Help! South America ...

[auntdot]

Hi,

 

I'm hoping to get some help making a decision on South America. We are thinking of Buenos Aires to Valparaiso (including Falklands) and have been looking at Celebrity Infinity, Radiance of the Seas, or Star Princess.

 

The itineraries are similar: Celebrity & RCI are 14 days vs 12 day on Princess. Is one month better than another? Jan? Feb? Mar? April?

 

Celebrity usually has a naturalist on board to describe the natural beauty - does Princess, RCI? Infinity has had pod problems in the past but I'm not aware of anything like that on the others.

 

So I am really asking for others to share experiences to help us weigh the pros and cons of each cruise ship.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Dot

[rebeccalouise]

My family is in South America on Oceania Insignia at the moment. They absolutely love this itinerary (similar to the other cruise lines). I am so jealous! Wish I was there.

 

In any event, I have been on Radiance and on Millenium and Constellation (sisters to Infinity). I have also sailed Princess in recent years. I would discount Radiance immediately. Not a great ship for taking in scenery IMO. I didn't like her.

 

I do love the Millenium class ships and would recommend them for viewing scenery, food and service.

 

As for Princess- they seem to do a nice job with bringing people onboard for talks. At least that was the case in Alaska. The drawbacks of Princess for me was the food and service were mediocre. The Star is a similar layout to Sapphire, which I sailed in 2005. The ship was more of a floating hotel. There were some good spots for viewing the scenery but overall I didn't like the layout.

[j!m]

we did a b2b on infinity in november/december 07 from lauderdale to buenos aires it was a great trip on a great ship

 

yes there was a naturalist on board and he did lotsa lectures, was actaully VERY enjoyable and informative

 

wasa great cruise with spectacular scenery on the southern parts(your itinerary)

 

cant comment on the months you are considering but can tell you in december it is quite cool and windy down there, particularily in the falklands

 

we have also sailed on princess but only in the south pacific so cant comment on their other ships but we prefer the X product offering i dont know whether it costs any more but never check because we dont really care we enjoy x and in particular the m class ships

[auntdot]

Thanks for the information. We have decided on Princess for a few reasons. We were afraid to take a chance on Infinity - take a trip that far and have potential mechanical problems cause disruption like it did on Millenium in Europe

 

j!m - i seem to recall your posts about CAD vs USD on the cruiselines... FYI today Princess was charging exactly the same for both currencies! RCI was $700 more in CAD than USD for their itinerary, and I couldn't get a price in USD on X!

[j!m]

theres a place to click on bottom right of X home page to change your country of residence

 

that should give you $US pricing

[christopherrobin]

HI Dot,

 

We have booked the same cruise for next year on the Infinity. Jim (the post before mine, if it is the same person) went on it last year and was kind enough to email me some pics from his experience and they were wonderful. I like the Celebrity one because it goes to the Falkland Islands and it has a nice iternary. It is your decision to make but no matter what cruise line you go with I am sure that you will enjoy it.

 

Kim

[bob278]

My family is in South America on Oceania Insignia at the moment. They absolutely love this itinerary (similar to the other cruise lines). I am so jealous! Wish I was there.

 

In any event, I have been on Radiance and on Millenium and Constellation (sisters to Infinity). I have also sailed Princess in recent years. I would discount Radiance immediately. Not a great ship for taking in scenery IMO. I didn't like her.

 

I do love the Millenium class ships and would recommend them for viewing scenery, food and service.

 

As for Princess- they seem to do a nice job with bringing people onboard for talks. At least that was the case in Alaska. The drawbacks of Princess for me was the food and service were mediocre. The Star is a similar layout to Sapphire, which I sailed in 2005. The ship was more of a floating hotel. There were some good spots for viewing the scenery but overall I didn't like the layout.

 

It's amazing how different opinions can be on things. My wife and I have been on several M-class ships as well as Radiance-class (including twice on the Radiance). In my opinion, the Radiance is a better "viewing" ship as it has more glass and open areas. It's all subjective and every opinion is valid, but I think it would be hard to make a bad choice.

 

I have had people tell me that the animal viewing (for penguins, at least), is a bit better in Jan-Feb. Due to schedules, we are going on the Radiance March 13th on a 16-day itinerary for about $100 (USD) less than the 14-day Infinity trip on March1. That's for a D1 cabin on Radiance versus a CC cabin on Infinity. The cabins are similar in size with the D1 being about 15 sq feet larger (sounds small, but it gives an extra little clearance in tight spaces). The Concierge Class has a few perks, but as we are Diamond Level on RCL (and Elite on Celebrity), that doesn't make any difference for us. For us, two more days for less money was a simple choice, especially since we know and like both ships. Plus, the Radiance class ships have not had the pod problems of the M-class. None of these things are deal-makers or breakers, but are things to consider.