HAL P.C. tours & "rest stops"

[martinimadam]

For those of you who have cruised the Panama Canal with HAL and used their tours, can you tell me which ones have fairly frequent "rest stops" ?

 

I'm interested in the following ports:

 

Oranjestad, Aruba

Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica

Huatulco, Mexico

 

I'd ask on the destinations boards, but, those include all the cruiselines and I figured HAL's tours might be a little different.

 

Thanks.

[cruz chic]

Don't go to the Aerenal (sp) volcano in Costa Rica. It was a 10 hour trip and 7+ hours was on a bus. There was no bathroom on the bus because it was a small one. We had one stop about 1.5 hours in and none after that for well over 2 hours:eek:. I drink a LOT of water and it wasn't pleasant. I assume that's what you mean by rest stop. It was beautiful there but it wasn't worth the ride. I'm not a road trip gal.

[catl331]

In Hualtuco we took a ship's tour that bused us around the different bays and we got out and took pics of our ship from high on a hill and some children were there with pet parrots if you wanted them in the pic $. Then we went down to a small hotel with gift shops and given some tastes of an alcoholic drink (don't recall which but probably tequila). Then we were taken into Santa Cruz, a nearby town which was built 20 yrs ago to look old and went into a church that had interesting paintings. This church was in a town square which we then had free time walking around or not. We opted for cold Mexican beer at a cafe and also shrimp tacos. So it was a total bus tour, it had many stops where we got out etc. It wasn't an expensive tour but we saw the countryside and met natives.

[catl331]

In Costa Rica we stop in Puntarenas for a port and took a ship's tour to Sachi where they paint those pretty wagons etc. It was a busride of aboubt 30 mins through the countryside. Once there we had some treats of fresh fruit and observed many local flowers. Then we went into a huge gift shop that had anything you could possibly want that was hand done in COsta Rica. I bought my Dad a cane made out of three different woods, some local coffee and a few small doodads. I thought most were reasonably priced. Then back to the ship. There are not many main roads in Costa Rica so everyone, including trucks, were on the one we were on.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have taken quite a few of HAL's tours in the ports that you mentioned.

Aruba buses are nice -- many have restrooms in them.

As for the Huatulco and Puerto Caldero -- usually the longer tours get the buses with the restrooms.

None of the tours have frequent rest stops maily because you are traveling on roads for a couple of hours with not much to see in the way of towns.

[martinimadam]

Thanks all for the info.

 

Yes, lorekauf, I also drink a lot of water, and rest (room) stops were what I was interested in. I'll certainly bypass the trip to the volcano!:eek:

 

catl311 - I assume there were restrooms available at the hotel and at the cafe in Huatulco???? The tour you mentioned was one I thought I might take. Cold mexican beer and shrimp tacos - YUM!

 

Any more suggestions?

[cruz chic]

Thanks all for the info.

 

Yes, lorekauf, I also drink a lot of water, and rest (room) stops were what I was interested in. I'll certainly bypass the trip to the volcano!:eek:

 

catl311 - I assume there were restrooms available at the hotel and at the cafe in Huatulco???? The tour you mentioned was one I thought I might take. Cold mexican beer and shrimp tacos - YUM!

 

Any more suggestions?

I don't know if you have been to Huatulco before but it's kinda nice just to hang by the pier. It's very pretty and there are lots of places to eat and drink.

 

I just remembered a nice excursion in Costa Rica. It was a ride thru the rain forest in a gondola sort of thing. Can't remember what it's called. That was sort of another long ride with no bathroom:D but it wasn't as bad as the volcano.

[martinimadam]

Thanks, lorekauf. That's what I usually do, take a short walk by the dock. It's nice to know there's a nice one in Huatulco. This will be my first trip through the canal, and to the places I posted about. Been to Acupulco and Cabo (the other two stops on this trip) a few times, so I know the "drill" there.

 

Sure do appreciate all the help one gets on this board. :)

[cruz chic]

Thanks, lorekauf. That's what I usually do, take a short walk by the dock. It's nice to know there's a nice one in Huatulco. This will be my first trip through the canal, and to the places I posted about. Been to Acupulco and Cabo (the other two stops on this trip) a few times, so I know the "drill" there.

 

Sure do appreciate all the help one gets on this board. :)

I've been to the Canal 6 times. The last time was in Apr.2011 and I can't wait to go again. I just love it and hope you'll enjoy it too:).

[sapper1]

I have been checking our shorexes for the Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver cruise next year and most of the ones in Central America involve very long bus trips. I am very wary of busses over mountainous terrain in Third World countries to begin with but the washroom issue is a big factor.

 

I found during our European trip that a lot depended on whether your guide was male or female. The women were more tuned in as to where the opportunities were. Men, on the other hand, are camels.

[lettienets]

I was on a day trip in Marbella area off a cruise ship and the guide wasn't too caring about women wanting a restroom. One poor child had to go in the bushes somewhere. Well I told him he could kiss his tips goodbye if he didn't do something. Well, on the bus he was all of a sudden very nice, made an announcement and said he would find somewhere, so we went to a port with cafes and tiolets were. So we did tip in the end.