GeorgeCharlie

We were on a cruise last fall, which allowed for a side trip to Machu Picchu and, as I also have to wear braces on both knees, I enquired about the same thing as you are. What I was told was that use of a walking pole is randomly enforced, but if you have one stick with rubber tip you probably would not be bothered by anyone. If you are elderly/disabled, they are going to allow them. Another option if you just need it for stability is a collapsible cane, which is what I use while travelling and is less likely to raise eyebrows. In the end, we decided not to take the side trip.

Late last fall we did our first SA cruise, it was 31 days from Miami to Buenos Aires. Other then Peru, we found most of the countries interesting and safe to visit. We did a review of the cruise and you can find our impressions of our stops in Ecuador starting at Post #34 and Chile starting at Post #76.

Last fall we were on Oosterdam's 31-day inaugural South American cruise and we did a review of our experiences. Although it does not answer some of your questions (direction of travel, best month, etc.) it may give you some ideas of what the port tours are like. The San Antonio (Santiago) to Buenos Aries portion of the cruise starts at Post #84.

We were in La Serena on Dec 05th last year, which was also on a Monday. We had pre-booked a tour with Turismo Cochiguaz Tours at a cost of US$65/person. We were the first larger cruise ship to visit since Covid, so they were having some issues getting up to speed, but overall the tour was okay. If you are interested, you can find more info on what we thought of the tour from the review we did.

We visited Falkland Islands on Dec 15/22 on board the Oosterdam. For us, having Falklands on a South American cruise itinerary was mandatory, and I’m sure we were not the only ones onboard who were concerned as to whether we would be able to make it ashore. It ended up being a fairly nice day, with scattered clouds and an odd shower passing through. Oosterdam at anchor, with Stanley in the background. Of course, getting to see penguins was the main reason we wanted to visit the islands. And we got to see them in all kinds of shapes and colours!!!! A chick still wearing its winter coat. We were very fortunate in being able to book Falkland Helicopter Services for a tour of the Islands, as it greatly enhanced our experience in seeing (and learning) about penguins and the Islands as a whole. Bill & Tom beside the Robertson R44 helicopter. For reference in size, both Tom & Bill are well over 6 feet tall. The helicopter tour meant, rather than taking over two hours by 4x4 vehicle to get to Volunteer Point, by helicopter it would only take about 20 minutes. In addition, with our tour scheduled to leave at 10:30am, we didn’t need to be in any big rush trying to catch a tender. Plus, you get a different view of the landscape from above. A picture of the helicopter sitting on the top of the rise at Volunteer Point. You will also note the sheep grazing amongst the penguins, as Volunteer Point is part of a working sheep farm. Almost all of the land in the Falklands is privately owned and the owners charge the tour companies an access fees. We got to see three different species of penguins at Volunteer Point; King, Gentoo, and Magellanic. King. Gentoo. Magellanic. With being able to visit Volunteer Point by helicopter meant we still had lots of time to see other sights, so we also took another helicopter tour out to see Rockhopper penguins – “the penguin with an attitude“. A short video showing rockhoppers going down to and coming back up from the ocean. There is also a fifth species of penguins on Falkland Islands, called the Macaroni penguin and unfortunately, we didn't see any. The Macaroni penguin is the most numerous of all the world's penguins, with an estimated world population of over 9 million breeding pairs, but very few nest in the Falkland Islands. . We did an extensive review of our 31-day SA cruise on the Oosterdam, which included our visit to Falkland Islands in more detail. The Falkland Islands portion starts at post #148.

Another local tour operator is Tomás Hughes with www.bonaventuratrips.com. When our cruise ended in Buenos Aires last December, we arranged with him for a short city tour, with drop-off at the airport. He had been recommended to us by several other people here on Cruise Critic and we found him to be an excellent guide. His email is tomasehughes@gmail.com

We did a review of our SA cruise from last fall. It only covers about half of what you'll be seeing - from Florida to Buenos Aires (but not the Antarctic), but it will give you some idea of the tours we went on and the various sights along the way.

Web page for Puerto San Antonio Tours. https://puertosanantoniotours.com/home/

In regards to what there is to see in Valparaiso. I did a review of our cruise, which visited the area last December. Our comments on our visit to Valparaiso starts on post #84.

As mentioned, Falkland Islands is the prime destination in SA to see penguins, mainly because it is possible to see 3, of 4 different types. We were there last December and had a great time - the highlight of our cruise.😎 I did a review of our cruise and you can see my comments regarding Falkland Islands, starting at post #148. Unfortunately, I understand Falklands Helicopter is not presently offering tours, but maybe they will be by the time you go.

We were in Punta Arenas onboard the Oosterdam last December and were told at that time the ship was too large to dock at the Prat Pier, so we tendered in. I did a review of our cruise and you can see my comments regarding Punta Arenas, starting at post #104.

This dog got a lot of attention when we were in Qaqortoq in 2018, onboard the Zuiderdam.

We ended up having an interesting extended stay in Akureyri during our Fall 2018 cruise from Copenhagen to New York onboard the Zuiderdam. Due to weather delays we were there for 3 days and as we were departing, the Captain announced that we were now all honorary citizens of Akureyri - as it was the longest time any cruise ship had stayed in Akureyri. On the third day, there were three other cruise ships in port (the Serenade of the Seas and the AIDAcara, plus the Pacific Princess), so Akureyri was absolutely packed with tourists. In my review of the cruise, I had posted the following picture, as a light-hearted comment on how the local residents felt after being inundated with four cruise ships in one day.😉🤠 Other people have already posted many excellent photos of this area of Iceland, so, in case anyone may be interested, I'll just post a link to my review which is here. The Akureyri portion starts at post #81.

We were in General San Martin (Pisco) last December onboard the HAL Oosterdam, where we had arranged a independent tour of Bellastas & the Paracas Nature Reserves through the Secrets of Peru tour company. We did a review of the cruise, which may give you an idea as to what this port stop is like. The port info starts at post #70. We would also like to welcome you to Cruise Critic, which is an indispensable source of information related to cruising.

Finally!! After a long rainy period, we are now getting a nice sunny day. Temp to be in high 20's C ( low 80's F) Time for a Sunday ride.

HAL is just starting installing Starlink on their ships, so if your ship has it installed by the time you sail, you should be able to watch your student videos without any problems.

When we were in Ushuaia last December, ourselves and another couple used a local guide (Frederico) with Anan Turismo. You can contact Frederico at: ananturismo (@) gmail (.) com Although we did not do a hiking tour with him, he does offer several tours which include hiking. We did a review of our cruise and you can see our comments on Ushuaia/Frederico starting at Post #116.

The cow is a revered animal in Hinduism, as it represents Mother Earth and is a source of goodness, and its milk nourishes all creatures. We were in India in 2016 and couldn't help but notice cattle wandering freely on streets and sidewalks. Stray cattle—most of them abandoned males—are rampant throughout India, where they can't legally be killed. On the flipside - Hindu mythology believes that cats are unlucky and should not be kept as pets because they bring bad luck into a home.🐱🐱🐱

We were in Puerto Chacabuco last December, onboard the Oosterdam. We were greeted by a dance group.

We have yet to visit the Galapagos. We spent a fair bit of time looking at cruises a few years ago, but unfortunately COVID brought all that to a standstill. From what I can remember, the best time to go generally falls into a couple areas. From a cost point of view, the summer/fall (June - November) period is normally viewed as off-season, with lower prices. Whereas the other six months is high-season - i.e. higher prices. In contrast, the June - November period is their dry season, and the December - May is their wet season. So, the best time for you to go will depend on if your deciding factor is cost, or weather. For us, there is another factor, that being getting away to warmer climates during our cold winters!! With respect to your initial query regarding the Xpedition's Northern, vs Southern routes. From what I can see on Celebrity's website, the routings are completely different - with very little overlap on ports-of-call.

Which ship & travel dates are you querying about?

Their closing down is news to me!! It's very unfortunate, as they provided an excellent service.

When we were in the Falklands last December, we took a helicopter tour out to Volunteer Point. It is the easiest way to get out to Volunteer Point - a 20 minute ride, compared to the 1 1/2 - 2 hours it takes with a 4x4. Plus, the cost was the same a booking a 4x4 tour through the ship!!

Have a great cruise😎

When we were in San Antonio last December we used Puerto San Antonio Tours for a day tour and found them to be quite good, plus they also offer cruise terminal to airport transfers. Their website is https://puertosanantoniotours.com/home/