Ruth

14 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Can I suggest you fix up either a rental car or a car and driver, & head to St Lucia and (just beyond St Lucia) to iSimangaliso Wetlands Park.

St Lucia is under 50 miles, about 75 minutes from Richards Bay and a very simple route. It's known for the numerous hippos near the road bridge that crosses the river just before you enter the little town. For a close-up encounter you can take a boat ride from the operator next to the bridge - IIRC it lasts about an hour, but you might want to check on arrival & then visit the Park first, and take the boat tour if you have time.

The part of iSimangaliso Park that you'd visit from St Lucia would be the southern end & is also known as St Lucia Park - "wetlands" is a misnomer for this part, it's bush.

Entry fee to the Park is R50 (about 4USD) pp and R20  (2 USD) per vehicle (but do double-check). Roads are unmade, but no problem for even the simplest 2-wheel-drive car. Elephants, hippos, Cape buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, wild dogs (rare), various species of antelope, but I don't think any big cats. 

St Lucia is a small town (village?), just one main street but more than enough eateries and bars.

 

JB 

Thanks JB!

Richards Bay, South Africa -Will be in port from 6:30 am to 10 pm -Any suggestions? -We will have done an African Safari days before so looking for different type of tour. Anyone know any private guides?

Lots of great information! Thanks! We travel in January so we are checking into tours as well. We will be on the Azamara Quest ports of call:

Victoria, Seychelles Jan 5th 8 am - 10 pm

Praslin, Seychelles Jan 6th 7:30 am - 3pm

Mombasa, Kenya Jan 9th 7:30 am -Depart on Jan 10th at 8 pm (2 days)

Zanzibar, Tanzania Jan 11th 8 am - 4 pm

Maputo, Mozambique Jan 15th 9am - 3pm

Richards Bay Jan 16th 6:30 am - 10pm

Durban Jan 17th 8am -10 pm

Port Elizabeth Jan 19th 7 am - 10 pm

Cape Town Jan 21st arrive at 7 am -Staying for 7 days.

Another can suggest tours for other port would great appreciate it. 

Having trouble finding private tours for CC group for these ports of call -Geraldton, Exmouth, Broome & Darwin, Australia. Can anyone suggest tour companies please.

Super! Thanks!

Please list favorite restaurants in Buenos Aires.

We are happy to pay the corkage fee. However, we bring the two bottles for the balcony/days at sea. If we need more for the cabin we just order another bottle.

Booked to Falkland Islands tour.

The International Festival Santiago a Mil is a festival of performing arts that took place every year in January, mainly in Santiago, Chile, with extensions to other cities of the country. Organized by Fundación Teatro a Mil, since its creation in 1994 -with the name Teatro a Mil- until its XXIV edition in January 2017, the festival has presented 1,386 shows from 45 countries from the five continents, which have brought together 10,447,830 viewers.

http://www.fundacionteatroamil.cl/en/santiagoamil/

We have used Blacklane through the years. This time we are using South Excursions <sales3@southexcursions.com>

On our cruise we have 2 groups booked with him. Very Excited! Great Reviews!!!

Check www.guiaoleo.com.ar and https://buenos-aires.restorando.com.ar/

Wow! Cool sites. Thanks

Thanks for all the comments. 4774Papa, I am booking us with Odyssey. Their Giants Causeway excursion for cruisers does finish up with an "extended tour" of the city, so hubby will be happy. And as you said, it is cheaper than the cruise line. One more port checked off the list!

 

kathy

Kathy,

Thanks for the information. I emailed Odyssey now for our trip in May. Thanks

We used Blacklane private transfers from London to Southampton & from Southampton to the airport. Driver picked us up at the hotel to take us to Southampton and when the ship returned another driver picked us up at the port. It was so easy. Also used them in Paris.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2559833

 

Posted comments on Dec 8th transfer from San Antonio to Santiago on above thread.

Can recommend Pullman, many Chilean passengers on cruise said was good company and only $6US per person.

Wow! This is great information. Thank you for sharing it.

Lots of restaurants in the Palermo Neighborhood we will be going to and Caldén del Soho

We went to Iguazu Falls before our cruise in 2011. It is truly amazing and well worth visiting. I still think it is one of the amazing natural wonders we have seen; and we have been to a lot of places. We did it on our own and had no need for a guide. By staying at the Sheraton, we could easily walk to the falls whenever we wanted to. We spent 2 nights there and saw everything I wanted to see; but I could have spent a little more time there. You can see lots of photos from our visit in our review on our website that is linked to in my signature.

Wow! Thanks for sharing all the photo's and information.

We will be on the Emerald Princess in January. I had booked transfer from Valparaiso to Santiago. We found out about the port change and had to contact the company we booked transfers with. They just changed were to pick us up. I am sure they knew before us. They emailed me back confirmation of new location pickup.

We booked with tourguideushuaia dot net/ushuaia

We selected the 5 1/2 hike tour. Going in January! We have 10 people in our group.

FIRST HIKE " LOW DIFFICULTY TRAIL - 40 MINUTES LONG " :We start the first hike at Ensenada Bay, taking part of the Shore trail, while enjoying theawesome views of the Beagle Channel and its wildlife.

SECOND HIKE " LOW DIFFICULTY TRAIL - 20 MINUTES LONG":We head towards Roca Lake, where guests can take a peaceful and charming walkaround part of the lake, and part of Lapataia River taking magnificent photos.

THIRD HIKE " LOW DIFFICULTY TRAIL - 1 HOUR LONG":We will walk beyond the actual End of The World (end of the Panamerican Highway),surrounding Lapataia Bay where we will have amazing views of the Darwin Range whichhas the highest mountains on the island with year-round snow caps on the peaks.

We were messaged by our tour guide to bring payment in GBP. He stated if we brought US Dollar the tour price is higher due to he would have to take to the bank and they charge him more to exchange it.

We have reservations on New Years Eve at

isouthamerica.com/airport-transfers-santiago-chile-scl/

We will be using this company transfer from ship to Airport.

For long cruises we always bring a cloth hanging shoe rack and hang on the bathroom door. This organizes everything and it has a place. Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Brush, Make up , Deodorant, lotions, Curling Iron, Blow Dryer etc.

We booked with Edger at: tourguideushuaia dot net

https://www.tourguideushuaia.net/ushuaia-html/

Need Advise for New Years Eve & New Years Day in Buenos Airs Please! Dining and Things to do. Anyone have suggestions.