Around the Horn South American cruise on NCL Sun - pictorial review

[tammyjw305]

March 14, 2017 - Sea Day

I noted this day that there were not many activities, so I guess not many activities that we were interested in. I did note make breakfast or lunch. So, some general preferences of ours. We had many breakfasts in Moderno where they have less, but is less crazy than the buffet. I learned that one had to request hot chocolate there; it was not sitting out. But, they would get it. Later, I saw the packets one day in the Sports Bar. They have small area before entering the Moderno and arcade hallway with some pastries and coffee at breakfast time. I liked the MDR for lunch; my husband liked the India food on the buffet.

We played movie poster trivia with new martini tasting friends. We also spent time watching the pretty scenery from the busy observation lounge while sailing through Straits of Magellan. It was very windy outside the lounge, but people were going out for pictures.

Another from our cabin to start

From outside the observation lounge

[tammyjw305]

We had dinner in the MDR. I had the Caesar salad, a BBQ mix of chicken, bratwurst, and ribs, and my favorite the volcano cake.

 

 

Husband had this watermelon, shrimp, and mozzarella appetizer (and that is all I noted). Silly picture with the appetizer.

 

 

Our second towel animal -- a snail

 

[relaxatsea]

Love the green wake and all the helpful dining hints!

 

If you don't mind, what was your cabin number?

 

We are thinking of changing from an inside cabin on the Sun to an OV like yours, and I think some are better than others.

[tammyjw305]

Love the green wake and all the helpful dining hints!

 

If you don't mind, what was your cabin number?

 

We are thinking of changing from an inside cabin on the Sun to an OV like yours, and I think some are better than others.

 

We were in 4030. When we picked it, my husband was annoyed that we only had access to forward stairs/elevator. Once on, we found that we could walk to the back on the starboard side to access stairs one floor up to the Seven Seas MDR or catch the one elevator that came down to 4 in the aft. Though that sounds bad, it was normally pretty quick.

[relaxatsea]

Thanks so much, that is really helpful information for us!

[tammyjw305]

March 15, 2017 - Punta Arenas, Chile

 

I learned Patagonia means big foot. I read if the ship docks; then a taxi is required to get to town. We tendered, which was right in town. It was not raining with some sun; it was chilly and windy (we were definitely far south now). We walked up the hill for the view.

Whale tail just outside the terminal

Walking to the hill. Note this statue; one foot is wore. If you rub it, it means you will return to Punta Arenas. I had read about this but did not think about at the time or know it was the statue; until later, I noticed that we had a picture of someone doing it. And a dog here too.

The stairs that we climbed up the hill. It was also interesting seeing the car brands that we do not have at home.

 

[tammyjw305]

Yes, I'm slow going upstairs, uphill, up-etc.

 

 

Made it. Art that is a bit overgrown. Great view of the water and ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Compass with lots of pad locks

 

[tammyjw305]

Cool sign at someone's house

 

I liked the architecture of this house

 

 

These trees had weird "haircuts". I'm not sure if they could not reach any more, so they just stopped.

 

 

Some sea lion fountains; they were not on and did not look used lately.

 

 

 

[tammyjw305]

I read about Cafe Inmigrante having very big desserts that we were going to share. We found it; however, they did not open to 3pm. We also originally looked at doing a brewery tour. We emailed the tourist information office; they replied that the time of the tour was 3pm and how to contact the brewery to schedule. This would be cutting it close; we were in port from 7am to 5pm. This town opens late.

 

Other pictures from walking around town.

 

Interesting with water after the sand.

 

Art on the buildings

Cormorants on the old pier and the tender in the background

 

[tammyjw305]

We did some souvenir shopping; I found an adult and baby penguin magnet. We found jelly made from a berry that our tour guide in Puerto Montt pointed out and said we could try. We also stopped at a grocery store, Umarc, and got a coke zero (yum) and candy to share. We enjoyed them at this green clock that is right at the tender dock.

 

 

Next, we went back to the terminal to try the wi-fi. It did not work. Some people were on; one had to wait for a slot to open up to get on. Talking to our kids was not working very well.

We did each get 30 minutes on the ship for platinum. We would write an email offline and jump on to sent them trip stories and say hello.

So, we tendered back.

[tammyjw305]

We had lunch back on the ship and snack with cookies and ice cream at 4pm. My husband had a big salad and pickles, jalapeños, coleslaw, and fruit. Then we played celebrity trivia.

For dinner, we went to Las Rablas for tapas. Husband's food --

My plates. I liked the cream cheese topped ones the best; the others were okay.

We went to the early show where the Illusionist, Cripton, was performing. We had seen him and his assistant/wife perform before; that had some new tricks. It was good.

Then we went back to the restaurant for dessert only. We made it there right before the crowd from the show hit. Husband had the Irish creme pie, and I had the nutella creme brulee. Both were really good. The creme brulee would have been better with a more caramelized head. The choc in the Irish cream was really good. The best creme brulee that I have had, also on a ship, had dark chocolate at the bottom -- yum.

 

 

Dessert was quick. After, my husband went to the gym, and I went back to the room to pack for Ushuaia tomorrow.

We have not been guilty of visiting many cruise ship gyms; however, this was a long cruise. I have to say that the gym very much needed airflow! I noticed later the ceiling was too low for ceiling fans; they needed those big corner fans like high school basketball gyms have.

[Reina del Mar]

Thank you for posting this interesting review. We are doing a similar itinerary on Princess in January 2018.

I understand that Spring Break in USA can be anytime in March.

 

Trying to work out what type of clothes/ footwear to pack ..looks like long trousers and sweaters/ fleece jackets with trainers, from your photographs, as well as waterproof jackets. I started a thread about what to pack and the answer came back 'layers'. Would you agree ? Have you any suggestions ? We will be flying from GB so are limited to 23 kg each....could pay for second case but handling might be difficult.

 

Thanks.

[tammyjw305]

Thank you for posting this interesting review. We are doing a similar itinerary on Princess in January 2018.

I understand that Spring Break in USA can be anytime in March.

 

Trying to work out what type of clothes/ footwear to pack ..looks like long trousers and sweaters/ fleece jackets with trainers, from your photographs, as well as waterproof jackets. I started a thread about what to pack and the answer came back 'layers'. Would you agree ? Have you any suggestions ? We will be flying from GB so are limited to 23 kg each....could pay for second case but handling might be difficult.

 

Thanks.

 

We each had a roll-a-board size suitcase and a backpack. We also checked a 25 inch suitcase that had to be under 50 lb / 22.67 kg. We were at 40-something pounds with it full. It is nice to have less luggage to haul around if you are going to be commuting on the subway or bus. We always try to pack light.

 

I agree with layers; I packed very similar to packing for Alaska, except with a couple more hotter weather shirts. In Santiago/Valpo and Buenos Aires in March, it can be near or in the 80s F. I did not take any shorts; I took a pair of capris. We are not big ship pool people, so I also left swimwear behind. I had two pairs of sandal/slides for dinners on the ship, a pair of running shoes, and a hiking boots (depending on what you are planning for port). I wore the hiking boots on the plane; though I found room in the suitcase for them on the way home :). I do recommend a waterproof jacket and pants (if you have or are willing to buy some). My husband has cheaper, though a bit silly-looking, frog togs from Cabelas, and I got a pair of Eddie Bauers for the trip. We we also each took a fleece zip up jacket. No coats, but hats and gloves to be on deck once you get further south.

 

I hope that helps; let me know if you have more questions.

[Reina del Mar]

Thank you so much for your reply. It was very helpful.

 

We did Alaska with a fleece and a kagool that we could wear over the fleece. We did travel in August though.

 

I shall try (probably unsuccessfully) to pack less and be prepared for all seasons.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

 

Thanks again.

[tammyjw305]

:) Yes...the multiple seasons are a challenge. Some of the stops noted that they can have all four seasons in one day...

 

I had to look up what a kagool is :)

[relaxatsea]

Love your review and pictures, can't wait for Ushuaia!

[tammyjw305]

March 16, 2017 - Ushuaia, Argentina

 

This was our first stop in Argentina. I have a lot of pictures -- this port was so beautiful. I have not figured out how to download all the Flickr embed links for all pictures in an album at once. If anyone has any tricks, please let me know. Poking around and googling did not help :). Tomorrow, we are going on a long weekend trip for the 4th of July, so starting Ushuaia but will finish when we return.

This was our first dock (non-tender) port on this cruise. We were in port from 10am to 6pm. We had plans to go in on a rental car with a couple from Atlanta and a lady from the UK. The couple was brave and rented cars frequently in cruise ports. We met our group near guest services. They remembered to get our passports, so we could have them stamped at the end of the world post office. Ours came out slowly. With passports all collected, we were off.

A few pictures from the ship first

 

[tammyjw305]

We had plans to go to the national park -- Tierra del Fuego -- to visit the end of the world post office and do some hiking. We walked to the rental car place. Before arriving, we found an ATM; we needed Argentina pesos. My moneys needs document or my interpretation of it at the time failed me. I had my husband get 300 pesos. The national park cost 350 per person -- eek. It was more than any of us expected, but I should have gotten the cash needs correct. The couple we were with had preordered cash and loaned us money to get in. Their cash need planning included Iguazu Falls post-cruise, so we wanted to get back to the ATM after to pay them back in Pesos. We found the car rental place; there was another customer or two ahead of us. They seemed slow at renting cars out here, but it worked out.

 

Some pictures walking from the port to the car rental office

 

Entering the park; after this, we went through the pay booth. They gave us maps, which were a little hard to interpret. We stopped at the visitor center after, but there was not much there. So, we went on. We drove to the other end of the park.

This was at the end of the road where we parked and began hiking. The parking was very full, and there were frequent large coach bus traffic jams.

 

I loved this rock!

 

 

I'm off to finish getting ready for our 4th of the July road trip tomorrow and get some sleep. I'll be back after the 4th!

 

For those in the US, have a great holiday weekend!

[relaxatsea]

Happy 4th to you too! We're in Philadelphia this weekend.

[buggins0402]

Looking forward to seeing more after the fourth.

 

I've been following the thread with the NCL cruise map open, so I can refer back and forth and get an idea of the scenery against where the ship is geographically each day.

 

I already know that we'll have to pack plenty of seasick meds. There was a good price on the forward PH cabins, so I bit on one. But, it is probably one of the worst areas on the ship in rough seas.

 

Sorry to hear about the air circulation in the gym...we are gym rats to the extent that I'm worried about getting workouts in if the seas are rough.

[OldBoot]

We did your cruise in reverse (from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso) in March, 2016 on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas. It was one of our best cruises ever. That's why we decided to book the NCL Sun cruise next February boarding in Valparaiso, going through the Panama Canal, and ending in Miami to sort of "complete" our South America cruise experience.

 

Therefore, it occurs to me that I might have information that would be helpful to you. Although we did not take any excursions (either from the ship or private), we had an absolutely wonderful time, and thought it was one of our best cruises ever.

 

If you think of any questions, please ask! I am really enjoying your review and wishing you an amazing cruise. Glad to hear you now have smooth sailing.

 

Barbara

Hi Barbara. Not sure if there is a private message feature on this app, but we are doing that sailing in a few months with HAL. Would love to hear about your port experiences.

Lila

 

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[OldBoot]

Happy 4th of July Tammy. Thank you for the trip report and for sharing your photos. I am enjoying reading about your adventures!

 

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[relaxatsea]

Hi Barbara. Not sure if there is a private message feature on this app, but we are doing that sailing in a few months with HAL. Would love to hear about your port experiences.

Lila

 

Sent from my K00L using Tapatalk

 

 

Hi Lila,

 

I don't know of a private message feature here, and I don't have apps, plus I am out of town until next Thursday.

 

Nevertheless, I'd be glad to share my information, and I'm wondering if it would be better to start a new thread like "Questions for Around the Horn", so we don't hijack Tammy's thread.

 

It was a wonderful cruise, and I'm sure you will love it as much as we did!

 

Barbara

[OldBoot]

Hi Lila,

 

I don't know of a private message feature here, and I don't have apps, plus I am out of town until next Thursday.

 

Nevertheless, I'd be glad to share my information, and I'm wondering if it would be better to start a new thread like "Questions for Around the Horn", so we don't hijack Tammy's thread.

 

It was a wonderful cruise, and I'm sure you will love it as much as we did!

 

Barbara

Wonderful idea. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

 

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[relaxatsea]

Wonderful idea. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

 

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Great! Thanks!