Margarita Island

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Brewster

Guest
Does anyone know if cruise lines are still stopping at Margarita Islands? We are on a cruise that will be stopping there but I'm not sure if we should book a shore excursion. I noticed the Canadian goverment has warned all Canadian citizens to leave Venezuela and not to travel there.
 
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NewMexico Nita

Guest
Hope they are, but haven't heard anything. Even though Margarita Island is part of the country it's somewhat removed. I don't have an answer obviously: quite an interesting place to visit....
 
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brewster

Guest
Thanks, our Travel Agent mentioned that the British goverment has warned it citizen to not to travel to Margarita Island as well as the mainland.
Rencent stories in the Canadian newspapers talk about the number of strikes, lack of fuel and long lines at stores and banks. I haven't been able to get an answer from Holland America about possibility of our shore excursions being interrupted or cancelled. I know that Holland America have ships already scheduled to stop there but no one has been able to confirm the current conditions.
Bruce
 
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wishin

Guest
I was to Porlamar on Margarita Island several years ago. I absolutely hated it and never felt safe. It's about a 45 minute drive from the pier through some of the worst slums I have ever seen on a Caribbean island. Very few shop owners speak English, nor do the heavily armed police. Now that was scarey! Although they accept US currency, they give change in Venezuelan bolivars and most shops do not accept credit cards - at least the didn't then. We were warned by the cruise ship not to venture off on our own away from the main street shopping area. You could not pay me enough to return.
 
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BP

Guest
I have been told that the only reason that the cruise ships stop on this island is cheap fuel from Venezuela.
 
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cannonball

Guest
My March 10th Princess cruise is scheduled to stop there and so far we have not heard differently, although I know some earlier Princess cruises have cancelled this stop.
 
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gator

Guest
Just learned today our March 10 Dawn Princess cruise will not be stopping there.
 
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Robrph

Guest
we went to Margarita island last year and found the place to be a real dump. We intended to just go to the beach just down from the pier, but found the conditions there so disgusting, we returned to the ship. The "beach" was strewn with litter and there were millions of ants crawling all over the ground. There was one interesting area, though. Amongst a small group of stores was a Murano glass outlet store with beautiful glass figurines for sale at very good prices. If you're into collecting , it's really worth a stop there- otherwiise, the place is a disgrace.
 
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frito

Guest
Hard to accurately judge a port when you limit yourself to the pier area.
Margarita isn't one of my favorites but we took a ship tour that was on a nice a/c/ bus, saw a good deal of the island and quite enjoyed it.

There is a very interesting article on Margarita in the Jan-Feb. issue of Islands magazine.
 
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beachmom

Guest
We also liked this island. We hired a cabbie and he drove us all over the island. The Atlantic side of the island has beautiful beaches and we had the best yellow tail for lunch we have EVER had. Other people on the ship had a great time on their tours, Dune day, and Dolphin swim.

You have to get away from the port area to really see this lovely island.
 
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