port? My daughter was born there and asked if we could go when we dock in Santo Tomas. It is much too far from Santo Tomas, but wondered, if on another cruise, it would be doable from the south coast (Pacific). I have flown from Guat City to the Pacific coast, but have no idea how long it would take by land. Thanks.

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  • 9 months later...
I wish we could get to Tikal. Tikal is offered on the Sun out of Cozumel, but it's a long day on a bus, and I don't think my kids would be happy for it to take so long.

 

Actually, it is TULUM that is offered through the NCL Sun at the Cozumel port, NOT TIKAL. If you consider the distance between Cozumel and Tikal, it would really be ridiculous, if not impossible, to get there and back in one port day. Tikal is in the far northern section of Guatemala, for those of you who don't know. You can pull up a map from mapquest if you are curious. It can be done as a day trip from Belize City if you are staying there overnight, but would be too far to go on a port day. I have never been there myself, but have heard that it is a VERY large site and you may consider staying overnight and spending two days if you are very interested in Mayan ruins.

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  • 10 months later...

Yes to having done a private tour from Puerto Quetzal... we just did it on the Island's 9/20 Panama Canal sailing. My cruse review is under the Princess site on the CC board. If you scroll down after my review, there is info on our private tour. I highly recommend the company we used... air-conditioned van, driver, English-speaking guide and very reasonable. The drive from the port to Antigua is about 1 1/4 hours but oh so worth the drive. Antigua is a total photo-op and not to be missed.

 

Sandy

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  • 7 years later...

March 2015

 

 

 

Santo Thomas, Guatemala - I did the Quirigua Archaeological Ruins - You will not find the usual Mayan temples here. Quirigua is one of the major testimonies to the Mayan civilization. The monuments, called stelae, contain hieroglyphic texts describing significant calendar dates, celestial events such as eclipses, passages of Maya mythology and political events, as well as important social and historic events to the development of the city. At the far end of the plaza you will find steps leading up. On the other side of these steps are the ruins of the acropolis ( did not go up)

 

My husband did the Tikal, Maya City of Voices and absolutely loved it.

 

 

 

 

 

We booked it through the Holland America excursions

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