Princess Shore Excursions for South America

[soudersmes]

We just got back from a 14 day South America cruise on the Golden Princess. It was from Santiago to Buenos Aires. Here are some tips for Princess shore excursions.

 

Be careful booking in Puerto Madryn as we weren't allowed to dock there and if you have private prepaid excursions you will lose your money. Luckily we were with Princess.

 

Don't book the Otway Sound Penguin tour. We did 2 penguin tours and this wasn't any good. The penguins are roped off and you aren't close to them like in other areas.

 

Puerto Montt and Ushuaia we did private tours which were cheaper and better.

 

The place to see penguins is on the Falkland Islands. Take the North Pond tour or the Volunteer Point tours. You go on 4 wheel drive vehicles and get to stand next to the penguins. We did the North Pond tour and saw King, Magellan and Gentoos. It was unbelievable. Had an awesome driver named Mike who told us so much about the Falkland war and general information about the Falklands. Drove us around town and even to see some of the battle areas. We still had time to walk around the town.

 

Montevideo--We did the Estancia or ranch tour. It was phenomenal. The family who run the ranch are the original owners and do it because they enjoy showing their ranch to outsiders. It's not a commercial run venue. We met the grandmother, children and grandchildren. Delightful 12 year boys and a 4 year girl and 3 year old boy. We rode horses, milked cows and learned so much about their farm. Awesome barbecue too. Really authentic. We started out with a city tour which isn't much since Montevideo is pretty small and not very touristy.

 

In Buenos Aires we took the Tigre river cruise which is a must.

Our city tour was private since we stayed in BA for 3 days after the cruise. It was with Signature tours and we had a school teacher who was our tour guide since it was their summer vacation. Her name was Florencia and a wealth of knowledge.

 

Let me know if you need any additional information concerning our private tours.

 

This is a fun cruise and we learned so much about South America and their culture

 

Margaret

[runnerodb83]

We just got back from a 14 day South America cruise on the Golden Princess. It was from Santiago to Buenos Aires. Here are some tips for Princess shore excursions.

 

Be careful booking in Puerto Madryn as we weren't allowed to dock there and if you have private prepaid excursions you will lose your money. Luckily we were with Princess.

 

Don't book the Otway Sound Penguin tour. We did 2 penguin tours and this wasn't any good. The penguins are roped off and you aren't close to them like in other areas.

 

Puerto Montt and Ushuaia we did private tours which were cheaper and better.

 

The place to see penguins is on the Falkland Islands. Take the North Pond tour or the Volunteer Point tours. You go on 4 wheel drive vehicles and get to stand next to the penguins. We did the North Pond tour and saw King, Magellan and Gentoos. It was unbelievable. Had an awesome driver named Mike who told us so much about the Falkland war and general information about the Falklands. Drove us around town and even to see some of the battle areas. We still had time to walk around the town.

 

Montevideo--We did the Estancia or ranch tour. It was phenomenal. The family who run the ranch are the original owners and do it because they enjoy showing their ranch to outsiders. It's not a commercial run venue. We met the grandmother, children and grandchildren. Delightful 12 year boys and a 4 year girl and 3 year old boy. We rode horses, milked cows and learned so much about their farm. Awesome barbecue too. Really authentic. We started out with a city tour which isn't much since Montevideo is pretty small and not very touristy.

 

In Buenos Aires we took the Tigre river cruise which is a must.

Our city tour was private since we stayed in BA for 3 days after the cruise. It was with Signature tours and we had a school teacher who was our tour guide since it was their summer vacation. Her name was Florencia and a wealth of knowledge.

 

Let me know if you need any additional information concerning our private tours.

 

This is a fun cruise and we learned so much about South America and their culture

 

Margaret

 

I'll second the North Pond tour in the Falklands, fantastic tour, very intimate

[bonship]

Thank you, Margaret. We plan to take this cruise a year from now and this information is very helpful.

[caribill]

Be careful booking in Puerto Madryn as we weren't allowed to dock there

 

Why were you not allowed to dock there?

[NSWP]

Why were you not allowed to dock there?

Something to do with the Unions having a protest and blocking the gates. We call into the same port on Golden in a few weeks.

Edited February 8, 2014 by NSWP

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks for your review. You have some good info for future travelers.

 

The private tours we book always refund if the ship can't make the port. Otherwise we wouldn't book with them. It is unfortunate that you didn't make Puerto Madryn, since Punta Tombo was a very nice stop for Penguins. I couldn't agree more with you about Otway Sound. A long drive and few penguins. Of course we were there later in the season; but Punta Tombo is much better. If we do a SA cruise again, I will check out the Tigre River. We went to Iguazu Falls. To me, that is the "must see" if there is anyway you can do it.

[caribill]

We went to Iguazu Falls. To me, that is the "must see" if there is anyway you can do it.

 

Agree 100%.

 

Any you need to see it from both the Brazil side and the Argentina side. We stayed on the Brazil side in the hotel that is right near the falls.

[TracieABD]

I did this cruise last year on the Star, and I loved it.

 

It is now my "retirement wish" (8 more years) to do the longer version from FLL to LA for 7 weeks! Putting my pennies away...:)