Guatemala Travel Alert

Just received this alert from the Canadian Government today. It may be a good day to stay onboard.....perhaps cruise lines may avoid this port.

http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=112000

The red alert is for the very Northern part of the country. Nowhere near the port of Quetzal.

We have a scheduled stop in late Dec. on Celebrity ship. I plan to book a ship tour to Antiqua. If it gets cancellled, I will get my money back.

We booked the ship's bus tour to Antigua as well. Since it was Good Friday, this was the only type of tour offered in Antigua. The day was amazing.

The guide who had accompanied the bus took us to the Jade 'museum' where local guides were waiting. We did not use them, but other people said that theirs - a father/son team - was excellent.

wow, you were in Antiqua during Holy week. did you see any processions?

I am thinking of taking the ship tour which DIY once you get to the town. I would love to hire a local once there, for a walking tour. I have done this before in other Central American towns and it has been really informative.

What is the Jade museum?

sound like you had a great day. where did you eat?

My husband and I will be on the Infinity on a Panama Canal cruise in October, and we are also planning to take a ship tour to Antigua. Floridiana, can you please tell me which tour you took? Celebrity offers several different tours in Antigua and I am having difficulty deciding which might be most interesting. I'd love to hear more about your experience on the tour and on the cruise in general.

Also, did you do ship tours in Panama, Colombia or Costa Rica? We usually do not do ship tours, but I think they might be the best choice for this cruise. I am having difficulty, however, finding much information about them.

Cheryl

My wife and I just returned from a Panama Canal cruise on Princess that stopped in Guatemala. We took the Colonial Antigua On Your Own tour. We spent about 4 hours on our own, exploring this beautiful and historic city. We felt perfectly safe wandering the streets by ourselves. The only problem we had was with the street vendors who wouldn't take no for an answer.

My husband and I will be on the Infinity on a Panama Canal cruise in October, and we are also planning to take a ship tour to Antigua. Floridiana, can you please tell me which tour you took? Celebrity offers several different tours in Antigua and I am having difficulty deciding which might be most interesting. I'd love to hear more about your experience on the tour and on the cruise in general.

Also, did you do ship tours in Panama, Colombia or Costa Rica? We usually do not do ship tours, but I think they might be the best choice for this cruise. I am having difficulty, however, finding much information about them.

Cheryl

The hubby and I left the Infinity on May 11th following back-to-back Panama Canal cruises. We also did a full transit of the canal in 2008 on the Mercury.

In Antigua we used the ship's on-your-own tour to Antigua (sorry but I don't remember the actual name). Essentially we had a tour guide to Antigua who provided an excellent overview during the 90 minute ride and provided maps of the city. We were dropped off at a nice visitor's center where we were picked up at the assigned time for the return drive to the port. The streets in the heart of Antigua are too narrow for the motorcoaches to remain or park. We had approximately five hours to explore, and thoroughly enjoyed Antigua.

While Puerto Quetzal is an industrial port, there was also a nice shopping area at the port with a nice selection of booths selling a nice variety of handicrafts.

The April 10th sailing included Colon. Colon strikes me as a rough port city. We did a trip on the Panama Railway to Balboa, and then had a bus trip back to Colon. My husband spent several years as a child in the Canal Zone when his father was stationed at Albrook AFB. On this trip we actually were able to get a photo of his elementary school, which was build in 1914 or so.

In Puntarenas we went to the Tarcoles River on the April 10th sailing. My bird watcher husband and I went to the Tarcoles River in 2008, and definitely wanted to go again. On the April 25th sailing we did a trip to Poas Volcano National Park, and throughly enjoyed it.

Cartagena is a beautiful city. At the port entrance is a complex of several stores. A taxi stand is also located here, which makes it very easy to go into the Colonial downtown on your own. On the April 25th sailing we took a ship tour to the Botanical Gardens (we had been in Cartagena twice before).

Thanks everyone for sharing your tour information.

It is very helpful.

Getting excited about our full transit on the Century in Dec. Looking forward to exploring Antiqua on my with a DIY ship tour.

Since the original post was about a Guatemala travel alert I should have added that we felt extremely safe in Antigua and found the people there to be very friendly. Other passengers who we spoke with who had also gone to Antigua also felt very safe.