South America in 2015

[augies]

We're booked on the Golden in Jan, 2015 for a 14 day cruise around cape horn, BA to Santiago. Is this a very dressy cruise or more toned down like Alaska? I know there a 2 formal nights...do most passengers really dress up?

[vickie_bernie]

We're booked on the Golden in Jan, 2015 for a 14 day cruise around cape horn, BA to Santiago. Is this a very dressy cruise or more toned down like Alaska? I know there a 2 formal nights...do most passengers really dress up?

 

We have done two south american cruises. The last one we just got off of a few weeks ago. We found that both times the trips (like most now) were overall less formal. Yes there were still many in tuxes, and fancy dresses, but most were in a suit and nice dress. It was comparable to an Alaska cruise, but also the same as other cruises we have done like Panama and Caribbean.

 

enjoy your trip... we loved it so much.... we would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Fletch1]

We were on the golden a few weeks ago doing the same cruise. Apart from formal nights, it was pretty casual, but there were a lot of people who did dress up on our 6 formal nights.

[Fletch1]

Sorry, forgot to say enjoy your cruise. It was a great itinerary and we loved it....would definitely do it again.

[IECalCruiser]

On a 14 day cruise you should have three formal nights. Each cruise may vary, but on our 2010 SA cruise I saw many more tuxes than on most other cruises. There were passengers from many countries including many from Europe and South America on our cruise. Americans were the majority on the cruise but not by a lot. Other countries may tend to dress more formally. That is one cruise that I packed my tux. Just because there may be more or less tuxes doesn't mean that a suit or sport coat and tie aren't appropriate. Don't think there were many, if any, people wearing just shirts, with or without ties.

[skynight]

We're booked on the Golden in Jan, 2015 for a 14 day cruise around cape horn, BA to Santiago. Is this a very dressy cruise or more toned down like Alaska? I know there a 2 formal nights...do most passengers really dress up?

Some comments.

On formal nights probably around 90% of the men are in jacket and tie, with women similarly dressed. Other nights are smart casual, and you will require long sleeve shirts, tops and sweater or cover for warmth. I wore a zippered sweatshirt most of the days.

You have to bring clothing for both warm and cold weather, so many just have the one formal outfit to reduce weight on the airplane.

There is an international array of passengers from North America, Europe, South America and Australia, and each has their own idea of dress for dinner.

Although not asked by you, many of the passengers dine late, very late. It's a really nice voyage.

[Cauzneffct]

We're booked on the Golden in Jan, 2015 for a 14 day cruise around cape horn, BA to Santiago. Is this a very dressy cruise or more toned down like Alaska? I know there a 2 formal nights...do most passengers really dress up?

 

My wife and I did the reverse itinerary in February, and while we chose not to attend Formal Night, it did look like most people we encountered were dressed in suits/tuxes and dresses/gowns.

 

Also, we had Anytime Dining but only dined in the dining room once, and most people we saw were wearing button-downs/sweaters/polos for the guys and shirts and slacks for the gals.

Edited April 28, 2014 by Cauzneffct

[augies]

Many thanks for all the replies. Glad to hear so many positive remarks about this itinerary. We are really looking forward to this trip.

[Linda the Book Lover]

My wife and I did the reverse itinerary in February, and while we chose not to attend Formal Night, it did look like most people we encountered were dressed in suits/tuxes and dresses/gowns.

 

Also, we had Anytime Dining but only dined in the dining room once, and most people we saw were wearing button-downs/sweaters/polos for the guys and shirts and slacks for the gals.

 

Thanks for the clothing update. It has been awhile since we sailed Princess and I hoped we would be able to blend in on the formal nights without the more formal wear.

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks for the clothing update. It has been awhile since we sailed Princess and I hoped we would be able to blend in on the formal nights without the more formal wear.

Women have a lot of options. DW brings a dressy looking top and a black skirt and looks very nice on formal nights, even on our SA cruise. Leave the gowns at home.

 

 

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[Linda the Book Lover]

Perfect solution and something easy to pick too!:D

[MicCanberra]

Perfect solution and something easy to pick too!:D

 

Yes, my wife does the same.

Linda, you wouldn't be a bookcrosser, would you?:D

[paul929207]

We have done this cruise twice. In 2008, there was a fairly large group of South Americans on board and they tended to be very formal. Last year, this cruise was part of the relocation of the Grand, so most of us were on for 49 days. A more normal mix of Americans, Canadians, Brits, Aussies and Kiwis. Not as formal as the prior one, but still plenty of tuxes on the formal nights.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Yes, my wife does the same.

Linda, you wouldn't be a bookcrosser, would you?:D

 

Actually yes I am...leaving perfect reads where ever I travel though not as much as I used to because I now take my Kindle cruising! ;)

[runnerodb83]

The SA cruises are interesting. On ours it was 1/4 US/canaditan citizens, 1/4th from UK/Aus/commonwealth, and 1/2 from Brazil/Argentina/Chile/other European. The non english speaking folks tended to be younger and ate dinner later. Just an observation.

[Cauzneffct]

The SA cruises are interesting. On ours it was 1/4 US/canaditan citizens, 1/4th from UK/Aus/commonwealth, and 1/2 from Brazil/Argentina/Chile/other European. The non english speaking folks tended to be younger and ate dinner later. Just an observation.

 

One thing I noticed was that a lot of the South American cruisers had limited knowledge of English, which made for some frustrations between them and the crew. A lot of venues seemed to have Spanish speakers nearby, but sometimes there were struggles to get proper orders.

[runnerodb83]

One thing I noticed was that a lot of the South American cruisers had limited knowledge of English, which made for some frustrations between them and the crew. A lot of venues seemed to have Spanish speakers nearby, but sometimes there were struggles to get proper orders.

 

Yes, many of the announcements on the ship were in multiple languages and even some of the 2nd tier shows like kareoke/postar might as well have been in spanish. 2/3rds of the cruise staff also was bilingual but seemed to try to cater more to the non-english speaking passengers on the cruise. Serving the customer demographic I guess, still a great cruise however.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Just curious I wonder if the crew spoke Spanish but the travelers only understood Portuguese?

[Cauzneffct]

Just curious I wonder if the crew spoke Spanish but the travelers only understood Portuguese?

 

From what I saw it was more of the travelers speaking Spanish or Portuguese, with the crew only speaking English.

[augies]

We are sailing from BA to Santiago. Is there a big difference in scenery in starboard vs port balconies on this trip? Or, is the view good from either side of the ship?

Thanks.

[caribill]

We are sailing from BA to Santiago. Is there a big difference in scenery in starboard vs port balconies on this trip? Or, is the view good from either side of the ship?

Thanks.

 

You have a view of only water most of the time from either side.

[MicCanberra]

Actually yes I am...leaving perfect reads where ever I travel though not as much as I used to because I now take my Kindle cruising! ;)

Good stuff, we also fill the cruise ships library with offerings. We just had the international Convention in Melbourne last month, a great success but noone from the US made it. Hopefully Oxford next year.

cheers Mic (BC name-oozy67):D

Edited April 30, 2014 by MicCanberra

[MicCanberra]

You have a view of only water most of the time from either side.

I imagine that they would spin the ship so both sides can see when visiting something of interest like the fjords or cape horn.:D

[J-D]

We are sailing from BA to Santiago. Is there a big difference in scenery in starboard vs port balconies on this trip? Or, is the view good from either side of the ship?

Thanks.

 

We have cruised BA to Valparaiso twice. We chose starboard both times, thinking that would be better, but in retrospect I don't think it makes much difference.

 

At Cape Horn, we went counterclockwise around Isla Hornos on one trip, and that put Cape Horn on the port side. On the other trip we travelled west past the Cape (on stbd side), but then reversed course to the east (Cape on port side). Ship movements at Cape Horn depend on local sea conditions and are unpredictable in advance.

 

If you are fortunate enough to go through the Beagle Channel west of Ushuaia -- glacier alley -- in daytime, then starboard is definitely best there. The glaciers are on the north (starboard) side of the Channel. If your cabin is on the port side and you traverse that area in daylight, you should definitely move to an outside vantagepoint looking starboard while passing those glaciers.

 

At Amalia (Skua) Glacier in the Chilean Fiords, on both trips the ship rotated 180 degrees in front of the glacier, providing good views to both sides.

 

Elsewhere en route, I don't recall there being much to choose between the two sides.

 

If we travelled BA to Valpo again, I would probably select starboard again, on the general principle that the land is to starboard more of the time. However, as a previous poster said, usually the land is far away. From either side, the views are often excellent.

 

John

[IECalCruiser]

...If you are fortunate enough to go through the Beagle Channel west of Ushuaia -- glacier alley -- in daytime, then starboard is definitely best there. The glaciers are on the north (starboard) side of the Channel. If your cabin is on the port side and you traverse that area in daylight, you should definitely move to an outside vantagepoint looking starboard while passing those glaciers.

 

 

 

At Amalia (Skua) Glacier in the Chilean Fiords, on both trips the ship rotated 180 degrees in front of the glacier, providing good views to both sides.

 

 

 

Elsewhere en route, I don't recall there being much to choose between the two sides...

On our SA cruise high winds kept us at the Ushuaia pier until after 11:00pm. As a result, we had to skip Punta Arenas. The plus side was that we did a leisurely two hour cruise by the glaciers in the Beagle Channel and we were fortunate to have a starboard cabin. Going through the Channel in the daytime it is starboard for west bound cruises and port for east bound cruises. At Cape Horn and Amalia Glacier the Star rotated so all had a good view. Don't remember any time other than the Beagle Channel where it made a difference which side you were on.

 

 

 

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