Just off Insignia S. America

[mike35]

I'm writing this from our Marriott hotel room in Buenos Aires, and I'll try to include a brief observation of this delightful cruise.

This is our second Insignia cruise, and we love the ship and crew - from Captain Dimitrious Flokos and his charming wife Denise down to the folks who wipe down the hand rails. They're so very willing and cheerful to cater to your every whim, it's indeed a pleasure to be around them.

 

We enjoyed the itinerary as well, although the Southern part of Patagonia (Puerto Montt, Ushuaia, the Falklands, Punta Arenas, Puerto Madryn) were cold, rainy and windy. Montevideo and Buenos Aires had super weather - high 80's, sunny and calm.

 

Some other observations:

 

• Food -- Generally excellent, except for high salt levels, especially in the appetizers. Polo and Toscana were both great, and we had no trouble getting reservations (we were concierge level).
  
• Cabin -- Small but comfortable. Several items that should have been included (robes, Oceania bag, Oceania folder, cards indicating where "gifts" came from) weren't there. The rather stuffy concierge, Bruno, finally solved these problems.
  
• Entertainment - marginal, but same as our first Oceania cruise, so we weren't surprised. Mario, the lounge pianist, was great, however, as was the string quartet.
  
• Enrichment -- excellent - great port lecturer (Dr. Felix Martin) and naturalist.
  
• Internet -- forget it! 95 cents/minute is obscenely expensive!
  
• Ship tours - we booked all private tours at less than half the ship's price, and we were able to see much more than those who took the tours. This seemed to be a unanimous source of complaints among fellow passengers.

Anyway, DW is hollering at me to get ready to go out to a tango show this evening. Hope this mini-review helps, an I'll be happy to answer any questions.

 

Hi Jan!!

 

Mike Brill

[Member]

Is Insignia well refurnisbed and maintened?

[Jancruz]

Hi Mike,

We are in Costa Rica tomorrow and the weather is gorgeous, about 85 degrees!!

Ocean is like glass!!

So glad you had a good time and I also love Dimitrius and Denise..

I look forward to having dinner at our house on our return and comparing notes..Off to see Black Tie, just had dinner in Toscana and can barely move..food was outstanding..

Regards,

Jan

[drwong]

Hi Jan - you're off to see Black Tie again? I thought you said you and Stu don't do shows! :D

[cv sailor]

My wife and I will sail on Oceania's 2 February South American cruise. We've not used Oceania before but have some misgivings about the quality of the cruise line's shore excursions. Any suggestions on alternatives would be most appreciated.

 

Andy and Sunny

[Jancruz]

Hi Richard,

We dont do shows..but we LOVE Black Tie..so we try to see all of theirs..They are so good and we have been spending a bit of time with them and they are so much fun!

Regards,

Jan

[ClaudiaF]

Is the Feb. 2 BA to Rio ( we did that last year) or the itinerary that Mike Brill posted here?

If you tell us your ports we can give you some recommendations for drivers.

[cv sailor]

Thank you for reponding. We start in Vapariaso and end in Buenos Aires with stops in:Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Falklands, Puerto Madryn, and Montivideo. Any counsel on "must sees", just wander around, and quality service providers would be most appreciated.

 

Andy and Sunny

[ClaudiaF]

We did the BA to Rio so I can offer you a company for Buenos Aires and the others you will have to get from Mike or others who did the itinerary that you are doing .Have fun!

http://www.defrantur.com/ingles/citytour.asp

[budddawn]

Mike, if you could write a short note on your private tours after you get home and get settled in, it would be greatly appreciated.

[HappyMarv]

Mike,

I'm like Bud Dawn... Thanks MUCH for what you've shared with us and when you get home, It would be a WONDERFUL service if you could outline the steps you take to book your own tours. DW and I are doing the North Europe/Scandanavia trip on Aug 13 and have learned from these boards that if we want our money's worth and our satisfacton's worth, we'll have to arragne our own shore excursions.

Having been there and done that, you could be a big help to ALL of us if you would give us an outline (www sites, etc.) that will help us do our own thing.

Again, Thanks much..

 

Marvin

[ROCKI]

:) cv sailor

My husband and I will be on the same cruise. We have all of our tours in Buenos Aires and Santiago arranged. We have not done much about the ship excursions. I was going to book them with different tour co's that several members have reccommended. Do you have any ideas as to what you want to do? We are from Southern California.

[SheilaNC]

HappyMarv,

Suggest that you check out the Europe board for tour and driver selections. We did that before our Med. cruise last fall and every driver recommended by others was terrific. Have a great cruise.

[mike35]

OK - back home in Palm Springs now, and after catching up on sleep I'm ready to share our shore tour experiences.

• Santiago -- we booked with Ceci at http://www.latintrip.com. We scheduled an afternoon tour of Santiago, two wine tours the next day, and a tour of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar (with a drop off at the pier) on day 3. Another couple whom we encountered on this board chose to accompany us. We were picked up at the airport and taken to our hotel. We understood that we would have a private city tour that afternoon, but instead a 39-passenger bus full of other tourists showed up. The tour itself was interesting, but we were obviously disappointed that the "private" tour turned out to be the opposite. Fortunately, day two went well - the four of us were taken to Cousino Macul and Concha y Toro wineries. Both were outstanding, and I highly recommend them for oenophiles. As an aside, we ended up buying 13 bottles of wine -- 8 in Chile, 3 in Uruguay, and 2 in Argentina!
  
• Puerto Montt -- We booked with GV tours (http://www.gvtours.com), along with two other couples whom we met on CC. We were EXTREMELY pleased with Gail and Veronica Stein, the husband and wife team who conducted the tour. They're a real hoot - Gail is such a character, and his wife plays the "straight man" role. Despite rather lousy weather, we visited beautiful waterfalls, the interesting countryside, a super wayside restaurant for lunch, and a city tour. The six of us were very comfortable in their vehicle, and their price was quite reasonable. We also visited Puerto Varas, an interesting tourist town on the huge lake. We spent about 15 minutes in the casino there and won -- are you ready for this -- $7000 Chilean Pesos! (OK, that's only $14 USD, but it was better than losing!!).
  
• Punta Arenas -- We booked with Francesca at Turismo Viento Sur (agencia@vientosur.com). We disembarked as soon as the ship docked, and our wonderful guide was there waiting for us. We drove to Seno Otway (Otway Sound), the Magellanic penguin colony. about an hour away over paved and gravel roads. Although chilly and windy, it didn't rain. We walked a total of about 2 miles over wooden paths (not strenuous at all), and were rewarded by being very close to hundreds of these wonderful creatures. Along the way, we also encountered guanacos, rheas, and several varieties of bird life. Upon our return to Punta Arenas, we ate in an excellent restaurant (king crab, of course), that was recommended by the guide. After lunch she picked us up and gave us a city tour, including an incredibly interesting cemetery (don't miss it - it's like no cemetery you have ever seen!!). We were exhausted by the end of the day, but we totally enjoyed this port and our guide. The next day we visited 3 museums on our own - very interesting.
  
• Ushuaia -- We did this port on our own. We had heard that the train ride to Tierra del Fuego was rather boring, so we opted to take a catamaran around the huge bay. We encountered tons of sea lions and cormorants, and we enjoyed this narrated ride. We found Ushuaia to be an excellent shopping venue with many interesting shops and restaurants. And for a change, the weather was beautiful the day we were there.
  
• Port Stanley, Falkland Islands -- We booked with Graham France (france@horizon.co.fk) - an old timer with an encyclopediac knowledge of this far-flung outpost of the UK. We saw some penguins, toured about 100 km of paved and unpaved roads, and learned the fascinating history of these islands, which are still known as the Malvinas among the Argentinians. We had fish and chips with English beer in a local pub and did a bit of shopping. NOTE: the 1 1/2 day trip from the Falklands to Puerto Madryn were the roughest sea days I can ever remember sailing on, so be prepared. The dining room was practically empty that evening! And I even fell off my stool at the blackjack table (at least that's the excuse I gave DW for losing a bit of cash that evening).
  
• Puerto Madryn -- We used Whales Patagonia, and we loved our guide and driver. We booked with 5 other couples whom we encountered on this board (one couple changed their mind at the last minute, as they were "penguined out"). So 10 of us, in a very comfortable small bus, were met at the pier and took off on a 2-hour drive to Punta Tombo. We spent an hour here among penguins as far as the eye could see. If one only wants to see one venue with penguins, this should be the one, as you literally walk among these great creatures. The ride is a bit long, but the driver stopped along the way, and we still beat the tour busses by about 30 minutes. On the way back, we stopped in Gaiman (the ship tour doesn't include both the penguin reserve and Gaiman) - a charming Welsh village. We visited a delightful tea house, where we were served Welsh tea, tea sandwiches, and delicious Welsh pastries. We got back to the ship with about 10 minutes to spare, but Whales Patagonia is highly experienced and they knew exactly what the timing should be to maximize our visit.
  
• Montevideo -- This was the first time we have ever been "stood up" by our tour guide. We disembarked at 8:30 a.m., expecting to meet our guide by the ship. At 9:00 a.m., we asked some tour coordinators by the ship to telephone the tour agency to see where our guide was - we were told (they should be there any minute). We finally gave up at 10:00 a.m. and booked with a non-English speaking taxi driver. Fortunately, I speak rather fluent Spanish and we ended up having a good time (and tour). We later found out that the guide showed up a bit before 11:00 a.m. - totally unacceptable. The tour agency was Turismo Nuevo Mundo (headquartered in Chile). They are a large agency and book tours throughout Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. I immediately e-mailed them that evening, and they promptly replied, apologizing profusely, and promising to credit my credit card account with the cost of the tour.
  
• Buenos Aires -- We booked with WOW Argentina, and they turned out to be exceptional in every respect. We were met at the ship, transported to our hotel (Marriott - loved it!!), where we found a large folder that they provided with tons of information about Buenos Aires, things to see and do, restaurant preferences, etc. Victoria telephoned us frequently to make sure everything was to our satisfaction. We booked tango shows at Piazzolla and Sr. Tango on her advice, and both were marvelous (I recommend getting the VIP seating in both - well worth the extra charge). Our city tour was great as well with a wonderful tour guide who went out of her way to show us things that catered to our interests.

Whew - this turned out to be a bit longer than expected. I hope it might help with future plans for anyone contemplating this fabulous itinerary.

 

Mike

[HiFi43]

Mike...your information has been very helpful. We saw other recommendations for Graham on other posts and booked him for our trip.

We are really looking forward to it. We have we last on the Insignia last Spring for an Athens to Rome cruise and love the ship and staff. For others traveling with us we will be in cabin 8054...leave a note on our door and we will look you up.:)

[cv sailor]

We've not yet visited South America nor sailed with Oceania. Inputs from the "old salts" helped a great deal.

Andy and Sunny

[ROCKI]

Thanks Mike... Your info has been very helpful. We are leaving on the same cruise next week. Will get busy today and start booking. Also, how cold was it when visiting ports?

Maybe Andy and Sunny might be intersted in sharing some of the tours with us!?

 

Thanks,

Ana & Larry in Southern California

[budddawn]

THANKS MIKE, we really appreciate it, great information.

[HiFi43]

CV Sailor and Rocki...As I said on an earlier post, we will be in cabin 8054 ... leave a note on our door and we will look you up. We are really looking forward to this trip and love the Insignia. We do private trips as well and often do them "ad hoc". We did book Graham already for the Falklands and have family in Santiago so we have that covered. The rest we will decided as we go or may surf the web a bit more this week and see what we find. We will also check posts this week...

 

Bruce & Marilyn

[cv sailor]

We've booked cabin 4012. Since the ship's tour excursions look a bit over-priced. We've explored Mike Brills input but have not committed to any tours.

Puerto Montt: I attempted to contact gv tours but have yet to receive a reply. Their web postings look promising.

Punta Arenas: Receive the following from Turismo Viente Sur:

Seno Otway Penguin Colony"

We have daily regular departures at 16:00 hrs and arriving at 20:15 hrs.

Price USD 24 per person. It includes English speaking guide, entrance fees, snack and pick ups from the pier in/out.

 

We also have private departures with English Speaking guide, snack, pick ups from the pier in/out and entrance fees included.

You can ask for a departure depending of how much time you have during your short stay in our city.

The price to go with 02 people would be USD 54 per person.

 

It is 1.5 hour driving one way arriving to the entrance of the colony and you have to walk through a wood made footgridge 1 km. aprox. to get closer the penguins and their nests. That will take you 1 hour. Afterwards, it is 1.5 hour driving back to Punta Arenas pier.

The price should come down with greater participation.

I intend to explore other options later today.

Andy

[ROCKI]

:p Andy, My husband and I will be on the same cruise. I am reserving the private Seno Otoway Penguin Colony tour and the City tour with Francesca If you would like to share this tour with us then the price will come down. If anyone else is interested let me know.We are a couple in our late 50's from So Cal. Also, Mike I cannot find a web site for Whales Patagonia? Do you have the e-mail address? Your info has been very useful!

Bruce and Marilyn we are in Cabin 7111. We would love to meet all of you when we get on the ship.

Ana and Larry /Rocki

Thanks

[cv sailor]

http://www.whalespatagonia.com.ar/images/header_bottommid.gif

 

We're interested in that tour as well. How do we coordinate the reservations?

Andy

[HiFi43]

Anna and Larry (and Andy)...if you can arrange it count us in for Francesca and the tour as well...Bruce & Marilyn

[ROCKI]

I will e mail Francesca to find out the price for 6. My e mail address is lanarofe@socal.rr.com

send me your e mail and I will pass on the info....Ana:)

[cv sailor]

Thank you,

As I wrote in my e-mail, we will opt in for the tour. Let us know what information the tour operator needs; we've already sent an inquiry, and his response was the basis for our earlier posting.

Andy