Puerto Quetzal is where Guatemala’s Pacific cruise calls dock, and Antigua is the trip both priced options below sell. There are two ways to do it that anyone publishes a price for: the cruise line’s own transport-only excursion, or a private transfer booked in advance. Everything below was read on 24 September 2026; for your ship’s times, use your line’s daily program.

Quick summary

  • Drive: about 1 hour 20 minutes each way (Guatemalan Guide).
  • Cheapest published option: Norwegian Cruise Line’s Antigua On Your Own, from USD 49.99 (adult or child), 6.5 hours in total, transport only.
  • Private transfer: Guatemalan Guide, from USD 140, meet and greet at the pier, private minibus.
  • Shared shuttles: none of the three Antigua shuttle timetables we read (AtitlanTour, Guatemala Transportation, Adrenalina Tours) lists Puerto Quetzal.
  • The rule that matters: NCL says its ship waits for a delayed NCL tour. Nobody makes that promise for a transfer you book yourself.
  • Map: Puerto Quetzal to Antigua on Google Maps

The options, side by side

OptionPriceTimeWhat you getSource
NCL Antigua On Your OwnFrom USD 49.99 adult, USD 49.99 child6.5 hours in totalRound-trip transport and a map of Antigua; no guide. The drop-off point in Antigua is subject to changeNorwegian Cruise Line excursion page
Private transfer, Guatemalan GuideFrom USD 140 (the booking form prices it per adult)About 1 h 20 min each wayMeet and greet with a name sign at Puerto Quetzal, private minibus with a bilingual guide, free time in Antigua, return to the shipGuatemalan Guide, Cruise Ship - Antigua Transportation Only
Scheduled shuttleNot publishedNot publishedNo Puerto Quetzal route on AtitlanTour’s, Guatemala Transportation’s or Adrenalina’s timetableTheir schedules, read 24 September 2026

We read NCL’s page because it publishes a price and its lateness rule in full; if you sail with another line, check that line’s own excursion list for the same two facts.

Can you do it in one port day?

Take your ship’s hours alongside from your cruise line’s itinerary and subtract 2 h 40 min of driving (Guatemalan Guide’s 1 h 20 min each way):

Hours alongside (your ship)Minus 2 h 40 min of driving
8 h5 h 20 min
10 h7 h 20 min
12 h9 h 20 min

That is our arithmetic, not anyone’s promise: it is the most time you could spend in Antigua before counting disembarkation, the all-aboard time your line sets before departure, and traffic.

Which ships call, and when. We do not copy third-party ship schedules. Check CruiseMapper’s Puerto Quetzal page and the port authority’s own site, Empresa Portuaria Quetzal, and treat your line’s itinerary as the one that governs. For comparison, NCL’s own transport-only excursion lasts 6.5 hours in total.

Where the ships come from, and how many

  • 2026 season: Empresa Portuaria Quetzal opened it with the Europa 2 on Wednesday 14 January 2026 (447 passengers, 365 crew) and scheduled 39 cruise calls for the year, as reported by DataPortuaria.
  • 2025-26 season: the Agencia Guatemalteca de Noticias (27 September 2025) reported 34 cruise calls planned on the Pacific side and 11 at Santo Tomás de Castilla on the Caribbean, running to June 2026.
  • The two counts are different periods: the 39 calls are for calendar year 2026 (DataPortuaria, reporting Empresa Portuaria Quetzal), while the 34 Pacific calls are for the October 2025 to June 2026 season (AGN), so the two figures overlap and cannot be added.
  • Passengers: INGUAT counted 71,782 cruise passengers landing at Puerto Quetzal in 2025 (see our tourism statistics).

Booking it yourself: what to settle first

  • Who carries the risk of lateness. On NCL’s own tour, the ship waits if the tour is delayed; on its transport-only excursion, missing the return transport is your responsibility; on a private transfer, the ship has no obligation to you at all. Settle this before you pay.
  • Where you are dropped. NCL says its Antigua drop-off point can change. For a private transfer, agree the pick-up point in Antigua and the return time in writing.
  • What the price covers. Guatemalan Guide’s listing includes the meet and greet, the private minibus and the bilingual guide on the drive; the page does not say whether the USD 140 is per person or per vehicle beyond the per-adult booking form.

Staying longer

If you are leaving the ship for good, or joining one, the practical base is Antigua or Guatemala City: see Antigua to Guatemala City airport and how to get to Antigua. Once in Antigua, the Antigua guide covers the town itself.

What is not published

  • A scheduled shared shuttle between Puerto Quetzal and Antigua on the three shuttle timetables we read.
  • Empresa Portuaria Quetzal’s own arrivals list: its pages rendered no text to our reader and returned an access error on 24 September 2026, so this page prints no ship list.
  • A taxi or Uber fare from the port; no published tariff exists that we could find.
  • A distance in kilometres from a primary source.

Sources