South America 2017

[J-D]

Great cruise but we aren't interested in spending the big bucks on neither the Sea, Sun or Dawn Princess........... however if it was the Emerald Princess different story.......

 

The Emerald and other Grand-class or enlarged-Grand-class ships cannot traverse the current Panama Canal. Of the Princess ships, the largest that fit into the current locks are the two panamax ships, the Coral and Island Princess. The Sun, Dawn and Sea Pr. can of course transit the current canal.

 

By 2017, the new locks, capable of handling larger ships, are supposed to be open. However, the opening date has been much delayed. The cruise lines are probably very wary about scheduling larger ("post-panamax") ships for Panama Canal transits until the opening date is certain.

 

We have been around about 2/3rds of the South American itinerary shown in the video, and to various of the South Pacific ports, and can certainly attest that this should be a great trip.

 

John

Edited April 11, 2015 by J-D

[rkmw]

Can someone email me the picture of the itinerary on board on diamond and not displaying for me.

 

sjcra3@gmail.com

 

Thx sarah

 

Sara not sure if anyone emailed the picture to you but i have just now

[Guest012]

By 2017, the new locks, capable of handling larger ships, are supposed to be open. However, the opening date has been much delayed. The cruise lines are probably very wary about scheduling larger ("post-panamax") ships for Panama Canal transits until the opening date is certain.

 

We have been around about 2/3rds of the South American itinerary shown in the video, and to various of the South Pacific ports, and can certainly attest that this should be a great trip.

 

John

 

Thanks for that John.... forgot about the Panama Canal :o:o:D..... bring on the opening i say..... Sea, Sun and Dawn Princess well dated now, cruised on them years ago...... give the itinerary a miss till they upgrade the fleet here:rolleyes::rolleyes:.....not holding my breath though......... :D

[J-D]

Thanks for that John.... forgot about the Panama Canal :o:o:D..... bring on the opening i say..... Sea, Sun and Dawn Princess well dated now, cruised on them years ago...... give the itinerary a miss till they upgrade the fleet here:rolleyes::rolleyes:.....not holding my breath though......... :D

 

On the other hand, especially at some of the smaller ports, there would be some advantage to disembarking with approx 2000 pax from the Sea vs. over 3000 pax from the Emerald. We spent 2 weeks on the Sea in the Caribbean before she went over to Australia. Not my favourite ship, and I know she has had serious mechanical problems recently. However, provided those have been fixed, she is arguably a better choice than one of the newer, larger Princess ships for a good many of the South Pacific and South American ports. My suggestion: if you are at all interested in the itinerary, take the opportunity when it comes!

 

John

[NSWP]

Having done Buenos Aires to Los Angeles, 31 days on Golden Princess in March last year, I highly recommend the cruise. The itinerary is very interesting and exciting, if you don't mind a bit of rough weather down the bottom of South America. We did not do Antarctic cruising, furthest south was Ushiaia and the Falklands.

 

The Panama Canal we did on Coral Princess, Fort Lauderdale to LA back in 2010.

 

Yes indeed, Central and South America, wonderful. If you get the chance go for it.

Edited April 12, 2015 by NSWP

[By The Bay]

The video doesn't tell you much just 28 parts, 18 Countries 84 nights, I presume that this will fill the gap that the Circle Pacific fills next year .

The ports are: Sydney, Auckland, Tonga (Nuku’Alofa), Pago Pago, Tahiti

(Papeete), Pitcairn Island scenic cruising, Easter Island,

Santiago (Valparaiso), Puerto Montt, Puerto Chacabuco,

Amalia Glacier, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego),

Cape Horn scenic cruising, Falkland Islands (Stanley), Puerto

Madryn, Montevideo, Buenos Aires (overnight), Rio De Janiero

(overnight), Salvador, Fortaleza, Barbados, Curacao, Cartagena,

Panama Canal (Full transit of the Panama Canal including

the Miraflores, Pedro Miguel and Gatun Locks), Costa Rica

(Puntarenas), Quito (Manta), Lima (Callao)(overnight),

Tahiti (Papeete), Auckland, Bay of Islands, Sydney

Optional overland shore excursion to Machu Picchu, Peru or Galapagos, is available between Quito

(Manta) and Lima (Callao) and Optional overland shore excursion to Iguazu Falls is available

between Buenos Aires and Rio De Janerio

 

Ref:boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=345916&d=1428788781

[Gaznjo]

Now that would be a cruise I'd be interested in. Would be wonderful if Oceania offered something similiar from Sydney. With the weakened Aus $, it is no longer attractive to fly to US to join an extended cruise.

 

I can already see you on Sea Princess, Joanne. Enjoy the planning. Did I miss the end of your wonderful blog from your last big adventure?

 

 

Yes we are waiting for it to open on the 23rd and already canvassing our usual cruise buddies.....

 

I haven't finished my blog yet... It will be done.... Garry ha s started putting up some of our videos. I will add a link when I am not on the iPad...

[Gaznjo]

HAL's Zaandam cruised to Antarctica, on their South America cruise, last season, so I guess it is a choice what type of fuel they use.

 

 

The appealing part of this cruise is that it leaves from sydney... Now the other one I would love to do is the prisedam. 68 days around South America ..up into the Amazon and down to antartic

[Gaznjo]

If I could choose my ship it would be the ocean princess, but the won't give her back to Australia but to Oceania.... We want to do this cruise ...if it is sun class then so be it lol..... I would be happy for them to send the coral or island down here lol....

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Here are the dates for the Auckland to Auckland cruise. Sydney will be before and after Auckland..

Oh boy ..Its going to be a long haul back home:eek:

Only 1 stop across the Pacific and then for only 1/2 day?

 

 

SOUTH AMERICA CIRCLE ITINERARY:

 

15th January 2017: Auckland, New Zealand

 

18th January: Nuku'alofa, Tonga - Full Day

 

Cross International Dateline

 

18th January: Pago Pago, American Samoa - Full Day

 

22nd January: Pape eternal, Tahiti - Full Day

 

26th January: Pitcairn Island - Scenic Cruising

 

29th January: Easter Island, Chile - Full Day

 

3rd February: Valparaiso, Chile - Full Day

 

5th February: Puerto Monte, Chile - Full Day

 

6th February: Puerto Chacabuco, Chile - Full Day

 

8th February: Amalia Glacier, Chile - Scenic Cruising

 

9th February: Punta Arenas, Chile - Full Day

 

10th February: Ushuaia, Argentina - Full Day

 

11th February: Cape Horn, Chile - Scenic Cruising

 

12th February: Stanley, Falkland Islands - Full Day

 

14th February: Puerto Madryn, Argentina - Full Day

 

16th February: Montevideo, Uruguay - Full Day

 

17th February: Buenos Aires, Argentina - Overnight

 

18th February: Buenos Aires, Argentina - Full Day

 

21st February: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Overnight

 

22nd February: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Full Day

 

24th February: Salvador, Brazil - Full Day

 

26th February: Fortaleza, Brazil - Full Day

 

3rd March: Bridgetown, Barbados - Full Day

 

5th March: Curacao, Netherlands Antilles - Full Day

 

7th March: Cartagena, Colombia - Half Day

 

8th March: Transit Panama Canal - Scenic Cruising

 

10th March: Puntarenas, Costa Rica - Full Day

 

12th March: Quito, Ecuador - Full Day

 

14th March: Lima, Peru - Full Day & Overnight

 

15th March: Lima, Peru - Full Day

 

25th March: Papeete, Tahiti - Half Day

 

1st April 2017: Auckland, New Zealand

[Gaznjo]

This is where you could actually contemplate doing a trip to mp and Galapagos privately and joining the ship in Tahiti....

[MMDown Under]

15th March: Lima, Peru - Full Day

 

25th March: Papeete, Tahiti - Half Day

 

1st April 2017: Auckland, New Zealand

 

15 sea days, with half a day in Papeete, a port which comes alive at night! Surely this is a mistake?

 

I seem to recall reading somewhere that they took 6 years to design this cruise from Sydney around South America.

 

 

 

 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I wonder if they will break it up and offer segments. It doesn't really fit as segments except for -Valpo to BA or Rio. That last leg ...15 sea days will not be popular.

I like sea days , but not that many all together....passengers could get a bit scratchy...:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

[J-D]

...

12th March: Quito, Ecuador - Full Day

 

Note that the scheduled port in Ecuador is actually Manta. It is a long way (about 400 km) from Manta to Quito. It might theoretically be possible to fly to and from Quito during the day (the flight is under 1 hr each way), but one would want to carefully consider the risk of missing the ship! When we stopped at Manta on a Valparaiso to Los Angeles re-positioning cruise, we (and everyone else to whom we spoke) opted for local sightseeing in the Manta area.

 

John

[GUT2407]

I wonder if they will break it up and offer segments. It doesn't really fit as segments except for -Valpo to BA or Rio. That last leg ...15 sea days will not be popular.

I like sea days , but not that many all together....passengers could get a bit scratchy...:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For us those sea days are a big attraction. Especially coming after a fairly Port heavy period and just before it's back to work.

[MMDown Under]

I wonder if they will break it up and offer segments. It doesn't really fit as segments except for -Valpo to BA or Rio. That last leg ...15 sea days will not be popular.

I like sea days , but not that many all together....passengers could get a bit scratchy...:rolleyes:

 

A crew member on a ship told me, on a TA, that 5 sea days is most passengers' limit, before they start complaining. I had noticed that this was the case!

[MMDown Under]

15th March: Lima, Peru - Full Day

 

25th March: Papeete, Tahiti - Half Day

 

1st April 2017: Auckland, New Zealand

 

15 sea days, with half a day in Papeete, a port which comes alive at night! Surely this is a mistake?

 

I seem to recall reading somewhere that they took 6 years to design this cruise from Sydney around South America.

 

Oops, it was 5 years to design -

 

"This is the first time it's ever been done from Australia," said Stuart Allison, Princess Cruises vice president Australia and New Zealand, whose team has spent five years working on the epic itinerary."

CC News

[Kiwi Kruzer]

A crew member on a ship told me, on a TA, that 5 sea days is most passengers' limit, before they start complaining. I had noticed that this was the case!

 

I could imagine that...

They will have to put on varied menus ,

or the complaints will start to fly.

 

[Thorpe]

Hopefully the folks that don't like that many sea days won't book it :)

[Guest012]

Just read a FB post.... travelweekly have announced the cruise and the pricing is starting from $17,999.00 per person........on sale April 23 for the keen........

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Just read a FB post.... travelweekly have announced the cruise and the pricing is starting from $17,999.00 per person........on sale April 23 for the keen........

 

The pricing ex Auckland return is also out..

 

 

SEA PRINCESS - CIRCLE SOUTH AMERICA -

AUCKLAND ROUNDTRIP -

15TH JANUARY 2017 - 76 NIGHTS

 

 

Interior Cabin - $16749 per person

 

Oceanview Cabin $20749 per person

 

Balcony Cabin $24999 per person

 

plus a bonus OBC and CAPTAIN CIRCLE MEMBERS BENEFITS

[Gaznjo]

A crew member on a ship told me, on a TA, that 5 sea days is most passengers' limit, before they start complaining. I had noticed that this was the case!

 

 

5 days only ..... We ended up with 10 days in a row on the 90 dayer..... Lol

[Guest012]

5 days only ..... We ended up with 10 days in a row on the 90 dayer..... Lol

 

 

 

More the merrier for us :D ...we had 8 in a row on Arcadia's LA to Melb last year......loved them .... agree the Ocean Princess is top of the list for this cruise itinerary...... country club atmosphere is wonderful ...what she lacks in size she makes up for with her great big heart :D..... going to miss her :(

[MMDown Under]

5 days only ..... We ended up with 10 days in a row on the 90 dayer..... Lol

 

"The other plus yesterday was that we were on land. We love sea days but after seven consecutive sea days I think it is fair to say that most guests and the crew were ready for sometime on land. We sure were. We will arrive to Buenos Aires in a couple of hours and have an all day tour planned for the day."

Keith currently on Crystal Symphony

[Kiwi Kruzer]

"The other plus yesterday was that we were on land. We love sea days but after seven consecutive sea days I think it is fair to say that most guests and the crew were ready for sometime on land. We sure were. We will arrive to Buenos Aires in a couple of hours and have an all day tour planned for the day."

Keith currently on Crystal Symphony

 

Is that the one where they crossed the South Atlantic from Capetown to Buenos Aries?

Pacific Princess once did Capetown to Perth. That had about 8 sea days in a row and they had trouble filling the ship. However , those that did that cruise , not only enjoyed all the sea days but they had a half empty ship to themselves:)