NCL back to South America

When I was on the Star in October, there were rumors of NCL going back to South America in 2015. There seemed to be lots of interest. Has anybody heard any more on the subject? Seems there are more ships in the fleet now.

I might guess that some new routes will open up as the 2 new B+ ships come online.

When I was on the Star in October, there were rumors of NCL going back to South America in 2015. There seemed to be lots of interest. Has anybody heard any more on the subject? Seems there are more ships in the fleet now.

Was it senior NCL staff spreading the rumors, or other guests with wishful thinking? Been a lot of wishful thinking for quite a while, but NCL keeps denying it.

When I was on the Star in October, there were rumors of NCL going back to South America in 2015. There seemed to be lots of interest. Has anybody heard any more on the subject? Seems there are more ships in the fleet now.

Hiya Rob! I've heard those same rumors on virtually every cruise since NCL discontinued the South American itineraries. I've run into officers and crew that were on the Sun's South American route and they've all said that the route was memorable and special to them but also arduous and costly.

In any case, NCL typically releases its new itineraries in December so it won't be too much longer before we'll know for sure. My husband and I are actually talking about returning to South America (either a 2-week Around-The-Horn cruise or as an add-on to an Antarctic expedition) and we'd love to have another opportunity to cruise with NCL.

To be honest, I heard the same rumors on the Sun in 2012. But this time it was NCL staff that probably has a good idea.

I hope they do!

I hope they do because it was probably our most memorable cruise. But I'm not sure because when we did it we scored a last minute inside cabin for $399 PP for 19 days and the ship was only 75% full.

I did the SA cruise on the Sun and was fortunate enough to participate in the Antarctic Landing excursion. Some incredible memories.

I hope other NCL cruisers get that chance.

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Airfare prices down there was one of the big reasons that that market was dropped. I would love to see another ship down there. We need new exciting cruise options. Orlando, Freeport, Nassau and GSC get boring very quickly.

I would be all over a S. America itinerary!

I would sign up as well. For those of you who did the Sun, did you write reviews? Can you share?

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I did the SA cruise on the Sun and was fortunate enough to participate in the Antarctic Landing excursion. Some incredible memories.

 

I hope other NCL cruisers get that chance.

 

 

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Sounds amazing. I would love this. If only DH like the cold!:(

I would sign up as well. For those of you who did the Sun, did you write reviews? Can you share?

 

I think there might be a couple of reviews (over in the member reviews section), but if I remember correctly, they were more focused on the Sun itself, rather than the itinerary. Members of my roll call were very much aware that the Sun wouldn't be coming back to South America.

I do have a draft in my files of an itinerary-focused cruise review of my Feb 2010 South American cruise aboard the Sun. For some reason, I never posted it. It's pretty complete (actually, it's overly-long) and if there's interest, I'll be happy to punch it up a little and post it.

I would sign up as well. For those of you who did the Sun, did you write reviews? Can you share?

 

 

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What do you want to know? About the ports?

It has been years but I have a good memory...

So here is my mini-review, from memory...

My cousin is my TA and she had taken a group of 8 of us on the Jewel from Miami to Athens, in a Transatlantic on the Jewel. It was then I discovered that I love longer cruises. So, when she and her friend booked the sun for South America I was immediately "all in". Thanks to my attachment to Cruise Critic, I started researching the Sun and I fell in love with the 9th deck corner aft penthouse suites. I booked and then told my mom, it took a little while and a little coaxing, but she soon said YES! Yea.

We decided to fly in the morning of the cruise. It was the best I could do talking the boss into 2 weeks off. We took out insurance and that was helpful, as a "just in case" because, actually, we flew out of DFW the night before and flew all night. The port is about an hour from Santiago airport, so we did the NCL transfer. We arrived at the port and there were lines, but we were able to bypass and go straight to VIP boarding, which was great. I travel with my mom and she has some health issues, so I was relieved.

We had lunch in the suite venue, Il Adagio and love that place.

Now, when we cruised there was some issues with flying into Chile Not sure if those are still i place First, they have extremely strict rules in regards to customs and some on our cruise and in our role call likened it to extortion. One police officer in our roll call was fined $200 in cash (yes, they walked him to the ATM) for nuts. We would have joined him except a wonderful NCL staff member who was assisting my mom with a wheelchair warned us. I was able to declare and discard what I needed to! whew! In addition, we had to pay some tax at the airport. Check to see what the current laws are if you go there.

My cousin and her friend arrived the day before and the friend had her pocket picked of over $500 cash. This was her birthday week and she also had a cold that came on second day of the cruise.

One thing, when you cruise in Chile, the casino on the ship is CLOSED! That was a blessing and a curse. Heehee.

Our first port was Puerto Montt, I think, going on recall, which is charmingly German in tradition. We toured a gardens and went through shops. I remember visiting a bakery with yummies. I went on the NCL excursion with my cousin using her friends ticket. I just paid her what she paid.

The second port was Puerto Chacabuco, and again I subbed for our ill friend on her NCL excursion. We went to town and to a nature preserve, I remember it was Simpson something... as I joked about Jessica Simpson, who is from our area. Some port stops are better skipped. This is one of those.

Port Arenas (?) is where I did the Antarctic excursion. I have a goal of visiting all 7 continents and all 50 US states and as soon as I knew I was going on this cruise I started planning that excursion. Imagine my shock when I learned that 12 hour excursion costs $1,500!!! I mentioned it to my brother, the wise one, and he said, "when will you ever have that opportunity again?" So, I reserved it. At the time I did not know that they tell you 50% of the time the conditions for flying are unacceptable and the Antarctic Landing is cancelled, sometimes even on the runway. Wow! Note: In the event it is cancelled, the substitute another excursion, that costs about half, I think Tierra del Fuego. So, I went to the airport, along with two friends from our CC roll call, who were so wonderful to let me tag along... and we actually took off for this amazing day!!! We learned then that only about 30% of the time or less this excursion actually makes it and that the 2 cruises before and the one after DID NOT! The time on Antarctica was dreamy. Like nothing I have done before or since. If anyone wants a breakdown of the day, just ask.

I am trying to remember the route. Going to look at a map and continue in a new post....

Oh, two things...

People ask me if this was the coldest I was in my whole life. It was not. I was actually colder once at a Dallas Cowboys game when it was 19 degrees F. On Antarctica we did a lot of walking. It is a pretty physical excursion... and oh yeah, you do get a nice red NCL Antarctica parka with this trip... my mom says it is the most expensive jacket I own. :)

My mom went ashore in Punta Arenas and got caught in a very wild storm. We had missed a great deal of it, as we were further south. However, this is a tender port and the storm brought such high winds that it wrecked havoc on the poor tender drivers. They kept getting pushed back by the HUGE waves of water. We were about 3 hours late leaving.

I don't remember which came next: Ushuaia, Cape Horn or the Chilean fjords... So I will list in that order, which might be out of order.

Ushuaia is a city that is called "the end of the world". It even says that in large letters in the port. When we arrived there was a nice combo playing music. There were a lot of cool shops. we just walked around. It was delightful. The Celebrity Infinity was in port that day too, in fact our itineraries were very similar and we ran into them a few times over the course of this cruise.

We had a ceremony on board for crossing Cape Horn. The Captain and one of his Senior Officers "baptized" us with very cold water from the Ocean and we were able to purchase a very fine photo in the NCL photo shop as we were getting ice cold water poured over our head.

If you have been on an Alaska cruise and enjoyed the beauty of the glaciers then you will not want to miss the Chilean fjords. They were truly magnificent. The Sun is small enough to cruise close to the shore and the colors of blue were breathtaking. We loved our aft balcony for viewing!

I think our next stop was Stanley, Falkland Islands. Here is another port that is sometimes/often skipped due to weather. Not for us! It was a glorious day! It was the most quaint place to visit. So full of history. The people were warm and friendly. My mom and I walked all over the place. We went to the Maritime Museum, we walked along the shores and saw wreckage and where land mines were possibly buried. There are a lot of lawn knomes to see. We walked through the neighborhoods. We ended with a "fish and chips" lunch in town. My mother bought some sheeps wool. The Infinity did not have Stanley on their itinerary, what a shame for them!

to be continued...

We crossed into Argentina and the casino is now open on the ship.

Where Chile had started off warm, (not hot), and then gotten colder and colder as we went south, as we ventured into Argentina and went north it became warmer and warmer...

When we arrived in Puerto Madryn some folks were at the beach. We went shopping. Thy had nice shops and we found a wonderful book store in one of the malls where I bought gifts. We went into a cafe and had great coffee. I also bought some nice leather pieces, some for gifts and some for me. Purses, and such.

Out next stop was Montevideo, Uruguay!!! As I sit typing I look up and smile. On the wall above my computer desk is a piece of artwork I had shipped home from there. I found a wonderful art studio outside the beaten path and I bought the piece, (about 18" x 24"), a silver ring, a glass paperweight and a leather piece I call "flying man". I am so happy I splurged on myself in this port. I love the things I bought that day. Montevideo also has a lot of open air buildings with HUGE grills. The order of the day is mostly red meat, but also lots of other offerings, such as grilled cheese. We partook and were glad we did. I loved this port!

As we were to embark in Buenos Aires, we had not planned anything for that city, and our wonderful concierge, Karin G. strongly encouraged us to take the NCL excursion that would deliver us to the airport late in the day for our evening flight. They offered a 5 hour one and an 8 hour one, we opted for the latter and we were so glad we did. We received a bus tour of the City, with some stops for shopping, (bought more leather goods), and then an afternoon at an Estancia. I went horseback riding and toured the grounds. We drank wine and danced with the locals. Then we were escorted inside where we were served incredible food, (Argentina is well known for their incredible beef and I am certainly a believer now!!! And being a Texan I know a thing or two about that!!!). We were served lots of wine bottled on the premises and we were entertained with music and dancing. Thank you, Karin for suggesting this!!! They delivered us to the Airport, which was a zoo... but we got on the plane without incident and said goodbye to the SUN and promised to be back. We kept that promise. We were back on in March 2013 and I have booked for the Panama Canal in October, 2014.

Other items to note: We played a lot of trivia. Fun! We do the spa, it was nice. However the Sun spa did not have the bells and whistles as the Jewel and Dawn had. But we loved the Sun. As this is more geared to South America and the itinerary and not the ship, I will just say, this trip was very special and I am so glad we had an opportunity to cruise SA on NCL, while it was offered. I hope they offer it again so others can too.

Did NCL offer an airfare package with the cruise? My dad has only Antarctica left to be on all 7 continents. If this is offered again we will jump on it!

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We got tired of waiting for NCL to go back to SA, so we are booked on Celebrity Infinity, Around the Horn in January.

Did NCL offer an airfare package with the cruise? My dad has only Antarctica left to be on all 7 continents. If this is offered again we will jump on it!

 

 

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Yes, we used NCL air/transfers.

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We got tired of waiting for NCL to go back to SA, so we are booked on Celebrity Infinity, Around the Horn in January.

You should love it. Looks like a nice ship. Folks we talked to in port liked it.

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The cruise planning guy on the Breakaway claims the new ships mean NCL will be cruising Australia and Asia, maybe in 2016.

Qqq

Airfare prices down there was one of the big reasons that that market was dropped. I would love to see another ship down there. We need new exciting cruise options. Orlando, Freeport, Nassau and GSC get boring very quickly.

If this is the case maybe they should get out of the Europe market, looks like airfare for us next Christmas to Rome from the east coast is going to over 5000 for the four of us.

Not sure what happened with my last post

It would be great to have some more options for sure!

I did the SA cruise on the Sun and was fortunate enough to participate in the Antarctic Landing excursion. Some incredible memories.

 

I hope other NCL cruisers get that chance.

 

 

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Id totally fork over 3 grand for a chance at Antarctica for the 2 of us! That would be the most unique excursion ever!