south america

[golfingnutt]

Has any one taken Machu Picchu tour with Princess? What where your thoughts and did you enjoy.

 

What side of ship is best for sailing around South America?

[Runbarb55]

We did MP with Princess two years ago. It is spendy and you can do it all through someone else for less but I am totally happy with what we paid and how we did it. Do it as a land tour either before or after the cruise. We did it before. The hotels were wonderful. You are split up into a few buses so it didn't feel all cattle like. I think there were 65 people on the tour. Had a great time. Trying to do it during the cruise is way too rushed. The people who did it during cruise did not enjoy the same experiences we did over the 5 or 6 days of travel. You will never regret going.

[Runbarb55]

Facing the front of the ship you want the left side. Port?

[thinfool]

We did MP with Princess two years ago. It is spendy and you can do it all through someone else for less but I am totally happy with what we paid and how we did it. Do it as a land tour either before or after the cruise. We did it before. The hotels were wonderful. You are split up into a few buses so it didn't feel all cattle like. I think there were 65 people on the tour. Had a great time. Trying to do it during the cruise is way too rushed. The people who did it during cruise did not enjoy the same experiences we did over the 5 or 6 days of travel. You will never regret going.

 

This is really good advice. :)

[Pam in CA]

Some friends did a pre-cruise to Machu Picchu with Jacquie Whitt and Adios Adventure Travel. They thought it was terrific.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree if you can do it before or after its a better experience. IMO

 

As far as which side of the ship it depends on which direction the cruise is headed.

[satxdiver]

This is on our to-do list so thanks for the advice. We had thought about doing it during the cruise but now will book it as a separate tour. What tour agency did you use?

[Mommypig]

We considered doing it with Princess but it is high cost for not much time. Instead we did a Trafalgar tour in between two cruises lady winter. For the same price as Princess we got a 5 day Peruvian Amazon plus a 7 day macchu Pichu and highlights of Peru tour. More time to acclimate to the high altitude and a more comprehensive tour. And the tour guides were awesome.

 

Unless you are already accustomed to high altitude, the Princess tour could be seriously hard on you, besides being fairly pricey.

[caribill]

 

As far as which side of the ship it depends on which direction the cruise is headed.

 

It really does not matter much. Almost all of the time you will be too far from shore to see it.

 

In a port, the ship might back in or pull straight in, so it is hard to predict which side of the ship will have a good view in port.

[pompeii]

DH and I are also in the early planning stages of South America around the horn plus Machu Picchu and we're also trying to figure out the best way to do it. A cruisetour would be the easiest but also the most expensive, and maybe a private tour would be a better experience than Princess. What I'm running into is that the itinerary I want is only Jan-Feb, which seems to be the "wrong" time to visit MP because of the possibility of heavy rains. I haven't emailed any tour operators yet to see what they recommend; are there any more recommendations besides Adios Adventure Travel?

[emmak8]

Sadly, the altitude of MP is too strenuous for us. We should have done this long ago.

[oskidunker]

I have the ships tour booked for cruise in Feb. explored private tours and found I could have saved $500 pp but all had to be paid in advance. No refund if the ship did not dock. Plus no air available as Princess reserved all flights for the three days.

 

Yeah, it might be better to do it before the cruise but that doesn't work for us

 

Also Princess had a nurse with oxygen on the trip,in case you need it.

 

 

work for us.

[LeeW]

Sadly, the altitude of MP is too strenuous for us. We should have done this long ago.

 

Altitude of 8000' is about what they pressurize aircraft to but it can certainly affect some folks. Many folks with altitude problems in Colorado are sea level types skiing at 12000' without spending a few days in Denver at 5000'. Problem on a tour is that if you start getting headaches or worse you can't just head for lower altitude. Amazing how many smokers on oxygen we see gambling up in Blackhawk and Central City (around 8000').

[MaudeLou]

DH and I are also in the early planning stages of South America around the horn plus Machu Picchu and we're also trying to figure out the best way to do it. A cruisetour would be the easiest but also the most expensive, and maybe a private tour would be a better experience than Princess. What I'm running into is that the itinerary I want is only Jan-Feb, which seems to be the "wrong" time to visit MP because of the possibility of heavy rains. I haven't emailed any tour operators yet to see what they recommend; are there any more recommendations besides Adios Adventure Travel?

 

Hi Pompeii,

 

We are doing a shore excursion to Machu Picchu with Jaime Liebrecht of Patagonia Shorex next year on our world cruise. He is very highly recommended by previous years of world cruisers who say their trip with him was the highlight of their cruise.

 

http://patagoniashorex.com/index.html

 

Hope this helps :)

[Griller]

Do any of the countries in South America require passengers to obtain their own visas if on a cruise? I already know Brazil does for most who are without an EU passport.

[caribill]

Do any of the countries in South America require passengers to obtain their own visas if on a cruise? I already know Brazil does for most who are without an EU passport.

 

Argentina does now.

 

Chile used to for those arriving by plane, but I read somewhere they have stopped this.