Are Chile and Uruguay safe and worthwhile cruise destinations?

[eddieg07410]

Se have never cruise South America but are considering the eastern coast. We are in our seventies, able to walk about a mile or two per excursion. I have some medical condition that is mostly under control, but you never know and could need some emergency care if things go south. I'd rather avoid Brazil and Argentina as I question the safety of those areas but was thinking of Chile and Uruguay for our first South American cruise. What do you think?

[TayanaLorna]

In 2020 traveled on a cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenas Aires, Argentina including a pre cruise stay on our own in Santiago during the social unrest and protests in that capital that year.  No problem.  We just avoided the city center at night as the marches usually began at 9 pm.  Traveled on the cruise from Valparaiso to Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Around Cape Horn, The Falklands, Puerto Madryn, Montevideo and ending in Buenos Aires.  Excellent cruise.  We were 70 at the time.

 

This year we cruised from San Juan, PR through some Caribbean islands to French Guiana and then up the Amazon River to Manaus, Brazil.  Then we spent another week traveling further up the Amazon on a riverboat and then staying in Manaus.  No problem with safety.

 

We take normal precautions when traveling - aware of our surroundings, no jewelry, no wallets in back pockets etc.  We live in Puerto Rico and don't want to travel to the US for safety reasons and feel that the US is at the first stage of social and political breakdown.

[eddieg07410]

6 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

In 2020 traveled on a cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenas Aires, Argentina including a pre cruise stay on our own in Santiago during the social unrest and protests in that capital that year.  No problem.  We just avoided the city center at night as the marches usually began at 9 pm.  Traveled on the cruise from Valparaiso to Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Around Cape Horn, The Falklands, Puerto Madryn, Montevideo and ending in Buenos Aires.  Excellent cruise.  We were 70 at the time.

 

This year we cruised from San Juan, PR through some Caribbean islands to French Guiana and then up the Amazon River to Manaus, Brazil.  Then we spent another week traveling further up the Amazon on a riverboat and then staying in Manaus.  No problem with safety.

 

We take normal precautions when traveling - aware of our surroundings, no jewelry, no wallets in back pockets etc.  We live in Puerto Rico and don't want to travel to the US for safety reasons and feel that the US is at the first stage of social and political breakdown.

Can't argue with you there.

[PhD-iva]

I think you will be fine going on a cruise. The cruise line is not going to disembark passengers in a dangerous port. Well, having said that, cruiselines still cruise to Mexico, even Acapulco, which the last I heard the US government still tells US citizens not to travel to Acapulco.

but I think a cruise to SA will be fine if you follow generally known common sense strategies to stay safe.

[GeorgeCharlie]

Late last fall we did our first SA cruise, it was 31 days from Miami to Buenos Aires. Other then Peru, we found most of the countries interesting and safe to visit.

 

We did a review of the cruise and you can find our impressions of our stops in Ecuador starting at Post #34 and Chile starting at Post #76.

 

 

 

[lynncarol]

Getting ready for a two week trip (on our own) to Argentina and Chile with focus on Patagonia area.  No qualms what-so-ever about these destinations.  Now if I were cruising near Israel or Egypt at the moment, I would definitely be concerned. However, I understand that all of these cruises have been cancelled. My husband and I did a 17 day mega-yacht cruise on the Black Sea just 2 months after Russia annexed the Crimea in 2014.  It was a great time to be in the area as all other passenger ships had cancelled and the locals (including those in Sochi Russia) were friendly and glad for our business.