Star Breeze Disembark time in Puerto Caldera

Does anyone know the earliest time you can can actually disembark the ship in Puerto Caldera? The itinerary says we arrive at 6:00 am with departure at 7:00 am. I am trying to book flights out of San Jose and am hoping to make a late morning flight. Could I get off the ship at 6:00 am?

Is the transfer time about 1 hour?

thanks!

You should allow 1.5 hours for the trip to SJO airport from the port. You cannot disembark when the ship anchors at 6:00 am since the passports have to be cleared by immigration and returned to the passengers. It takes a while for all of this to be done. I wouldn't book a flight earlier than 11:00 am.

What time MUST we be off the ship in Puerto Caldera if we dock at 6 am? We are meeting the car rental rep at the port gate at 9 am. Should we make it earlier? Wouldn't want to hang around the port entrance longer than necessary.

We were on the Wind Spirit on our Panama Canal cruise. We were literally the last passengers off in Puerto Caldera. The captain and ships officers shook our hands at 8:30 a.m. as we walked off the gangplank. There were taxis waiting in the parking lot right there and we hopped one and took it to the airport and our flight home. It was a wonderful cruise!

Ski Mom 2: Thank you for the info. We'll contact the car rental agency and change the pick up time to 8:30. Do you recall how far the port gate was from the ship?

We're looking forward to our first Windstar cruise!

If I remember correctly, we literally walked off the ship and rolled our luggage up to the taxis waiting. We negotiated a price to go to the airport and off we went. I don't recall if there was a port gate we then drove through. Sorry.

We are looking forward to our third Wind Star cruise next September. We loved our Panama Canal cruise and our Caribbean cruise so much on Wind Star and don't really have any desire to cruise anyone else. Enjoy!

Ski Mom 2: Thanks!! We've sailed on Oceania and Seabourn before so we're interested in the feel of the small passenger load.

We made so many new friends on board both our cruises. One time on Wind Spirit and one on Wind Surf. The service is outstanding. When the crew knows your name by day two it makes you feel so special. And when you sail a year later and Aladdin from your first cruise is there waiting for you and remembers you it makes you wonder why you cruised anyone else.

We love port intensive cruises and being in a new place every day. I love Broadway shows but will head to NYC to see a show; same goes for casinos and Las Vegas. The masses just don't do it for us anymore and we feel like we've found a home cruising on Wind Star.

I hope you enjoy your cruise and the folks that make it so special!

We'll let you know how it goes for us.

BTW, did you go to Colon? If you did, what did you do? Have been looking online and from what I could find, it's not a very safe place.

Colon is a horrid place! Do not go there except to board the ship. Panama City is a lovely place to stay and visit.

Well, the ship is there all day so we're going. So the recommendation is to remain aboard rather sight seeing? Perhaps there nothing worth seeing?? Seems a shame to waste a port....

Our cruise actually left from Colon so we went in early to Panama City and spent Christmas Eve in old Panama. It was amazing! We then hired a car to drive us to Colon in time to board the cruise. Our driver, who had worked for the government at the canal warned us about Colon. There is one area for shopping that he said if you went there and back you would be safe. I would suggest looking at ships excursions for Colon if it's a port stop in the middle of your cruise.

Thanks Ski Mom 2.

We love Casca Viejo!! Fascinating. We were there about 4 years ago and they were doing a lot of rennovations/restorations. Looking forward to seeing it again in December.

Colon IS in the middle of our cruise. However, the ship's excursions don't do much for us.

Would like to see the Visitors Center at the new locks and will try to find a driver online.

Seems like a poor choice of a port for Windstar if the city is dangerous for tourists but it is what it is.