Zaandam - Arriving Valparaiso Dec 20, 2016 - Questions

[dogcanyon]

To any one who may have taken the Zaandam on the Buenos Aires to Valparaiso cruise, I have the following questions:

 

1.Prior to Valparaiso, the ship calls at Punta Arenas and Puerto Montt, so

I am assuming that there will be no customs and immigration at

Valparaiso. Is this correct?

 

2.The Zaandam docks at 6:00 AM. What is the normal time window for

disembarking and once disembarked roughly how long does it take to

actually get your luggage and take the bus to the port terminal?

 

3.We will have 4 people with 1 large suitcase and 1 carry on bag each.

We are looking for a low cost, but convenient way to get to downtown

Santiago. The bus transfer offered by Holland America at US$86

per person seems like a ripoff to me. I know that public bus service

is available, but want to avoid that due to the overall time and hassle

(taxi from the port to Valparaiso bus station, then bus to Santiago, then

taxi from Santiago bus station to hotel), plus the main Santiago bus

station is infamous for pick-pocketing (a good friend of mine who is a

very experienced world traveler was picked clean there). When you

were there, were there any taxis/vans circling that were large enough

to carry 4 passengers? Has anybody here used Uber from Valparaiso

and if so, what size car was used? I have a quote for a private transfer

by van for US$170 total, but if the taxis are large enough for 4 with

luggage and can be had in the US$100 - US$120 or so range, that

would be even better.

 

Thanks for your responses!

Edited November 17, 2016 by dogcanyon

[RuthC]

Since you are disembarking, you will need to clear Customs.

My memory is that we had to line up, and have a dog walk past us, and our luggage, to check for illegal substances.

Expect disembarkation to begin around 7:30.

 

If I were you, I would look into a car service in advance, and book that. It's a pretty long ride to Santiago, and you would be better off having the arrangements made in advance.

[dogcanyon]

Wow, Ruth! I didn't expect such a quick response. Thanks very much.

[kazu]

I can't help you with disembarkation as we embarked out of Val. But we did do a private transfer from Santiago to Val. It was very smooth and very nice. We had a guide and a driver. Our vehicle was smaller but had ample room for our luggage and ourselves.

 

They did have larger vehicles available and if you $170 U.S. Is for the 4 of you and has adequate space for you and the luggage that is a good deal IMO as it is a bit of ride.

 

What I have found in the past booking private transfers is to let the company know the amount of luggage you have. Depending upon the vehicle, sometimes you need one that holds more people to hold all the luggage ;). Sometimes not. Best to check it out in advance and I do highly recommend the private transfer for this trip. ;)

[dogcanyon]

Yes, the US$170 is the total cost for all 4 people and luggage. After my original post, I received a reply from another transfer service that quoted me US$70 per person, so US$280 total, so the US$170 looks like a good deal in comparison. Thanks for your help.

Edited November 17, 2016 by dogcanyon

[0bnxshs]

As Ruth has answered, you will indeed be going through customs in Valpo. We had maracas bought in Peru confiscated due to their believing there were seeds inside the balls to make the sounds. So they were doing agricultural checks also.

 

It's been awhile, but we used and had excellent service from "The Van Man" Christian Montenegro the 2 times we've needed 1 way rides both from Santiago to Valpo and vice versa. One trip was with 5 people, the other just 2. His prices were competitive with other locals and considerably cheaper than HAL transfers.

 

Enjoy your wonderful cruise!

Edited November 18, 2016 by 0bnxshs