Celebrity Eclipse South America - March

[Greek islands]

Lots of comments re mosquito problems. Do I need to wear long pants, long sleeved tops for Peru, Mexico, Chile etc. Will mainly be using the ship excursions, but doing our own thing for a couple of destinations. 

Also do most countries take US dollars? Thought maybe we would take some Chilean pesos and US dollars for the rest? 

Any help much appreciated.

[gordylad]

Hi Sorry I cant answer but will be interested in reading the replies as we are on the schedule in 2019 if you are referring to Chile to San Diego? 

[4774Papa]

We did the cruise around the Horn of SA in January and I don't remember there being a huge problem with insects.  It will be cooler the farther south you go and you could wear long trousers rather than shorts.

 

We paid for all of our private tours in US dollars.  The bills must be unmarked and not torn.  Try to get new bills from your bank.  Wear a money belt, especially in the large cities.

[Greek islands]

3 hours ago, gordylad said:

Hi Sorry I cant answer but will be interested in reading the replies as we are on the schedule in 2019 if you are referring to Chile to San Diego? 

Yes it is the 2019 Chile to SAN Diego 

[Greek islands]

3 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

We did the cruise around the Horn of SA in January and I don't remember there being a huge problem with insects.  It will be cooler the farther south you go and you could wear long trousers rather than shorts.

 

We paid for all of our private tours in US dollars.  The bills must be unmarked and not torn.  Try to get new bills from your bank.  Wear a money belt, especially in the large cities.

Thanks for the info

[mahdnc]

7 hours ago, Greek islands said:

Lots of comments re mosquito problems. Do I need to wear long pants, long sleeved tops for Peru, Mexico, Chile etc. Will mainly be using the ship excursions, but doing our own thing for a couple of destinations. 

Also do most countries take US dollars? Thought maybe we would take some Chilean pesos and US dollars for the rest? 

Any help much appreciated.

 

We also did the Valparaiso to Buenos Aires cruise aboard Eclipse in 2016 (review) .

 

We had a mixture of cool weather (e.g. sailing around Cape Horn) and hot weather (Santiago and Buenos Aires), so it's going to depend on where you are going and when.

 

We had no mosquito problems although that is no guarantee that you won't have any.

 

Most of the places we went to accepted US dollars.  However we had a cab in Valparaiso and Buenos Aires that would only take local currency and no credit cards.  

 

If you don't know Spanish, have your smart phone ready with Google Translate (or simply showing a photograph) to communicate with the local people there as they all do not speak English.

Edited February 20, 2019 by mahdnc

[Jim_Iain]

We did the Miami to Buenos Aires B2B in November / December.    Had no problem with mosquito.   I did brink some spray just in case.   I learned that I should have done more research as I expected the West Coast of South America to be jungle.   In reality most of the coast from Santiago north is some of the most arid desert in the world.  

 

As for U.S. dollars -  most tours will accept new US dollars (must be with the new security features).  Most stores and attractions accept Credit Cards.  

[koolforkatz]

I did Buenos Aires to Los Angeles a year ago and would echo what everyone else said. No issues with bugs. 

 

I was told by a local tour operator that they want unmarked bills in good condition because they get a better exchange rate for it at the banks.