Infinity South America

Hi

I am starting to think about a South American cruise at Xmas followed by some hiking in Patagonia post cruise

The SA cruise on Infinity is a possibility as the dates work for me

Any comments/suggestions on the itinerary and ship by former cruisers on this itinerary/ship?

My last few cruises have been on Azamara and Oceania as we like smaller ships and my last

cruise on Celebrity was very problematic and so we never cruised with them again

Thanks for your imput

Sandy

Cruise critic has dozens of reviews of Infinity's South America itineraries, full of comments. My suggestion is to start there and come back here if you have specific questions

We did the Infinity SA cruise in 2011 and thoroughly enjoyed it. We have a review on our website with lots of comments and photos of what we did while there. It is at http://thepreismans.com/south_amer_infinty.htm

If possible, try to do a pre or post-cruise visit to Iguazu Falls. It is probably the most amazing natural wonder we have ever seen on our many trips around the world.

The South America cruise aboard Infinity has been our most favorite itinerary by far. So much so that we have it booked again for 2018.

Just a few tips:

If you have the time and resources, book B2B with the Panama Canal repositioning cruise.

Cruising around the Horn will most likely be cold, windy and rough seas. But then again, we have talked to people that said the weather was sunny, warm and smooth sailing. Hope for the best but expect the worst.

Speaking of rough seas, if you are sensitive to that, book a cabin in the center of the ship. We had aft balcony on deck 11 and bounced around for a couple of days. We thought it was funny but other folks on deck 11 were miserable.

The OP wants to go in December so a b2b with a Canal cruise isn't possible

The OP wants to go in December so a b2b with a Canal cruise isn't possible

Correct for 2017 not 2016...sort of.

December 9, 2016 - December 24, 2016: Panama Canal & South America - Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso

December 24, 2016 - January 8, 2017: Chile and Argentina Holiday Cruises - Valparaiso - Buenos Aires

Just trying to give a helpful suggestion.

We did a land trip in Argentina 3 years ago and rented an apartment in BA and had it for the month

We also spent some time in the north of Argentina and drove for about two weeks-amazing

Iguassu is probably one of my favourite-if not favourite-natural sites in the world

We may actually forgo the cruise and do another overland trip for three to four weeks as we will be able to see a lot more

I have checked the on line reviews of the ship and voyage--as soon as I submitted the original post, and I think that we might not be happy on this vessal or any other to discover this part of the world

Thanks

We did the two week repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso in December 2015. We loved the Infinity. If you haven't been through the Panama Canal before, try to add this and do a b2b. Loved the canal. We enjoyed Cartagena, Lima and Panama City. Manta and Arica were small, and well, just stops to us.

We had an aft facing cabin, which was huge and we thought we would enjoy, but it rarely got sun since we were mostly heading south.

Pool area was nice, loved Café al Bacio and the food in the MDR was great. Enjoyed the Tuscan Grille and QSine.

The Casino was nice, but relatively quiet.

Spent time out by the pool since we weren't getting any sun on our balcony. Very nice.

International mix of passengers.

Have fun!

Just a few tips:

 

If you have the time and resources, book B2B with the Panama Canal repositioning cruise.

Totally agree. We started from Florida, and it just got better and better as we went along. Don't miss the penguins!

The only bad part for us came at the end, needing to take that long, long flight back from Buenos Aires.

Speaking of rough seas, if you are sensitive to that, book a cabin in the center of the ship. We had aft balcony on deck 11 and bounced around for a couple of days. We thought it was funny but other folks on deck 11 were miserable.

The cabins on deck 11 are the highest on the ship, so they get the most sideways rocking motion of all.

Many book deck 11 for Aqua Class, but we would avoid it for this itinerary. Deck 9 (which also has Aqua Class cabins) is still pretty high up.

For any itinerary where the ship is likely to encounter rough seas, we would willingly give up Blu to have a cabin down on a lower deck

(or else splurge for a suite and Luminae).

We, too, had cruised Azamara before, but chose Infinity for the itinerary Santiago to Buenos Aires. It was a great cruise. We had a few days each in embarkation and debarkation ports and would recommend both. Food in the MDR was good, buffet was similar to what we had experienced on RC...big and blah and nothing to compare to Azamara, but it's possible to find something to eat there...managing expectation is important to avoid disappointment. Entertainment was very good, but we're accustomed to little of that on AZ, so shows were a treat on Infinity (not a deciding factor for us, but fun when we can partake). We had no bad weather, so I can't comment on that. All in all, I would definitely do it again!

and want to tell the preismans ,see above post. for their fantastic blog and pics.Felt like I was THERE.

Concerned about weather, and rolling ship,but NEED a tub so only choice is suite.Never been on Infinity and not sure where those are located,have first Cele.cruise in Oct. and will try it out. I can manage a little rock and roll but not the horror stories I ve read and seen on documentaries.

The South America Cruise around Cape Horn should be a "must do" on any cruiser´s bucket list.

Here´s is what we experienced on this phantastic cruise:

http://travellove.one/Our-Trips/South-America-01/south-america-01.html

Ushuaia - the end of the world

While it appears that the OP is no longer interested in a South American cruise just wanted to comment that we enjoyed our B2B2B South American cruises on the Infinity so much in 2015 ("Miaminice" was on our middle leg) that we are flying down to Buenos Aires in March, 2017 to join the Infinity on another B2B2B series.

We did the two week repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso in December 2015. We loved the Infinity. If you haven't been through the Panama Canal before, try to add this and do a b2b. Loved the canal. We enjoyed Cartagena, Lima and Panama City. Manta and Arica were small, and well, just stops to us.

 

We had an aft facing cabin, which was huge and we thought we would enjoy, but it rarely got sun since we were mostly heading south.

 

Pool area was nice, loved Café al Bacio and the food in the MDR was great. Enjoyed the Tuscan Grille and QSine.

 

The Casino was nice, but relatively quiet.

 

Spent time out by the pool since we weren't getting any sun on our balcony. Very nice.

 

International mix of passengers.

 

Have fun!

We were your neighbors on that cruise. We love those aft-facing cabins. I confess that I was the person who pounded on your door at all hours of the night! :p

We did Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso in December in Infinity a few years ago. It was brilliant (and cheap!) ; if you do it, book a cabin at the aft; you can watch the Panama canal's locks open and close as you go through. One of the finest days cruising we have ever had with the jungle on either side of the ship/monkeys etc, bright sunny day , and what is an unbelievable feat of engineering.

The only down side was we needed longer in Lima/Peru than we had on the cruise; we ended up flying back up there to see that after the cruise ended. Peru was easily the best country we visited in South America ( great food and pisco sours)

We took the Infinity from BA around Cape Horn in Jan-Feb of this year, 2016.

It was our favorite cruise! Weather was amazing. No rough seas. We were in Aqua and ate every meal in BLU, it was outstanding.

Spent 5 nights in BA before the cruise, and 2 nights at the Sheraton in the park in Iguazu. Be sure to take the trip to these magnificent falls, if you have the time. Well worth the time and expense.

While it appears that the OP is no longer interested in a South American cruise just wanted to comment that we enjoyed our B2B2B South American cruises on the Infinity so much in 2015 ("Miaminice" was on our middle leg) that we are flying down to Buenos Aires in March, 2017 to join the Infinity on another B2B2B series.

We will also be on the March B2B sailing from BA to Miami. Have been on the Infinity Val. to BA and RT BA (Antarctica).

We did a back-to-back Dec 2014 ... write up starts with this blog post. It really is a wonderful itinerary.

If you're looking at an itinerary that goes around Cape Horn ... be prepared with cold weather gear. There were a surprising number of people on our sailing who had come unprepared ... the Infinity gift shop did brisk business selling fleece jackets, wool caps, and gloves.

We did a back-to-back Dec 2014 ... write up starts with this blog post. It really is a wonderful itinerary.

 

If you're looking at an itinerary that goes around Cape Horn ... be prepared with cold weather gear. There were a surprising number of people on our sailing who had come unprepared ... the Infinity gift shop did brisk business selling fleece jackets, wool caps, and gloves.

Our cruise in Feb 2016 was very mild. Most I wore was a hat, gloves, rain jacket, sweatshirt and scarf, while on our balcony going around the horn. Wore a rain jacket with sweatshirt under it for ports that were way south.....had to take rain jacket off most of the time. We were blessed with amazing weather. Captain kept mentioning it on his daily announcements.

On the other hand in Buenos Aires and Iguazu, it was boiling hot!!!! They were having a heat wave, temps in the mid 90s!

Need to be prepared for any kind of weather on this cruise.

We will also be on the March B2B sailing from BA to Miami. Have been on the Infinity Val. to BA and RT BA (Antarctica).

lancelady: We'll board the Infinity on March 5, 2017 in Buenos Aires, and will leave on April 17th in San Diego. I haven't been very active on any of those roll calls since all of the ports will be repeats (and in several cases multiple repeats), and we have plans for most of them. But it is a great itinerary.

In 2015 we boarded the Infinity in Buenos Aires on February 15th for the Antarctic cruise followed by the cruises from BA to Valparaiso and then from V onto Ft. Lauderdale for a B2B2B series. Were you on the first two legs too?

lancelady: We'll board the Infinity on March 5, 2017 in Buenos Aires, and will leave on April 17th in San Diego. I haven't been very active on any of those roll calls since all of the ports will be repeats (and in several cases multiple repeats), and we have plans for most of them. But it is a great itinerary.

 

In 2015 we boarded the Infinity in Buenos Aires on February 15th for the Antarctic cruise followed by the cruises from BA to Valparaiso and then from V onto Ft. Lauderdale for a B2B2B series. Were you on the first two legs too?

2010 we flew to Santiago for 5 days then cruised from Val. to BA, This is the first time boarding 3/5/17 in BA thru to Miami 4/2/17. It is a great itinerary. I'm not active on the roll calls but I do read them from time to time, if anything I usually wait until a few months before then there are times I will do a few postings. We arrive BA 3/3 as we have seen so much so we are going to just do whatever we feel at the time. Need to check out the Hop On Hop Off trolley if they stop close to the hotel maybe that would be an option. Looking forward to this trip.

We did the two week repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso in December 2015. We loved the Infinity. If you haven't been through the Panama Canal before, try to add this and do a b2b. Loved the canal. We enjoyed Cartagena, Lima and Panama City. Manta and Arica were small, and well, just stops to us.

 

We had an aft facing cabin, which was huge and we thought we would enjoy, but it rarely got sun since we were mostly heading south.

 

Pool area was nice, loved Café al Bacio and the food in the MDR was great. Enjoyed the Tuscan Grille and QSine.

 

The Casino was nice, but relatively quiet.

 

Spent time out by the pool since we weren't getting any sun on our balcony. Very nice.

 

International mix of passengers.

 

Have fun!

We are doing this cruise Dec 2016

Was there alot of dancing on the cruise?

What kind?

THANKS

2010 we flew to Santiago for 5 days then cruised from Val. to BA, This is the first time boarding 3/5/17 in BA thru to Miami 4/2/17. It is a great itinerary. I'm not active on the roll calls but I do read them from time to time, if anything I usually wait until a few months before then there are times I will do a few postings. We arrive BA 3/3 as we have seen so much so we are going to just do whatever we feel at the time. Need to check out the Hop On Hop Off trolley if they stop close to the hotel maybe that would be an option. Looking forward to this trip.

We are on the same B2B in March. We arrive in BA on the morning of 3/4. We are also looking forward to this trip. Our first time in South America. Can't wait to see penguins!

Has anyone done this cruise on both Celebrity and Princess and can compare? I am looking to book for next years' season, sometime between Dec. 2017 and Feb. 2018. I'm interested in sailing Valparaiso to BA. I compared prices on the Emerald Princess in a premium aft balcony and Infinity in a standard balcony. Celebrity costs almost $1000 more per person than the deal I can get from Princess with current promotions.

Is this itinerary worth $1000 more on Celebrity in your opinion? The ports visited are the number one criteria in comparing cruises for us.

Has anyone done this cruise on both Celebrity and Princess and can compare? I am looking to book for next years' season, sometime between Dec. 2017 and Feb. 2018. I'm interested in sailing Valparaiso to BA. I compared prices on the Emerald Princess in a premium aft balcony and Infinity in a standard balcony. Celebrity costs almost $1000 more per person than the deal I can get from Princess with current promotions.

 

Is this itinerary worth $1000 more on Celebrity in your opinion? The ports visited are the number one criteria in comparing cruises for us.

If ports are most important....it would be best to list the ports for both cruises.