kimanjo

Deep breath! We are currently in South America ( Peru) and have been traveling all over SA since end of February. We are full-time nomads. I can tell you this. Indoor mask mandates and on all transportation here appear to have made travel EASY. Staffing is fully operational. We have had one flight delay, coming back from Iguazu Falls to Buenos Aires ( 1.5 hour delay) in all our travels. I suspect the US to Santiago flights on all airlines will still be there in the fall/winter, maybe with slight time adjustments. Chile's mining economy is strong and Chile/ US is an important flight! Houston, Dallas, Miami. Unless the US cities have a airline meltdown akin to what's going on at Heathrow or Amsterdam going into the fall/winter, I wouldn't sweat it too much. IF that happens, we have a lot more things going pear-shaped! Our upcoming flights are from Arequipa where we are currently, to Cusco, to Cartagena Colombia, to Quito ( for our Galapagos cruise) and then on to US to resupply and see the kids, and head on back out to ???. So far, NONE of any of our past flights or currently scheduled ones have been changed/cancelled. Not even the one home on Delta from Quito to ATL to Chattanooga.

That AA DFW-SCL is the one we took in November 2021 Antarctic cruise. I believe the non-stop cities to SCL are MIA DFW LAX ATL. ( AA and DELTA) Our return was thru Houston (UNITED) not sure if that is running? So, in the winter, heading from home to connect in one of those airports is better than having to connect into "snow" city ie. CHI, MSP BOS.

I know it helps me feel a little less stressed to be over-prepared. With a Plan A, Plan B etc... Reservations, contingency plans, bookings. It is such a complicated, bucket list cruise, I just couldn't "wing it.

Couple of thoughts... Just checked the Ritz web-site. Room is 312.00 USD, fully cancelable up until 48 hours before checkin. I'm sure MO is the same. I would book both. If I HAD to guess, it would be the MO that they are using ( best outdoor space!!!), Ritz it nice, but pool area on roof is no comparison. Then cancel when you know for sure. It will pop up into your MySIlversea. My agent kept monitoring it thru her contacts at SS, and she also emailed me. If I had to guess, it was 60 days before? Booking an extra day early is imperative. Imagine if your luggage was delayed... For those who forgot anything, there a ton of "outdoor gear" stores at the giant Costanera Mall. Yes, the Holiday Inn airport is right there.

Also, do you have miles?? All the major carriers now have free re-deposit. I used miles, and booked them. I'm kind of obsessive, and it didn't cost anything, so I would check on flights everyday. If something better came up, I would cancel, re-deposit, and they would show up about 10 minutes later, and re-book the new flights. I know most people won't do this, but for this of us who can/will have the energy, it's a plan.

We did the exact same thing for our cruise the past November. I knew it was either going to be the Ritz Carlton or Mandarin. I booked the Mandarin O when I knew for sure. Then I contacted the MO to ask for the same room. Easy peasy.

We did our own air to Santiago in November 2021 for our Antarctica cruise. We just hopped in a taxi to the hotel.. Not hard, didn't need them to pick us up.. It's a modern country/airport with all the transport services of any world airport. Easy. Then, the rest of the transport was handled/included by Silversea. Transport from the hotel to the airport for our charter flight to Punta Arenas ( Port Williams now?) Then after the cruise, transport back to Santiago, where they transported us to the hotel ( for our night flight out). We then just had the hotel get us a taxi back to the airport for our own air home. I would guess about 30% maybe a little more of the pax on that cruise had done their own air. Lots of people used miles/points. It's not that unusual.

See, that's a problem.... One shouldn't HAVE to join the Face Place in order to get some traction.....

Did you make it??? Did Silversea move your flights or had you done your own air and you moved them yourselves?? We will be in Colombia before we fly to Quito for our August cruise. Just trying to figure out Plan B, if Plan A goes pear shaped...

Not sure if this postable here.... This is an expat couple I follow. DH and I are full-time nomads, and are in South America right now. We are in Argentina right now, working our way thru Peru, Columbia and ending in Quito for our August 18 arrival for the 20th depart to Galapagos. They seem to think its a 3 week protest. There was one in 2019 that was 3 weeks in duration.

We are currently traveling retired nomads, in Buenos Aires. We've been here since February. We brought with us 10 FLOWFLEX tests for this exact situation. You can get FLOWFLEX at Walgreens, CVS, Target,Publix. Inside the package is information on how to get the test proctored. You chose a time ( 24 hours a day) and a live proctor walks you thru the test. Its $20.00 for the proctoring. The tests were 7.99 at Target when we stocked up. AZOVA is the proctor. You can even buy the tests from Azova if you live where there are none. But just got on those pharmacies web-site and check to see who has in stock. We will be heading to Peru, and Ecuador ( for a Silver Origin cruise in August) and even though there are test sites around, we NEVER want to be stressed hunting for one. Worse, I've heard of friends being stuck in London trying to find a open spot for a test for 5 extra days to get back to the US. Hope this helps somebody. If you travel, carry a couple with you, for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for the description. DH and I are 59 and 60, and in pretty good shape ( he more than I)! We walk about 5-6 miles a day, and work out ( most yoga for me). We are currently in Buenos Aires, have been since Feb, and will be heading over to Peru in July to hike Machu Pichu, then up to Quito to position for the cruise in August. You have been very generous with your time posting your experience, and I greatly appreciate it!

What was hard about the hike? Length? Terrain? Elevation? Was it challenging for everyone? Thanks for the update on food as well. We are not "foodies" so as long as we get something in our tummies, we are good to go. Burger, chicken sandwich, salad etc are fine!

Pork? Chicken? What about other proteins? We don't eat any seafood, and pork and chicken are just fine ( we don't NEED steak). Is pork and chicken widely available? Thanks

Thanks so much for posting!!! We are on in August. 1. Neither DH or myself eats seafood ( also by choice, weird for New England born)so good to know we won't go hungry. 2. We do want to snorkel and kayak, so if you pick up any knowledge and post about those things, that would be awesome. Thanks again!

Thanks. We are on the August 20. I wonder how many last minute bookings happen on these expedition/bucket list cruises?

FLOWFLEX You can get these at CVS, Walgreens, Publix, Target. Go on those WEB sites and put in Flowflex, You will see who has them in your area. Ours were 7.99 each. You have the option to have it "proctored" for 20$. It's inside the package or on Azova.com. In February DH and I became full time Nomads. We did our first FLOWFLEX the day of our evening International departure out of the US to Buenos Aires. Was super easy. We brought 8 of them with us. You can pick a time 24 hours a day to have one proctored. Its very convenient. You set up appointments on their APP/Website. You use your phones camera. We will always travel with proctorable tests. You do NOT want an antibody test. You want Rapid/Antigen test.

Hardly any Roll Call lists for Apri, May, June, July, Aug, Sept 2022 sailings.... Wondering if anybody has insight how these sailings are going, or how full the ship is on the sailings?? Current experiences?