Any Past Hurtigruten Cruisers?

[dpro]

Hi Everyone:

 

We are booked on the Fram for an AA sailing in November 2009. They want to put us up at the Panamericano Hotel pre and post cruise. We are going down a day early to have time to rest up and see BA. The reviews on Trip Advisor for the Panamericano hotel are pretty bad, so we booked at the Marriott for two days. My question is, how does Hurtigruten handle things on the day we fly to Usuhaia? We don't know our early they leave the hotel, luggage issues, etc. Does anyone have any knowledge on that?

 

Regards,

 

RonC

[parischris]

Hi Everyone:

 

We are booked on the Fram for an AA sailing in November 2009. They want to put us up at the Panamericano Hotel pre and post cruise. We are going down a day early to have time to rest up and see BA. The reviews on Trip Advisor for the Panamericano hotel are pretty bad, so we booked at the Marriott for two days. My question is, how does Hurtigruten handle things on the day we fly to Usuhaia? We don't know our early they leave the hotel, luggage issues, etc. Does anyone have any knowledge on that?

 

Regards,

 

RonC

 

The Panamericano is not a bad hotel. Hurtigruten were using that hotel when I sailed with them in December 2006. The room was fine, a little on the small side, but I would choose that hotel over the Marriott. I'd chose another hotel altogether if possible - there are some fine small hotels in Buenos Aires in better areas of the city.

 

It will be a charter flight to Ushuaia, probably early morning as it is 3.5 hours, the flight is usually timed to arrive in the morning, to pickup the passengers getting off the previous cruise. Luggage is usually tagged at the hotel and you collect it in Ushuaia and it is then transported to the ship for you.

 

Cheers

[dpro]

The Panamericano is not a bad hotel. Hurtigruten were using that hotel when I sailed with them in December 2006. The room was fine, a little on the small side, but I would choose that hotel over the Marriott. I'd chose another hotel altogether if possible - there are some fine small hotels in Buenos Aires in better areas of the city.

 

It will be a charter flight to Ushuaia, probably early morning as it is 3.5 hours, the flight is usually timed to arrive in the morning, to pickup the passengers getting off the previous cruise. Luggage is usually tagged at the hotel and you collect it in Ushuaia and it is then transported to the ship for you.

 

Cheers

 

Thank you for this information. I was willing to go with the Panamericano until the recent review that found a tick in the bed, and the photos of the room were pretty bad.

 

Is the Marriott in a seedy part of town, the reviews seem fairly good and its not that far from the Panamericano?

 

Regards,

 

Rc

[parischris]

Thank you for this information. I was willing to go with the Panamericano until the recent review that found a tick in the bed, and the photos of the room were pretty bad.

 

Is the Marriott in a seedy part of town, the reviews seem fairly good and its not that far from the Panamericano?

 

Regards,

 

Rc

 

Depends on your definition of seedy :D. The Marriott is on Plaza San Martin, which is an ok park (has it's share of homeless), and is at the start of Florida, which I consider seedy - others would not. The Marriott is about a mile from the Panamericano. There are better hotels than both of these two in the same price range.

 

Cheers

[minke]

dpro - I was also at the Panamericano in dec 06 & thought it was good then, the incident you mention sometimes happens in the best hotels. My review of my Nordkapp cruise in member reviews has a first paragraph devoted to procedure for transfer to Ushuaia. Basically bags were left outside room door by 11pm & not seen again untill in cabin. I was on first charter flight & had b/f @ 5.20am to catch 6am bus to airport. The other flight was about an hour later. You may have trouble linking into their transfer from another hotel.

 

Parischris - You must have got on as I got off. Viewed your photo & admired them a lot, great quality & you were lucky enough to see whales!

[dpro]

dpro - I was also at the Panamericano in dec 06 & thought it was good then, the incident you mention sometimes happens in the best hotels. My review of my Nordkapp cruise in member reviews has a first paragraph devoted to procedure for transfer to Ushuaia. Basically bags were left outside room door by 11pm & not seen again untill in cabin. I was on first charter flight & had b/f @ 5.20am to catch 6am bus to airport. The other flight was about an hour later. You may have trouble linking into their transfer from another hotel.

 

Parischris - You must have got on as I got off. Viewed your photo & admired them a lot, great quality & you were lucky enough to see whales!

 

Thanks for the info. I guess we will go ahead and stay at the Panamericano due to the transfer situation. We booked a suite hoping it is better than the rooms reviewed on TA.

 

Rc

[parischris]

Thanks for the info. I guess we will go ahead and stay at the Panamericano due to the transfer situation. We booked a suite hoping it is better than the rooms reviewed on TA.

 

Rc

 

I'm prepared to be flamed, but I think hotel experiences depend a lot on your attitude going in. I don't expect to be greeted like visiting royalty, I don't need to be waited on hand and foot, and I can even cope with taking my own bags to my room! If I'm early, and the room isn't ready, well, I take myself off for a walk. That happened to me on my last stay at the Intercontinental in Santiago (also subject to bad reviews on TA). The receptionist politely explained that the room wasn't ready, they had a large group of under 20s female soccer players in the hotel, and they would try to have a room ready in 60-90 minutes (it was about 10:45 in the morning at this point). I said no problem, can you store my bags. When I came back 6 hours later, they had upgraded me to a suite. Not bad for $US100 per night (corporate rate)!

 

I'm sure you will enjoy your stay at the Panamericano. Be sure to visit the pool on the roof - the view down the Avenida de 9 Julio can't be beaten. By all means take a walk down Florida. Then cross the Avenida and head down Santa Fe for shops that don't prey on tourists!

 

Cheers

[parischris]

dpro - I was also at the Panamericano in dec 06 & thought it was good then, the incident you mention sometimes happens in the best hotels. My review of my Nordkapp cruise in member reviews has a first paragraph devoted to procedure for transfer to Ushuaia. Basically bags were left outside room door by 11pm & not seen again untill in cabin. I was on first charter flight & had b/f @ 5.20am to catch 6am bus to airport. The other flight was about an hour later. You may have trouble linking into their transfer from another hotel.

 

Parischris - You must have got on as I got off. Viewed your photo & admired them a lot, great quality & you were lucky enough to see whales!

 

Hi Minke,

 

I'm writing this from BA, having just returned from another trip to Antarctica, with South Georgia included this time. Brace yourself for more photos! :D We saw fin, humpback and killer whales this time!

 

Cheers

[dpro]

I'm prepared to be flamed, but I think hotel experiences depend a lot on your attitude going in. I don't expect to be greeted like visiting royalty, I don't need to be waited on hand and foot, and I can even cope with taking my own bags to my room! If I'm early, and the room isn't ready, well, I take myself off for a walk. That happened to me on my last stay at the Intercontinental in Santiago (also subject to bad reviews on TA). The receptionist politely explained that the room wasn't ready, they had a large group of under 20s female soccer players in the hotel, and they would try to have a room ready in 60-90 minutes (it was about 10:45 in the morning at this point). I said no problem, can you store my bags. When I came back 6 hours later, they had upgraded me to a suite. Not bad for $US100 per night (corporate rate)!

 

I'm sure you will enjoy your stay at the Panamericano. Be sure to visit the pool on the roof - the view down the Avenida de 9 Julio can't be beaten. By all means take a walk down Florida. Then cross the Avenida and head down Santa Fe for shops that don't prey on tourists!

 

Cheers

 

Perhaps things have changed since 2006. You did say you would choose another hotel besides the Panamericano or the Marriott if you had to do it over, why not the Panamericano again? A close friend of ours just came back from staying at the Panamericano and shared some of the same views as others on TA. We don't have a preconception of perfect service, rooms, etc. But when you see a tick on a mattress, plumbing items exposed that should not be, reports of rude staff, and other situations, it causes some concern, especially considering what they are charging for the rooms. It is not unreasonable to expect a quality experience and service for your money, this is not a hostel.

 

We have limited expectations for this hotel, if it turns out to be a good experience we will say so on our TA review, it not, then so be it. We have stayed in a lot worse places. Our original post was not about the quality of the hotel, but how Hurtigruten handled the transfers. Thank you again for your insight. Love your photo page :)

 

Regards,

 

RC

[parischris]

Perhaps things have changed since 2006. You did say you would choose another hotel besides the Panamericano or the Marriott if you had to do it over, why not the Panamericano again?

.

 

The Panamericano was chosen by Hurtigruten as their cruise hotel. They have also used the Intercontinental in the past as well. I have gotten to the point where I will only stay at a large hotel if I'm getting a great deal (ie an unbeatable corporate rate). I stayed at the Emperador for 4 nights at the start of this trip, which TA would also have you believe is the gateway to hell. It was the best deal I could get on a corporate rate (sub $US130 per night), and it was perfectly ok, no problems at all.

 

I'd choose a small boutique hotel or rent an apartment (which I'm currently doing in BA for 10 nights) in preference to a large 5* hotel these days. YMMV.

 

Cheers

[thoms42]

I have just returned (02/06/09) from an Antarctic Cruise on Hurtigruten's Fram, where I was booked at the PanAmericano in Buenos Aires for overnight stays in both directions. Although it is a bit worn, it was very nice with fairly large rooms, good AC, well equipped baths, with great showers and excellent amenities in almost all areas.

 

The included breakfast was terrific, with an abundance of fresh fruits and excellent choices for all nationalities. We used the rooftop pool, which has fabulous views of the city as it was about 100F on the day we went through.

 

The staff was always helpful and met all of our requests politely and efficiently.

 

5 Star? Perhaps not, but definitely not a bad hotel for visiting BA and with a location on the corner of Avenida 9 July & Lavalle, 1 block from the subway entrance and next to the Obelisk as shown in their materials.

[lornasmum]

I have been reading the reviews and was pleased to see that yours was a positive one! If you gt this before 2 pm UK time tomorrow, i'd loe to hear of your experiences on the Fram. Kind regards,

I have just returned (02/06/09) from an Antarctic Cruise on Hurtigruten's Fram, where I was booked at the PanAmericano in Buenos Aires for overnight stays in both directions. Although it is a bit worn, it was very nice with fairly large rooms, good AC, well equipped baths, with great showers and excellent amenities in almost all areas.

 

The included breakfast was terrific, with an abundance of fresh fruits and excellent choices for all nationalities. We used the rooftop pool, which has fabulous views of the city as it was about 100F on the day we went through.

 

The staff was always helpful and met all of our requests politely and efficiently.

 

5 Star? Perhaps not, but definitely not a bad hotel for visiting BA and with a location on the corner of Avenida 9 July & Lavalle, 1 block from the subway entrance and next to the Obelisk as shown in their materials.

[thoms42]

Hi,

 

You are probably on the Fram and crossing the Drake about now. We had a wonderful trip on the Fram with a great crew, good, if not exceptional, weather, unbelievable landings and all of our connections and transfers were letter perfect. You should have had your own experience at the PanAmericano (or other) by now and I hope that it was as pleasant as ours. Some of our photos are available online at:

http://www.sonic.net/thom/antarctica/.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!

[Jade13]

I have just returned (02/06/09) from an Antarctic Cruise on Hurtigruten's Fram, where I was booked at the PanAmericano in Buenos Aires for overnight stays in both directions. Although it is a bit worn, it was very nice with fairly large rooms, good AC, well equipped baths, with great showers and excellent amenities in almost all areas.

 

The included breakfast was terrific, with an abundance of fresh fruits and excellent choices for all nationalities. We used the rooftop pool, which has fabulous views of the city as it was about 100F on the day we went through.

 

The staff was always helpful and met all of our requests politely and efficiently.

 

5 Star? Perhaps not, but definitely not a bad hotel for visiting BA and with a location on the corner of Avenida 9 July & Lavalle, 1 block from the subway entrance and next to the Obelisk as shown in their materials.

 

Was this the trip that was going further south to see the Emperor Penguins? I wanted to find out if they were spotted.

[Saga Ruby]

A Porteño is giving out excellent advice for hotels, safe and not so safe areas of the city, good and bad tourist retail areas of the city in the "South America" forum. You can find his continuing thread at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=835337&page=12 - his member name is Pocho and the thread name is "Buenos Aires do's and don'ts." He has given tips on small and boutique hotels that I checked out and have an interest in. He talks with great fervor about the rip-off taxis all over the city and how to avoid them. I find his information fair and, so far, with no self-interest.

 

Parischris is relating fresh information on the ground that is quite helpful and interesting and thanks for that and to everyone else for giving out good information for those of us who are looking forward to a trip to Antarctica.

 

Ruby

[thoms42]

Was this the trip that was going further south to see the Emperor Penguins? I wanted to find out if they were spotted.

 

We had a beautiful trip on the Fram's first trip below the Circle to Marguerite Bay. Good weather, great ship, many landing, but no Emperors. They may have spotted them on the next cruise, also down to Marguerite Bay (see http://mvfram.blogspot.com/) for cruise following details.

 

I think, judging from earlier posts, the the Fram has gotten its act together, as we experienced none of the negative issues brought up in other posts. The ship's crew, housekeeping and dining staff were very accommodating and, though we were never there to open the dining room, we lingered as long as possible on the many landings and frequently closed the dining room, with the staff patiently holding open each line until we completed the course. Each time I made suggestions regarding the ship, I was asked to put it in writing to be submitted to the appropriate party for consideration or correction.

[HappyHappy578]

Hi,

 

We just booked on MV Fram for the 11/27 sailing. We'll be flying from SFO. I didn't any hotel confirmations yet so I'm curious which sailing you're going on.

 

Thanks!

[dpro]

Hi,

 

We just booked on MV Fram for the 11/27 sailing. We'll be flying from SFO. I didn't any hotel confirmations yet so I'm curious which sailing you're going on.

 

Thanks!

 

Hi:

 

We are on the same sailing. Going down one day early to BA and have a guide arranged for our day in BA. Looking forward to meeting you and others and sharing our time together.

 

Ron