Machu picchu explorer tour

[cymro100]

Hi. Prior to our cruise on the Star Princess in South America we hope to go on the above 5 day tour. Is it recommended ?

Cheers

[lawton54]

DW and I did a land based tour last year that visited all of these places, we even stayed in the same hotel in Cusco, and LOVED IT!! Peru is a wonderful country and Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu are awesome places. If I had the opportunity to include this as a part of a cruise I would jump at it!

[WeBeGone]

The Princess land tour is fine but you can do the same thing for half the cost if you'll willing to arrange things yourself using a tour operator. You pay a real premium for having Princess arrange it all. Perhaps someone on your roll call is also interested and you could contact a tour operator??

 

What date is your trip?

Edited June 8, 2011 by WeBeGone

[paul929207]

We visited Cuzco and Machu Picchu as part of a land tour and loved it. It is definitely worth the effort to get there

[lawton54]

I agree with WeBeGone, just a quick comparison indicated that the additional cost would be about $3000/pp. DW and I were there for 10 days and total tour cost was only about $2000/pp including air from the U.S. Booked through Latin Destinations and serviced by Condor Travel, both of which were super efficient and professional, especially the Condor people. Can't say enough about how well we were treated and serviced by them. All connections on time and accomodating, even when our train from Machu Picchu was hours late due to a track accident, the Condor driver was there waiting for us!

[WeBeGone]

@Lawton54

 

On Latin Destination's web now. Do you remember which tour you took? There are so many listed. Also, what time of the year did you go?

Edited June 8, 2011 by WeBeGone

[lawton54]

We did the Lima-Cuzco-Machu Picchu, but customized it a bit to add a day. Latin Destinations will customize it to what you want and give you a price then. I do see that prices are up, due I'm sure to the rise in air fares.

 

We specifically tailored our tour so that we would be in Cusco on June 23rd and 24th to participate in the Inti Raymi festival, WOW. Words cannot begin to describe the sounds, sights, colors, dancing, and eating going on then. Local community bands marching and playing in the streets until the wee hours of the morning, it was a blast. The weather was beautiful our entire trip, with some cool days as this was the beginning of fall there, but no rainy season worries.

 

Like I posted above, Condor Travel serviced the booking made through Latin Destinations and they were truly great, even offering last minute tours for one of the days we hadn't scheduled anything. We chose a trip to the Sacred Valley and the market at Pisac. Again WOW, not to be missed. When Condor said they would be there at 8:00 they were there at 8:00, never had a delay. Their vehicles were top notch, even using a 25 passenger bus to transport us to the Ollantaytambo train station when there were only 2 of us

[WeBeGone]

@Lawton54

 

Thanks so much.

We're planning a machu picchu trip combined with a galapagos cruise. Your experiences will help in our decision making.

 

ritalou 1125 at att dot net

Edited June 8, 2011 by WeBeGone

[Bowie MeMe]

We have done the Machu Pichu land tour after an Amazon River Cruise arranged by International Expeditions (IE). It is a magical place and worth the effort to get to this remote place. Be aware that altitude does cause problems for some folks:eek: Who are you doing your Galapagos trip with? It seems to me that most are offering this extension. IMHO when traveling in 3rd world country and remote places you want to be at the highest level of service/hotel/transportation that you can afford. Western tummies don't do well with local food -- and local hotels are NOT charming. I would also check out the tour operators as well as you can in that liscence and equipment etc may not be what you are expecting. One thing that amazed me in Peru was that "busses tourisimo" were trucks with a wooden fence in the back where the "customers" stood as the driver tore down the one lane road! OH MY!.

 

I loved Peru and hope to get back again someday. Everyday seemed to have a Saint's day with parades, celebrations etc. Another tip: elect two double beds as the "bed matrimonia?" or double bed was about the width of a typical dorm room bed and not comfortable for 2 even though we were in a 5* hotel. Have a wonderful trip and JUST DO IT but keep in mind that you need to be taken care of in this region.

[shepp]

If you're the type of person comfortable with independent traveling, it will be very easy to do a Machu Picchu trip on your own, without going on a pricey group tour. M.P. is fully on the main tourist route, and once you get to Lima, it's a piece of cake to take the trip at your own pace.

 

If you have the time, I strongly recommend you stay in the town of Aguas Calientes the nights before and after your visiting the ruins. That way you can get up there first thing in the morning and not leave till closing time. While Machu Picchu is a truly magical place, the main sites are not overly large. Around mid-morning, when all the groups arrived, some areas were totally clogged with people and the hubbub of guides competing with one another to spread tidbits of dubious information. You'd have to wait on line to take a decent picture of an altar. By mid-afternoon, most everybody was gone, and we and the llamas had the place pretty much to ourselves. Much, much better. And if you're into ruins and the like, it's worthwhile touring the Sacred Valley at a more relaxed pace than most travel agents offer.

 

Oh, and for high altitudes - M.P., and even more, Cusco - ask your doc about diamox.

Edited June 8, 2011 by shepp

[K D cruiser]

Hi. Prior to our cruise on the Star Princess in South America we hope to go on the above 5 day tour. Is it recommended ?

Cheers

 

I would like to hear from some cruisers who actually have done the Princess tour. We're looking into this also. I'm sure you can do it for far less money on your own, but the point of going with Princess is having it done for you.

 

I've been checking into independent tours and the ones I've found are RT Lima. After the tour, you would have to fly to Santiago and the fares I've found are around $800pp. There is a bus you can take for $65, but it takes about 48 hours. Plus, the ship actually leaves from Valparaiso so is there a bus that goes there?

 

We've done several Princess cruisetours and find that they are first class and everything is handled very smoothly. And that is why you pay extra.

[queen7030]

We are going on the Star Princess March3. We are also hoping to do a trip to Machu pichu. We were planning just to go thru Princess since we will be on the cruise already. Is this not the way to do it.

Thanks for any help.

[landnsea]

The Princess land tour is fine but you can do the same thing for half the cost if you'll willing to arrange things yourself using a tour operator. You pay a real premium for having Princess arrange it all. Perhaps someone on your roll call is also interested and you could contact a tour operator??

 

What date is your trip?

 

WeBeGone is 100 % correct... why give Princess there crazy amount of money when you can book yourself and safe big then spend your savings on something eles durning your cruise, Thats what we have learned to do.

 

Queen7030...we to are booked on the March 3rd sailing, we have booked our own precruise Machu Picchu tour, heres the link for the tour company we went with, lots to choose from http://www.peruforless.com/

 

We have a active roll call come check it out.

 

John,Laura and Gaby

Seattle,Wa.

[NSWP]

Back in 2007, pre Regal Princess, LA - Sydney we did Cusco/Macchu Picchu with http://www.chimuadventures.com

Excellent. I highly recommend.

[shellbeachjim]

I would like to hear from some cruisers who actually have done the Princess tour. We're looking into this also. I'm sure you can do it for far less money on your own, but the point of going with Princess is having it done for you.

 

I've been checking into independent tours and the ones I've found are RT Lima. After the tour, you would have to fly to Santiago and the fares I've found are around $800pp. There is a bus you can take for $65, but it takes about 48 hours. Plus, the ship actually leaves from Valparaiso so is there a bus that goes there?

 

We've done several Princess cruisetours and find that they are first class and everything is handled very smoothly. And that is why you pay extra.

We did the Princess Tour in 2003 on the old Royal Princess. Yes it was expensive and we could have done it cheaper but it was first rate. We left the ship at San Martin and flew from the military airport nearby. The terminal wasn't much more than an old bus station would look. The flight went to Cuzco and we went to the hotel (the Monasterio) for a quick introduction. Then we went on a city tour. Dinner was at the hotel.

 

The next morning had a very early wakeup call (4am) so we could get to the train to Aguas Calientes. We walked through town to catch the shuttle bus which would take us up to Machu Picchu. We toured it with the guide then had lunch. After lunch there was a little free time before we had to go back down. I went back inside and was able to get to some areas which our tour guide didn't take us. We got back into the shuttle buses and went down the hill and then walked back through Aguas Calientes. There were plenty of vendors just waiting for us to spend our money. We waited a bit for the train, then departed back to Cuzco. We had one more night there then flew back to Lima. After a city tour of Lima we got back to the ship.

 

Princess contracted with Condor Travel for the tour and everything was well done. We weren't crazy about our guide - her English was nearly incomprehensible, but you just don't know what you're going to get.

 

Be very careful about the altitude. You are going from sea level to high altitude in a very short time and may affect you. My wife was very sick the first day and missed dinner (our 10th anniversary :(), but she was fine at Machu Picchu. The altitude at Cuzco is about 10,000 feet (the city tour takes you to areas up to 12,000 feet). Aguas Calientes is about 7,000 feet and Machu Picchu is about 8,000 feet. She didn't have issues at either Aguas Calientes or Machu Picchu. One gentleman on our tour had serious problems and had several seizures due to the altitude. The ship's nurse was on the tour and spent much of her time dealing with him. He was sitting right in front of us on the flight back to Lima and actually had a seizure on the plane.

[lois1112]

I have done Peru as a land tour. my only caution would be the altitude. You arrive in Cusco one day and go to Macchu Picchu the next. you may have not adjusted and have a hard time. The hotel in the sacred valley is very nice. I stayed in the Sanctuary at Macchu Picchu...very expensive but worth the price. Very glad I didn't miss this.

[eveline44]

You can contact Condor Travel (http://www.condortravel.com/) and arrange this tour yourself. It cost us about 800 euro per person. You can also book a custom tour and do it more slowly and decrease the chance of altitude sickness.

[cymro100]

Many thanks everybody-great tips.

[WeBeGone]

We are going on the Star Princess March3. We are also hoping to do a trip to Machu pichu. We were planning just to go thru Princess since we will be on the cruise already. Is this not the way to do it.

Thanks for any help.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Please join our roll call here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1311864

 

There are lots of private tours set up and about 8 people are doing a private tour of MP before the sailing.

[eddiep]

I would like to hear from some cruisers who actually have done the Princess tour. We're looking into this also. I'm sure you can do it for far less money on your own, but the point of going with Princess is having it done for you.

 

I've been checking into independent tours and the ones I've found are RT Lima. After the tour, you would have to fly to Santiago and the fares I've found are around $800pp. There is a bus you can take for $65, but it takes about 48 hours. Plus, the ship actually leaves from Valparaiso so is there a bus that goes there?

 

We've done several Princess cruisetours and find that they are first class and everything is handled very smoothly. And that is why you pay extra.

 

We are considering a princess tour to the macchu piccu. We are both 67 and fit. We dont have a problem walking but I am trying to figure out if this tour is ok for us. Are there people in their 60s taking this tour. I dont think there will be much walking for most days. I am not sure what to make of the altitude. Have been to pikes peak and other us places without an issue. Any advice is apprreciated.

[caribill]

We are considering a princess tour to the macchu piccu. We are both 67 and fit. We dont have a problem walking but I am trying to figure out if this tour is ok for us. Are there people in their 60s taking this tour. I dont think there will be much walking for most days. I am not sure what to make of the altitude. Have been to pikes peak and other us places without an issue. Any advice is appreciated.

 

We did not take the Princess tour but did take a five day independent tour (five of us) before we took the Princess cruise. We had 2.5 days to become accustomed to the altitude before going to to MP. And the city we were in the night before was at a higher altitude than MP.

 

Age 67 and fit will be fine for visiting MP.

 

Main advice is to realize how high you are and don't over exert yourself. Nobody in our group of five had any problem.

[shepp]

We are considering a princess tour to the macchu piccu. We are both 67 and fit. We dont have a problem walking but I am trying to figure out if this tour is ok for us. Are there people in their 60s taking this tour. I dont think there will be much walking for most days. I am not sure what to make of the altitude. Have been to pikes peak and other us places without an issue. Any advice is apprreciated.

 

Heck, I was in my 60s when I climbed Huayna Picchu, that big mountainy-thing overlooking the ruins. (Wouldn't do it again, prolly, but it sure was glorious.) While Pikes Peak is higher than MP (and so is Cusco), just because someone hasn't had altitude sickness before is no guarantee they won't in the future. I climbed Mount Whitney (14,500 ft.) without identifiable symptoms when I was in my 40s, but as soon as I went off diamox while at Lake Titicaca (12,500) a few years back, I got thrown for a miserable, headachey loop. Diamox does have side effects, which I personally found quite tolerable, and when I go to Tibet later this year I'll be taking it again. But I'm not a physician - you should talk to a travel doctor.