Antartica Disembarkation question

Can anyone who has done this cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago share any information about the options for the apparently 2 hour trip after disembarkation to the Santiago airport? Would appreciate what others have done or the options that were available.

We stayed the night in Valaparaiso.

I hired Leo from "tours by locals" for the next day to do the transfer with sightseeing enroute.

Lots of people did a local tour around Valpa first with various independent guides.

We bought the Seabourn bus transfer direct to the airport as our flight flew out to Australia about 2pm

Thanks both for information. Seabourn lists a 9 hour excursion of Valparaiso, but no direct bus to the airport. (They undoubtedly will have one, but not listed in the shore excursions) We won't have time to do such a long excursion and still have a comfortable time for getting to SCL. It sounds like there may be some local options for a shorter tour and trip to SCL, but they might be tricky to arrange. Others may have experience with doing this they can share.

I envy your 2 pm flight SKP946. Ours is not until 10 pm and it is going to be a very LONG slog back to San Francisco.

Zentravrlet,

Seabourn does not usually provide info on the direct airport transfer until you are on the ship. Usually the info comes out with the disembarkation package that is delivered to your suite.

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Thanks both for information.

 

I envy your 2 pm flight SKP946. Ours is not until 10 pm and it is going to be a very LONG slog back to San Francisco.

I would swap you SCL to SFO for SCL to MEL any day

Because of the International Date Line we travelled for over 24 hours, but still arrived before we left home 😜

Coming home took us two and a half days😢

I would swap you SCL to SFO for SCL to MEL any day

Because of the International Date Line we travelled for over 24 hours, but still arrived before we left home 😜

Coming home took us two and a half days😢

Oh my word SKP946. You have just made me stop any mental complaining about my trip home! You must have long travels everywhere you go. My hat is off to you! :D

We did a tour/transfer combo through South Excursions, which was excellent. Pretty sure I learned about them here on CC. The one we chose was called "Full day Valparaiso, Viña del Mar and Santiago: Transfer from Ship to Santiago" and we saw and did a lot. The guide was super and we really enjoyed our day. At the end they will drop you either at a Santiago hotel or at the airport. We paid $170 US per person on a 2-passenger basis in February 2015.

Would be good to know if anyone else has used these for airport transfer or excursions or could recommend any others for Antarctica cruise including Argentina Uruguay and chile

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We have hired Carola Neubauer for for our Dec 19 tour/transfer for 8 of us on Dec 19 in the reverse (Santiago to Valparaiso). Obviously I can't make a true recommendation yet as we have not taken the tour/transfer yet but I can tell you I have found her easy to work with and very flexible. You will also find she is highly rated on the CC South America thread. I will report back in three weeks to let you know if the followthrough experience was as good as the booking experience. Her company is Chilitours.

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We have hired Carola Neubauer for for our Dec 19 tour/transfer for 8 of us on Dec 19 in the reverse (Santiago to Valparaiso). Obviously I can't make a true recommendation yet as we have not taken the tour/transfer yet but I can tell you I have found her easy to work with and very flexible. You will also find she is highly rated on the CC South America thread. I will report back in three weeks to let you know if the followthrough experience was as good as the booking experience. Her company is Chilitours.

 

 

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Thanks Chairsin. Hoping for many reports from your Christmas trip. Not long now. Have already started collecting my gear for 12 months' time!

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I second Chairsin's opinion of Carola Neubauer. We are using her for transfers in Chile from airport to hotel and hotel to Valparaiso. Very easy to work with. I'm sure we won't be disappointed.

Galeforce9,

No not long at all. We leave a week from tomorrow (precruise we are going hiking in the Torres Del Paine for five days and visiting Easter island) . And like you we bought the serious cold weather gear almost year before our cruise during post holiday sales. I will try to post now and then during the trip assuming the internet gods cooperate.

Sandi,

Of course if your transfer/tour is disappointing you can blame me! But I am glad to know thus far you have found her easy to work with as well.

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Galeforce9,

No not long at all. We leave a week from tomorrow (precruise we are going hiking in the Torres Del Paine for five days and visiting Easter island) . And like you we bought the serious cold weather gear almost year before our cruise during post holiday sales. I will try to post now and then during the trip assuming the internet gods cooperate.

 

Sandi,

Of course if your transfer/tour is disappointing you can blame me! But I am glad to know thus far you have found her easy to work with as well.

 

 

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Thanks! Hope you enjoy Easter Island and Torres Del Paine. We've visited both using RTW air tickets, Easter Island in 2004 and Torres Del Paine in 2006, then again in 2011. It's spectacular and the hiking/photography excellent. We stayed six nights in TDP each time and I think your trip length there is just right.

Can I ask whether anyone who is going or has been to Antarctica is investing in an Slr camera dry bag for the zodiacs? I think I want a rucksack version but the one from my favourite camera bag brand is so expensive (but then so is my camera gear!).

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Thanks! Hope you enjoy Easter Island and Torres Del Paine. We've visited both using RTW air tickets, Easter Island in 2004 and Torres Del Paine in 2006, then again in 2011. It's spectacular and the hiking/photography excellent. We stayed six nights in TDP each time and I think your trip length there is just right.

 

Can I ask whether anyone who is going or has been to Antarctica is investing in an Slr camera dry bag for the zodiacs? I think I want a rucksack version but the one from my favourite camera bag brand is so expensive (but then so is my camera gear!).

 

 

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The information Seabourn sent us indicated they would be providing a complimentary small, lightweight and water-resistant backpack on board the Quest for carrying items ashore and keeping our arms free for embarking or disembarking the Zodiac. They then said "If you have a lot of camera equipment and do not intend to use resealable plastic bags, pack a waterproof backpack".

Later in the packing list, they advised us to "bring heavy-duty plastic bags in which to store your camera, film, binoculars and more in your backpack."

Perhaps this would work for you and you can skip the expensive camera bag.

The information Seabourn sent us indicated they would be providing a complimentary small, lightweight and water-resistant backpack on board the Quest for carrying items ashore and keeping our arms free for embarking or disembarking the Zodiac. They then said "If you have a lot of camera equipment and do not intend to use resealable plastic bags, pack a waterproof backpack".

 

Later in the packing list, they advised us to "bring heavy-duty plastic bags in which to store your camera, film, binoculars and more in your backpack."

 

Perhaps this would work for you and you can skip the expensive camera bag.

The Seabourn backpack is water resistant not water proof. We used it on the zodiacs to carry cameras etc. On the advice of the expedition staff we used a very cheap and effective option to further protect our cameras. We cut a hole in the sealed end of a large heavy duty resealable plastic bag, placed the camera inside with the lens facing outwards at the resealable end (and the carry strap coming out of the cut end). When the camera wasn't being used on shore, the plastic bag fully covered the camera and kept it protected from snow and water. When a photo opportunity came along, it was a simple matter of pulling the plastic bag back over the lens and taking the shot! Now I know we probably didn't look particularly sophisticated, but it was cheap and it worked!

 

Can I ask whether anyone who is going or has been to Antarctica is investing in an Slr camera dry bag for the zodiacs? I think I want a rucksack version but the one from my favourite camera bag brand is so expensive (but then so is my camera gear!). ]

One of the reasons Seabourn supply a backpack is that it's nice and slim, so if you twist around while on the Zodiac you are less likely to knock your neighbor overboard !

I took resealable plastic bags with me but bought "Loksak" sets onboard that were strong and watertight (http://loksak.com/civilian/mobile-civilian) that I carried my cameras ashore in.

I only brought my good camera out if it wasn't snowing, otherwise I used a small waterproof camera.

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We were given this for when we went to Antarctica

Might give you some ideas

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49277952#post49277952

Thank you all for your brilliant replies.

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