South America - School Holidays

[jackieo]

Hi there

 

I am hoping someone out there has been on the South America cruises 14 days Santiago to Buenos Aires in January.

 

I understand it will be summer holidays for the schools down in the region. Were there lots of families on board?

 

thanks in advance

 

JackieO

[runnerodb83]

We sailed from Rio to Santiago in 2012. I would say about half the ship was Brazillian/Argentinian, the other half a mix of US/Canadian, UK, and Aus/NZ. That being said, the South American passengers were definitely younger - but at no point did I notice more kids than any other non-carrib or alaska itinerary.

 

An interesting note, the pools were always crowded when the weather was nice, and it was a lot of gorgeous Brazillians and Argentinians. Yet at night, the dining rooms were empty around 7 or 8. Our waiters said the english speakers tended to eat dinner early, and the spanish/portuguese ate late - which made crowds at night almost a non-issue.

 

The group entertainment events were typically done twice, once in English, once in Spanish.

 

Its a great cruise, you'll enjoy!

[jackieo]

We sailed from Rio to Santiago in 2012. I would say about half the ship was Brazillian/Argentinian, the other half a mix of US/Canadian, UK, and Aus/NZ. That being said, the South American passengers were definitely younger - but at no point did I notice more kids than any other non-carrib or alaska itinerary.

 

An interesting note, the pools were always crowded when the weather was nice, and it was a lot of gorgeous Brazillians and Argentinians. Yet at night, the dining rooms were empty around 7 or 8. Our waiters said the english speakers tended to eat dinner early, and the spanish/portuguese ate late - which made crowds at night almost a non-issue.

 

The group entertainment events were typically done twice, once in English, once in Spanish.

 

Its a great cruise, you'll enjoy!

 

Thanks for the info. Sounds good!

[5:00_Somewhere]

We sailed from Rio to Santiago in 2012. I would say about half the ship was Brazillian/Argentinian, the other half a mix of US/Canadian, UK, and Aus/NZ. That being said, the South American passengers were definitely younger - but at no point did I notice more kids than any other non-carrib or alaska itinerary.

 

An interesting note, the pools were always crowded when the weather was nice, and it was a lot of gorgeous Brazillians and Argentinians. Yet at night, the dining rooms were empty around 7 or 8. Our waiters said the english speakers tended to eat dinner early, and the spanish/portuguese ate late - which made crowds at night almost a non-issue.

 

The group entertainment events were typically done twice, once in English, once in Spanish.

 

Its a great cruise, you'll enjoy!

 

We just did the 14-day from Rio to Santiago this past January 3-17 on the Golden Princess, and I cannot recommend this itinerary highly enough (no matter which direction you are sailing.) It was school vacation, and there were a good number of kids, teens, and twenty-somethings, but we never really found this to be problematic. We actually felt there were more children than on a typical Caribbean cruise, even during US school vacation week but - not meaning to be judgmental; just sharing my observations and personal opinion - they seemed better behaved than typical US cruisers in that age group, for the most part (there were, of course, exceptions). During nice weather, they tended to gather around the main pools. We never really felt that they were "taking over" any areas, or that they were hindering our enjoyment of the ship, or the scenery.

 

As runnerrodb83 said, the passenger mix was very, very diverse, which we enjoyed greatly; North Americans (US and Canadian passengers) constituted no more than 1/3 of the passengers and, while English was spoken by many, we heard a LOT of other tongues being spoken all the time, which we also enjoyed. There were, indeed, a lot of South Americans (mostly Brazilian and Argentinian), as well as a lot of Europeans (from many countries), and a surprisingly large contingent of Eastern Europeans on our cruise. And, again as runnerrodb83 mentioned, everyone but the Americans tended to eat very, very late. On our cruise, the main dining room closing times were pushed back because so many people were not even arriving until around 9:00 p.m. This was also exacerbated by the fact that it remained daylight so late for the bulk of the cruise.

 

And, as I said above, this trip was just spectacular, and the time of the year was nearly perfect weather-wise (though you do have to pack for both warm and cold weather). I cannot recommend it highly enough. I hope that helps.

Edited May 13, 2015 by 5:00_Somewhere

[jackieo]

Thanks so much for your posts. It all seems great and I am getting very excited about an exceptional cruise!

[shredie]

I was on the same Jan cruise on the Golden. I don't remember seeing more kids than usual on any other long cruise. We had a great time!

Edited May 13, 2015 by shredie

[shepp]

I was on a December/January 30-day from SFO to Buenos Aires that also could be booked as a back-to-back. Perhaps contrary to what others have said, I noted some real changes once the first-leg cruisers from the USA disembarked and the South American pax boarded at Santiago. The passenger mix grew quite a bit younger, with a lot more children, and there were a number of groups what I read as kinda indulged upper-class young people who were pretty liquored up and boisterous at dinner. (Maybe it's bias, but I figured that the class makeup of South American Princess cruisers was somewhat different from us North Americans.) On the other hand, formal nights became notably more glamorous: a lot of South American women really know how to dress up, and their husbands don't function under the illusion that Dockers are formalwear.

Edited May 13, 2015 by shepp

[Bernbun29]

I'm from the US and am curious as to why they are on holiday after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Any idea?

[san diego sue]

We were on the same cruise as Shepp.

In Santiago when the mix changed (lots of Argentians, Brazilians etc),

They were very loud during the shows, screaming adults to get people's attention across the theatre. Dinner in fixed dining was hard on the staff as these people eat late and showed whenever they wanted to arrive.

Their customs are different from ours so I can't really fault them.

My husband loved to see those gorgeous ladies dressed up (very short dresses and very high heel shoes).Lots of conversation amongst our friends regarding this. Women were beautiful.

So for us, we were seeing another culture which was really nice, not just our fellow Americans.

We loved the ports, scenery, and lots and lots of penguins up close.And this was a holiday cruise so very festive.Would do this cruise again in a heartbeat. (San Francisco to Buenos Aires).

 

It is summer in SA so kids probably off from school. Reverse seasons from ours.

Edited May 14, 2015 by san diego sue

[capriccio]

I'm from the US and am curious as to why they are on holiday after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Any idea?

 

North American winter is South American summer.