3 day Machu Picchu tour from Cuzco and return to ship in Lima

[compozer]

We are considering  taking a group tour of Machu Picchu while on a cruise..  We would fly from Cuzco shortly after docking and stay in a hotel 2 nights.  The third morning we would fly to Lima and meet up with the ship.  They would take care of all arrangements.     Some of us are a little worried that we could be late for the ship since she leaves at noon.    We are 18 months out and they want a 50% non refundable deposit and the final payment is due 70 days prior to the tour.   Someone found another tour but we would have to book our own flights and my concern with that is that everyone in our group may not get on the same flight.  What happens if only 3/4 of us are able to get on the early flight?    I would prefer the tour company take care of everything and we can deal with them if there are issues.

 

Excursions are not available through Princess yet but from searching other cruises, the cost would be way over $1000 more pp.

 

Has anyone done a tour like this?  I would appreciate any comments you experienced cruises have.

 

Thanks you.

[tcdcruiser]

I cruise a lot.  I take a lot of independent tours.  I have been to MP,

 

IMHO this plan is way too short and risky.   Flights to Cuzco are often delayed due to weather and a Noon sail away is way early.  

 

I think you you know the answer to the 3/4 question.

 

 

[compozer]

tcdcruiser,

thank you so much for your honest answer.      Yes, I agree about the flights being risky.  Not even sure if I want to be on a small plane in that area.  I noticed many tours are much longer.    That is why I have been searching and found a company that uses the train instead of a plane.    That sounds better to me.   They are putting together a plan and will have to see if we feel more comfortable with it.   Life is short and none of us know what tomorrow may bring so why not do a short trip there and if we really enjoy it and want to see more, then plan a longer trip in the future.  We may not be able to travel in five years and we have many places we want to travel to.   Another thought is to fly to Lima and stay for a longer tour and then go on to Tahiti where we board the ship.

thanks again.

[dabear]

we took a flight from Lima to Cusco and then a train from Cusco to Ague Calientes which is at the bottom of the mountain to MP. although there are a few trains from AC to/from Cusco , I don't think that the schedule would be able to get you back so that you could catch a plane & then the a noon cruise departure, especially since air flights are not dependable.

[compozer]

dabear, 

 

we are all thinking  this private tour would not make any of us comfortable not knowing if we could make it to the ship in time.

 

Appreciate your comments

[chelsea922]

We recently got back from the 49 day South American Grand Adventure and did the Princess 3 day 2 night excursion.  It cost $2,499 per person.  It was advertised as a 72 hour excursion and was only 46 hours.  The travel was arduous.  The hotel was amazing.  The ruins were amazing.  I, personally, would not recommend this excursion unless it's the absolutely only way you will ever be able to see MP.  We traveled to and from the Sacred Valley in the dark.  We had 10 minutes in the main square of Cuzco - enough time to snap pictures of the statue, the church and the monastery and that's it.  We went to Ollantaytambo ruins, not the ruins mentioned in the description.  We entered MP at 2:30pm and were one of the last groups off the mountain.  Total shopping time for souvenirs was half an hour during the entire 3 days.  After the day in MP, we arrived back at our hotel at 9:30pm and had a 3 am wake up call to catch our flight back to Lima and the ship.  We were 1/2 an hour late back to the ship so it was a good thing it was a Princess excursion.  The actual stops were amazing.  The travel sucked, IMHO.  The extra 26 hours that were lost somewhere would have made a world of difference. 

[compozer]

chelsea,

I really appreciate you taking the time to post about your experience.  Did you speak to anyone at Princess about the lost time.  I would be rather upset.    Again, thanks.

[thinfool]

I'll take a shot at this...you leave out details of your sailing so I will relate how we did MP.

We did the 14 day HAL sailing, Buenos Aires to Valparaiso (Chile).  It was wonderful.

After leaving the ship we went to the Santiago airport....boarded a new, lo cost airline (Sky Airlines) to Lima....stayed over night, up early for flight to Cuzco...our guide met us, took us to hotel for a short rest, the on a small bus to tour the Cuzco area....about 4-5 hours above 11,000 ft...huff and puff...whew.

Overnight in the hotel, then after b'fast the next day we boarded a bus for a trip thru the Peruvian highlands...to Ollantaytambo where we boarded a train for Aguas Calientes.  

We were overnight in a small hotel and the next morning, after b'fast we met our govt. required guide...she was with us for the first two hours of our visit to MP.  After she explained the regulations for visiting the ruins she gave us our 'tickets' to enter the ruins and the shuttle bus from Aguas Calientes to the ruins.

We were at the ruins for about 4 hours...then back to Aguas Calientes, on the train to Ollantaytambo, on the bus back to Cuzco...overnight in the same hotel...then on to the airport back to Lima.

In Lima our group split up....most flying out to the US...my wife and I stayed 2 more days to sightsee in Lima.  After that we returned to the US (Miami) on American Airlines.

You can count the nights and days....with flights from Lima to Cuzco and return our cost was about $700/pp plus meals.  Obviously there were extra costs for flights lfrom Chile and hotels in Lima.  Still, I estimate that we spent $1000-$1200 pp to add this as a diy to our trip after the HAL cruise.

This adventure was in December 2016.

The OP seemed to allude to a train rather than flights to/from Lima to Cuzco.  Maybe I misunderstood.  There is no train from Lima to Cuzco.  Air or highway are the choices.

Edited May 9, 2019 by thinfool

[dabear]

If you were referring to me, I thought that I was clear that we flew from Lima to /from Cusco and then train, Hirham Bingham to/from Cusco -MP.

[thinfool]

2 hours ago, dabear said:

If you were referring to me, I thought that I was clear that we flew from Lima to /from Cusco and then train, Hirham Bingham to/from Cusco -MP.

Nope...wasn't you.

[chelsea922]

On 5/8/2019 at 5:38 PM, compozer said:

chelsea,

I really appreciate you taking the time to post about your experience.  Did you speak to anyone at Princess about the lost time.  I would be rather upset.    Again, thanks.

Compozer,

Many of us spoke to excursions before we left the ship and were told that this is what the tour guide had arranged and they had no control over it.  We were also upset that we were going to Ollantaytambo and not the ruins mentioned in the description.  We arrived in Lima at 4AM!!  And didn't leave the ship until 12:30 pm and then spent several hours in the San Martin airport.  If I had known this, we never would have booked this excursion. In fact, we had originally planned to use HAL which has a 28 day trip RT San Diego with an excursion to MP.  I think HAL would have done it better.  IMHO.  As thinfool mentioned, you can do it cheaper and with more control on your own, but I don't recommend that you try to make it back to the ship in such a short time. 

[compozer]

chelsea, 

thank you for taking the time to come back and explain it.   

 

We will skip it.