Windstar Monteverde Cloud Forest & Arenal Volcano Tour

[dvdeba]

I would be interested in comments from anyone who has done the Windstar land tour before Panama Canal cruise.  Suggestions appreciated on whether the land tour is worth the money of should we book are our tour?

[CruiseOrLand]

We didn’t take the land tour you describe because close reading of the flyer suggested too much time trapped at the hotel and not enough time in the forest. It’s a personal interest, but we chose instead to hire an (end of cruise) driver to take us from the port to the Lankester Garden orchid collection, and then to a hotel on the airport side of San Jose.

 

We were surprised that the hotel (Hilton property, nothing to do with Windstar) near the airport had no airport shuttle, but rather a partner, on-site, pay, car service. Note that the Puerto Caldera port is quite far from anywhere.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I recommend that you book this on your own.  We did a similar Costa Rica itinerary on Azamara.  We flew in to San Jose and had Odyssey Tours CR [odysseytourscr.com] bring us to the ship in Puerto Caldera, and after disembarking in Puerto Caldera we had Odyssey bring us to the Arenal Observatory Lodge [www.arenalobservatorylodge.com] which is the closest property to the volcano and has walking tours included in the room rate plus others available at extra charge.   After 2 nights there we had Odyssey bring us to the Hilton Garden Inn San Jose la Sabana [] for 2 nights; that first day we walked around downtown San Jose, the second day we had Odyssey take us to La Paz Waterfall Gardens [http://www.waterfallgardens.com].  The last morning Odyssey took us to the airport.  They were prompt and reliable and made this DIY feel like a catered trip – at a much lower cost [and with the ability to tailor the trip to our exact preferences] than the ship's extensions.