Copper Canyon Railroad excursion

[57redbird]

We have purchased this for our cruise in April  --- my question is:   since the 'tour' begins at 4:30 am from the ship ---- need suggestions for what to do for breakfast that morning.....it's too early for Room Service.   TIA!

[RuthC]

The Lido should be open. At that hour it is unlikely it will be crowded; only those people on the tour will be there. 

[Hobcat]

• If I remember correctly we had a box snack(?) going out on the train & also on the way back to port. The midday meal was served at the destination/turn around point. I’m not a 3AM breakfast eater so probably didn’t pay much attention. 😏

[Ken the cruiser]

If I might ask, how much was the HAL excursion and what is the duration? We were on a Crystal cruise in May 2017 and it was $435 each and the tour was 18 hours long (with only 1 1/2 hours to actually view the canyon from above and eat lunch).

[57redbird]

59 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how much was the HAL excursion and what is the duration? We were on a Crystal cruise in May 2017 and it was $435 each and the tour was 18 hours long (with only 1 1/2 hours to actually view the canyon from above and eat lunch).

That sounds like about what we are paying & the length of the tour also is similar.

[TiogaCruiser]

I thought room service was available 24 hours. ( I’ve never used it.)

 

 I’m also booked for MR and Copper Canyon. If nothing is going to be available that early I’ll just take a cup of coffee to my cabin with me the night before and have it cold with a roll in my cabin. I really need the caffeine if I’m going to make sense at that hour.

[Lido deck main]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how much was the HAL excursion and what is the duration? We were on a Crystal cruise in May 2017 and it was $435 each and the tour was 18 hours long (with only 1 1/2 hours to actually view the canyon from above and eat lunch).

We are going in April 2020  is $549.00 USD per person, I am Canadian just came through my mastercard at  over $1,400.00 CDN  Ouch!

[TiogaCruiser]

2 hours ago, Lido deck main said:

We are going in April 2020  is $549.00 USD per person, I am Canadian just came through my mastercard at  over $1,400.00 CDN  Ouch!

I’m hoping that’s for 2.😢

[TiogaCruiser]

For those who have done this shorex, did you think it was worth it? I’m expecting a lot of good scenery both ways on the train, and not just at the lunch stop. Is that correct?

[RMLincoln]

We did this excursion with HAL several years ago form the old Ryndam.  I wrote a review of it then and I will look for it and post it here if I can find it.  It was an amazing excursion - the reason we took the cruise!  

 

To answer your question about breakfast, the Lido was open for pretty much anything we wanted to order, maybe at 3:15 or 3:30am. Those guys and gals got up supper early to serve us.   As I recall we gathered at 4:15am and they had us on the buses at 4:30am on our way to the train with a police escort.  The train did not pick us up in Topolobompo but further up the line, so maybe an hour or more on the bus, time to nap.  

 

You have to like train rides!  You will be on the train most of the day.  I went through 2 batteries for my camera; took most pictures from between the cars.  The stop at the canyon views is spectacular but it is only one place where you can walk along the rim a bit.  Think of seeing the Grand Canyon only from the visitor's center, which is what many, many people do.  If it's your only shot to see Copper Canyon (as it was for us) take it an enjoy it.  The luncheon was served at a cliff-side hotel, very nice.  We were in two shifts- early lunch/later viewing or early viewing/later lunch.  And there was a demonstration of some traditional culture events - crafts and a type of ball game and hoop rolling.  DO plan to have small cash to buy the beautiful baskets that will be for sale by their makers!  They are unique, handy and easy to pack home.   

 

We came back around 10:30pm with the officers lined up at the gangway greeting us all.  We had had an afternoon/supper meal box on the train, but upon arrival at the ship they had trays of sandwiches as we embarked for those who wanted to go straight to their rooms, but the Lido had a prime rib supper laid out for us.   

 

I'm excited to hear they are doing this again!    If I can't find the review I'll go back to my notes and post more.  m--

[RMLincoln]

HERE is the LONG Review!  It was 2008 when we did it, no guarantees on what might be different now, but I hope it helps you with a flavor of how this very memorable day went for us.  

 

Copper Canyon, Mexico, Shore Excursion, Holland America Line, MS Ryndam, April 2008

Maureen Lincoln, 53, Retired

Number of Cruises: 7

 

My husband and I took this cruise specifically for the train excursion to Copper Canyon, which is on the scale of the Grand Canyon.  Copper Canyon is in a remote, mountainous location, southwest of Chihuahua, making it difficult to get to, so a cruise with this option seemed like a winning combination for us.  Holland America is the only cruise line currently offering this excursion, although I was told that Norwegian will be including this exciting trip in their itineraries next year.  We experienced this shore excursion during the 10-day Sea of Cortez itinerary, round-trip from San Diego, with all Mexican ports of call: Cabo San Lucas, Loreto, La Paz, Topolobampo (take off point for Copper Canyon), Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.  This excursion is variably billed as “Copper Canyon by Train,” “Copper Canyon Tour,” and “Copper Canyon Train Journey,” but in actuality, this is mainly a train ride through beautiful scenery to the edge of the magnificent canyon but it does not tour the canyon.

This is an expensive shore excursion ($439 per adult) but it’s certainly no ordinary day trip.  It is an 18-hour journey that begins and ends in the dark, but has beautiful bright scenery all day long.  In preparation, I ordered a book about Copper Canyon before we left for the cruise and found it helpful.  Although it seems that there is a lot time on the train, it can be difficult to absorb all the history and the scenic views, so for me a little homework was valuable. 

Upon arrival in our stateroom on the day of embarkation, we received our pre-paid excursion tickets and a personal invitation to attend the next day’s shore excursion team’s orientation.  This presentation gave us all the information we needed on what to expect, what to bring and how they would be taking care of our needs during this unusual day.  They explained the schedule and the journey, showed pictures of the train, the canyon and the terrain along the way.  We were introduced to the history and culture of the area, especially the Tarahumara natives that we would meet, and their crafts that we would be able to purchase.  We were informed that ship’s crew accompanying us would include not only shore excursion staff, but also medical staff and housekeeping staff (for sanitizing along our way); we would be accompanied in each bus and train car while we traveled.  The train was chartered exclusively for the HAL group, who numbered about 235 ship’s guests (a sell-out) and 15 crew members.  During the orientation, they addressed many concerns including food safety and issues for those with mobility challenges.  If, after hearing the presentation, you wanted to cancel your reservation, the last chance for a refund was that evening.  I think HAL did an excellent job of honestly informing us of all the details so we’d have no surprises.  The day before our excursion, we each received in our cabin, written instructions reminding us of the information in the presentation (which had also been showing on the ship’s television); included with the instructions was a bottle of sanitizing gel for each traveler.  All we needed to do was to go to bed early and show up on time!  Because my husband and I were in late dinner seating for this cruise, we opted that evening for an early dinner at the Lido buffet, followed by the early show and then an early turn-in. 

            Our adventurous day began with a full, hot breakfast served in the Lido buffet from 3-4am.  At 4am we were to be in the show lounge for assignments for bus number, train car and lunch seating.  By 4:10 the ship was docked and the first of our troupe was being escorted to the six buses that would take us to the train.  Our housekeeping crew had sanitized the buses before we boarded them.  On the buses we met our local tour guides who would be with us the whole day.  The bus ride was just under two hours, which we were told, is much less time than the approximately four hours that it would take to ride the train all the way from Topolobampo, due to poor track conditions in that stretch.  It was quite dark and the bus ride was a good time to nap. 

            Once we arrived at the train depot in El Fuerte, it took only a few minutes for our crew to sanitize the train coaches for us.  There was barely enough time to for us to assemble our day’s gear and listen to final directions before we were guided to our assigned train cars to choose our seats ourselves.  The sun wasn’t up yet but the sky was showing signs of brightening.  Coffee and bottled water were served immediately.

            The train coaches were very comfortable with upholstered, reclining seats and overhead racks for our gear.  The coaches were also equipped with adjustable, in-glass window blinds, climate control and restrooms.  There was a lounge car in the train’s consist which sold beverages and snacks, as well as a few souvenirs.  We were very glad that we had been informed in the ship’s presentation that there would be an excellent DVD for sale on the train, so we were prepared with the right cash for the purchase. 

            We were pulling away from the station in very short order, wasting no time at all, leaving well ahead of our 7am scheduled departure.  Our coach (one of four) had a public address system and our tour guide used a wireless microphone, so we were able to hear all of his commentary clearly throughout the day, which added to our enjoyment and understanding of the history and culture of the area.  The sun was up in just a few minutes and we were gliding through farmland.  Farms soon gave way to sparsely vegetated land with unusual shrubs and flowering cactus.  But shortly, we began to climb in elevation and as we went higher, the landscape changed continuously, leaving colorful grasslands in favor of scenic slopes and forests.  Soon we were served a boxed continental breakfast with pastry, fruit, yogurt and juice.

            The portion of the route we traversed begins at an elevation of 670 ft (at El Fuente) and goes up to 7000 ft at Posada Barrancas, our destination.  We traveled through four vegetation zones into the Ponderosa Pine forest, seeing many different types of plant life and beautiful flowers along the way.  We passed by hamlets and small towns, rivers, deep gorges, lakes and a few waterfalls.  Although this area has a generally arid climate, it receives its heaviest rain in the fall season and should be even more spectacular then, with more waterfalls and flowers.  Picture taking was aided by having access to the vestibules between the train cars.  These vestibules had Dutch-doors on each side of the car, so with the upper doors open, we were able to take unobstructed photos from each side of the train throughout the day.  This required standing and working against the sideways lurching of the train but it was worth it for the beauty and refreshing breeze.

            The railroad was designed and laid over many decades, being finished in 1961.  The engineering is a marvel with over 80 tunnels and more than 30 bridges.  The longest tunnel is over a mile and the most complex tunnel spirals up inside the mountain, making a full 180-degree turn.  The mountains are volcanic in origin, rugged and picturesque.  The dry climate gave us fantastic deep blue skies and the temperature was neither too cool nor too hot.  Although we carried jackets, we only used them in the early morning when we were boarding the buses.  Our sun hats were useful during the short time we spent at Posada Barrancas on the edge of Copper Canyon.

            We arrived at our destination just about noon, where school buses awaited us.  Some buses took those who had been assigned first-seating lunch to the convention center for their meal, and those of us in second-seating lunch were driven to El Mirador, the beautiful hotel built into the side of Copper Canyon.  There we had three options: to enjoy the view from the hotel veranda; to take the short, climbing hike up to the canyon’s edge rim-walk; or to climb down the 240 steps to a Tarahumara cave dwelling.  We had about an hour there, which was not enough time to do all three, so we opted for walking (and photographing) along the canyon rim and a quick stop at the hotel veranda, which had an equally splendid view.  The trail was on natural, rocky paths, with uneven footing, so many folks elected to enjoy the view from the hotel.  It is the same view from any vantage point, but the walk along the rim gave us a little different sense of the canyon and I think, was better for photographs.  Tarahumara natives greeted us with their beautiful baskets for sale, and local residents sold a few other souvenirs: scarves, stamped copper plates, copper pans, rock and mineral specimens.  The baskets, of all sizes and shapes, were the hot item and were quite inexpensive.  Many of the native women were sitting with their children near our paths, working on their creations.

            The canyon vista is exquisite here, where three canyons converge.  It is such an immense scene that it is impossible to take it all in.  Unfortunately this was the only vista of Copper Canyon we got to see, although it was indeed breathtaking.

            After an hour or so our group was taken by bus to the convention center for our meal.  The ship’s crew greeted us there with hand sanitizer stations and we were served a buffet of sautéed fish and chicken, Spanish rice and vegetables, then seated in a bright and colorfully decorated dining room with tables set with salsa, beans and quesadillas.  Each place also had bottled water and a glass of a refreshing juice-like drink made from hibiscus.  The meal concluded with flan and was quickly followed with an outdoor presentation of Tarahumara native dancing and a demonstration of their running sports. 

            Soon we were escorted to our train for the ride back.  Although the return is along the same track, it isn’t as redundant as one might think; the light is different, you see things from a different direction and you get to see things you missed on the way up.  Because the train doesn’t “turn around,” the seats in the train coach had been “flipped” so that we were again facing forward.  On the way up, we were given seat assignments on the opposite side of the coach for the return-trip, which maximized everybody’s viewing potential.

            We departed Posada Barrancas about 2:30pm, and in the late afternoon we were served a refreshing boxed lunch.  Our arrival in El Fuente for our bus connection was before 8pm, finally reaching the ship just before 10pm.

            At the dock, a grand welcoming committee of many of the Ryndam’s officers and steaming wash cloths to freshen us up welcomed us “home”.  There was a prime rib dinner ready for us in the Lido buffet and, for those who weren’t up to dinner, there were sandwiches wrapped and ready to take to your stateroom.  Of course, there is always the option of 24-hr in-room dining service!

            It was a long day but I’m very glad we took the opportunity to experience this unusual adventure.  Holland America staff took exceptional care of us; they did everything they could to fully inform us beforehand, to ensure that our time was not wasted for a minute during transfers and that we were safe and comfortable the entire journey. 

            Would we do it again?  We would probably choose a new adventure instead, but we heartily recommend this unusual excursion to those who enjoy adventures and especially enjoy picturesque train rides.

[sevenseasnomad]

Darn, my 7-day cruise to Mexico in 2021 doesn't include the port of Topolobampo.  Wish it did, as this excursion sounds wonderful.  Maybe, at some point, I'll have to do a longer cruise to this part of the world.

 

57redbird, sounds as though you're in for quite a treat.

[TiogaCruiser]

@RMLincoln

Thank you for posting your review. I am so looking forward to this. 

[57redbird]

THANK YOU, RMLincoln!!!!    So helpful!

[RMLincoln]

Glad you enjoyed the review.  I had submitted it to CC Reviews at the time but it was rejected because it didn't meet their guidelines for comprehensiveness as a cruise review, so I posted it in a thread - not sure the search function would pick it up anymore.   

 

Again, things will surely have changed in 12 years but the overall take-away is that we were very well taken care of; the trip is a beautiful train ride, and the views of Copper Canyon were spectacular though limited in time.  

 

The train was the El Chepe (you can google that name) and was very comfortable and modern, but not too modern in that we were still able to have unobstructed views from the car vestibules through the open upper Dutch-doors.  The history is worth looking into, as well as the Tarahumara people and their crafts.  I'm not sure I mentioned it in the review but my memory is that HAL sent a nurse with the group also - this is remote travel and that is something to be factored in.  They may not use the gel sanitizers as much as they did 12 years ago, so that part might be handled differently now too.   Enjoy the planning as much as the event!  I'll try to get a few photos posted.  If you want specific parts of the journey let me know, we have tons of photos!   Maureen

 

 

[sansterre]

On 12/14/2019 at 9:48 AM, TiogaCruiser said:

@RMLincoln

Thank you for posting your review. I am so looking forward to this. 

Glad you are taking this tour.  You must report with photos!

What port does this go out of?  I'll add it to my bucket list.

[TiogaCruiser]

50 minutes ago, sansterre said:

Glad you are taking this tour.  You must report with photos!

What port does this go out of?  I'll add it to my bucket list.

Hi there! Hope you are doing well.

 

The port is Topolobampo, México. It comes up on some of the 10 day Sea of Cortes itineraries.  I don’t know if they resumed service. I never made it as my cruise was during the “pause”, so it’s still on my bucket list. I thought I saw where Kingkongdam was doing that port this winter. 

[Florida_gal_50]

I did this a few years back.  It was way too long and not worth the time spent doing it for me personally.