cruisetimeusa

9 hours ago, roscoe39 said:

 

just if you are interested, here is the first blog I wrote on our first trip around the horn, the series after this first post  starts in Rio and finishes in Santiago in 2014, it gives you an idea of the ports and our experiences there, also of our circumnavigation of Hornos Island, (Cape Horn)

 

http://roscoesseafever.blogspot.com/2014/01/rio-de-janeiro-city-of-contrasts.html

 

Can thoroughly recommend it its a terrific experience.

oh...and just my two cents,  I like  Starboard as you can see the land, which especially after Montevideo is really interesting, thought if you want to be on the island side to circumnavigate Hornos Island in my experience we have always gone anti clockwise, so you would want to be port, in addition..... through the chilean fjords, we found more glaciers on the starboard side.... Hope you do it, report back and let us know.

Thank you Roscoe39 for your thoughts.  Will certainly read your blog and report back to everyone.  Cancelled our Dec. '20 cruise for the Dec.'21 cruise so still a long way off.

So about 3/4 to 1 mile each way.  Not too bad.  I don't do well in heat and humidity, so will take a cool scarf with me.

Our ship doesn't leave until 5:30, so we plan to be back around 4:00.  We dock at 7:00 a.m. so hopefully we will get an early start.

Thank you for your replies.  Seems like it doesn't matter as most of our viewing will be on the upper decks.

Thanks for your help.

2 minutes ago, AryMay said:

 

Our cruise went in the opposite direction...from Santiago to Buenos Aires and included Antarctica. 

 

Not sure which ship you are on or what your specific itinerary is, but for the most part, I don't think it would matter which side you have a cabin. We did not have a balcony so spent a lot of time out on deck and would go from side to side. This was especially true in Antarctica where the scenery was 360º!

 

When the ship is sailing through the smaller channels, there will be scenery on both sides. Otherwise you will probably be too far from shore to see anything anyway.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. I am in "cruise withdrawal" mode right now and miss having a trip to plan. Also, there is a link to my blog in my signature. The daily posts from our cruise might be helpful in your planning or just give you something to help pass the time until you cruise!

Thank you for helping us.  I have read your blog and it has been very helpful.  I think you did El Pedral . If you did, was the walk to see the penguins difficult?  Thank you for always responding.  I did also put a post about which side for our route on cc.  No responses yet. 

We are going on a South American cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago on the Celebrity Silhouette in December '21.  Is it better to be on the starboard or port side to see the best scenery?

Thank you.

For those of you who have sailed from Buenos Aires to San Antonio/Santiago, is it better to be on the starboard or port side for the best views.

Thanks.

10 hours ago, AryMay said:

Glad you were able to get things worked out.  We had a wonderful day at El Pedral in February 2019...one of our favorite tours! 
 

Thank you AryMay.  Great suggestion to contact them on social media.    Did you go from Buenos Aires to Santiago?  If you did , can you tell me is it better to be on the starboard or port side for the scenery?

Thank you.

Finally heard from El Pedral and all is good.  Contacted them on facebook.

Thanks to all who responded.

5 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

There had to be a cancellation policy.   At the least look on the website.    Isn’t it on your invoice.  
 

why-  do you think a different company has anything to do with this one?     It doesn’t.      Your assumptions have no connection.      Each vendor operates independently.     

There was no money paid upfront and we don't have an actual contract.  Just e-mails back and forth with the itinerary and pricing.  I didn't say it had anything to do with the other company's, just that that that is what they all did.  Of course each vendor operates independently.  They have always been great with  getting back to me within a day or two in response to my e-mails and I just wanted to make sure they were safe because of the virus.

10 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

Did your booking terms have a. cancel policy?     There may be a different contact?   

No cancelling policy that was ever given to me.  I assume that everything will remain the same just like the other tour company's that I have organized a tour with.  They all just switched the tour dates to next year.

39 minutes ago, AryMay said:

Not sure if they are open or not, but I follow them on Instagram and they have daily posts. Perhaps you could inquire through social media? 

Thank you.  Will try that.

We had a tour booked with El Pedral Patagonia to see the penguins for  our December 6, 2020 cruise stopping in Puerto Madryn.  We have since cancelled this cruise and rebooked for Dec. 5, 2021.

I have written to them twice without a response which is very unusual for them.  They have always responded within a day or two.  Has anyone had contact with them within the last 2 months?  Maybe they are closed now because of the pandemic, but I would think they would have access to their e-mails.

Thank you.

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

 

I didn't think a TA would be advising people to delay booking cruises.

No,  agree, no TA would do  that.  He is a very interesting man, and is also a wonderful photographer as well.

18 hours ago, cangelmd said:

I may get my hand slapped for saying this because I think the video host is a TA, but I have watched several of his cruise videos on YouTube and found them to be helpful, thoughtful and well done.

He doesn't relay any earth shattering info for experienced cruisers like the good folk on these boards 😉, but I have recommended his videos to newbies.

We were researching river cruises about a year ago and watched his river cruise videos, showed us some positives and negatives about different river cruise lines that we didn't even think to consider

David is not  a TA.  He has a large following and was on the Diamond Princess that was quarantined for many weeks and he and his wife Sally both contracted Covid 19 while on it , and were hospitalized in Asia for almost a month after they finally got off the ship  He blogged every day,  and so many of us followed him and Sally with their journey until they finally got home to the UK.  

Thank you.  That is who a friend has booked with but they are awaiting a confirmation back.  Glad you were pleased with them.

Just a quick question.  Can you tell me who else you booked with for a tour in Puerto Montt besides GV tours and Viator and were you satisfied with them?

Thank you

We made the decision this week to cancel our Viking Sky TA that was leaving today.  With my husband having diabetes and  I have heart related issues, we felt that this was the right decision for us.  Our biggest fear was the long flight home from Barcelona and possibly being quarantined for 2 weeks.

Here is David's facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/david.abel.75

Thank you to all that have answered.  We will be checking out your responses.

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Who exactly did you ask at Viking? If you haven't already, try e-mailing the folks at tellus@vikingcruises.com. They have a more comprehensive knowledge of the system and the time to research answers.

I asked customer service and a supervisor.  Thanks for your suggestion,  I will try that.

3 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I can't imagine why not.  Why not ask your TA to find out?

Hi Wendy,

I asked Viking and they told me it was not possible, but I thought I read somewhere that it was.  Wanted to know if anyone recently was able to do it.

Thank you.

Can anyone tell me if Canadians book a future cruise while on the ship,  can they pay the deposit and final payment in U.S. dollars if they don't have a U.S. address.

Thank you.

8 hours ago, Cafabi said:

We just got back from Cozumel and did a 6 hour tour with Crescencio at Black Hat including Punta Sur, the east side, Pueblo del Maiz, and San Miguel. We found him to be extremely personable and accommodating. He pointed out numerous places of interest and let us take all the pictures we wanted. In fact, he even sang some Mexican Christmas carols for us. Out of 25+ private tours I've taken, he is my all-time favorite. No smoking or foul language around my asthmatic son, no steering us toward things we weren't interested in, no stretching out the tour to pad his pocket (OK 6 hours is plenty but...)---just a great tour guide and all around nice guy. I will definitely use him again.

Glad your tour was great with Crescencio.  Maybe it was just an off day for him on our tour .

4 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

 

I am sorry the tour didn’t work out as expected, did you have Crescencio himself or does he have a pool of drivers now?

 

May I ask where you visited since Cozumel is an island and most activities are centered on watersports, or the beach?

 

Did the driver make suggestions of where to visit, or did you research and decide in advance what you were interested in?

 

Yes,it was with Crescencio.  Nice man, just quiet.  We basically drove around the touristy places, saw no crocodiles, and ended up at the ruins.  Our husbands went into the ruins, but the ladies just shopped there.  He did take us to a local restaurant for lunch which we treated him to.  The lunch was very inexpensive.

We did a tour with Black Hat tours in November and while the driver was ok, I had to ask him questions in order for him to speak.  Nothing much to see.  We didn't go to the beach.

I wouldn't do the tour again.