Member Reviews Home > Member Reviews > wooduser43's Port Reviews of Cartagena (Colombia), Colon (Cristobal), Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera), Puerto Montt, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas
wooduser43's Port Reviews of Cartagena (Colombia), Colon (Cristobal), Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera), Puerto Montt, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas Celebrity Century cruise in January 2013
This was Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Not listed in options here, so I picked a name that may be it only to open this box for comment..
Two hour bus ride to mountain lake. Boat ride to opposite shore and lunch at a resort hotel.
Time to explore authentic native Mayan village behind hotel was wonderful experience of true native culture. Excellent deals on native crafts if you can withstand the constant barrage of vendors.
A kindly, Gracias, no was usually enough to get them to leave you alone.
Bus ride exposed us to the beauty of the Guatemala countryside and the poverty induced living conditions of the native and Mayan citizens. Our guide on this trip spoke fairly understandable english, but what stood out most was his incredible love for his country and its people. He genuinely wished all of us to return for longer stays to truly appreciate Guatemala and its culture.
The literature for this one was deceptive. Described a brief stop at a local restaurant for light refreshments at our cost. The brief stop was actually a one-hour lunch break at an expensive, celebrity restaurant. Its location was along a cliff-side,narrow beach overlook road with no room to safely walk and no way to get down to the beautiful beach below. We felt trapped. We could have eliminated that stop and been back to the ship in time for a late lunch instead of hanging around an overpriced restaurant waiting for those who wanted to eat a full lunch.
Cabo is beautiful. The area services are similar to many resort areas in the US. We enjoyed our side trip by bus into the old town area east of the main port. There is a nice mix of old Mexico and the tourist attracting ocean side, modernized Mexico. Really enjoyed our brief stop at the resort hotel overlooking the harbor and our last stop at the glass blowing factory in town.
Female tour guide seemed bored with her bus announcement routine.
More 
