Machu Picchu timing and travel questions

[marne-c]

My wife and I will be on the Infinity's 24 Dec '05 South America cruise, and we want to visit Machu Picchu during our vacation. I've read every post here on Machu Picchu, and all posters seem to feel that MP is a site not-to-be-missed. But the consensus is that multiple days in Cusco and MP are needed.

 

That leaves me with a few questions not directly addressed in the threads I've found.

 

First, has anyone taken a cruise line's mid-cruise 3-day shore excursion to Machu Picchu? If so, please describe how it went and whether you would recommend this as a sensible and enjoyable way to experience MP.

 

Second and similarly, has anyone taken a mid-cruise 3-day shore excursion to MP with an outside tour operator (PortCompass, etc.)? If so, how did it go, and would you recommend it?

 

Third, for folks who visited Machu Picchu after a cruise ending in Valparaiso, how did you arrange your air, hotel and tour details? I'm looking for recommendations of specific tour operators and/or travel websites for booking and guiding MP tours.

 

Finally, for those same folks, how did you return home after your MP visit? Did you make your own air arrangements departing Lima? Did you use the cruise line's "custom air" service? Or did you do something different?

 

Many thanks for your help!

 

--Marne

[alanmal]

Thinking of doing the same cruise as you, have yuntil May 5th to decide. Did this almost same cruise Nov of 2003 with NCL. Went on the 3 day MP. Will go on the Nazca lines this time if we go ( it is a toss up between South America and Northern africa, turkey and greece).

 

First let me say it is well worth it, but very hectic 3 days. At the time my wife and I were in the low 60's in age.

 

It is 3 days of non stop from when the shipped docked in lima till we rushed to the ship in arica. You see cuzco in depth and MP in depth and back to hotel in cuzco very late the second night. then up early the third day tofly to arica to meet ship, which with NCL sailed at 1pm. celebrity stays till 6pm so maybee you can catch a afternoon shore excursion in arica. If you have any specific questions you can e-mail me at alanmal@aol.com

 

al

[Aussie Gal]

Marne

 

I can only answer the last part of your question. We are doing our cruise on the Regal next January leaving from Rio and ending up in Valpariso. We are then having one night in Santiago and then flying to Cusco. We will have two nights there and will be going to the Sacred Valley for a day visit and then we will take the train up to Machu Picchu, staying one night there and then returning back to Cusco for another night before flying out to Quito as we are going to do the Galapagos Islands. that has been booked with an agency in Ecuador.

 

We have organized our Peru tour with a Peruvian agency, Peru Travel - Inca Natura, -who booked our Orient hotels way back in September of last year. (We are staying at the Sanctuary in Machu Picchu and their other hotel in Cusco.) I know our rooms have been reserved since September, 2005 as originally I was also dealing directly with the hotel reservation department and they told me our rooms had already been booked by the above agency.

 

With regards to internal airflights. I have booked them with a firm here in Melbourne. We have an special internal airpass as we are also flying to the falls from Rio and returning before our cruise. In fact I have paid for our internal airfares already as they were increasing in price and the taxes were also changing.

 

There has been a lot to organize but it is just about finalised now.

 

Jennie

[marne-c]

Great information. Many thanks!

 

Alanmal: I would very much like to hear some more details about your 3-day whirlwind MP tour with Norwegian. (P.S. I'll see you on the Infinity!)

 

Aussie Gal: I checked the Sanctuary's web site, and they had no availability full for our possible post-cruise stay. I haven't yet tried an agency or a combination of the Sanctuary with pre/post stays at the Monasterio in Cusco. I also haven't done much with air options, other than discovering that there are no commercial flights from Cusco or Lima that will get us to Arica Chile in time to meet our ship if we do the mid-cruise 3-day excursion on our own.

 

BTW, several of our shipmates on this past February's Infinity around-the-Horn cruise went to see Iguazu Falls before our BA departure. All of them loved it. Everyone advised taking the jet boat to the bottom of the falls, but plan to get soaked. Not just damp, not sorta splattered, but completely drenched and thoroughly fire-hose wet. Happily.

 

--Marne

[Aussie Gal]

Marne,

 

I do believe that you can only stay at the Sanctuary if you are staying at the Monasterio as well though last year on this board someone said that there is a way around that but I am not sure how. We are staying at both the hotels and as I mentioned we have been booked in since September, 2004.

 

The air flights around S.A. are very strange. The itineraries change all the time and I believe that often the flights out of Cusco can be cancelled due to the weather which makes travel difficult especially if you have to tie up with a ship or another tour.

 

It will be a miracle if all our plans fall into place without any hitches.

 

Jennie

[xpcdoojk]

Marne,

 

I do believe that you can only stay at the Sanctuary if you are staying at the Monasterio as well though last year on this board someone said that there is a way around that but I am not sure how. We are staying at both the hotels and as I mentioned we have been booked in since September, 2004.

 

The air flights around S.A. are very strange. The itineraries change all the time and I believe that often the flights out of Cusco can be cancelled due to the weather which makes travel difficult especially if you have to tie up with a ship or another tour.

 

It will be a miracle if all our plans fall into place without any hitches.

 

Jennie

 

Ain't that the truth! :D ;)

 

jc

[Aussie Gal]

Hi jc,

 

How are you keeping? Time is marching on and it won't be too long before you are off on your great adventure. Great to hear from you.

 

Jennie

[GottoCruise]

We are booked way in advance for the Pacific Princess Jan 5, 2007 The cruise start in Calleo. Peru. We booked this cruise and plan to arrange a Pre-cruise ourselves to Machu Picchu. We are 2 couples, and would appreciate very much you "critique" of your trip It sounds just what we would like. We will be flying from Miami and would like to arrange a private tour of about 5-6 nights before boarding the ship on Jan 5.

 

How far in advance do you think we will need to book in order to stay at the Sanctuary in Machu Picchu? ....

 

Thanks in advance....Renee

[Aussie Gal]

Gotto Cruise.

 

We booked with our Peruvian Travel Agency in September, 2004 for January, 2006. So far we haven't had to pay any deposits because the prices for 2006 haven't yet been released. I believe around September we will have to start paying deposits etc.

 

We were originally going to do it all on our own eg. Book through Peru Oriental Hotels, do our own train bookings etc. but I discovered it was cheaper to go through an agent, especially with the hotel accommodation.

 

We are flying to Cusco on Monday, staying until Wednesday when we catch the train to Machu Picchu, have one night at the Sanctuary, return to Cusco for Thursday night and fly out on Friday for Quito. We are going to do a cruise of the Galapagos after that.

 

I do know that the earlier you book the better chance you have of getting accommodation at the Sanctuary as it doesn't hold a lot of people.

 

I will certainly let you know about our experiences when we return home in February next year.

 

I believe you met up with Aussie friends of ours from Brisbane on your Sapphire Princess cruise in April/May. ;)

 

 

Jennie

[GottoCruise]

Thanks for all the help - I have already spoken with Orient Express and reserved the Sanctuary for Jan 1 2007.........no penalty for cancellation within 7 days . I can always change my mind and book another hotel...Price is crazy for 2007 - $724 +19% tx. ... we'll see if we want to spend that much for the 1 night. Now, I can work around that date......I will also book the Libertador iin Cuzco for 2 nights before MP and 2 nights after MP. as soon as it is "bookable" - ...and use the Princess "operational overnite" hotel in Lima before boarding the ship on Jan 5. Do you have a good TA/guide service you are working with - would appreciate your contact.

Just a little glitch for me to work on - where to store the bags when we arrive in Lima before connecting to our flight for Cuzco ?- don't want to drag around the cruise luggage ...we can pick it up when we return to Lima..but if we are not staying in a hotel in Lima (outbound) - will need somewhere to store the bags at the airport - Do you know iff they have baggage storage?? Any suggestions? Thanks again....:D Renee

[Aussie Gal]

Gottocruise,

 

Cannot help with the luggage storage as we will be taking ours to Cusco. Of course we will be leaving most of it at the hotel there when go up for the night to Machu Picchu. We then have to take ours to Quito but again will leave a fair amount at our hotel there while we do the 5 day Galapagos cruise.

 

If we have to pay excess on the internal flights, so be it, as it is the only way we can get from A to B and we don't want to backtrack.

 

I have posted on the other Machu Picchu thread the name of our T.A. We are working with Carmen from Peru-Travel Info.

 

Jennie

[GottoCruise]

Jennie -

I noticed a note on one of the web sites that International Tourists do NOT have to pay the 19% hotel tax if you show a boarding pass and passport stamp.

That's quite a savings at the luxury hotels...Are you familiar with this??

Thanks for the TA name - when time gets closer I'll be in touch w/Carmen at Peru Travel.........I am still "tweaking" our itinerary and dates to decide exactly how we want to do this.

About storing the cruise lugage - not so much the excess baggage charge as the inconvenience of dragging around all the cruise luggage - we'll only need a small duffle for the Pre-cruse plans to Machu Picchu.....

We might have to spend an overnight in LIMA to leave the bags in storage at hotel concierge to pick up when we return to Lima to embark the Pacific Princess......we'll see - still "researching"....Thanks, Renee

[Aussie Gal]

Gottocruise,

 

Yes Carmen did mention that we do not have to pay that hefty tax which is something. I know that the Sanctuary is very expensive (especially for us Aussies) but it is a once in a lifetime trip and I don't want to miss out on waking up amongst the ruins. Mind you, it could be pouring with rain when we are there, but it is still the atmosphere of being there.

 

Jennie

[Traveling Fools]

Flight time from Santiago to Lima is 3 hours. We departed at about 8:00 A.M. and didn't arrive in Lima until after 11:00. We spent several days with Peruvian friends who live in Lima and who travelled to Cusco with us. If my memory serves me correct, I don't think there were any afternoon flights scheduled to fly to Cusco; however, I could be wrong.

 

Our itinerary at Cusco and Machu Picu was as follows:

 

Day 1: 6:00 A.M.departure from Lima for Cusco, arrived at Cusco at about 8:45 A.M., 1st excursion began at 1:45 P.M. and finished at about 6:00 P.M. (would have been later, but rain kept us inside the bus) (NOTE: Have $5.00 in local currency to pay the domestic airport tax, otherwise you will have get out of line to get it.) The altitude can really kick some people in the butt! One of our travelling companions really suffered, as did another friend of ours. Most in-bound flights arrive in the morning and the tour operators take you directly to your hotel. They give you coca tea and tell you to rest up. If you need some O2 ask for it a the lobby. Most of the organized tours don't start until early afternoon.

 

Day 2: Picked up at hotel at 5:30 A.M., 6:00 departure via train to Machu Picchu, 9:45 arrive in Machu Picchu, 3:00 depart Machu Picchu, and 7:30 arrive Cusco. Initially, we had wanted to remain overnight at Machu Picchu and stay at the Sancutary. I am glad we didn't. It would have added another day to our trip and we don't think we would have gained that much from it.

 

Day 3: Picked up at hotel at 8:30 A.M., full day excursion to the Sacred Valley, return to hotel at 7:00 P.M.. This was a Sunday and we were able to do a lot of great shopping at the local markets.

 

Day 4: Picked up at hotel at 8:30 for return flight to Lima. We got to the airport with time to spare, but ended up with experiencing a 3 hour weather delay.

 

The cost per person for this trip, including air, hotel, train, and excursions was $600. We stayed at the Novatel and were very satisfied. This was a fantanstic experience!

[Emdee]

For anyone looking to stay in Lima - stay at the Country Club . It was a great hotel with champagne and fresh squeezed orange juice in the lobby. YOu can rent a car for the day at about $13 per hour.

 

We stayed at Monasterio and Sanctuary and a night at Posade del Inca in the Yucay.

 

Any questions let me know.

[wander]

Unless something has changed in the past two years, as you said there are no flights into or out of Cusco in the afternoons. This is due to the temperatures and the resulting density of the air at that altitude. We learned of this on our first trip to Cusco and then on our second one, due to a flight delay there was a chance that we would have to spend an extra night in Cusco, but we finally got to take off about 15 minutes before the airport "closed" for the afternoon.

[BOHEMIO]

I will be in Lima in March,

 

I well be only the time what to permit my cruise

I have interest in visiting The Canyon del Infiernillo or The Canyon Chillon or The Canyon River Cañete

Some person to visited in these places?

it is possible to visit with time it in a shutdown of the cruise?

 

The time of arrival is to the 7 in the morning and exit to 5 of afternoon