Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Around the Horn Cruise

karoo

By karoo,
in South America

 Share

Recommended Posts

karoo

karoo

Posted
Posted

I am looking at booking a cruise that sails from Buenos Aires to Santiago Chile. The ports are Montivideo, Puerto Madryn, Stanley, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Montt. I haven't been to this region before so am wanting to do and see as much as I can. I'm just wondering which ports are easy to do on your own. In Mexico there are usually private tour guides offering tours. Once they fill the van they go. Is it similar in South America? Which ports if there isn't a tour available through the roll call would be best to organise through the ships? Would welcome any information or feedback on the ports.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Keith1010 "Live from...." Rare

Keith1010

Posted
Posted

I would book tours in advance.

 

In Ushuaia you can do that on your own. The town is very nice and you could just book your own cruise of the Beagle Channel.

 

For Punta Arenas and Port Stanley I would book tours via the cruise line to see the Penguins.

 

In places like Puerto Montt you can also just walk around the local town.

 

I would do some additional research to read about each port so you can match interests with what is available.

 

While some vendors will be at the ports that is not always the case so it is different than Mexico.

 

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites
karoo

karoo

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Thanks Keith for your helpful advice. I've also been researching Tripadvisor. I'm so used to using Toms port guides for Europe or Rick Steves audio guides. Tom and Rick need to go to South America I think. [emoji6]

Edited by karoo
Link to comment
Share on other sites
4774Papa

4774Papa

Posted
Posted
I am looking at booking a cruise that sails from Buenos Aires to Santiago Chile. The ports are Montivideo, Puerto Madryn, Stanley, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Montt. I haven't been to this region before so am wanting to do and see as much as I can. I'm just wondering which ports are easy to do on your own. In Mexico there are usually private tour guides offering tours. Once they fill the van they go. Is it similar in South America? Which ports if there isn't a tour available through the roll call would be best to organise through the ships? Would welcome any information or feedback on the ports.

Here is my review of our Infinity cruise.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=248878

 

I highly recommend booking tours in advance. Some of the ports in the south have little to see unless you visit parks some distance from the ports.

 

It was one of our most favorite cruises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Keith1010 "Live from...." Rare

Keith1010

Posted
Posted
Thanks Keith for your helpful advice. I've also been researching Tripadvisor. I'm so used to using Toms port guides for Europe or Rick Steves audio guides. Tom and Rick need to go to South America I think. [emoji6]

 

karoo, you are very welcome.

 

Good pont about Tom and Rick.

 

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tartanexile81

tartanexile81

Posted
Posted (edited)
I am looking at booking a cruise that sails from Buenos Aires to Santiago Chile. The ports are Montivideo, Puerto Madryn, Stanley, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Montt. I haven't been to this region before so am wanting to do and see as much as I can. I'm just wondering which ports are easy to do on your own. In Mexico there are usually private tour guides offering tours. Once they fill the van they go. Is it similar in South America? Which ports if there isn't a tour available through the roll call would be best to organise through the ships? Would welcome any information or feedback on the ports.

 

We did a similar itinerary this year and this is what we did in each port

 

Montevideo- downloaded a walking tour of the city then had a late lunch on the Mercado del Puerto. We had amazing BBQed meat and a bottle of local wine. Sadly it rained all day!!

Puerto Madryn - Ship's tour to penguins at Punta Tombo. Best tour we've ever done and cannot recommend this highly enough. We were walking amongst THOUSANDS of penguins. On the way back we stopped in a village where Welsh people settled 100 years ago and had a delicious afternoon tea.

 

Ushauaia - We did a very forgettable ship's tour. waste of money to the Hidden Lake - which wasn't hidden at all. We didn't think much of the town but had a good lunch. Decided not to do a tour of the Beagle Channel as our ship did that with a commentary the next day. This town is famous because of its location and the trip round the Horn is not to be missed. We had fantastic weather and felt full of awe the whole day, when we were cruising Glacier Alley.

 

Punta Arenas - We spent the morning in the town and liked the local craft market in the main square of city centre. Others who did a city tour with the ship said it was one of the most boring days they'd spent in their lives!! In the afternoon we took a trip up to Club Andino ski centre, took the T-bar to the top and hiked down. Fab views of the whole area.

 

Puerto Chacabuco - There is nothing, just nothing there where you dock so you must so a tour. We really wanted to do a private tour with 'en Patagonia tours' and I was in regular communication with Anne the guide but there were mainly Brits on our ship and they all like to do ship tours to we never got enough people to do it. We followed the routs of her tour with the ship and it was a beautiful area but it would be even better in a smaller group with Anne of en Patagonia Tours. Check her out on Tripadvisor

 

Punto Montt - We spent the morning visiting Lake Llanquihue, Mount Osorno (the volcano) and the waterfalls. We spent a couple of hours in Puerto Varas on the way back to the ship and really liked this town, with its German influence.

 

We also did tours in BA and would also say it's worth spending time in Valparaiso and Vina del Mar before heading to Santiago. I can tell you what tours we did if you're interested.

 

This itinerary is just amazing, a real once in a lifetime trip and we'll never forget it. We were on a small ship and were able to get up close and personal to the glaciers and I've never see crew so excited as they were when we were cruising through the fjords.

 

Feel free to ask any questions

Edited by tartanexile81
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruiser karen

cruiser karen

Posted
Posted

tartanexile81,

 

Thanks for sharing the information. I do have one question. How does Puerto Chacabuco's local scenery you saw on your excursion compare to that which is near Punto Montt? I am wondering if I should pay for an excursion into the country side to see the beautiful scenery at both places or if it would just be a repeat. Which would you think is the prettiest? I am currently waiting for Anne to let me know if she has vacancies for her tour, which sounds fantastic. In Punto Montt I am considering taking a tour with dennis pertov's tour company, which also gets good reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mgetta1

Mgetta1

Posted
Posted
We did a similar itinerary this year and this is what we did in each port

 

Montvideo- downloaded a walking tour of the city then had a late lunch on the Mercado del Puerto. We had amazing BBQed meat and a bottle of local wine. Sadly it rained all day!!

Puerto Madryn - Ship's tour to penguins at Punta Tombo. Best tour we've ever done and cannot recommend this highly enough. We were walking amongst THOUSANDS of penguins. On the way back we stopped in a village where Welsh people settled 100 years ago and had a delicious afternoon tea.

 

What time of the year did you go? We're on a cruise leaving Valpariso on March 12th, and I'm afraid the penguins will have migrated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tartanexile81

tartanexile81

Posted
Posted
We did a similar itinerary this year and this is what we did in each port

 

Montvideo- downloaded a walking tour of the city then had a late lunch on the Mercado del Puerto. We had amazing BBQed meat and a bottle of local wine. Sadly it rained all day!!

Puerto Madryn - Ship's tour to penguins at Punta Tombo. Best tour we've ever done and cannot recommend this highly enough. We were walking amongst THOUSANDS of penguins. On the way back we stopped in a village where Welsh people settled 100 years ago and had a delicious afternoon tea.

 

What time of the year did you go? We're on a cruise leaving Valpariso on March 12th, and I'm afraid the penguins will have migrated.

 

We left here on 8th January so it was near the end of January when we were in Puerto Madryn.

 

tartanexile81,

 

Thanks for sharing the information. I do have one question. How does Puerto Chacabuco's local scenery you saw on your excursion compare to that which is near Punto Montt? I am wondering if I should pay for an excursion into the country side to see the beautiful scenery at both places or if it would just be a repeat. Which would you think is the prettiest? I am currently waiting for Anne to let me know if she has vacancies for her tour, which sounds fantastic. In Punto Montt I am considering taking a tour with dennis pertov's tour company, which also gets good reviews.

 

It's not a repeat, but similar in some ways. From PM the tour is more varied with the falls (altho' a bit touristy), lake, volcano and wildlife and particularly with the stop at Puerto Varas which we liked such a lot. From PC however the mountains are higher and wilder IMO and we visited a town with not too many tourists, lots of locals and just a few authentic craft stalls. We also had an amazing lunch in a road-side restaurant where we sampled lots of super local delicacies and we could eat and drink as much as we wanted. Hard to say which I'd choose! There is a he market at Puerto Montt and there's more around the place (bars, cafes etc) but PC is very isolated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Floridiana

Floridiana

Posted
Posted

 

What time of the year did you go? We're on a cruise leaving Valpariso on March 12th, and I'm afraid the penguins will have migrated.

 

This is very late for penguins. We cruised in March as well and did not attempt to see penguins. It was also stormy. The port of Punta Arenas was closed due to strong winds and we skipped Ushuaia and Cape Horn because of an approaching storm. The inner passage of Chile's fjords was still amazing.

 

Puerto Chacabuco: It is tiny! We did a ship's excursion to a water fall and there was as much water from the sky as from the falls. They gave us rain capes. Then we went to a ranch where we had empanadas, drinks and saw folk dances. I liked to see the area, but this corner of Chile gets almost 365 days of rain. The economy is fish farms in the fjords.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tartanexile81

tartanexile81

Posted
Posted (edited)
I had heard the sea can be very "wild" going around the horn. What is the best time to do this trip? Thank you.

 

We were there at the beginning of February this year and we had a beautiful, clear day. The sea was smooth and there was barely a breath of air. It was cold of course especially early in the morning when we set off but we got amazing views and it was thrilling just to be there.

Edited by tartanexile81
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Northern Aurora

Northern Aurora

Posted
Posted
I had heard the sea can be very "wild" going around the horn. What is the best time to do this trip? Thank you.

 

We have done it twice -- once in mid-February and also in early March. While both times there were passengers who thought the seas were rough we've experienced rougher conditions on other cruises. I really don't know what is the best time for this trip, but just be prepared for rough seas just in case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sharkb8

Sharkb8

Posted
Posted

Piratour from Ushuaia is the only tour to land on an island with penguins, well worth it, but a full day (aside from t-shirt shopping).

 

You can do Montevideo on your own (we were there two days), but it's well worth it to take a city/history tour, primarily for the amount of travel involved.

 

I am looking at booking a cruise that sails from Buenos Aires to Santiago Chile. The ports are Montivideo, Puerto Madryn, Stanley, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Montt. I haven't been to this region before so am wanting to do and see as much as I can. I'm just wondering which ports are easy to do on your own. In Mexico there are usually private tour guides offering tours. Once they fill the van they go. Is it similar in South America? Which ports if there isn't a tour available through the roll call would be best to organise through the ships? Would welcome any information or feedback on the ports.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
jarand

jarand

Posted
Posted

In Puerto Chacabuco I'd recommend EnPatagonia. Everyone had a great time! Space is limited so you really do want to book this quite a while in advance.

 

In Montevideo, if you like wine there is a great private tour called the Wine Experience with Ryan. We did the 2 winery tour. It's about 5 hours long so you'll have time to walk around the Mercado afterward if you want. Lots of wine and lots of fun. http://thewine-experience.com/#_=_

 

I would avoid a company called GV tours in Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas. We had a really poor guide, and she is the owner's daughter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WendyG

WendyG

Posted
Posted
In Puerto Chacabuco I'd recommend EnPatagonia. Everyone had a great time! Space is limited so you really do want to book this quite a while in advance.

 

In Montevideo, if you like wine there is a great private tour called the Wine Experience with Ryan. We did the 2 winery tour. It's about 5 hours long so you'll have time to walk around the Mercado afterward if you want. Lots of wine and lots of fun. http://thewine-experience.com/#_=_

 

I would avoid a company called GV tours in Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas. We had a really poor guide, and she is the owner's daughter.

 

What was your guides name? We have tours booked in both cities with GV Tours, now you have me worried!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...