roaming_kiwi58

You don't need to book them ahead, which is good, as you never really know when you are going to be ready to leave the airport. The firm "Taxioficial" have counters at the airport. One is in the baggage claim hall. We did not use this one. After claiming your baggage you have to go through the Chilean agriculture and food check, and get your bags xrayed. After that you exit to the public arrivals area, but immediately after the xray and just before you exit into the public area, on your right, is a Taxioficial desk. We were offered a taxi which we prepaid at the desk, for a fixed 95000 pesos for the two of us. The other option was a taxi which used a meter and added toll costs, and we would have to pay the driver at the end of the trip. On the surface the latter appeared a little cheaper, but of course it was not a fixed amount. We went with the fixed price that we prepaid at the desk. They gave us a customer receipt and a confirmation for the driver. We then walked through the public area (where there are heaps more people trying to sell you transport, but we had been warned not to use them) and a guy outside the entrance looked at our confirmation and directed us to a particular taxi. It was a new vehicle, smartly dressed driver who spoke English and we were happy with the service. The journey took about 75 minutes from the airport to Valparaiso.

This of course is not a cheap option but it was easy, safe and comfortable. The cheapest option is to get a bus from the airport to the Pajaritos bus station, change to a bus to Valparaiso, then at the Valparaiso bus station get a taxi to your hotel. We do not speak Spanish, and we had just come off two flights, the second being 14 hours. We were happy with the more expensive but easier option. In relation to the cost of the whole trip, it was not very much!

Hope this helps.

We recently returned from a South American trip. In December we stayed 2 nights in Valparaiso before a cruise. This stop exceeded expectations!

We got a prepaid taxi direct from Santiago airport to Valparaiso, as we were not interested in one of the tours via a winery, or Vina del Mar.

We stayed at the Ibis. Basic, typical Ibis, but very suitable. Comfortable, huge room, helpful staff, good location, supermarket and food court next door above the train station.

We did a walking tour with Tours4Tips, who start from Plaza Sotomayor, which is just a few minutes walk from the Ibis. Thoroughly recommend them. It was an excellent introduction to Valparaiso. (I put a review on Trip Advisor)

We also did a lot of walking on our own, on the flat and up in the hills. Also did a couple of ascensores. Though Valparaiso has a poor reputation for safety, we did not feel threatened at any stage, and we walked in areas that are not recommended.

Got a taxi from the Ibis to the cruise terminal for 4000 Chilean Pesos.

We had done Santiago on a previous trip, but enjoyed Valparaiso more. Quaint place, lots of street art, colourful buildings, interesting ascensores.

Everyone is different and has their own likes/dislikes, of course!

We used this boat from the tender pier below Fira to Oia in August 2015. Included was a bus from Oia to Fira (with several time options available). It was really a very good way to get time in Oia and Fira.

As has already been said, it is too early to know what will be available in the coming cruise season.

Sorry, I got that wrong. Just going through the paperwork from our trip, I found the receipt for the taxi from Santiago Airport to Valparaiso.

It was 95,000 Chilean pesos, not 75,000.

We have just returned from a South America cruise (yesterday!).

At the beginning of our trip (18 December) we got a taxi from Santiago airport to our hotel in Valparaiso, near the cruise terminal. It was a fixed price, paid directly to the taxi company within the terminal building, before exiting the arrivals area.

It cost us 75,000 Chilean pesos.

We just returned home yesterday from our second visit to South America, including Iguacu/Iguazu Falls both times.

The first trip (December 2013) was a land tour which included 2 nights in a hotel in the town of Foz do Iguacu (Brazil). We had a half day tour in the Brazilian National Park and a half day tour in the Argentinian National Park. We flew into IGU (Brazil) from Rio de Janeiro and out of IGR (Argentina) to Buenos Aires.

This latest trip we stayed two nights at the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas in the Brazilian National Park. So we had two half days at the beginning and end of our stay. The whole day in the middle we spent on a tour of the Argentinian National Park. We flew to IGR (Argentina) from Buenos Aires on Aerolineas Argentinas, and out of IGR to Buenos Aires on LAN.

After both trips we still prefer the Brazilian side of the falls. There is nothing like those views of the falls. However, in my opinion, anyone visiting the falls should do their utmost to visit both sides, which are quite different.

The Belmond Hotel das Cataratas has a much better position than the Sheraton, which we got to visit this last trip – it is much closer to the falls and superb views. Being able to wander the park before the crowds of people arrived, and after they left, was truly magical.

There are more walks on the Argentinian side, so if you want to do the 3 main ones which are the best (Garganta del Diablo trail, Circuito Inferior and Circuito Superior) you need more time there than on the Brazilian side. It pays to start first thing in the morning by taking the first train at 8.30am which goes from the entrance of the park to the Devil’s Throat (Circuito Garganta del Diablo). This is the only train which goes all the way to the Devil’s Throat – later in the day you have to change trains at the Cataratas Station. This could save you a lot of time. The trains get very busy and run only every half an hour. Once they are full you miss out and have to wait for the next train.

We had two different experiences visiting the falls. The first time we saw very little wildlife, the second time lots of birds and countless coatis. Apparently this was because of the weather – we had rain and less sun the second visit, which brings the birds out. There was much more water flowing over the falls the second visit, which was impressive, but the water was browner.

We would do the falls again if we ever have the opportunity to return to South America. We would again want to stay at the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, but would again also want to visit both sides. This is a lifetime experience which we have been lucky enough to do twice so far and would never tire of doing again.

Hope this helps some people looking for info on doing the falls as an add on - absolutely well and truly worth it!

We visited Riga for one day from a cruise last year. We did not do a tour. We just wandered on our own. Nice town, interesting buildings. I just did some research before we left home, so I had a map and a note of where the most interesting looking buildings are, so I had a rough route planned out, though we always end up deviating as we see other things to look at!

We like to DIY if we can, as we enjoy walking and just wandering at our own pace. We read travel books before we get there to get the history which comes from a guide.

Enjoyed our day in Riga.

We had an absolutely brilliant 3 days of tours with TJ Tours last year. Packed in so much and it far exceeded our previous experience in St Petersburg, when we had 3 days as part of a river cruise.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the well known St Petersburg tour companies, as all the guides have to be licensed, and to get that license they have to pass exams which prove their knowledge and expertise.

If you read through some of the CC posts you will see the same tour company names coming up regularly - they are all good. Competition is strong, so they have to keep their standards high.

Thanks a lot Tartanexile - very useful detail!

Thanks very much Pochito for this info.

This sort of detail is really useful - I have been trying to make sense of the route on a map, but am not sure exactly we will exit the port terminal.

Thanks for posting this Bonnie.

I had no trouble viewing, without a dropbox account.

Cabin Number 7068 - Inside

Ship Azamara Journey

Month/Year sailed; August 2015

Would you choose this room again Y/N--Y

Is noise an issue Y/N—Y

We had this exact cabin on Oceania Nautica last year, and were pleasantly surprised that there was not even a whisper of noise from the laundry, which this cabin backs onto. Therefore we booked 7068 again for Azamara Journey, which is the same layout. The first thing we noticed when we entered the cabin on this cruise was the noise of "thumping" from the washers/driers in the laundry, plus the noise of people in the laundry talking. However, due to the curfew on the hours of operation of the laundry (though this was not always observed) the noise was not really a big issue to us, as we were not in the cabin much during the day when it was noisiest. We would therefore book the cabin again, as we like the convenient position, and are quite happy with inside cabins, preferring to spend on other things.

We have recently come off the 23 August sailing of Azamara Journey.

We were due to tender in Mykonos, but it was too windy and this port was cancelled and replaced wth Bodrum, Turkey.

We were supposed to tender into Chania, but it was too windy. Instead we were docked in Souda, with a shuttle to Chania provided by Azamara. The day of this visit was changed.

The day of our visit to Santorini was changed, due to high winds.

So certainly, in late August, wind was definitely a problem!

Doughty3 -

don't see a travel date in your post, so don't know if you have left yet, but I did belatedly have another thought after I last posted. Have only tonight had chance to get back to this post, as we are still travelling.

But I see roothy did mention the info booth, which I should have mentioned too.

If you stop at the tourist info which is just before the Sea Gate (which is the gate you go through from the port, to get into the old town of Kotor) they will give you a map of the old town for free. It is a big one (A3 size) and comes in English as well as other languages. It doesn't have exactly the start point of the fort walk marked on it, but you can certainly see where it would be, and the tourist info staff would point it out.

I can't for some reason get a good link to the map I found most useful, but if you google 'images of Kotor maps' several will come up, and some give a good indicator of your direction through the old town to find the walk entrance.

We were charged 3 euros per person, and the guy collecting the money will give you a leaflet about the walk. It took us 15 minutes to reach the chapel, and another 30 to reach the fort at the top. Just about as long to get down because of having to give way to people going up. The steps are only wide enough for one person, and the path beside can be slippery with lots of loose stones.

The view is really worth the climb!

It is about a 30 to 45 minute drive from Kusadasi to Ephesus, depending on traffic.

Very long way from Istanbul - like about 570 kms!

We were in Kotor just a few days ago. The area of the old town within the city walls is actually very small, so even if you got lost and walked around in circles you would still come across the entrance to the walkway sooner or later! When you get close to it, it is signposted. I did find one or two maps that did help, but I will have to see if I can locate them again...and time is an issue at present as we are still travelling.

Make sure you do it first, before exploring the town. We got off our ship asap, but were not early arriving, so it was about 10am before we got started on the climb. It was extremely hot and not a breath of wind. Fortunately some of our walk was still in shade. We still had to go back to the ship after we had done the climb to the top, because we were so soaked in perspiration and needed a shower and change before we went back to explore the town. Some of the people going up when we were coming down were struggling.

Kotor is gorgeous, enjoy!

We used the boat to Oia just last week, when we were at Santorini on the Azamara Journey. This service is good value at 10 euros per person, for the boat, then the bus to Oia and then the bus from Oia to Fira. There were two other ships in port before us, with about 3000 pax each, and we didn't arrive until about 9am, so I wondered whether we would be able to get on it. Everything was fine - a bit chaotic, with so many people wanting it, but we still got on a boat to Oia from the tender area about 10.15am.

We often stay at hotels in the Accor chain (which includes Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, etc) and they always add 2% if you are using a credit card to pay your bill. So I always use a debit card in these places.

Yes, it has become much more common in recent years, though I can't say I have struck it in any restaurants we have been to yet. But we don't dine out that often.

You also have to watch out for the "public holiday surcharge", when 15% is added to your restaurant bill if it is a public holiday. This is to cover higher staff costs on these days.

We were on Star Pride in March. We only had one sea day, but it disappeared so quickly!

The activities we enjoyed were a galley tour, Q&A with the captain and other crew, and destination lectures.

There were other options which we did not attend (have dug out the daily newsletters to check what was on). Cooking demo, Health Seminar, Team Trivia, photography classes.

We are not lovers of sea days and try to avoid having them as far as possible on any cruise, but I think even we could have coped with more than one!

Thanks 4774Papa for info on your experience.

Yeah, sometimes it takes ages for UK programmes to show up here! They may be on the pay channels earlier, but we don't subscribe. Am just hoping the series about how the programme was made (mentioned above) eventually shows up here too.

Will have to wait and see if hubby enjoys our forthcoming venture into Antarctic waters with HAL, before deciding a "proper" Antarctic trip has to be added to the bucket list! I don't need any persuading! :)

Thanks for the feedback Floridiana. We would definitely prefer to walk, as long as we can do it safely. We have been to Buenos Aires before, but as part of a land tour, so didn't go near the cruise port.

Merlinite - I appreciate you taking the trouble to log your thought, but walking is not a chore to us. We enjoy the exercise and what we can see when walking.

Thanks.

A land tour operator we are trying next month is Albatross Tours. Tips are included. We are led to believe there are no optional excursions, though there is some free time in various places to do your own thing. Many meals are included, but not all.

It is an Australian company, which markets to Australians and Kiwis. We have done about a dozen Insight tours, as we like their regional itineraries. We have also done many tours/river cruises with APT, which we have always found to be excellent. It will be interesting to see how Albatross compares. They do not have a very large range of itineraries, so it could well be the one and only time we use them unless they expand their repertoire!

This TV documentary finally made it to NZ screens recently. A great programme! We enjoyed watching it. Would love to go there!

We are heading into Antarctic waters in December/January, but just with HAL, not on an expedition cruise. Maybe it will give us a taste to do a "proper" Antarctic trip later!

4774Papa talks about walking from the port to Recoleta, but then says you wouldn't want to do it at night.

Is it safe to walk in and out of the port area during the day?

We have a day in Buenos Aires coming up, and the distances to where we want to go are such that we would normally walk. But comments elsewhere seem to suggest it is not safe to walk in the port area even during the day.

Anyone done this recently? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.