jmlh

I agree, I think that this is a nice feature. Just discovered it a couple of days ago.

Traffic is awful in Lima. So...I would advise a transfer with Taxidatum.com. This was a wonderful service. Courteous drivers waiting for you and a great transfer experience. If you stay in Lima I would suggest reserving at Central for dinner (Miraflores area). It was a wonderful experience and although not inexpensive, delivered great flavors. Apparently it is the top rated restaurant in South America.

The Larco Museum is not to be missed. The Taxidatum folks will drive you there and wait until you have completed the tour.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced hotel, Hotel de Autor is recommended. However, if within budget, the Marriott looked to be amazing.

Enjoy Lima - we think it is wonderful!

Jan

Starting yesterday, the Celebrity site is now working very well for me. Hopefully this continues!

So... I was finally able to access the Celebrity site last night and book a couple of excursions. Maybe there is hope that it will work!

Yesterday I could peruse excursions on our upcoming 2 cruises and today I am unable to even access one cruise!! I guess I am not meant to book cruise ship excursions. Very frustrating, to say the least!

The Celebrity web site is NOT working for me. It is a total exercise in frustration!!! I will call in the morning as I expect that all the IT folks are off for the weekend. Hopefully they can find a fix.

We used them in March 2017 and it was a great day. Highly recommend!!

We did this tour last February and had an excellent time. Personable & knowledgeable guide, great food tastings (you will not leave hungry!!) and a great walk around town. Was a really good day and we would highly recommend. Even got our taste of Key Lime pie.

I was speaking of the Hampton Inn. We have just booked here for a day room after our cruise. Hopefully it will be fine for our luggage storage and for a short walk to a good lunch/brunch sport.

How far would we have to walk to find a nice place for lunch?

Stayed at this hotel for 4 nights last March. Had a very good stay - spacious & clean rooms. Will return again this coming winter.

Jan

I think our best port was Stanley in the Falkland islands. We did the 4WD trip to Vouleenteer Point to see the thousands of penguins. It was a private tour with Patrick Watts & went very smoothly. The small village feel of Stanley was a touch of Britain near the bottom of the world. Highlight of our 29 days cruising in South America.

 

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Absolutely agree!! This is the #1 excursion that we have taken. Will never forget the drive out to see the penguins!!! And... we completed the day in Stanley at a local pub.

Loving this thread as it is bringing back many happy excursion memories.

Jan

We also had a late flight into Lima on our way to Machu Picchu and chose to stay at the Wyndham. You just walk across the street and you are there! Clean and quiet and just fine for one night. We also like the Miraflores area better but airport hotels can certainly serve a purpose.

If you choose to not stay at the airport I would highly booking a taxi with taxidatum.com. A driver was waiting for us with our name on a sign and we were driven in a very clean and new car.

Enjoy Machu Picchu - it was amazing.

You would have to Uber but we have really enjoyed Coconuts (across from the Courtyard Marriott on the beach). Really fresh and delicious seafood - we are returning in February!!

Jan

Another vote for Captain Marvin's. We will likely book this excursion again for next January. Very enjoyable!!

Thanks for the Visa information. We have done an extensive land tour of India and certainly had to get a Visa (quite a process!). I keep hoping that they will change the requirements for cruise ship passengers but guess that is just wishful thinking.

Jan

We are considering this cruise in the next couple of years and just wondering if you had to obtain an Indian visa prior to departure?

Thoroughly enjoying your review.

Jan

We flew into Quito 2 days prior to the start of our tour and found it very easy to get a taxi from the airport to the Marriott. There is a desk just outside of luggage pickup and the man walked us outside to a waiting taxi. I believe the cost was $25.

It was great to have some extra time pre tour to recover from the flight and to tour outside of the city. A very enjoyable holiday from start to finish!!

Dessert at Better than Sex:

 

http://www.betterthansexkeywest.com/

Thanks! Looks like a place DH would like to check out!!!

Does anyone know when the drydock (and the new mattress!!) will take place?

Appreciate the Blackfin Bistro information. We will be fine as we are beer/wine drinkers.

Thanks so much for your suggestion of swapping the 2 restaurants. We will look into sunset/dining time. And... we really appreciate your confirmation that our choice of restaurants will result in great eating!!!

This will our be our first time in Key West and we want to have a great dining experience. So... this is what we have booked:

Afternoon arrival -Flaming Buoy (dinner)

Thursday - Walking tour of Key West restaurants

Dinner @ Blackfin Bistro

Friday - Lunch @ Azur

- Dinner @ Louis's backyard

Is this a good plan or should we make changes?

Thanks for any and all assistance!!

Jan

After our Galapagos cruise in September, we did the Ecuadorian rain forest (4 days) followed by a flight to Lima to do Machu Picchu on our own. We felt that this gave us much more time than the Celebrity tour and thus was much more enjoyable. And... we saved a lot of money!

If you have time it is nice to overnight at Machu Picchu as you have a chance of wonderful weather on one of the days (we did!). My other suggestion would be to visit a travel Doctor to discuss & get meds for altitude sickness. We took the prescribed pills and had absolutely no problems.

We also really enjoyed Cusco (had 2 nights there). If I was to do this again I would book 3 nights - a lovely walking city.

Enjoy!

Thanks so much for your positive post. It was a great start to my day!!

Jan:)