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Who does the best job?


mek
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Of these three lines, Princess, HAL, X does anyone have an opinion of who does the best job?  Looking at 14 nights around the Horn, so most itineraries look the same, but I was wondering if any one of these lines stand out for a particular reason.  Food is not the issue - I sail on all three lines so I know what to expect.  I'm Platinum on Princess and Elite on X, so I do get perks on those two that I don't get on HAL, but that isn't a deal breaker.

 

The only reason I'm asking is from personal experience, IMO Princess is far ahead of other lines in Alaska because of what they do on board and I was wondering if something like that is the case with this itinerary, or are they all basically similar and I  should just base my decision on ship and price.

 

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We did b2b (LA to Valparaiso to Rio) Princess cruises in December 2016/January 2017.  It was one of our absolutely favorite itineraries (although now Valparaiso has been replaced by San Antonio by most, if not all, cruise lines which is a pity).  The Valparaiso to Rio cruise had both a subject matter lecturer (retired professor who devoted his career to Latin America discussing history, culture, archeology, anthropology, etc.) who lectured on every sea day and a destination lecturer who spoke specifically about the next port with excellent information for DIY passengers in addition to covering the history of the city.

 

Whichever itinerary you chose, make sure it includes the Falklands (and then hope the weather cooperates since it is a tender port).  We can highly recommend Patrick Watts for the excursion to Volunteer Point to see the King penguins.

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Since you have been on Princess, do the bring any local entertainment on board and/or have regionally themed meals?  That is what I like so much about Princess in Alaska - they seem to bring more of the Alaskan experience on board than other lines I have cruised on. 

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I don't recall any regionally themed meals (but that could have changed in the last couple of years; I know they have changed their Alaska menus in that time) but vaguely remember some South American entertainers but for the life of me can't remember the details 😞.

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We did a west coast South America cruise once on NCL and we would love to do the one around the Horn.  Thanks for the info on Princess.  HAL's prices consistently seem to be the best, but their ships are the smallest and I not sure how they do if the weather gets rough when going around the Horn.  I won't be doing this until the end of next year, so I have lots of time to plan.

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Just now, mek said:

We did a west coast South America cruise once on NCL and we would love to do the one around the Horn.  Thanks for the info on Princess.  HAL's prices consistently seem to be the best, but their ships are the smallest and I not sure how they do if the weather gets rough when going around the Horn.  I won't be doing this until the end of next year, so I have lots of time to plan.

Enjoy the planning and the cruise!

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  • 2 weeks later...

We dd Princess.   We were watching HAL, Princess, and Celebrity prices.   Princess was by far the best at the time of booking plus we took advantage of a one day Canadian dollar at par sale.  Itineraries were identical. We enjoyed our cruise very much and wrapped an extended land tour around it.

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On 6/8/2019 at 8:04 PM, Lunenburg said:

Do they all stop in the Falklands?  We picked Norwegian because of that but a few times the Falklands is cancelled because of bad weather.   It was our favourite stop. 

We booked on X for 2020, and Falklands is not on the itinerary, but it does include Chilean Fjords and Magellan Strait.  But both Princess and NCL (and Viking Ocean) include Falklands (at least in 2020 they do).  

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