Celebrity Infinity January 5, 2014 South America Cruise

[seacruiserla]

I am starting this Roll Call thread. Michael, my partner, and I will be on this cruise. Anyone else planning to be on this cruise?

 

--Terry

[kenjh]

Hello Terry & Michael, we are also booked on the Infinity on 5 Jan 2014.

Ken & Mark.

[seacruiserla]

Hi, Ken and Mark. Looking forward to meeting you guys next January on the cruise. Let's keep in touch before the cruise. Terry & Michael.

[Wilde_37]

Myself and my partner Dave (from Ireland) will be on this cruise - along with another gay couple (Ralph & Fred from Mississippi).

[seacruiserla]

I believe there are now at least ten of "us" on this cruise. :) Lookinng forward to meeting everyone. Terry.

[jbejermi]

Hi my wife Sandra will be on this Jan.5-2014 cruise to South America and would very much like to share renting a van and guide in each port we stop at to tour. Also if anyone has any info on how to get to Santiago from Valparasio at a reasonable cost- we would very much apppreciate your assistance since we plan on spending a few day on Santiago after disembarking on Jan.19.

 

John & Sandra from Canada

[seacruiserla]

Hi my wife Sandra will be on this Jan.5-2014 cruise to South America and would very much like to share renting a van and guide in each port we stop at to tour. Also if anyone has any info on how to get to Santiago from Valparasio at a reasonable cost- we would very much apppreciate your assistance since we plan on spending a few day on Santiago after disembarking on Jan.19.

 

John & Sandra from Canada

 

John and Sandra--

 

My partner and I may be interested in the van and guide option for some of the ports of call. We, however, will not be making tour decisions until a month or two before the cruise since all of the tour options would likely not be posted by Celebrity until then.

 

In terms of going from Valparaiso to Santiago, I understand that there will be a post-cruise tour that will take us from the ship to Santiago for a day tour. The tour will end by dropping us off at the airport at around 4 pm. We have booked a hotel nearby since our flight will not be until like 2 am the next morning.

 

Hope the info. helps.

 

--Terry

[jbejermi]

Thanks Terry;

 

What is the the trip from the Ship in Valparaisio to Santiago? is this organized by the ship? we are planning on spending a few days in Santiago so we need to go into the city and are looking to share a taxi or van. How much is the trip to Santiago you booked? Thanks.

 

John & Sandra

[seacruiserla]

Thanks Terry;

 

What is the the trip from the Ship in Valparaisio to Santiago? is this organized by the ship? we are planning on spending a few days in Santiago so we need to go into the city and are looking to share a taxi or van. How much is the trip to Santiago you booked? Thanks.

 

John & Sandra

 

John and Sandra--

 

If you go to the Celebrity Cruises website and log on to your cruise reservation, you can access the tours that are offered by the cruise line. Type in "Valparaiso" for the "Location" search and you will see two tours offered by Celebrity at the end of our cruise. The less expensive one (i.e. not the wine tasting tour) is $119, I believe. This tour will end at the airport in Santiago.

 

On the other roll call board for our cruise (the one I mentioned to you in my last posting), someone posted the following as an alternative option:

"Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and Santiago City Tour

 

Transfer from the ship (8 Hrs)

 

This tour is ideal for passengers ending their journey in the port of Valparaíso, and who want a transfer from the ship to their Santiago hotel or to the airport, plus an overview tour of all major attractions – Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, the Casablanca Valley, and Santiago.

 

The tour begins with a drive through Valparaiso, passing the National Congress building, located in the main commercial Avenue “Pedro Montt”; you also go through the city parks and plazas, such as Italia, De La Victoria, and Sotomayor. We make a stop at Paseo 21 De Mayo, where we take a stroll through what is known as one of the most beautiful view points and promenades of the city. Another great part of the tour is the walk through the “Pleasant Hill Historical District”, which we access via Funicular Lift (This is not a very long walk).

 

We then make our way to Viña del Mar, you’ll see the famous “Garden Clock”, as well as the Municipal Casino, the “Quinta Vergara” (where the city’s founding family had their Estate), and the gorgeous coastal views that the city has to offer.

 

After

an optional stop for lunch

, you’ll be taken to a winery in Casablanca, which is a cool climate valley, known for their great Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah (They do, however, add other red varieties of their wine tastings, which come from warm climates, like Maule, Colchagua, Cachapoal, Curicó, Limarí, Aconcagua and Maipo).

 

In Santiago, you will visit the historical downtown area, where you’ll see the Presidential Palace "La Moneda", as well as the Constitutional Square. Here, you’ll also see the former National Congress building, along with the Justice Palace, en route to the impressive Plaza de Armas (Main Square).

 

At this square, you can find the Cathedral; the former Governor’s Palace, which is now the Main Post Office; the National History Museum, and the former prison, now the city hall.

 

We will continue, in order to see the “Mercado Central”, followed by Parque Forestal; Barrio Bellas Artes; the Santa Lucia Hill, which is where Santiago was founded in 1541 If time allows, you’ll also see Barrio Bellavista, which is a cheek, colorful artist colony.

 

Notes:

- This tour finishes at your Santiago accommodation or SCL Airport.

- Santiago is located 120 km/ 70 Miles from Valparaiso

 

Prices:

On a basis of 4 passengers: $99 USD per person

On a basis of 6 passengers: $85 USD per person

On a basis of 8 passengers or more: $80 USD per person"

This tour seems to be similar to the one offered by Celebrity. Two things I have noticed about this tour for your consideration: (1) Although the rate is lower, it does not seem to include lunch. (2) The tour has the option of dropping you off at your Santiago accommodation at the conclusion of the tour. In addition, someone posted a question in that roll call board asking how the luggage would be handled if one was to join this tour. I have not seen a response yet.

 

 

Michael and I have not booked any tour yet (from Celebrity or otherwise). We want to wait until it is closer to the time of the cruise to decide about our land tours. We suspect Celebrity might offer more tour options than what are currently on their website. That was our experience when we did the New Zealand/Australia cruise on Celebrity Century two years ago.

 

Hope the information helps.

 

 

--Terry

[jbejermi]

What is the other roll call board you refer to? I didn't know there was more than one for our cruise. How do I access it?

 

Thanks for the info on the various transfers- I will look at Celebrity's offers however we still would be very interested in renting a private vehicle with other travellers to go to Santiago as well as share different port tours.

 

I hope everyone is aware that Celebrity will be hosting a reception for Cruise critics guests if more than 25 people sign up for it. Take care.

 

John & Sandra

Canada

[seacruiserla]

It's still six months away, but our travel plan is falling into place. We just firmed up our pre-cruise itinerary this week.

 

We will be flying from Los Angeles on January 1, 2014 and arriving in Buenos Aires on Jan. 2. We will take another flight on the same day to Mendoza, and will be there for three nights before returning and boarding our ship on Jan. 5. We are planning on doing some wine tasting in Mendoza besides getting some rest (the end of the year is often busy for us with work and the holidays).

 

We were in Mendoza three years ago during our first trip to Argentina and really loved that area. We had some of the best wine and food in Mendoza, and the area felt like Napa Valley in California before it became too big and commercial.

 

We used BAGay Travel (a gay-owned travel agency in Argentina) for that trip three years ago. Armando of that travel agency was the most responsive one among the about three or four travel agencies listed in the Fodor guide book, and they were the only gay-owned agency among the bunch. In fact, he was the only one who worked with us to tailor our trip to what we wanted instead of the other way around. He arranged for all of our transportation, accommodation, and private tours in Buenos Aires, Iguazu, and Mendoza. We had such a good experience with him and the agency that we are using them again for our upcoming pre-cruise trip. If anyone wants to check out their website, it is as follows:

 

www.bagaytravel.com/

 

Now that the pre-cruise part is done, we will move onto looking into shore excursions -- probably after the summer.

 

Have a good summer, everyone.

 

--Terry (& Michael)

[seacruiserla]

What is the other roll call board you refer to? I didn't know there was more than one for our cruise. How do I access it?

 

Thanks for the info on the various transfers- I will look at Celebrity's offers however we still would be very interested in renting a private vehicle with other travellers to go to Santiago as well as share different port tours.

 

I hope everyone is aware that Celebrity will be hosting a reception for Cruise critics guests if more than 25 people sign up for it. Take care.

 

John & Sandra

Canada

 

John and Sandra--

 

My apology for this very belated response. It has been a very busy month for me and I did not have a chance to check our board until now.

 

The other roll call board is: "January 5, 2014 Buenos Aries, Argentina to Valparaiso​, Chile." You may want to check it out. There are now more than 25 people on our cruise who have already signed up for "Meet and Mingle." I have already received notice from Celebrity that there will be a reception for us on board our ship.

 

As I have mentioned in a previous posting, Michael and I would be very interested in joining you guys for some private vehicle tours. We have some very specific shore excursions we want to take at some of the ports (e.g. walking among penguins in Ushuaia with the Pira Tour). At other destinations, we are flexible and it would be nice to do private vehicle tour. So, keep us in mind and keep us posted.

 

--Terry

[seacruiserla]

Just came back from two weeks in Hawaii ( vacation and professional convention). Now that the Hawaii trip is over, we are getting more serious about looking at excursions on our South America cruise. We are likely trying to stay mostly with offerings by the ship (a little more expensive but less worry about timing). Any suggestion? Just 145 days before our cruise. Can't wait:)

[seacruiserla]

Myself and my partner Dave (from Ireland) will be on this cruise - along with another gay couple (Ralph & Fred from Mississippi).

 

Gary--

 

I just noticed that you guys are taking a cruise from Vancouver to San Diego next month (September). If you are stopping in Los Angeles and have time, let us know since we live there.

 

--Terry

[Wilde_37]

We are currently trying to figure out the transfers from Valparaiso to Santiago. we are flying back to Buenos Aires and hope to get a flight at about 18:00. However, our travel companions are flying back to Atlanta at 23:00, So ideally we could get a transfer from the ship which could drop us at the airport at about 16:00 and then do something else for the lads and drop them at the airport later. I notice that the ship have that transfer but they are saying it is only for those who have flights after 21:00. Hopefully closer to the time they will post other transfers.

[seacruiserla]

We are currently trying to figure out the transfers from Valparaiso to Santiago. we are flying back to Buenos Aires and hope to get a flight at about 18:00. However, our travel companions are flying back to Atlanta at 23:00, So ideally we could get a transfer from the ship which could drop us at the airport at about 16:00 and then do something else for the lads and drop them at the airport later. I notice that the ship have that transfer but they are saying it is only for those who have flights after 21:00. Hopefully closer to the time they will post other transfers.

 

Gary--

 

On the general roll call site for our cruise, some people are talking about trying to get a transfer and tour that is organized by an operator other than our cruise line. The schedule seems more flexible. You may want to check into it.

 

Michael and I are planning to take the Valparaiso to Santiago transfer and tour organized by our cruise line. We think it will be easier to arrange for luggage transfer, among other reasons. We will not be leaving Santiago for Los Angeles until nearly 2 am the next morning. So, we hope the tour bus will drop us off at a hotel nearby the airport which we have booked (Hilton Garden Inn). We can take a nap, have dinner, and then get to the airport (the hotel has a free shuttle).

 

I hope more options will open up for you as we get closer to the cruise. Keep us posted about your (and your friends') plan.

 

--Terry

[txdreamer01]

We too will be on the cruise. Is anyone else doing Machu Pichu first?

[seacruiserla]

We too will be on the cruise. Is anyone else doing Machu Pichu first?

 

We will be going to Mendoza before the cruise. We were in Quito and the Galapagos earlier this year. I wish we went also to Machu Pichu on that trip. Have a great time in Machu Pichu, and looking forward to meeting you guys on the cruise.

 

--Terry & Michael

[seacruiserla]

Here is a quick count of those of us who have posted on this G&L Roll Call so far:

 

Terry & Michael (hosts) from L.A.

Gary & David from Ireland with friends Ralph & Fred

Ken & Mark

John & Sandra

txdreamer01

 

Did I miss anyone? Looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

--Terry

[seacruiserla]

Here is a quick count of those of us who have posted on this G&L Roll Call so far:

 

Terry & Michael (hosts) from L.A.

Gary & David from Ireland with friends Ralph & Fred

Ken & Mark

John & Sandra

txdreamer01

 

Did I miss anyone? Looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

--Terry

 

Hi, Everyone--

 

Can't believe it's getting close to sailing date. We look forward to meeting everyone on board.

 

What is everyone's travel plan? We will be traveling from L.A. to Buenos Aires on January 1 and will spend a few days doing wine tasting in Mendoza before boarding the ship on January 5.

 

See you all soon.

 

--Terry

[Wilde_37]

We are flying from Ireland to Buenos Aires on Friday 3rd - arriving on 4th. Can't believe it is less than 3 weeks away. Looking forward to this cruise and to seeing this part of the world for the first time.

 

Our friends Ralph & Fred are flying in on 1st also and spending a few days in the city and surrounding area.

[seacruiserla]

We are flying from Ireland to Buenos Aires on Friday 3rd - arriving on 4th. Can't believe it is less than 3 weeks away. Looking forward to this cruise and to seeing this part of the world for the first time.

 

Our friends Ralph & Fred are flying in on 1st also and spending a few days in the city and surrounding area.

 

Michael and I will be getting back to Buenos Aires from Mendoza on the 5th and will board the ship in the early afternoon. We will probably hang out on the ship for the afternoon and will likely want to check out the martini bar at around 6 pm. We can do an informal LGBT Happy Hour - just come by. BTW, we will be in Cabin 9108. That may be the best contact for us as we will be cell phone free and will NOT check emails. It's a vacation for us :).

 

Can't wait for our trip in two weeks and looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

--Terry