Let's talk Costa Rica

[PML777]

Mike,

 

I finally made a decision on our flights...arriving Fr at 12:45pm, so 2 nights pre and 1 night post cruise at VC. You mentioned the other couple was arriving earlier than you...is it on Fri or another day?

 

When you booked VC, did you get the prices they have posted on their website or did you get a packaged deal?

 

Peggy

[budaman]

I did some checking....our return flight is at 1:45.

 

Rates for the Villa were $260 & the JR Suite $339. This includes the 13% taxes.

 

I also heard from Odyssey yesterday to tell me they figured the rates they gave me were to Jaco...not VC. The new price is the same as VC quoted me, so I will be sticking with Odyssey....probably would have done that anyway, but the lower price is nice.

 

I believe our friends will be going a full week ahead.

 

Mike

[PML777]

Mike,

 

I contacted the hotel to see if the Standard Deluxe was avail for the 7th & 8th and they told me that room type was not available...so I am now awaiting a return reply to see what room types are available. In the meantime I went to Expedia and American Express and both websites allow me to book the Standard Deluxe for those dates. So I am curious to what would happen if I booked via one of those sites. I will wait for their reply before I decide what to do.

 

Peggy

[budaman]

They didn't have any of those when we booked ages ago. I'd be a little leary of booking with other sites, but...they may have a deal with VC & that may be why VC says they don't. Looking at the rooms & reviews, I'd rather spend the money on a Villa or Jr. Suite...not really that much more for just a few nights.

 

I just changed our outbound flight from Austin with Continental....originally we had an hour & a half layover in Houston, but since we booked in March, they have made the 1st leg later & second leg earlier so we only had 50 minutes. Not comfortable for an Intl. flight in January. Booked the earlier flight out at 7AM so we have 2 hrs. now...more time in the Capt's Club.

 

Mike

[PML777]

Mike,

 

I am still waiting to hear back fro VC...36 hours and counting...but I do remember you posting that they can be slow with their reponses. Sure hope the Villa is avail...3 nights at the Jr Suite is a bit pricey for me but not out of the question.....so pencil us in for 3 of the 4 transporation legs and hope we can book a room soon :-)

 

Since Continental changed the original times on your legs, I sure hope you weren't charged a change fee!!

[budaman]

No fees...they were very nice to work with. Even got the same seats.

 

Hope it works out on the rooms.

 

Mike

[PML777]

Finally heard back from VC...the prices they are quoting me is the same as their website (jr Suite $372). How did you get a discounted price? All the suites are available and now it seems the SD is avail on Sun only...not mention of the Villas for being avail....so may go with Jr. Sute for 2 nights and SD for last night

[budaman]

Probably because we booked so long ago....or just lucky:D

 

Mike

[PML777]

Mike,

 

I finally have my rooms booked w/VC...just need to send in my payment :-)

 

Do you have any idea when Star Clipper will post the excursions for our itinerary?...or do you plan to book most of your excursions on your own and not via the cruiseline?

 

Peggy

[budaman]

Don't know if they will post them prior to the first sailing.....might have our Docs by then & they should be with them. They don't allow for booking in advance. They will have a sign up sheet on board....usually in the Library when you check in. Hopefully it won't be like the setup we had on the Royal Clipper. The CD is in control of the excursions, and he refused to post the excursions until the day before the port....made it very difficult to plan your week.

 

The only thing we REALLY want to do is a whitewater rafting trip if it is offered. January is kind of iffy as to water levels in the rivers where we will be....dry season. We will more than likely dive at Coiba, Cano Island & Tortuga. If time permits, we are going to try & check out some properties in the area for retirement. We've narrowed it down to Cozumel & Costa Rica. We did check out a few places on our trip to Cozumel last month & it is my first choice.....I really feel at home there.

 

I checked the rates on line & did you reserve the Jr. Suite Supreme or the standard JS.....looked like the standard JS was $320+taxes which would be about $359.

 

Mike

[PML777]

Mike,

 

I booked a Villa for pre-cruise and Standard Deluxe for post-cruise. As long as the place isn't full, I thought we could always upgrade to a Suite when we checked in and checked the place out....we'll see. Now I need to book our transportation from the airport to VC :-)

 

Peggy

[Sassy Chassis]

Howdy! Haven't checked in here for a while...I have made final payment and am anxiously awaiting my trip :D

[budaman]

Just because you get to go a month & a half before us, you don't have to rub it in:D

 

Done any M/C racing lately or made plans to come to Austin for F1 in 2012?

 

Mike

[PML777]

Mike,

 

Since you have already done the research I thought I'd ask...what website has the best info on tours we can take while staying at VC?

 

Peggy

[budaman]

Haven't looked into much since we are only there the one night pre cruise....thought we'd just hang out at the beach....maybe get a massage.

 

Have heard the trip up the Tarcoles River to see the Crocodile's is good. There are several ziplines in the area, but I've heard the best one is the Waterfall one that is about 10 miles from Puntarenas. This one:

 

http://www.adventureparkcostarica.com/en/shore-excursions-costa-rica.html

 

Mike

[Sassy Chassis]

Just because you get to go a month & a half before us, you don't have to rub it in:D

 

Done any M/C racing lately or made plans to come to Austin for F1 in 2012?

 

Mike

 

Nope, just work, work, work :o but I'll have to look into the F1 - that sounds awesome!!

[arpclock]

Is anyone else going on this cruise? We are interested in sharing transportation back to San Jose area afterwards. We are spending a week at Monteverde before the cruise.

[budaman]

FYI.....ya'll!

 

The excursions for Costa Rica are available on the Star Clipper site now. Click on shore excursions at the bottom of the page.

 

Mike

[Sassy Chassis]

FYI.....ya'll!

 

The excursions for Costa Rica are available on the Star Clipper site now. Click on shore excursions at the bottom of the page.

 

Mike

 

Ah goody...something to do during lunch break :D

[budaman]

Now, I'm going to need some help from some of you doing the earlier CR/Panama itinerary......please make note of the port times and post when you get back.

 

I was really hoping a W/W rafting excursion or zip line would be offered on that itinerary, but looks like we're out of luck, so we'll have to try & schedule our own. Quepos looks the most promising for W/W as one of the rivers there still has enough water running in January that trips can be scheduled.

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Mike

[Sassy Chassis]

Well, I got my Cruise Docs...so it's official now!! :D Looking forward to zip-lines and monkeys...and other stuff ;)

[budaman]

Cool!

 

All I've gotten is an email from SC concerned that I hadn't booked transfers. I don't think there is another line out there that would give a rats a.. about how or if you got to the ship. They even checked with the Sports Team aboard to see if they have replaced any of their scuba gear recently. Really didn't want to haul our stuff, but I know they had replaced the equipment when they repositioned to Tahiti, so it's getting a bit old.

 

We'll be looking for our docs in another month or so....can't believe how quickly the time has flown.

 

Mike

[Sassy Chassis]

All I've gotten is an email from SC concerned that I hadn't booked transfers. I don't think there is another line out there that would give a rats a.. about how or if you got to the ship. They even checked with the Sports Team aboard to see if they have replaced any of their scuba gear recently.

 

Wow Mike! That really IS awesome!! One of the ladies from SC had called me a few months ago because she was working on the transfers and wanted to make sure my flights had not changed. They really are very helpful. :)

 

Karen

[budaman]

Karen.....did you book one of their hotel pkgs. or are you going straight from the airport to the ship? They didn't have any transfer info when we booked Villa Caletas, so we set up our own transfers based on feedback from the Costa Rica forum & Trip Advisor. Looks like we will be the only ones for the airport to hotel transfer, but should have 3 couples for the other 3 legs which will really reduce our per couple costs. The price was the same for up to 8 people, which will be significantly less than the SC charge per person.

 

Mike

[Sassy Chassis]

Karen.....did you book one of their hotel pkgs. or are you going straight from the airport to the ship? They didn't have any transfer info when we booked Villa Caletas, so we set up our own transfers based on feedback from the Costa Rica forum & Trip Advisor. Looks like we will be the only ones for the airport to hotel transfer, but should have 3 couples for the other 3 legs which will really reduce our per couple costs. The price was the same for up to 8 people, which will be significantly less than the SC charge per person.

 

Mike

 

I booked them all through SC. Looks like they pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel IC for "holding" until 4pm when they gather up the others and take us all to the port. After the cruise we are shuttled back to the hotel IC, and we are staying overnight, and then we have a transfer from the hotel back to the airport the next day.