South America

[muffin1327]

Any thoughts /comments on your South American Cruise? Likes/ dislikes things to do?

[mahdnc]

We just got off our 15 night Infinity cruise from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. We enjoyed it.

 

Things we liked:

1. Length of itinerary. Nice and long.

2. Lots of sea days. A few with awesome scenery including mountains and glaciers.

3. Opportunities to see wildlife. We saw whales, dolphins, sea lions, and penguins. And lots of albatross!

4. Great ports. We visited 3 different countries.

5. Got to see stars and constellations that I can't see from Chicago.

6. Our clocks didn't have to be changed during the whole trip.

 

Things we didn't like:

1. Four out of the six ports required tendering which takes time.

2. Over half of the passengers were Latino which made it more difficult for those of us who don't speak Spanish (like my family and me) to naturally meet people on the ship. Many times on our cruises, we meet passengers because we overhear them say something.

3. You had to be up early to see some of the sights for our itinerary. 520am-630am to see the glaciers at the Beagle Channel when we sailed to Ushuaia. We sailed around Cape Horn at about 6am (New Year's Day for us).

4. The overnight at Buenos Aires at the end of the cruise was a let down. The ship essentially shuts down a day early. I should have expected it.

5. I found it more difficult to book independent tours (that weren't strictly sightseeing) for this itinerary.

 

Other comments ("you're mileage may vary"). A lot of this is just luck.

1. The blackjack tables were brutal. The dealers were nice, though!

2. We had fairly smooth seas every day including the fabled Cape Horn sailing.

3. I was hoping for more sunny days than we got on our trip. But when we got them, it was incredible.

 

More comments that came to mind:

 

Our favorite tour through the ship was seeing the penguins at Magdalena Island (Punta Arenas).

 

Our favorite independent tour was scuba diving with sea lions at Puerto Madryn.

 

The most picturesque port was Ushuaia.

Edited January 23, 2017 by mahdnc

[mek]

mahdnc - do you recall if there were many people on your cruise who were disabled?

 

I would like to do this cruise next year, but my DH requires the use of a transport chair, so I'm not sure how accessible the ports and excursions would be for him.

 

We can manage tenders, as his chair is lightweight and folds up - that's not a problem. He can do some stairs and walk short distances.

Edited January 23, 2017 by mek

[mahdnc]

Yes, there were passengers on board who required a wheelchair on our cruise. Not as many as I have seen on our 14 night Caribbean cruises.

 

There was only one port that I can recall (Ushuaia?) where we were docked but the angle of the gangway was pretty severe.

 

David

Edited January 23, 2017 by mahdnc

[Miaminice]

We did this wonderful cruise the other way around and loved it.

 

For any of you interested in a review loaded with photos...

Here it is:

 

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/South-America-01/south-america-01.html

 

 

.

[4774Papa]

Any thoughts /comments on your South American Cruise? Likes/ dislikes things to do?

 

We have done two cruises involving South America. Loved both of them.

 

Each country in South America is different. Lots of history and culture and the scenery is magical, especially Around the Horn.

 

The food was fantastic.

 

Here are my reviews of both cruises.

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

*

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=94024

[brunello22]

We sailed Celebrity Infinity a number of years ago, 13-nights, Buenos Aires round-trip. We visited Montevideo, Portobello, Buzios, 3 nights in Rio for Carnaval, and 3 sea days back to Buenos Aires. What an amazing time ... beautiful cities, people, food, culture, and Carnaval was awesome!

 

Looking into Galapagos this year.

[Merriem]

Over the years we have done around the horn three times. It is an amazing trip and highly recommend it. We have also done the Galapagos twice. Enjoyed it the first time which was when they first started there, but did not care for it at all the second time 10 years later.

[Traveling Fools]

In 2004, we booked the Buenos Aires-Valparaiso itinerary. We arrived in BA 6-days early, which gave us time to travel to Iguazu Falls followed by a couple of more days touring BA.

 

The only negative thing I can say about the cruise itself was a pod of the Infinity began to malfunction sometime before arriving in BA and before our cruise departed. X did not inform any passenger of the problem. A factor that really upset many, many passengers!!! We were 4 hours late arriving in Montevideo. No explanation was offered. It wasn't until just before arriving at our next port-of-call that we were informed of the problem and that a team from France was waiting for us to dock to fix the problem. There was indeed a team there with dive equipment and repair parts. The repairs failed and we ended up missing 2 Port Calls. The first one was the Falkland Islands. There were large contingents of Brits and Agrentines aboard who had booked the cruise specifically because the itinerary took to Port Stanley, or waters nearby. Those groups had intended on honoring love ones who perished in Falkland War. To say a large number of passengers were PO'ed would be an understatement! X was disingenuous about the problem from the get go. And the compensation offered was laughable; open bar from 5-7 on 2 nights. The crush of passengers swarming around the bars impeded the staff's ability provide prompt service resulting in most parties being able to order one maybe two drinks each.

 

That issue aside, we enjoyed the cruise and would recommend it.

 

Post cruise we had intended on visiting a Chilean winery....it was Sunday and they were closed to the general public, but open for the ship sponsored post cruise excursion. We intentionally stayed an extra day in Santiago to sight see. We learned the next day that Museums in Chile are closed on Mondays. Bummer! We still had fun seeing what we could.

 

From Santiago, we flew to Lima and spent 14 days visiting friends. We all went to Machu Picchu. After returning to Lima we did some local sightseeing and then took a four day road trip up the coast to Chan Chan.

 

It was a great trip!

[mek]

Yes, there were passengers on board who required a wheelchair on our cruise. Not as many as I have seen on our 14 night Caribbean cruises.

 

There was only one port that I can recall (Ushuaia?) where we were docked but the angle of the gangway was pretty severe.

 

David

 

Thanks

[debshomespun]

Last year we went to South America. Flew into Lima, Peru, then up to Machu Picchu. This is an amazing sight to see. We then flew to Buenos Aires for 6 days, during which we flew up to see Iguaza Falls, both Argentine & Brazilian sides. We then took a 14 night round trip out of BA to Brazil & Uruguay. We visited Santos, Ilhabella, Buzios, then 3 nights in Rio for Carnival, and to Punta del Este and Montevideo, Uruguay. We had a wonderful time. Our friends stayed on for the next 14 night down to Antarctica and back. We were in 4 countries and saw several major sights of South America. We would definitely recommend this trip!!

[SAvacay]

We're cruising to San Antonio to BA in January and booking private tours.

Seems to be so many choices in Ushuaia. Tierra Del Fuego and maybe train or cruising Beagle Channel.

Also town is interesting too. Opinions on which tour?

Is there time to tour town and one of those tours?

Wish it was a 2 days stop.

[chuly]

So you board a ship that begins and ends in South American cities, visiting South American ports and you are upset because there were too many "Latinos" can you please define that term? Speaking I presume in their native language which is also the native language of all the places visited. Perhaps you should stick to going on cruises leaving from and visiting English speaking cities only and pray there are not too many "Latinos" whatever that means, on board. :rolleyes:

 

 

We just got off our 15 night Infinity cruise from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. We enjoyed it.

 

Things we liked:

1. Length of itinerary. Nice and long.

2. Lots of sea days. A few with awesome scenery including mountains and glaciers.

3. Opportunities to see wildlife. We saw whales, dolphins, sea lions, and penguins. And lots of albatross!

4. Great ports. We visited 3 different countries.

5. Got to see stars and constellations that I can't see from Chicago.

6. Our clocks didn't have to be changed during the whole trip.

 

Things we didn't like:

1. Four out of the six ports required tendering which takes time.

2. Over half of the passengers were Latino which made it more difficult for those of us who don't speak Spanish (like my family and me) to naturally meet people on the ship. Many times on our cruises, we meet passengers because we overhear them say something.

3. You had to be up early to see some of the sights for our itinerary. 520am-630am to see the glaciers at the Beagle Channel when we sailed to Ushuaia. We sailed around Cape Horn at about 6am (New Year's Day for us).

4. The overnight at Buenos Aires at the end of the cruise was a let down. The ship essentially shuts down a day early. I should have expected it.

5. I found it more difficult to book independent tours (that weren't strictly sightseeing) for this itinerary.

 

Other comments ("you're mileage may vary"). A lot of this is just luck.

1. The blackjack tables were brutal. The dealers were nice, though!

2. We had fairly smooth seas every day including the fabled Cape Horn sailing.

3. I was hoping for more sunny days than we got on our trip. But when we got them, it was incredible.

 

More comments that came to mind:

 

Our favorite tour through the ship was seeing the penguins at Magdalena Island (Punta Arenas).

 

Our favorite independent tour was scuba diving with sea lions at Puerto Madryn.

 

The most picturesque port was Ushuaia.

[BosoxI]

While there is certainly nothing wrong with Celebrity, we've had great success on longer cruises using Princess. I believe they have had month long cruises around South America ending up in the States. That has a particular attraction for me, and as I've always liked their food better, that would be my first place to look for a SA trip. As my wife has never been around the Horn, SA is a very attractive destination. Maybe next year.

[coldweathergirl]

We did around the horn a few years ago on the Infinity and loved it. Make sure you pack clothes that can be layered as it was hot in Buenos Aires and Uruguay but once we got down to Ushuaia it was snowing.

 

We did an excursion of white water rafting in Chile and it was amazing. The scenery and view of the volcano was breathtaking.

[janmcn]

I know this is a Celebrity forum but if you are considering a South America cruise PLEASE think about doing one that includes Antarctica! That was our favorite cruise of the many we have taken...4 days cruising around incredible scenery. (Did it on Holland America) Look at itineraries vs cruise lines.

 

 

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[Mynki]

I know this is a Celebrity forum but if you are considering a South America cruise PLEASE think about doing one that includes Antarctica! That was our favorite cruise of the many we have taken...4 days cruising around incredible scenery. (Did it on Holland America) Look at itineraries vs cruise lines.

 

 

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It might be a Celebrity board, but I think most people accept that the larger line Holland America has considerably better itinerary choices. With a larger fleet targeting a much different, older demographic who will find it easier to take longer cruises, it's not really surprising.

[Luvcrusn]

On one trip we stopped in Arica, Chile and took a trip up into the Andes mountains. If you are physically able, I strongly recommend this. It was really an amazing thing to see. Being used to treed mountains, the bus takes you up into what can only be described as a "moonscape," then after a while, you begin seeing cactus plants as water is coming from the snow capped mountains, until you finally reach at about 15,000 ft. above sea level a large lake and village. Walking was very challenging due to the altitude and you had to take it slower that you are used to. When we walked to the lake we were very surprised to see it was heavily populated with flamingos! Truly amazing. Prior to the tour we were advised to refrain from alcohol and caffeine the evening before, and thought that it was a bit of "overkill" of caution, however we were glad we listened. Also, they advised everyone to take an aspirin the morning of the excursion, again we were glad we listened. They did also stop midway to have us drink coca tea and then once more asking if anyone needed to return to the ship. They did have oxygen available on the bus for anyone who needed to return,, they provided transportation. It was a trip well worth taking and my DH and I still consider it the best and most different shore excursion we've ever experienced.

[koolforkatz]

So you board a ship that begins and ends in South American cities, visiting South American ports and you are upset because there were too many "Latinos" can you please define that term? Speaking I presume in their native language which is also the native language of all the places visited. Perhaps you should stick to going on cruises leaving from and visiting English speaking cities only and pray there are not too many "Latinos" whatever that means, on board. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

+1

 

 

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[Miaminice]

So you board a ship that begins and ends in South American cities, visiting South American ports and you are upset because there were too many "Latinos" can you please define that term? Speaking I presume in their native language which is also the native language of all the places visited. Perhaps you should stick to going on cruises leaving from and visiting English speaking cities only and pray there are not too many "Latinos" whatever that means, on board. :rolleyes:

 

:rolleyes: All mahdnc said was that it "made it more difficult for those of us who don't speak Spanish (like my family and me) to naturally meet people on the ship." There is no mention of "too many" Latinos, nor that he/she was upset, nor that he/she minded it in the countries visited... so I think you are overreacting.

 

You and I might feel differen´t and it might be a normal thing in Florida, but not everybody is the same. As mahdnc simply mentioned not speaking Spanish made it harder for them on the ship, I think there´s no need to give mahdnc a hard time for that!

[SAvacay]

Hi, we're cruising inJanuary. If you have stopped in Ushuaia, which tour did you take, Tierra Del fuego or Beagle channel? Which tour operator?

Is it possible to do both and see town with the limited time in port?

[Miaminice]

Hi, we're cruising inJanuary. If you have stopped in Ushuaia, which tour did you take, Tierra Del fuego or Beagle channel? Which tour operator?

Is it possible to do both and see town with the limited time in port?

 

We did an individual Tierra del fuego tour. You can see more by clicking on the link in my signature.

If you like what you read, contact me and I´ll send you a list with all the tour operators we used.

[SAvacay]

We did an individual Tierra del fuego tour. You can see more by clicking on the link in my signature.

If you like what you read, contact me and I´ll send you a list with all the tour operators we used.

 

 

Hi, you're photos and review of Argentina are beautiful. I can't find the review of the rest of the cruise or Ushuaia. Is it ok for me to contact you?

[SAvacay]

Hi, you're photos and review of Argentina are beautiful. I can't find the review of the rest of the cruise or Ushuaia. Is it ok for me to contact you?

 

 

Ok, found page turner at bottom. Will read your review and get back to you.

Thanks!

[DonRobertoSanJuan]

We had to cancel this trip twice and were hoping to finally do the B to B from Ft Lauderdale via Valparaiso to Buenos Aires next year, but now we cannot find this itinerary on X website.

 

Anyone know if X still offers this?