Infinity, Fll-valporaiso, Jan 3, '04

[craven3]

We now have 51 known cruisers on this departure, gleaned form the Cruise Addicts, CruiseMates and (of course) Cruise Critics message boards. If anybody hasn't yet signed up for the Celebrity Connections party, be sure to do so. It's free, and invitations will be delivered to cabins with date, time and location, but only to those who sign up at least 10 days before departure. The link is [url]https://www.celebrity.com/cruisecritic/entry.asp?[/url]

If there are any lurkers, we'd love to add you to the spreadsheet and perhaps plan some shore excursions, or at least share information. Send me an e-mail to: craven3 @nospam adelphia.net (omitting the spaces and deleting the nospam word, of course). We'll also have a Sailaway party and all are welcome to attend. Details will be posted shortly.

Charlotte

[craven3]

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I think that we've booked all the shore excursions that we plan to book for this trip, but that only means a handful of pre-booked tours. We'll most likely wing it in some ports, and hope that other CC posters will join us. Here's how it shakes out:

ARUBA: A return visit so we want to just grab a taxi and go snorkeling. Anybody want to go along?

PANAMA: This is the only Celebrity excursion we booked--to the Canal Museum and see the workings of the Canal. Mike read The Path Between the Seas, which is about building the Canal, and this tour seems to compliment that. BTW, he recommends the book highly.

MANTA, ECUADOR: Although the city has 150,000 people, there doesn't seem to be much to do. However, after so long onboard, we think that our legs will really want to stretch out so a long walk along the Malecon and samples of the local cerveza might fill the bill. Also, the Banco Central museum is supposed to have an excellent collection of ceramics from 800-1550 AC, from the local area. If anybody else has found other things to do, please post.

CALLAO/LIMA: Well, we booked this trip to see Machu Pichu, but that's a bit costly so we looked elsewhere. For a while we thought of accepting the offer of a friend of a friend, but he's proven to be somewhat lackadaisical, which isn't what we want in a tour guide. I've read posts where people just got off the ship with a list of where they wanted to go, found a taxi at the dock, and we off for a most enjoyable day. We plan to do just that, with stops at the cathedral, a pyramid in the city center, the Museo de Oro, Pachachamac ruins, then stop by the crafts market on the way back to the ship. Perhaps others would like to join us here, too.

ARICA, CHILE: This is another city with seemingly little to do, even though it has a population of 175,000. I think we'll again get out and walk. The Customs House (Aduana) designed by Eiffel and the Cathedral on Plaza Colon should be interesting. Too bad we won't be there on Sunday for their big artisan market! However, when the ship's in, I'm sure that many of the same people will find places to sell their crafts.

VALPARAISO/SANTIAGO: Arianna from Alunsa Royal Tours will pick 6 of us and our luggage up at the pier for a tour of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, then transfer us to the Crowne Plaza in Santiago. That night at least 4 of us will go to Los Adobes de Argomedo restaurant for dinner and a folkloric show of native songs and dances, including those of Incas and Easter Island. The next morning Arianna will again pick us up for a trip to the ghost town of Sewell in the mountains, as well as a tour of El Teniente, the largest underground copper mine in the world. Our last day in Santiago will be filled with some more walking, shopping, and seeing some of what we didn't in 2001.

Considering that the cruise is just a matter of weeks away, with holidays between then and now, there has been amazingly little chatter about what everybody plans to do. Of course, there are a lot of sea days, but we'd love to hear what exciting things others have found.

I'll post details of the CC Sailaway Party soon, and, yes, we do have enough signed up for the Celebrity Connections Party, compliments of CC and X. We look forward to seeing all whom we've met on the boards at both parties.

Charlotte
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Upcoming Cruises:
Infinity, Panama Canal & western South America, 1/05
Insignia, Black Sea, 7/05
Tahitian Princess, 3/06