Hello from the Star Princess

[gooch47]

No review yet, but I've posted my videos on the Video forum:

 

Star Princess Cruise

[cookiersmom]

For some more info, a couple of us have posted some info on the Roll Call from the Jan 26th Star, so you might take a look over there.

(Warning: this is a very long post!)

 

A quick reprise:

Buenos Aires: Don't miss Recoleta cemetery, the masoleums are very interesting. Quite different than anything I had ever seen. La Boca is another "not to miss", as well as a walk down Florida street. Regarding embarkation, hopefully for future cruises, Princess will get their act together, but I would definately take the time for the pre-registration at the two hotels, but it didn't "fix" the complete chaos at the port.

 

Montevideo: We went to the Estancia and thoroughly enjoyed it. Others on the winery tours liked them also. We were there on a Sunday, so everything in the city was closed, so can't comment on anything in town. Weather was nice, but not really what I would call warm.

 

Sea days: The first sea day was quite warm, and lying out, we burnt. By the second day, it was really too cool to lay out. Kept busy with activities on the ship.

 

Falklands: As we have said on other threads, we absolutely loved our trip to Volunteer Point w/ Patrick Watts. It was 2 1/2 hours of VERY bumpy ride (LOTS OF FUN!), and then about 2 hours (as I recall) visiting the penguins! The Gentoos were at the beach and up on the grasslands. They are SOOOO cute when they run, as they do a lot! Then the King penguin colony up on the grassy area was fantastic. Many had just started hatching their chicks a few weeks before and we were able to see some still incubating their eggs. They are not afraid of people and would come quite close, although, not as curious, I hear, about the Rockhoppers that are NOT at this site. Finally, the Magellenics, in their burrows were also very cute. We saved about 50% going w/ Patrick but even if the only way to get there is the ship's expensive tour, I would definately recommend it!!

 

Cape Horn cruising:The map of the route showed the Star would circle Cape Horn so that we could view it from our Starboard side balcony's but for some reason (we guessed the wind direction), we circled the island counterclockwise, putting the island on the port side, so we bundled up and headed up on deck. We wore silk long undies, jeans, water/windproof pants, a shirt, a fleece sweatshirt and a windproof parka, headband and hat, and gloves. I had thermal boots on my feet. I was not hot, and not horribly cold. The wind was quite cool, and our faces did get pretty cold, but not enough to drive us inside, over about 2 or more hours. We were very lucky to have fairly smooth seas (about 3 or 4 foot swells as I recall). It is very "cool" to say I have been to the bottom of the world!!

 

Ushuaia/Beagle Channel: As has been reported, the high winds (8 and 9) kept us from landing in Ushuaia, so we headed up the Beagle channel toward the glaciers. Now the scenery WAS on the Starboard side, so we were able to stay in our cabins, listen to Joe May's commentary on the TV and venture onto the balcony to see the beautiful mountains and glaciers. This was still quite a cold proposition, and we were essentially wearing the same layers we had on for Cape Horn, even though we were in and out of the cabin onto the balcony. It was more foggy and damp in the fjords than out at the Horn. My DH's comment was "whatever we paid to have this balcony for this part, it was WORTH it!

 

Puerto Arenas: Although set for Magdelena island, as mentioned, the problem with the usual ferry being in dry dock and the substitute ferry being denied safety clearance had us detoured to Otway sound. While the Magellenic Penguins there were very cute, and we were able to see them swimming, running back and forth from the beach to their burrows and even digging their burrows, after being at Volunteer Point where we could "walk among" the penguins, the boardwalk at Otway felt a bit restricting. I was glad this was not my only penguin experience, but, again, I would say, worthwhile. Afterward, we had a great (though not inexpensive) crab lunch in town and a quick walk around the market set up in the central square. The day was rainy and damp, so we headed back to the ship.

 

Two more sea days: It was still quite cool, no one was laying by the outdoor pools, and it was actually pretty cold just to walk accross to get to the buffet! Kept busy w/ trivia, art auctions, etc. They couldn't hold bingo, just like no casino, due to being in Chilean waters.

 

Puerto Montt: Our excursion here was the Canopy Tour/Zip line: FANTASTIC! After about a one hour ride (I would suggest sitting on the right hand side of the bus) and beautiful scenery, including the lake and Orsono volcano, we arrived at the Canopy Tour place. We had "zipped" before in Puerto Vallarta, thru the trees, and we expected something similar. Well, it started out that way, until one of the guides stopped the pickup that was taking us up the mountain, and pointed to the cable over a canyon, indicating that this was part of the tour! YIKES! So, there were about 12 cables, I think about 5 thru the trees, TWO over huge canyons, and then 4 or 5 more with amazing views of the lake, over some grassy areas. After that, a lunch of local salmon, farmed in the lake, and a stop in PuertoVaras for a bit of shopping. On our cruise, this excursion sold out very early, so if you are interested, I would sign up as soon as excursions open up. There were about 25 of us.

 

Final Sea day: started out warm and we looked forward to another day in the sun, but turned cooler and we headed inside again. Luckily, back out to sea, the casino was open again, so we were occupied there!

 

Valparaiso/Santiago: We had arranged a private driver for 4 of us (and 6 large suitcases), including touring Valparaiso, VinaDelMar, a stop in Vina for lunch, and a stop at the beach. All was great except the intended beach stop. If you want to spend a day at the beach in Vina, I would plan to actually stay overnite there, and then head up to Santiago the next day. But, we enjoyed our day as it was, and arrived in Santiago about 6. We stayed at the Sheraton Santiago, which was in walking distance of the Zoo/Park/CableCar and Funicular. This was our outing the next morning. It was about 1 mile to the cable car, but about 2 miles back from the Funicular on the other side of the mountain. This was definately worth the effort, the views from the top were fantastic. I wouldn't say the same for our city tour that afternoon. We arranged thru the hotel for the bus tour. While the first two hours were "ok", they were not great, and the third hour was spent driving all the way accross town to an expensive jewelry store that the tour guide called a "handicraft" store. I would, instead, see if you can arrange, a private tour, either of the city, or perhaps to the Andes, as we had heard others from our Roll Call had done.

 

All in all, a fantastic time! I would strongly recommned this itinerary and am glad to answer any questions I can!