Looking for advice on first South American cruise

[mcmarya]

One of the frequent HAL lecturers, Jim McParland, also does stargazing sessions.  Since I think he is part of the Antarctic team, he may well be on board for your cruise.

[Meander Ingwa]

for sky explorers I recommend the very excellent Stellarium app

[Marygar]

On 5/27/2023 at 1:29 PM, Harley57 said:

@pinotlover - thanks for the insight.  I have a Viking cruise scheduled for February 2024 from Buenos Aires to Santiago that is suppose to visit Ushuaia, Puenta Arenas, Amalia Glacier and the Chilean Fjords.  Do I need to temper my expectations in terms of not really seeing any of the fjords in Chile?  I was hoping it would be similar to a Norway cruise we took in 2015 where we sailed through Geiranger Fjord.  The itinerary map indicates we sail up the channel to the glacier, but perhaps not?  

Any insight you can provide is appreciated.  

Hi Harley - We might be on the same cruise - we depart on Feb. 12.  How about you?

[Harley57]

10 hours ago, Marygar said:

Hi Harley - We might be on the same cruise - we depart on Feb. 12.  How about you?

Yes - we are also on the Feb 12 Jupiter cruise and looking forward to it.

[FlaMariner]

On 7/22/2023 at 8:46 AM, slewis7 said:

You mentioned an onboard “astrologist”, but I think you meant astronomer (unless it related to horoscopes).

 

LOL.  Yes, not Jean Dixon but an astronomer........college professor lady....and they turned off the ship's lights on the starboard pool deck at night and she pointed out the southern cross and other star sights only seen in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

 

[Nebr.cruiser]

On 6/16/2023 at 3:35 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

We are embarking in Valparaiso so we will be there before we sail.

We did too, on our first SA cruise.  We did a walking tour of Valparaiso, which was so wonderful.  Very neat city, yes somewhat like San Francisco in the day.    The tour also took us to a winery; dinner at a nice restaurant, short tour of Santiago and drop off at the airport.   

[PapaGoose]

16 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

We did too, on our first SA cruise.  We did a walking tour of Valparaiso, which was so wonderful.  Very neat city, yes somewhat like San Francisco in the day.    The tour also took us to a winery; dinner at a nice restaurant, short tour of Santiago and drop off at the airport.   

That sounds like a great day! Can I ask who you booked this excursion with? We will be disembarking our ship in San Antonio in February and we won’t be flying home, out of Santiago, until the next day. 

[Nebr.cruiser]

13 minutes ago, PapaGoose said:

That sounds like a great day! Can I ask who you booked this excursion with? We will be disembarking our ship in San Antonio in February and we won’t be flying home, out of Santiago, until the next day. 

It was some time ago, definitely pre-Covid, but I believe it was an operator called Chris (or Christian) the Van Man.  We had about 12 or so people in a nice van and he had a trailer that pulled behind for all our luggage.  The meal was not included but was at a very nice BBQ place on the way back to Santiago. We had docked in Valparaiso.

[cccole]

Could it be Cristian at cristiana.rios@saitourchile.cl?  He is helping us on our January 2024 trip.  Cherie

[Nebr.cruiser]

17 hours ago, cccole said:

Could it be Cristian at cristiana.rios@saitourchile.cl?  He is helping us on our January 2024 trip.  Cherie

It's possible; I really don't know.  Many things may have changed, since we did this itinerary,  especially with Covid.  Also, our Chris was not an especially young man, probably late 50's?  

[cccole]

Cristian's email should have read cristian.rios@saitourchile.cl?  Sorry for the typo.  I think Cristian is older but not sure.  He was recommended on this forum.  Cherie