Corregidor Island: Day tour Package + Buffet Lunch

Philippines. US. Japan.

Malinta Tunnel.

Bombing.

Ruins.

These are just some of the words that stuck in my mind after our Corregidor trip. Hearing the terrible stories of war is so overwhelming that leaves us thinking "what if we go into war now...." It must be very frightening.

More than the war stories, Corregidor Island signifies great courage of American and Philippine soldiers against Japanese Army during World War II.

VOUCHERS

We purchased our vouchers from Sun Cruises Philippines in a TravelMart in SMX last July 2016.

For a limited offer of Php1,750, this package includes: 
Day tour package
Welcome Drinks
Buffet lunch
Manilay Bay plated dinner (Monday thru Thursday)

We wanted to stay overnight in the island. We were offered a double bed room good for 2 persons for a discounted price of Php1,500.

In total, we spent P2,500 each for day tour package + Manila Bay dinner + room for overnight stay with plated breakfast.

Vouchers for Corregidor Tour and Manila Bay Plated Dinner
Compare that to the original price found at their website, we must say we got an awesome deal!

Check out their packages here http://www.corregidorphilippines.com/packages.html

A. Day Tour Package: Daily

Inclusions: Roundtrip ferry transfers; shrine and entrance fees; guided island tour and buffet lunch

Day Tour Weekday Adult Rate - Php2,350.00/person 
Day Tour Weekend* Adult Rate - Php2,549.00/person 
Day Tour Child Rate (3-11 yo) - Php1,500.00/person
*Weekend rate applies to Saturday, Sunday and Holiday trips

B. Overnight Room Rate (On top of the day tour package)

Single with Breakfast - Php1,500.00
Twin/ Double with Breakfast for two - Php2,000.00
Extra Person with Breakfast - Php750.00


BOOKING/RESERVATION

Sun Cruises Philippines Website: http://www.corregidorphilippines.com/index.html
Reservations Office
Esplanade Seaside Terminal
Esplanade Seaside Park (Seaside Blvd., MOA Complex),
Pasay, Pasay City, Philippines 
Tel. (632) 834-6857 to 58, (632) 831-8140 
Mobile (63)917 513-2625, (63)922 337-0068 
E-mail: suncruises@magsaysay.com.ph

I initially  made a phone call thru their contact number found on their website, however the lady instructed me to email instead with photos of vouchers attached. I did and unlike my experiences from other companies where I get responses in the next 24 hours or the next day, Sun Cruises replied to my email in just few minutes.

The email I received is a booking confirmation with itinerary, package inclusion, map and address of the terminal and booking terms and conditions. Overall, I am glad for the smooth email transaction!

Itinerary and Package Inclusion sent by Sun Cruises via email

Our travel was meant to happen on October but first week of August came, Sun Cruises called up to say Corregidor Inn will undergo a "major" renovation on September up to November. That means we have to move our travel date to either same month, August, December or January (last month validity of our vouchers). Given the conflicting schedules of our group, we didn't have a choice but to do the tour August, one of the rainy months.

Nevertheless, we were all looking forward to this trip!!!!

How to get to the Terminal



Sun Cruises Ferry Terminal is located at ESPLANADE SEASIDE TERMINAL, Seaside Boulevard, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City, Philippines.

Instead of bringing a car and pay a hefty fee for overnight parking, we decided to just commute going there. Just tell the driver it's at Esplanade, at the back of MOA, near Vikings. The place is not hard to spot.

We went straight to Sun Cruises reception booth to present our vouchers. They gave us our name tag with our ferry seat number and bus number. We paid Php30 terminal fee.


Sun Cruises waiting area is just small. During our visit, only one cubicle (out of three) is working in their restroom. It is a bit disappointing considering the price of the tour they are offering.

Thank goodness there is 7/11. We grabbed coffee and bought some snacks to eat in the island. Food in Corregidor Inn are very pricey. I advise bringing all that's needed before boarding the ferry.

BOARDING



Boarding time is 7:30 AM.
Departure time is 8:00AM. 

All guests must be at the terminal 7:30 AM latest. For those checking in the hotel, there is an option to "check in" your baggage. Baggage are dropped at the terminal entrance.

Inside the ferry, we were seated at the upper deck. There is a sari sari store that sells chips, canned juice, softdrinks, noodles, coffee. I hate the old smell of this ferry, it made me nauseous.

You know how it's like on the plane during take off, where flight attendants demonstrates the use of safety equipments. This ferry has its own version too!

Travel time is 1 hour 30 min.


TOUR

Because our bus # is also on our name tag, we didn't have a hard time figuring out our ride. Yes, it was raining that day but that didn't stop us proceeding.

The Corregidor is a tadpole-shaped island with three parts - the head, neck and tail. Our trolley/tranvia/bus, or whatever you call it, brought us to these parts.

Tadpole-shaped Corregidor Island

There is so much story to tell. I personally feel that to understand Corregidor Island, one must be there.

The entire day tour took around 6 hours. The moment we arrived in the wharf, we immediately started.

Tour Bus. Copied from the trolley used in the island. 


I only took few photos of the ruins because photos can't really give justice to it. Really, you must see it and hear the history yourself to appreciate this tour.






BUFFET LUNCH

At 12 noon, we went to Corregidor Inn for our buffet lunch, which consists of Filipino food. We were given only 50 minutes to devour.

Well, there's not much to devour really because food is very limited.

. Cream of Corn. Yummy. I like it very much.
Chop Suey, Chicken Inasal, Beef Broccoli. Chop Suey, I didn't eat. My friend said chicken inasal not good. Beef broccoli is fine, though nothing special about it.
watermelon and rice cake for dessert. watermelon is not sweet. rice cake is bland. it could have been great if they use glutinous rice instead of just plain, not entirely cooked rice.
There is also pancit bihon , salad, and steamed white rice. Pancit bihon is so salty. Their welcome drink - gulaman - is great. The overall taste and limited choices of food are disappointing.

12:50 PM, we continued our tour. The tour ended with Manila Tunnel lights and sound show.

LIGHTS AND SOUND SHOW AT MANILA TUNNEL. This is an optional activity. It costs Php200. Those who didn't take this tour stayed outside of the tunnel and wait for the others to finish. Lights and show sound is a narration/re-enactment of World War II.






I am so lucky that I don't get to live or experience the war. People bled for our freedom. The freedom that we currently enjoy.

We shouldn't take it for granted.


Corregidor Island: Day tour Package + Buffet Lunch

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tanay, Rizal: Bakasyunan Resort

La Union... L and U.. Elyu!