South America 2008 Pre/Post and Cruise Questions

[GrannyLorr]

Marazul...yes I do intend to post in here while I am onboard. Will take out an internet package (might have to mortgage the house) and will be taking my own laptop with me. I need the laptop anyway to transfer all my thousands of photos too! Last time I also did a "blog" and was able to put in some pics, not sure what I will do this time.....still in the planning stages. Would like to do some "simple" webpages with pics etc......but think the uploading will probably cost too much. :o

[burlingameCA]

Granny, my sister Donna and I will be in 230, Valparaiso to B.A. I tried to book in June 2006 for the 2007 Patagonia cruise, but we finally gave up the wait list and booked a year ago Sept for the 2008 cruise. I'm sure it will be worth the wait just to spend luxurious days on the Seabourn Pride seeing the glorious exotic scenery. (and glad to hear they've updated the bedding, it needed to be done.)

 

We are also traveling with my best friends from Hillsborough (SF peninsula), retired now, originally from Peru; they've traveled several times on Seabourn. We've sailed together many times on the Windstar in the past, but finally had to find a ship with an elevator, and what a find Seabourn has been! I also know two other couples from Hillsborough who are booked on this segment of the South America cruise.

 

Keith1010 is going to be a great source for shore excursions (except he's apparently not into wardrobe observations.) Question, Keith, is the walk to the penquins on fairly flat land?

 

Anyone have any advice on day tours around Santiago? We will have 2 days to sightsee before traveling to Valparaiso.

 

Christine

[Keith1010]

Christine, the walk to see the penguins is on flat land. From what I remember a good part of the walk is on wooden planks. We've done other excursions to see the Pengiuins such as in the Falklands and we found this one to be much better, easier for all to do, and much clearner in terms of not having to watch where you walk. The penguins seem to say off the walkway. We had folks on our tour with differing walking capabilities. A few had walkers and/or wheelchairs. Great excursion.

 

Many of the hotels will offer organized tours of Santiago. Not sure where you are staying but if it is one of the larger ones they will likely have tours.

 

Keith

[Tony & Trevor]

Excursions Puerto Moin-Costa Rica

 

The shore excursions offered differ from last year. We were looking forward to the Aerial tram trip over the rain forest canopy.I dont honestly think there will be too many going on the 'adrenaline shoot'-flying from trees 100 feet high etc!!!. The other one is canals-man made and banana plantation. We are trying to do something ourselves but no reply afer one week from Costa Rica tourism.

Does any one have any ideas?

 

We had an email in from seabourn (USA) to say about 20 passengers doing Machu Picchu and around 6 or so for Easter Island.

 

Kind regards

 

Tony

ps A lovely Indian summer here in England.

[PittsburghJack]

Tony,

The last time Mrs. Jack and I were in Costa Rica, we opted for a walking nature tour of the Iguana Sanctuary. It was an excellent jungle adventure where we spotted wild parrots, jungle creatures and of course, Iguanas! The flora was outstanding and our guide taught botany at one of the universities.

 

The walking was quite easy but the humidity was somewhat oppressive as I remember. Lunch was included but the menu limited (fried or BBQ Iguana)!

 

All in all, a good experience with a comfortable coach ride to and from. Have an excellent trip. Jack

[GrannyLorr]

Thanks Keith....you have convinced me that I can manage the penguin walk. I thought we may all be able to rent 4 wheel drive wheel chairs! ;)

 

We now have 11 CC's on our cruise, welcome to Christine and Donna. :)

 

This morning I got my third book of excursions, takes me as far as Manaus...only one more to arrive.

 

Tomorrow I will be looking for lots and lots of sympathy....have an appointment to get jabbed with the yellow fever stuff. The "needle" phobia I thought had been cured during my recent stint in hospital...has reappeared!! :eek:

 

Next hurdle is the travel insurance and Brazilian visa..........

[burlingameCA]

Keith, thank you for the description of the trail to the penguin preserve - sounds like an easy trek, and so I'm looking forward to it now.

 

JaneBP - in roll call you listed your departure date as January 24, hopefully a slip of your finger and not reflective of your flight reservations; you'll be a day behind the rest of us.

 

Anyone notice that the Patagonia Passage itinerary for 2008 has disappeared from Seabourn's schedule? - they don't even list it as wait-listed, it's just gone as of last Friday.

 

Christine

[westmount]

Hi Granny,

I'm certainly looking forward to meeting with you, as you seem to know much more about cruising than I can ever know. The trip for us is only 90 days away, as we are going from Santiago to Rio, but I figure now is the time to figure out what I'm going to do on a cruise for such a long time( 24 days) My wife and I are still in our 40's, late late, but I'm not sure if we'll be the babies of the trip, but it looks like a great trip and my wife loves bridge, so I know we'll get along with everyone. Have a great trip to Ft. Lauderdale and beyond, and I'll look for you when we're below doing our life jacket drill in Santiago. Enjoy the trip down.

Regards

Robert and Lisa from Montreal

[GrannyLorr]

"and now we have 13 CC's"!! :)

 

Robert and Lisa, I am really very new to cruising...only ever done one "Grand Cruise" which was actually 4 back to backs, but became addicted very quickly. Really looking forward to the next one, which will be 5 back to backs! Most people in this forum have done dozens of cruises!

You could possibly be the youngest on board, but I am a YOUNG granny probably only about a dozen years older. In the words of (I think, Lord of the Seas) dont worry too much if we all pat you on the head and offer you icecream! :D

Dont think I can expect any sympathy....had the yellow fever jab today and didn't feel a darn thing! Now just the Travel insurance and Visa to take care of........

[AuntieAnne]

Anyone else on this cruise? Perhaps they're not on the boards. I know the ship's full--was full in March when I was on the Spirit. I'm counting the days. It won't be long now.

This thread's been inactive for a while, so I thought I'd revive it. :D

[AuntieAnne]

This thread's been inactive for a while. Thought I'd revive it.

I know the ship's full--it was full when I was on the Spirit last March. Are there any others out there who will be joining us?

As to excursions--I've done many of these on a previous cruise. The Punta Tomba Penguins are a DON'T miss. You can see penguins other places, but these are so used to humans they just walk along with you. One almost followed me back to the bus (kidding). As to the walking, I recall you didn't have to go all the way to enjoy the penguins. There was no "group" we had to follow. We were given a time to return to the bus and could walk quickly or slowly as we chose.

Since we've done the main excurions from Santiago to Buenos Aires before, I'm checking for other sightseeing. If we find a compatible couple (or two or three) it's possible we would be interested in renting a private van. Otherwise, we will likely go off on our own at several of these ports.

Incidentally, Chile is a GREAT place to buy inexpensive sweaters in case you don't want to carry too much warm clothing.

It's getting closer every day now. Better start planning my packing soon.:D

[JaneBP]

>"As to the walking, I recall you didn't have to go all the way to enjoy the penguins. There was no "group" we had to follow. We were given a time to return to the bus and could walk quickly or slowly as we chose."

 

Can you give me an estimate how far you had to walk to find a few penguins?

 

Jane (always ready for a private van hire/share)

[Tony & Trevor]

Jane,

 

Hope you are all well in the good old USA.

 

Did the penguins at Punta Tomba about three years ago.A few of us with myself included did'nt really enjoy the trip too much. Quite a long journey

and then the penquin smell pervaded everywhere. It wasn't too far to walk and 'potter' about.

Its a pity Seabourn does not go to the ( British ) Falklands. Simply wonderful.

 

Kind regards

 

Tony

[AuntieAnne]

Jane,

Yes, it was a long bus ride. And penguins do smell. I saw the penguins in the Falklands and you couldn't get anywhere close. These are really tame. I'm an animal person, and a bird lover. Perhaps that's why I found it a special excursion.

I don't remember how far the walk is before you see penguins. I'm sure the ship can fill you in on that.

Don't quote me on this, but there may be another port where you can see penguins. My partner emphatically said "No penguins, this time!" I'm sure I dragged him around more than twice.

Won't be long, now.;)

[JaneBP]

>"Won't be long, now."

 

Thanks, perhaps I will just re-watch 'March of the Penguins"!

 

I am pretty lucky, since I had to cancel a cruise, and I was all packed, I don't even have to re-pack too much; just some warmer layers. Thanks for the tip about Santiago and sweaters. I will be there a few days before embarkation, so might look for some.

[Keith1010]

Jane,

Yes, it was a long bus ride. And penguins do smell. I saw the penguins in the Falklands and you couldn't get anywhere close. These are really tame. I'm an animal person, and a bird lover. Perhaps that's why I found it a special excursion.

 

I don't remember how far the walk is before you see penguins. I'm sure the ship can fill you in on that.

 

Don't quote me on this, but there may be another port where you can see penguins. My partner emphatically said "No penguins, this time!" I'm sure I dragged him around more than twice.

 

Won't be long, now.;)

 

In Punta Arenas after the bus drops you off it's about a five or ten minute walk until you get to the Penguins. From there you walk in one large circle. But for those who don't want to walk so far after you see some of the Penguines you can just turn around rather than walking the entire circular route. Now, in Punta Arenas we found the entire area much cleaner than seeing the Penguins in the Falkland Islands. In Punta Arenas they have a nice wooden walkway that you walk on and it was quite clean. Our shoes were fine, which was not the case with the Falkland Islands.

 

Interesting about your experience in the Falkland Islands. Ours was different. We went in 4x4's to see the penguins as there were no roads to take us there. Quite a bumpy road. But where they dropped you off there were hundreds of penguins and they were literally inchses right in front of us. Now the downside. The area was quite muddy and you had to watch where you walk and the bottom line is when we got back to the ship we had to scrub our walking shoes. And I do mean scrub.

 

Keith

[GrannyLorr]

We will certainly do the penguin trip...."animal smells" don't bother us too much, always been used to lots of animals around. My "fitness regime" doesn't seem to have started yet either...must get onto that! :rolleyes: However I figure that by the time I drag all my luggage from Oz, to Japan to LA to Fort Lauderdale, I will either be fit or dead!! :eek:

[cands]

Hi all,

The penguins at Seno Otway are fantastic. The walk is very easy. You can see the birds walking from their nesting burrows to the sea and back. (Quite a sight!) There was a hide where you could watch them on the beach and platforms to climb to get a look at the surrounding area.

As others have said, it was all boardwalked and pretty level. We spent close to 2 hours there doing the circuit at a very slow pace with lots of stops. (If you sprint walked the circuit, you could do it in 15-20 minutes!!)

 

We did this tour 'on our own' by hiring a taxi at the pier. (the locals were very well organised).

As I recall, it cost about USD70 for the half day.

The trip down and back was mostly on dirt roads through the beautifully stark Patagonian scenery.

 

A tour not to be missed:

 

 

[AuntieAnne]

Thanks Keith and CandS. I did the Horn cruise in 2001 and I'm 6 years older and a little foggy on which ports had which penguins. You're bringing it all back to me.

Hmmmm. Methinks--after I do the whales and elephant seals, I may go back and do the penguins again.:p

[AuntieAnne]

Granny,

If you haven't gotten fit from dragging your luggage around, you can always exercise at 6AM. I understand the gym is really jumping at that hour.

I plan to get up and work out. I ALWAYS PLAN to get up and work out. Haven't made it yet, though.:)

[Keith1010]

Hi all,

There was a hide where you could watch them on the beach and platforms to climb to get a look at the surrounding area.

 

 

Your comments also reminded me to mention that we took a video during portions of the tour. And, we have video where we watched the penguins on the beach area. There were lots of them and in many ways it was like watching a bunch of folks and their families at the beach. They were quite a sight.

 

While it was also a windy day, this is one of our more memorable excursions from over the years.

 

Keith

[GrannyLorr]

Auntie Anne, we must be twins! I have been ~planning~ to "work out" *shudder* ever since escaping the hospital....have been too busy so far! :rolleyes: I never SEE 6am on the ship.....

 

 

Cands...thanks for the pics. I cant really tell by the pics, but are these penguins as small as the ones at Philip Island? I would love to see the BIG ones, but guess they are further south.......

[cands]

Cands...thanks for the pics. I cant really tell by the pics, but are these penguins as small as the ones at Philip Island? I would love to see the BIG ones, but guess they are further south.......

 

Lorraine,

You're right, it is hard to tell. The penguins in the photos above are Magellanic. I guess they are medium size and at least twice as big as Australia's Little Penguins.

We were lucky that the Gentoo colony at Bluff Cove in the Falklands had a few Kings amonst it. Its a shame you are not going there!

 

Steve.

 

Kings amongst the Gentoos - Bluff Cove, Falkland Islands

[GrannyLorr]

oh wow...what a photo....yes they are the ones I would love to see......*off to buy more Lotto tickets*

[Margate Cruiser]

From Santiago to Rio. We switched from Singapore to Shanghai. We have done the Ft. Lauderdale to Santiago last year and a few years back we did the Manaus to Ft. Lauderdale. Needless to say we are very excited about this part of SA.