susiesan

Effective the start of the 2017/2018 cruise season half of the ships will now arrive and depart from San Antonio and not Valparaiso. My cruise is Feb. 14 and has been changed to leaving from San Antonio now in place of Valparaiso. I was going to overnight in Valpo on Feb. 13 and tour the city on the 14th before boarding the ship that afternoon. I will now stay in Santiago Feb. 11-13 and depart from there to San Antonio on Feb. 14

Is there a taxi service that can pick up at a Santiago hotel and drive cruise passengers to San Antonio?
I have a price from a driver for $200 for 2 but that seems excessive.

Looks like the people of Valparaiso will take a financial tourism hit with 50% of their cruise related visitors not going there anymore.

mlgb

Have you asked on Cruise Critic? There might even be some people on your cruise with the same dilemma who have done the research.

I don't know if the cruise industry is a big part of Valparaiso tourism, it's already a popular summertime resort (well Vina is anyways). A lot more pleasant climate during that season than Santiago which gets pretty hot and smoggy!

Huentetu

All the transport options which were in place to/from Valparaiso will now switch to San Antonio. I don't know what taxi prices would be from Santiago to San Antonio. To Valparaiso it was around US$160 per car. To San Antonio you take a different highway but basically the same amount of time, so US$200 seems a bit high. There are buses but I think you should opt for some sort of private transfer.

Definitely take the advice to visit Cruise Critic and find you ship. There will be many looking for the same options.

susiesan

I am on cruisecritic and am actively monitoring the situation. So far, because this announcement is so recent, no options have come up yet. Even Princess cruises which I am on has not changed the embarkation port from Valparaiso to San Antonio on their web site or my booking information nor has Princess offered any kind of bus transfer from Santiago to the ship.

Seems to me that local Santiago tour companies will make a fortune if they start offering van or small bus private transfers from Santiago to San Antonio for less than the cost of a taxi. They have been slow to respond as none show this alternate port as an option on their web sites.

mlgb

Has the new port officially opened for passenger traffic? I wonder if they are waiting to be certain of timing, before making any official changes.

susiesan

I assume it is open. NCL and HAL have officially announced the change. Princess ships no longer show up on Valparaiso Port web site.

Huentetu

San Antonio is not a new port. It is the largest port, much larger than Valparaiso, and is where most imports and exports go through. I think this is going to be a "build it and they will come", there will be a shift of transport options from Valpo to San A. Just keep monitoring the Cruise Critic site. The only driver/guide I know and could recommend is Leo Cuzmar because friends have used him.

mlgb

Please keep us updated on how this goes. I had hoped to repeat a NCL Sun Cape Horn cruise and am a bit disappointed that they seem to have cut back on this itinerary next year, at least for the Sun.

susiesan

it is official for Princess cruises: they will use San Antonio as the port. For my Feb. 14 departure it is an hour later than it was at Valparaiso, 6:00pm now instead of 5:00pm. This gives me more time to spend on a tour prior to checking in for the cruise. The local Santiago tour companies are starting to respond to this change and are offering alternate transfer tours from Santiago, touring for 6-8 hours then drop off at the ship.

Kiwi5

Hi Susiesan

Any links to the tour companies offering the 6-8 hour tours. We are also on the 14th Feb Princess sailing out of San Anonio and staying in Santiago for 2 nights prior
Thanks

Treesa

Kiwi5: I can highly recommend Southexcursions.com. We arrived on the Emerald Princess at San Antonio on Dec. 20. We booked an excursion with the above company. We had a group of 11 people. Excellent guide, Chris. We visited several towns along the coast. The highlight was Pablo Neruda's house and resting place at Isla Negra. Beautiful scenery. We had lunch at a charming restaurant outside of Santiago and then a walking tour of Santiago which was excellent. Drop off at your hotel in Santiago and/or airport for late flight back home. Great value - $80.00 pp.