The South American and Antarctic experience on the Zaandam

[scubacruiserx2]

18 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Will you be giving details like the name of the hotel, company for the glacier boat ride etc. for those who may wish to follow your steps.  Did you do the planning yourself or use a travel agent?

 

All I can say is WOW.

 

We did the booking ourselves and we can answer your questions about hotel and the boat that we used , but we cannot discuss or recommend travel agents per Cruise Critic rules . We used La Cantera to stay in El Calafate and Marpatag for the glacier tour . We can also answer questions thru scubacruiserx2 at gmail dot com

Edited January 17, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We were now headed back to a side of the Perito Moreno glacier that we had not seen before - the lake side 

 

 

 

 

We saw a part of the glacier and stopped to drop a number of people off

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Up on the top for a different view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

Dots on the glacier

 

 

turned out to be people

 

 

After disembarking we saw these Lupine

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We circled this large green hill going back to El Calafate

 

 

Another CaraCara

 

 

 

 

 

Entering El Calafate from the West

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks Dog !

 

We had previously ordered dinner at the hotel which gives them time to prepare the food . When you show up at the appointed time - it's ready . Fast food done right . We saw Pisco Sours on the menu so that was our starter .

 

 

 

After a Salud ! we were ready to eat .

 

 

Osso Buco for her

 

 

and trout for me .

 

 

And a Apple Tart for 2

 

 

 We had a long day the next morning with a trip to Torres del Paine ,  Chile and so we had an early lights out and sleeping masks on .

 

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

It's about a 3 hour ride to Torres del Paine and it involves crossing into Chile . We did stop for a couple photos like these Rhea .

 

 

The boarder crossing meant paperwork for both countries and being stamped in and out twice .  

 

 

We stopped near here for lunch 

 

 

 

They had our favorite Irish Butter here provided a familiar taste in a far away place .

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Glacial lake

 

 

There were flamingos on the other side

 

 

 

The Torres were hidden by clouds at this point

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Correction : This is the glacial lake photo

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Fauna found in the park

 

 

 

Nap time

 

 

Too cute 

 

 

 

High jumper

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Flora found in the park

 

 

Orchid near the horns

 

 

Porcelain Orchid

 

 

Virgin's Slippers

 

 

 

 

Thanks to my wife for the flowers !

[scubacruiserx2]

The towers

 

 

The horns and the towers

 

 

The horns , the towers and the lake .

 

 

The horns , the towers , the lake and us .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Lake Nordenskjold

 

 

Salto Grande Waterfall connects Lake Nordenskjold and Lake Pehoe

 

 

Lake Pehoe

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Our last day in El Calafate was laid back with a delivery pizza for lunch

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On the following day  we stopped at these flowers as we were leaving

 

 

And we wanted some cool cash before leaving

 

 

The first class flusher on the plane to BA .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

When we arrived at AEP on Sunday afternoon we found that for a second time Premium Taxi did not show up to meet us after Emailing us that they would . We found out after returning home that they are closed on weekends ! We don't know why they didn't tell us that . We stayed at a Holiday Inn near EZE for our early morning flight to Santiago in the morning . It was a nice Holiday Inn by we did have a noisy park across the street with loud music and a helicopter practicing touch and go landings . At 5 in the morning it was raining while we waited for our ride and there was a ghost in the window photographing the pool .

 

 

The lounge at EZE is very nice and quite at that early in the morning .

 

 

 

We were excited to be going to the cruise ship !

 

 

As we walked down the ramp to board the plane we had to make a dash in the rain to board a bus . After a 10 minute wait to drove to the plane and  got pretty wet while waiting on the stairs for some slow moving people to get settled . We were in the front row and watched the rain falling mainly in the plane until everyone boarded and we could close the door . The flight was a good one and we had a nice view of the Andes near Santiago .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dog]

Looking forward to your posts for the cruise

[scubacruiserx2]

We used the HAL bus transport from the Santiago airport to the cruise ship on our last visit and we had hoped for a more enhanced and private tour . We had a recommendation for Personal Tours Chile and we contacted and agreed with them for a visit to a winery and a local lunch before our transport to the ship . They were another no show . (Later said he was there, but we could not find him). When contacting them from the airport we were told that we were scheduled to meet at 2 PM instead of 9 AM . This was contrary to our agreement . Plan B became to catch a ride to the port and arrive early at the port . We thought that we had a legitimate cab and agreed on a price before entering the car . However after leaving the airport we stopped at a gas station and the person who "booked" our cab and a 3rd guy showed up demanding full payment threatening to leave us if we didn't pay.  DW tried 2 ATM's they took us to, thankfully didn't work. Then our credit card, and that didn't work. Agreed to take pesos with a new price. Long story short, we agreed on a "lower" price and made a white knuckle ride to the port. Later to find out they are"Taxi Pirates" and they did manage to get only a couple hundred USD from our bank. Bank was alerted and we were refunded the amount. We have never had anything like this happen before in all our travels. I guess we were lucky. 

We splurged on the vacation including booking the last available Neptune Suite on the Port side , 7030 . One of the perks is Priority boarding but we could't find a priority boarding line and we were told to just get in line 

 

 

Fortunately my DW saw a lady who worked for HAL who moved us up to security . When we got to check in they did have priority boarding area to the right of this line .

 

 

And after surrendering our passport we were put on a bus that took us to the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

7 minutes ago, dog said:

Looking forward to your posts for the cruise

 

Thanks , here we go .

Edited January 20, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Room , suite room

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

Fill her up

 

 

 

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

Nice room!  Well now we know who NOT to use for taxi in BA and tour/transfer in Santiago.  Sorry for your problems.

[scubacruiserx2]

56 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Nice room!  Well now we know who NOT to use for taxi in BA and tour/transfer in Santiago.  Sorry for your problems.

 

Thanks , it happens .

[scubacruiserx2]

DW loved the in room coffee

 

 

Between the bedroom and the bathroom was a vanity and closets behind the mirrors

 

 

 

Our room had the elevators to the left and the stairs to the right in this photo

 

 

The mats kept us informed

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Lunch in the MDR

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday decorations

 

 

 

[anthonyy7]

Great review so far, we’ll be arriving in BA next week @ AEP, did you happen to notice if they have the prepay taxis there?   What port did you leave from, Valparaiso or San Antonio?