NCL Sun Newbie S. America Jan 2018

This is my first trip on NCL and cruising as a solo passenger from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso (Santiago) 6 January 2018. Any suggestions about the ship, excursions, what to pack and what to bring would be appreciated please. Flying from Ireland and have a few overnights so need to be clever about packing.

This is my first trip on NCL and cruising as a solo passenger from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso (Santiago) 6 January 2018. Any suggestions about the ship, excursions, what to pack and what to bring would be appreciated please. Flying from Ireland and have a few overnights so need to be clever about packing.

The Sun is our favorite. I envy your itinerary. We will be doing the southern Caribbean for Thanksgiving the end of November. Only two pieces of local knowledge to pass on. One is to enjoy The Great Outdoors on the stern. Best restaurant view in the world. The other, relating to travel/packing, is take into account that they run the $25 full bag laundry special midway through the cruise. So you can get your pre and post attire some double duty.

(From my iPad, so please forgive the errors)

Thanks Tiembiay, so looking forward to it. Tip about laundry really useful to know.

We were on your same iteniary for Sun's last SA run in late spring 2010. It remains our most memorable cruise. If you haven't yet booked a hotel in BA we were very pleased with ours. Drop me an email and I'll share the info since I don't think I'm allowed to do so unsolicited on here.

In addition to Tiembelay's suggestion which I wholeheartedly endorse-we had every breakfast and lunch and severa dinners at TGD. We mostly as it to ourselves since it was a little chilly on our cruise from the day before the Faulklands until we stated hitting warmer weather a few days before Valparaiso) I suggest joining your rollcall. We had a great crowd and with one exception did private tours at each port. Each was organized by a different member so none of us had too much work to do. Also, maybe someone will be in the forward facing Suites and invite you over for Beagle Channrl day.

If that doesn't happen there is an open deck in front of the preservation lounge that is a great place from which to sightsee. You enter it through one of the doors on either side of the lounge.

Have a great cruise!

1) Get off in Falklands and wander

2) Post a postcard at the post office at the "End of the World" from Ushaia"

3) Drink Pisco Sour at every port you can

4) Try the ship's Estancia Tour in Montevideo

We hope you get to round Cape Horn not just get to see it.

Thanks Clay, I have a hotel already booked in BA. As it's an all nighter flight from Dublin via Paris to BA I may end up sleeping the day away!

In BA try to get a tour round Tigre

Hi all,

Some great info please keep it coming. My wife and I just booked this cruise yesterday. This is a spur of the minute thing so we have not done any research of our own. Sailing around the Cape was on my bucket list. That is never going to happen so this is the next best thing:) We were not able to get a decent cabin (port hole, mid ship 4th deck. I didn't know if I'd make it til the 2019 sailings. That's just too far in the future for me to plan.

We have horrific connections getting to BA. Leave Pensacola on Dec 27 overnight in Miami., then get into BA at 3am on the 29. Need to fine a reasonable place to stay in BA until we can board the SUN.

So more "must do" suggestions on the other ports of call would be appreciated. See you on the ship

thanks

Roger

We sailed your same itinerary at the same time 1/2017 on the Sun. Weather in BA, VAL was in the 80s & worthy of summer clothes. We spent 2 nights pre cruise in BA and 4 nights post in Santiago. We each had a checked bag and a carry on. We kept a log of the temperatures (Fahrenheit): Punta del Este 80s (very, very crowded as it's their high season & long wait to get past security to re-board ship; sea day w/ cooler temps and rain; Puerto Madryn 80s, windy; next was a sea day with rough waters and declining temps; Falkland Islands 46 cloudy, windy, damp with no wifi tip 3 pm; cruise of Cape Horn 40s and very calm seas; Ushuaia rainy 45 in am then improved across the day; Punta Arenas windy, cold, damp in am but warmed to 50s by 11am, wifi out all day; cruising the Chilean Fjords day 1 rough seas day & night, rainy, cold 46, day 2 more rough seas, rainy, chilly 50s; Puerto Chacabuoco rainy, chilly, reached 60 in the afternoon; Puerto Montt cloudy, 80s. We experienced 2 climates. Our packing advice is to think about layered clothes. Don't forget to include a raincoat/jacket, warm vest, hoodie sweater, gloves & hat (depending on your excursion), waterproof footwear, socks. For evening, my standby is wrinkle free, low maintenance black pants and/or skirt and a variety of tops that match-up plus a wrap or two. If you like to exercise on board then don't forget to pack that attire, too. We used the laundry service on the ship at the halfway point. I always pack a few regular clothes hangers, a flexible clothes line, 2 large carbiner clips for attaching it and some clothespins so I can hand launder delicates. Sometimes cruise ships will have a retractable clothesline, but our suite did not. We definitely used our make shift laundry facilities for anything we did not want subjected to the general wash. The Sun also offers dry cleaning services. Wifi & phone service were very spotty on this cruise, particularly around the Falklands and the Cape area. Our favorite excursion was visiting the Penguin colony on the Falkland Islands. The stark terrain plus the close proximity to the penguins was a stunning vista. Our least favorite excursion was the train ride in Ushuaia through the national park. We had a wonderful time on our cruise and bet you will, too. Hope this helps you plan.

We are also booked for this voyage,Jan 6. Your notes were so helpful!

We actually ended up on the East bound voyage from San Antonio (Dec23- Jan6) BA. Seas were calm the entire trip, although a bit overcast and chilly around Horn. A medium weight wind breaker jacket did just fine. Dont miss a Penguin trip in the Falklands. We used Patrick Watts. He was about 1/2 the price of a ship excursion and trust me you get the exact same thing. Do worry they all get you back before the ship leaves. It is a long day and believe that it is a long bumpy ride in a 4 wheel drive jeep type vehicle. They travel in more or less groups of 5 vehicles somewhat together. Thats so that then can pull each other out when you get stuck in the mud. We got stuck twice and the bet was on as to who was next to get stuck next. They ride was about as much fun as the penguins. Thousands of them. It was the highlight of the trip for my wife. The Sun is an OK ship. In my opinion it is overdue for a face lift. The food was fine but not as good as on Holland America. Cagney's steakhouse was the best but not as good as a steakhouse in BA Argentina. The wifi was very good and even telephone service to US.