"Antigua on your own" with Celebrity

[sussanahrose]

We are on the Celebrity Century on 3rd January 2013 for a 15day Panama Cruise. Just wondering if anyone knows if the tours tend to get booked out and is it necessary to pre-book them to ensure a place. We are particularly interested in the bus trip "Antigua on your own" at Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.

 

If we pre-book with Celebrity we also have to pay upfront when booking which also incurs a 3% foreign exchange fee on our credit card.

 

Hope someone can let us know if these buses tend to be booked out or if it is more of a shuttle service where there will be buses coming and going all day?

 

Thanks!

[KirkNC]

If you want to go I would go ahead and book it as you can cancel later if you change your mind. It will not be like a shuttle coming and going all day. It will leave at a certain time and then return at a predetermined time.

[robtulipe]

We did a full transit of the Panama Canal five years ago and wanted to post our experience at Peurto Quetzal, Guatemala even though it is not recent. I would highly recommend going to Antigua.

With three other couples we had met on the ship, we took a private taxi van tour to the old colonial capital city of Antigua that was arranged on site at the large information and shopping tent just before the parking lot. The whole port area is secured and the only locals allowed into the port area are employees and registered vendors, taxis and buses. The price for all tours were posted on a banner and I believe all were $20US per person. This is what we paid. You could go to Guatemala City, Antigua, etc. The price was so low we didn't even negotiate for a lower one.

For this charge we got a driver who owned the taxi van and an english speaking guide that he employed for a tour to Antgua. We started out at 9:15AM, got to Antigua at about 10.45AM after stopping at a Esso/Exxon service center just outside Antigua for a banos/water buying break. The guide stayed with us the whole day showing us the colonial town sites while the driver would drop us off and pick us up as parking for his van was limited. They kept in contact with each other by cell phone. We treated them to lunch at a local restaurant they recommended that offered great and varied meals at low cost. They even took us up to a viewing site on the heights overlooking the city center. This is where the Vera Cruz cross is located and where the larger ship's tour buses couldn't go. On the way back to the ship they took us to a modern supermarket to buy coffee since one couple decided that they hadn't bought enough of this brew in Costa Rica. We returned to ship in plenty of time to shop at the vendors at the port but were not rushed anytime for our 5:30 sailing.

Re security, we felt safe all the way. Our excellent english speaking guide told us that each taxi was given a sign with a #. Our taxi van was # 24 and each of us had a sticker with this #. Every 10 miles or so there were police along the route monitoring the buses and taxis with ship passengers. This is exactly what happened. There was a police presence throughout Antigua and even on the Vera Cruz viewing site overlooking the town.

The fully guided ship's tours to Antigua were $139 and $ 119 per person each and offered less. The ON Your Own bus tranfers were $49 per person.

[sussanahrose]

Thanks for your replies.

 

We've decided to go ahead and book with the ship now and then it's done!

[Jasperdo]

 

Hope someone can let us know if these buses tend to be booked out or if it is more of a shuttle service where there will be buses coming and going all day?

 

Thanks!

The ride from Puerto Quetzal to Antiqua is approx. an hour and a half. Because of the distance, there is no shuttle service provided. You will board the bus at the pier. The bus will wait in Antiqua and you will board the same bus for the return journey. My wife and I did this with Princess earlier this year, but I'm sure Celebrity works the same way. We had about 5 hours on our own. Antiqua's a beautiful Colonial city, and was one of the highlights of our Panama Canal cruise.

[GizFriend]

We just returned from the 10/8 Panama Canal cruise on the Celebrity Infinity. As has been posted above, the bus leaves at a set time, gives you 5 hours in Antigua, and then returns to port at a set time. There were four buses going to Antigua for the "on your own" tour. When we arrived in Antigua, we were dropped off at an area that had rest rooms and local, certified guides. The guides charge $10/person. We decided to do that with another couple thinking we might learn more than just wandering on our own. Our guide was great, very interesting, and spoke English well. We really enjoyed it, but wished we had more time there. We didn't book any ship excursions until we were on the ship. One in Panama was not available, but we took a similar one. All the others had space.

[Northern Aurora]

We did the "Antigua on Your Own" ship excursion while on a pair of B2B cruises on the Infinity last spring. Our experience was the same as described by GizFriend. While on the drive to Antigua we had a guide on the motorcoach who provided an overview and distributed maps of the city. We were dropped off at the visitor's center (which has bathrooms, some local vendors and music). Streets in Antigua are very narrow and the motorcoaches are moved away from the visitor's center. We were told what time to return to the visitor's center where we boarded the same motorcoach with same guide for the return drive to the ship. It was a very smooth process.

 

In the past some posters have asked if they can return to the ship earlier if they become very tired. If someone becomes tired of walking on the uneven cobblestone streets on Antigua, the visitor's center offers shaded seating and cold beverages for purchase.

[Jacqueline]

You can easily enjoy Antigua on your own for the day. My daughter and I spent 10 days there in november. Lovely place, nice people, imcredible setting.

[OC SeaPA]

Just got off Infinity. We were not happy with Antigua on your own. The roads were horrible. Our bus ended up taking over 2 hrs to get there (police activity rerouted us) and over 2.5 to get back to the bus (stopped for over 1/2 hr with construction). We had less than 3 hrs there, and got back too late to shop at the dock, which we like to do. Others didn't have this problem. Wish someone would have told us there could be that much sitting on a bus!

[travelling bob]

I have a question on the road from the port to Antigua.

 

I suffer from a fear of heights and certain mountain roads are a problem for me.

 

What is the road like from the port to Antigua?

 

Thanks.

[Jacqueline]

The main problem, as stated above is the potential traffic.

The roads are well paved and lined. Looks to be both under construction and recently done.

I can say that the roads are less scary than Dominica or maybe Granada, but you are climbing from sea level to close to 5,000ft in altitude. The only way to do that is to go up, up.

I did wear my safety belt.

[Jasperdo]

I have a question on the road from the port to Antigua.

 

I suffer from a fear of heights and certain mountain roads are a problem for me.

 

What is the road like from the port to Antigua?

 

Thanks.

The first half of the road to Antiqua from the port is an excellent, flat, 4 lane highway. The second half is a very good, two lane road. It does climb from the coastal plain to 5,000 feet. But it does it gently, and there are no dangerous switchbacks or sudden dropoffs.

[travelling bob]

The first half of the road to Antiqua from the port is an excellent, flat, 4 lane highway. The second half is a very good, two lane road. It does climb from the coastal plain to 5,000 feet. But it does it gently, and there are no dangerous switchbacks or sudden dropoffs.

 

Thank you.....I used Google Earth to review the route and I am fine with it. :cool:

[lamchops]

Thanks for your replies.

 

We've decided to go ahead and book with the ship now and then it's done!

 

 

Good call! The "On your Own" or other ship's excursion is fine as Antigua is quite a distance away.

This is NOT a port for a DIY "dockside" or by cab. On our cruise we had at least 3 buses that were late. I was on the first of the 3 at 30 minutes late so I don't know how many were actually late.

[RubyRuby1939]

Hi all

I have a question, I'm doing the "Antigua on your own" in November and want to know if it's safe for single woman to be on her own without a guide I.E. not being hassled all the time by sellers taxi drivers etc. Am well travelled and Egypt and India are the worst places for this.

[Jer&Ker]

Thanks much, very informative.

[mcmarya]

A single woman should be fine, just use good judgement. There will be lots of vendors trying to sell you their wares. But, in my experience, they generally leave you alone if you say you are not interested. On our two trips there, my husband has wanted to just sit in the park part of the time and I have walked around on my own safely. Just walk purposefully and you should have no trouble.

 

We have done the "on your own" trip twice and plan to do it again in December. Antigua is quite a distance from the port and I would be nervous about hiring a private excursion. Last time we were there, we ended up in a huge traffic jam on our way back to the ship. Eventually the police stopped traffic going the opposite direction so the cruise ship tour buses could bypass the jam. If you were on a private tour, you could get left behind.

[RubyRuby1939]

Many thanks for your post. Will book the excursion from the ship. Then I know I will get back should anything untoward happen.: