South America/ Norwegian Sun tips from my trip!

[Mgetta1]

I have seen somewhere that you can have lunch at the Italian Speciality restaurant. Is that Moderno?

 

Did you try using Iconcierge on an Iphone?

[casofilia]

I have seen somewhere that you can have lunch at the Italian Speciality restaurant. Is that Moderno?

 

The Italian is la Cucina. Moderno is the South American also called Churrascaria.

 

Mike

[hippie7love]

In Chile, make sure to try the food!

 

Completos (hot dog with tomatoes, avocado, mayo, and ketchup)

El Guaton ( A restaurant you can find in Vina Del Mar, 15 minute car ride from Valparaiso. Make sure to order the huge burger. Recommended for 2 or 3 people to finish ;0 )

Chorillana (Originated in Valparaiso- mix of french fries, meat cuts, hot dog cuts, egg, onions. Meant to be shared)

Drinks? Try Pisco Sour! Made with Pisco from Chile. Also, try a Fantashop (beer and orange soda) Taste much better than it sounds.

 

From a fellow Chilean ;)

[casofilia]

In Chile, make sure to try the food!

 

Completos (hot dog with tomatoes, avocado, mayo, and ketchup)

El Guaton ( A restaurant you can find in Vina Del Mar, 15 minute car ride from Valparaiso. Make sure to order the huge burger. Recommended for 2 or 3 people to finish ;0 )

Chorillana (Originated in Valparaiso- mix of french fries, meat cuts, hot dog cuts, egg, onions. Meant to be shared)

Drinks? Try Pisco Sour! Made with Pisco from Chile. Also, try a Fantashop (beer and orange soda) Taste much better than it sounds.

 

From a fellow Chilean ;)

 

I'll try almost anything so long as they don't put ketchup on it!!!!!!!! ;) I even tried Poutine while in Quebec, now that would be an acquired taste!!!! ;)

 

I was horrified, in le Bistro I think, to be offered ketchup with a very rare fillet steak. :mad:

 

Mike

[hippie7love]

I'll try almost anything so long as they don't put ketchup on it!!!!!!!! ;) I even tried Poutine while in Quebec, now that would be an acquired taste!!!! ;)

 

I was horrified, in le Bistro I think, to be offered ketchup with a very rare fillet steak. :mad:

 

Mike

 

Haha... The ketchup and mayo is optional. The mayo is usually housemade depending to which restaurant you go to. Best mayo ever lol

[mysticbajan]

It sounds like they booked Volunteer Point with the cruise lines. I'll offer, it's around half price booking independent, which I have done 3 times with the same reputable vendor.

Which independent vendor did you book Volunteer Point with budgetqueenalaska@yahoo.com

[karoo]

I did the cruise after and thought it was absolutely wonderful. I did a private excursion booked through Estancia.com to Volunteer Point. Excellent excursion- compared to the ship's excursion and so much cheaper. We saw so many more King Penguins. There was a very large colony of King Penguins, a large colony of Gentoos, and Magellanics there as well.

La Cucina is where the suites/VIPs have breakfast and lunch. I had breakfast there most days. Excellent food and service. Lunch I only had twice as I was just as happy to grab something quick from the buffet or the poolside barbecues. I guess we all like different food, but I enjoyed my meals from the MDR, but I also changed certain dishes to reflect my tastes. The steak was excellent as it comes from Argentina, tender, lean and tasty (grass fed). I also ate in Le Bistro and the Italian- enjoyed the duck dish and the Osso Bucco. Didn't try the other specialties as I'm not overly keen on them. I actually enjoyed the variety you could get in the MDR. We did the Beagle Channel in the afternoon with an onboard commentary from the excellent onboard guest lecturer - Peter??? You could get that same commentary in your stateroom on channel 21. All this information was in the Freestyle Daily. Also Peter (guest lecturer) was available for questions both after his talks and each night in the atrium for a set time. Maybe it was 6- 7.30 pm. I can't remember the exact times. He is worth seeking out if you have questions as he was a wealth of knowledge and very easy to listen too. His lectures were replayed on Channel 26. For me this was one of the best cruises I've done with NCL for a while. All staff / waiters/ bar waiters etc were friendly and attentive. Due to the many different public spaces there was a good variety of sea day activities. I was on the reverse sailing 2nd- 16th. It was definitely a great cruise for me and I only have positive things to say about it. We did miss the horn- which was probably my only disappointment. I also did some excellent private excursions all organised through our roll call.

Edited January 26, 2016 by karoo

[WeBeCruisers?]

I did the cruise after and thought it was absolutely wonderful. I did a private excursion booked through Estancia.com to Volunteer Point. Excellent excursion- compared to the ship's excursion and so much cheaper. We saw so many more King Penguins. There was a very large colony of King Penguins, a large colony of Gentoos, and Magellanics there as well.

La Cucina is where the suites/VIPs have breakfast and lunch. I had breakfast there most days. Excellent food and service. Lunch I only had twice as I was just as happy to grab something quick from the buffet or the poolside barbecues. I guess we all like different food, but I enjoyed my meals from the MDR, but I also changed certain dishes to reflect my tastes. The steak was excellent as it comes from Argentina, tender, lean and tasty (grass fed). I also ate in Le Bistro and the Italian- enjoyed the duck dish and the Osso Bucco. Didn't try the other specialties as I'm not overly keen on them. I actually enjoyed the variety you could get in the MDR. We did the Beagle Channel in the afternoon with an onboard commentary from the excellent onboard guest lecturer - Peter??? You could get that same commentary in your stateroom on channel 21. All this information was in the Freestyle Daily. Also Peter (guest lecturer) was available for questions both after his talks and each night in the atrium for a set time. Maybe it was 6- 7.30 pm. I can't remember the exact times. He is worth seeking out if you have questions as he was a wealth of knowledge and very easy to listen too. His lectures were replayed on Channel 26. For me this was one of the best cruises I've done with NCL for a while. All staff / waiters/ bar waiters etc were friendly and attentive. Due to the many different public spaces there was a good variety of sea day activities. I was on the reverse sailing 2nd- 16th. It was definitely a great cruise for me and I only have positive things to say about it. We did miss the horn- which was probably my only disappointment. I also did some excellent private excursions all organised through our roll call.

Why did you miss the horn?

 

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[minka34]

We were on the sailing with Karoo (Hi Karoo! I miss all my roll call buddies, and other friends we made on board. This was the best cruise for making friends that we have ever been on.)

We missed the horn due to high waves and a gale warning, I believe. I was only slightly disappointed. With all of the amazing ports, and our luck with the weather for most of the trip, I don't feel like we missed anything.

We enjoyed the MDR as much as the specialty restaurants. We also had a suite, so we saw Karoo most mornings in La Cucina, but we ate most of our lunches there as well. The lunch menu does not change for the whole 2 weeks, but we really liked the staff and the food. We would look at the MDR menu, but always ended up choosing to go to the specialty restaurant. If you have been in the Haven on other ships, this is the same lunch menu. The food is very good - the swordfish sandwich is excellent!

Puerto Chacabuco: This was the only port that we did a NCL excursion. "Best of Nature, Flavors, and Traditions." I chose it because it had some walking which hopefully would counter all of the eating... anyway, we had a nice guided walk though a protected area to a falls, and then a really great lunch featuring Patagonian Lamb (huge amounts and SO GOOD) with traditional dancers to entertain. There was wine, pisco sours, and great conversation. I felt that it was worth the extra it might have cost. This was a short port stop for us, and the ship ended up waiting for our tour to get back, but no worries since it was an NCL tour.

[karoo]

We normally bring some individual packages of trail mix from Costco to use as a snack while cruising But there are several posts on the internet that are mostly older that state that these types of food may be confiscated when you enter Chile (our cruise starts in Argentina and ends in Chile on Jan 30th). Did you bring any snack food into Chile?where you asked about food? And was there any issues? Thanks

 

 

No fruit, seeds, nuts, plants, vegetables, food etc. it was definitely policed by customs and food was confiscated. Signs also saying you are subject to a large fine. Your bags are scanned coming off and sniffer dogs at some of the Chilean ports. You also have to fill out the customs declaration form and have it on you when getting off at each port. If you are taking food off you would have to declare it to eliminate the risk of getting fined. As they have a huge agricultural industry I guess they're just trying to protect their industry. I'm not sure whether sealed food is ok as I didn't take any food off. We have similar rules here to protect our crops, fruit industry etc and I couldn't be bothered. There is plenty of food everywhere anyway, fairly cheap.

[Lunenburg]

When I flew from Toronto to Santiago on my way to Uruguay, I was moving and had my dog with me.

They confiscated all my dog's food including cans and sealed dry food even though I was not leaving the airport and was booked on a flight in a few hours.

 

Poor dog, she had not eaten since leaving Toronto the night before so I kept pushing dry food through the crate bars as we shuffled towards customs.

They are extremely strict there, they confiscated anything remotely edible or could grow such as granola bars, peanuts, packets of seeds, dry whole spices etc.

They also opened many peoples luggage and searched for stuff.

 

I think you will find them very vigilant in all the Chile ports of call.

[crayola1932]

[quote

 

- One more thing: Chocobuco sucks. Pardon my language. Chocobuco will forever be a private joke between me and my husband. QUOTE]

 

I thought the scenic drive up the Simpson River Valley from Puerto Chacabuco to Coyahaique was the most scenic excursion of the trip. We did have beautiful weather--perhaps that was the difference.

[CRUISEDAV]

Have read the interesting and helpful comments on the NCL South American cruise. My main concern about the cruise is getting to the ship, Norwegian Sun in time. Infinity Cruises arranged a flight for us on 27 February to arrive in Buenos Aires airport at 14.15hrs and the ship embarks at 18.00hrs. (Boarding up to 1600hrs but up to 1700hrs if all travel docs completed). Not impressed with Infinity Cruises but now intend to pre-book taxi (at a grossly inflated cost) through them to ensure as little delay as possible. Any helpful comments would be appreciated! Otherwise - Keep your fingers crossed.

Edited February 20, 2016 by CRUISEDAV

[3Fluffies]

Thanks for the pointers about breakfast and buffets on the Sun! I'm sailing one of her Alaska itineraries in May. I started a Norwegian Sun Tips thread yesterday (think it's on page 3 now) if you have any other observations or comments for us upcoming Sun passengers!

[karoo]

Have read the interesting and helpful comments on the NCL South American cruise. My main concern about the cruise is getting to the ship, Norwegian Sun in time. Infinity Cruises arranged a flight for us on 27 February to arrive in Buenos Aires airport at 14.15hrs and the ship embarks at 18.00hrs. (Boarding up to 1600hrs but up to 1700hrs if all travel docs completed). Not impressed with Infinity Cruises but now intend to pre-book taxi (at a grossly inflated cost) through them to ensure as little delay as possible. Any helpful comments would be appreciated! Otherwise - Keep your fingers crossed.

 

 

You don't need to pre book a cab. Are you arriving at EZE or AEP? Cabs are easily booked inside the airport.

Edited February 20, 2016 by karoo

[karoo]

You don't need to pre book a cab. Are you arriving at EZE or AEP? Cabs are easily booked inside the airport at a booth.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing the information.

Keith

[Whatshallicallmyself]

Have read the interesting and helpful comments on the NCL South American cruise. My main concern about the cruise is getting to the ship, Norwegian Sun in time. Infinity Cruises arranged a flight for us on 27 February to arrive in Buenos Aires airport at 14.15hrs and the ship embarks at 18.00hrs. (Boarding up to 1600hrs but up to 1700hrs if all travel docs completed). Not impressed with Infinity Cruises but now intend to pre-book taxi (at a grossly inflated cost) through them to ensure as little delay as possible. Any helpful comments would be appreciated! Otherwise - Keep your fingers crossed.

 

 

That is worrying for you, we are on the same cruise but fly in on Thursday evening, hope everything goes smoothly and fingers crossed!

[casofilia]

Did you get a memento for "Crossing the Equator"?

 

Mike

[pspercy]

About what time does she pass by Cape Horn ? Thinking of looking at Sun's webcam tomorrow morning. It may be as close as I ever get:)

[crayola1932]

You don't need to pre book a cab. Are you arriving at EZE or AEP? Cabs are easily booked inside the airport at a booth.

 

Karoo is right about this, but since time is of the essence, you may save a few minutes by pre-booking. We didn't pre-book, and a cab was available right away, but we had been told by an experienced Buenos Aires traveler that you sometimes have to wait a few minutes when you don't pre-book.

[javasa]

If the worst happens and you miss the departure, Montevideo is only a small step away (I know it is not pleasant). There are plenty of flights and ferries crossing between Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

 

Good luck

Javier

[pspercy]

Been following current Sun sailing as stated above.

 

Looks like they're overnighting in Puerto Madryn ??

https://www.ncl.com/shipcams/suncam/fullsize.jpg?browser_popup=320x240

 

Didn't even dock until mid/late afternoon, this isn't normal is it?

[casofilia]

Looks like they're overnighting in Puerto Madryn ??

https://www.ncl.com/shipcams/suncam/fullsize.jpg?browser_popup=320x240

Didn't even dock until mid/late afternoon, this isn't normal is it?

 

What direction is the cruise?

 

We are due to be there 9am - 6pm on 29th March (BA -> V). Due in Stanley 31st March 9am.

 

Mike

[pspercy]

Ends in BA.

 

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