Terminal location in Puntas Arenas?

[ana_nicole26]

Hi everyone, we are on NCL's Norwegian Star in a couple weeks, out of Buenos Aires and traveling down the coast of South America and Antarctica. I have two questions about the port in Puntas Arenas:

- Is this a tender port for NCL?

- Either way, where do passengers disembark? I'm trying to book a tour and need to input a pickup location.

 

Thanks!

[TayanaLorna]

8 hours ago, ana_nicole26 said:

Hi everyone, we are on NCL's Norwegian Star in a couple weeks, out of Buenos Aires and traveling down the coast of South America and Antarctica. I have two questions about the port in Puntas Arenas:

- Is this a tender port for NCL?

- Either way, where do passengers disembark? I'm trying to book a tour and need to input a pickup location.

 

Thanks!

Puntas Arenas is a dock and a very loooong dock.  In fact so long that they had port shuttle busses take passengers from the ship to the entrance.  Any outside tour operator will know where to pick you up and will probably tell YOU.  We were there in 2020 and all the busses for the cruise lines excursions were able to drive right up near the ship.  We used Sentir Patagonia for an all day private tour to Penninsula Valdes and they met us where the shuttle bus left us off.  If they are allowed to meet you on the dock near your ship, they will tell you.

[TayanaLorna]

Just now, TayanaLorna said:

Puntas Arenas is a dock and a very loooong dock.  In fact so long that they had port shuttle busses take passengers from the ship to the entrance.  Any outside tour operator will know where to pick you up and will probably tell YOU.  We were there in 2020 and all the busses for the cruise lines excursions were able to drive right up near the ship.  We used Sentir Patagonia for an all day private tour to Penninsula Valdes and they met us where the shuttle bus left us off.  If they are allowed to meet you on the dock near your ship, they will tell you.

Oops!  I was thinking of Puerto Madryn, Argentina.  Sorry!  Punta Arenas is in Chile.  Ok, been there too.  Punta Arenas is a dock for some ships.  We were on a small 750' Viking cruise ship and docked.  I don't know about Norwegian.  If ship is on the dock, you walk to the enclosed terminal and out into the street.  Tour operators will meet you outside the terminal.  If it is a tender stop, i have no idea where they discharge guests.  For private tours, be sure to book one that refunds if ship cannot stop.  Punta Arenas can get very windy.  When we were there we had 60 mph winds, all water based tours were cancelled and the ship needed 2 tugs to pull us off the dock when leaving.  

[GeorgeCharlie]

We were in Punta Arenas on Dec 12/22 and we had to tender in from our ship (HAL Oosterdam). From the looks of it, I would say the dock can only handle expedition ships, such as the Viking Polaris (378 passengers), which was docked while getting repairs done.

 

From this picture you can see where the Oosterdam was anchored and we tendered into the dock just in front of the boat tied up across from the Polaris. The terminal building is the long blue building with the skylights. People were meeting tour guides both inside and outside the building.

 

 

The main tourist part of town is within a few blocks of the port gates.

[Moche1]

I've been to Punta Arenas more than a dozen times -- a couple of times flying to/from for visits to Torres del Paine National Park, lots of times via cruise ship.

There are actually two possible docks that cruise ships use, plus anchorage for tendering.  The normal cruise terminal is the one GeorgeCharlie has noted in the post above.  It's a temporary building that is about three blocks from the main downtown square (check out the Magellan statue in the center of the square -- plus there are usually some tourist stands set up there on days when cruise ships arrive).

The other dock is about two miles away in the commercial port area.  If you use that one, shuttle buses to the city center are usually provided.  

Since Punta Arenas is located on the Straits of Magellan, not open ocean, high waves are usually not a problem.  However, the place does experience very high winds occasionally.  One time I was there on the Norwegian Sun, using the commercial dock.  Winds were high and the Sun had difficulty approaching the pier.  With the aid of two tugs, the ship began to tie up.  The tugs backed off -- and a big gust of winds broke the ropes -- the ship was almost instantly several hundred yards off shore.  The captain announced that we would stand off for a while and see if the wind died down.  An hour or so later the captain announced that we had just experienced a 100 knot wind gust and that we were moving away and would have a sea day instead of seeing Punta Arenas.  

[karenbeanpole]

can anyone tell me if there are tour operators selling tours or ferry tickets to Magdalena Island at the Port or tender drop off. I'll be on the Oosterdam.  

[m921759]

On 2/8/2023 at 1:05 AM, Moche1 said:

I've been to Punta Arenas more than a dozen times -- a couple of times flying to/from for visits to Torres del Paine National Park, lots of times via cruise ship.

There are actually two possible docks that cruise ships use, plus anchorage for tendering.  The normal cruise terminal is the one GeorgeCharlie has noted in the post above.  It's a temporary building that is about three blocks from the main downtown square (check out the Magellan statue in the center of the square -- plus there are usually some tourist stands set up there on days when cruise ships arrive).

The other dock is about two miles away in the commercial port area.  If you use that one, shuttle buses to the city center are usually provided.  

Since Punta Arenas is located on the Straits of Magellan, not open ocean, high waves are usually not a problem.  However, the place does experience very high winds occasionally.  One time I was there on the Norwegian Sun, using the commercial dock.  Winds were high and the Sun had difficulty approaching the pier.  With the aid of two tugs, the ship began to tie up.  The tugs backed off -- and a big gust of winds broke the ropes -- the ship was almost instantly several hundred yards off shore.  The captain announced that we would stand off for a while and see if the wind died down.  An hour or so later the captain announced that we had just experienced a 100 knot wind gust and that we were moving away and would have a sea day instead of seeing Punta Arenas.  

 

Could you tell if taxis were available when you came by cruise ship ? We would like to do Nao Victoria Museum and via taxi it would be 10X less expensive than via tour for our small group. Thank you

[Moche1]

34 minutes ago, m921759 said:

 

Could you tell if taxis were available when you came by cruise ship ? We would like to do Nao Victoria Museum and via taxi it would be 10X less expensive than via tour for our small group. Thank you

If you dock at the cruise terminal near the main square, taxis are usually just outside the cruise terminal, or if not, on the main street a few hundred feet from the terminal building.  Better yet, use Uber -- that's what I do in Chile, Argentina, Peru, etc.  Usually about the same price as a taxi, but safer and payment is made via your Uber account, not in cash to driver.

[m921759]

On 7/19/2023 at 3:45 PM, Moche1 said:

If you dock at the cruise terminal near the main square, taxis are usually just outside the cruise terminal, or if not, on the main street a few hundred feet from the terminal building.  Better yet, use Uber -- that's what I do in Chile, Argentina, Peru, etc.  Usually about the same price as a taxi, but safer and payment is made via your Uber account, not in cash to driver.

That's great to know, Uber available even in Punta Arenas, thank you !