Golden Review: Buenos Aires > Valparaiso

[Pam in CA]

I recently disembarked from the Golden Princess Buenos Aires to Valparaiso cruise, from February 12 - 24, but didn't have a chance to post my review because I flew directly to CA for a week before returning home.

 

The excellent: the bed! (believe it or not) very, very comfortable and the group "Deep Blue" in the Explorer's Lounge..

 

The good: some of the entertainment, such as Bernie Fields (harmonica) and "Motor City."

 

The bad: overall management and service on the ship, including the Pursar's Desk and the Tour Desk. Tables were frequently left uncleared in the buffet for 20 - 30 minutes, or longer. No one was doing any enforcement or oversight of using the dining room or buffet disinfectants -- most people just walked in. We didn't see any of the usual ongoing maintenance that we've seen in the past (but we may have missed it). There were many other things that we felt weren't done as well and there just didn't seem to be the tightly-controlled management we've seen before with supervisors visible and aware of what was going on.

 

The ugly: arrival at the airport in Buenos Aires, embarkation in Buenos Aires (truly ugly) and disembarkation/embarkation in some of the ports. And the coffee!!! This is the first time I've experienced this on Princess but I now know what people are talking about. I can excuse one or two bottom-of-the-pot bad cups but it was literally sludge in the buffet every single day, a black tar-like substance pretending to be coffee. Absolutely horrible. The dining room coffee wasn't bad.

 

The Golden Princess did not live up to my expectations based on cruises on both the Island and Sea Princess in the past year. Many little things weren't, in my opinion, up to par. My sister and brother-in-law had lunch with J.J. Ulrich who said that the ship is just too big for this itinerary. The ports it goes to just aren't equipped to handle this many passengers. Here's a clue: in Stanley, the population is about 3,000, there are a total of 8 buses on the Falklands and you have 2,600 (plus crew) disembarking, not to mention another ship in port. People who delayed choosing or arranging for tours were extremely disappointed because the tours were completely sold out well in advance.

 

Here are my notes from emails sent to my daughter from the ship:

 

Arriving in Buenos Aires was something else. It was the worst Princess organization I've ever experienced. There were two Princess reps, one of whom wasn't in sight at first and the other was standing behind other cruise reps with the Princess sign no higher than her eyebrows -- her elbow was literally at her waist. Ugh. Anyway, after 3 trips around the terminal, I finally spotted her but only because I saw some other people with Princess tags going towards her. Then, they kept us waiting, standing around for over 2 hours with no place to sit, for 6 more people to arrive. The 2nd Princess rep showed up finally. The 1st one started calling names, and mine was the first on the list. She told us that those she had called should follow the 2nd rep to the bus. Sounds promising, huh? Nope. My luggage was stowed on the bus and I was sitting there, waiting to leave when the rep who'd led us to the bus told those going to the Sheraton Towers to get off the bus and get their luggage: the bus we were on was going to the Intercontinental hotel. So, I got off the bus and asked for my luggage. The driver said, "No" and closed the luggage doors, leaving me standing there getting pissed. Finally, rep #1 came by and said, "Don't worry. This bus is going to both hotels. Get back on the bus." Oy! All the luggage was mixed up between those going to the two hotels. They had to take all of the luggage off at the Intercontinental and put the luggage back on for those going to the Sheraton. Mass confusion. My flight had gotten in at 8:40AM and we didn't arrive at the hotel until about 1PM.

 

We finally arrived at the hotel. They had a special check-in suite with refreshments for Princess. The Sheraton Park Towers had to be the most gorgeous hotel I have every stayed in. Everything is marble. Everything, including the bedroom floors. They had slippers so your feet didn't get cold and a plate with a variety of fruit -- incredibly fresh and delicious. I had a banana and an apple. And it's the first hotel room I've every stayed in that had huge, beautiful LIVE plants. It also had one of the most comfortable couches... I took pix so that you can see it. I read and snoozed on the couch for a couple of hours and then Jim (my BIL) called with a couple of suggestions: one was to sign up for the city bus tour in the morning that would drop me off at the ship for only $15. The other one was a great leather shop only a couple of blocks away. :)

 

Nancy and Jim took me out to dinner last night to a great steakhouse, right across the street from the hotel. The steak was fabulous (it's Argentina, after all) and N&J had let them know it was my b'day so they gave us a huge bottle of champagne. Of course, we had to finish it. :) When I got back to the hotel, I repacked and got all of my stuff out for the morning, since they were picking up our luggage by 8AM and taking it directly to our cabins. I turned out the light at about 10:30PM and it's a good thing I set 2 alarms for 7:30AM because I slept through one of them. I went out like a light and don't think I moved a muscle all night.

 

DAY 1

 

They had a complimentary breakfast buffet that was excellent and by 9:30AM, I was on the bus for the city tour. The tour itself was "OK" and I'm glad I went because I then had a chance to see the city. The highlight was the Rigaletto cemetary which is hard to explain. Jim compared it to a New Orleans cemetary where there are only mausoleums -- it's like a mausoleum "city." Eva Peron is buried here. People on our bus said that Buenos Aires reminded them of Barcelona and I would agree -- it's like Barcelona but more modern and without the Gaudi influence. It's a beautiful city with flowering trees everywhere. Our tour guide called the pier and they told him not to bring us at 1PM. The computers were down and everything was a mess. We drove around the city some more and finally got to the pier after 2PM. The line was out the door and literally around the block of the terminal. Our tour guide got us off the bus and led us to the front of the line, ahead of everyone else. We all had "preferred" (Platinum and Elite) boarding which pissed some people who had been waiting but I wasn't about to feel sorry. They too could have been "preferred." Most people stood in line for hours, waiting to check in. There were no Princess reps to answer questions or help/guide anyone. There was no way for people to get wheelchairs or other assistance. I was lucky but it was a mess for most.

 

The first thing I did when I boarded was to confirm that we had late traditional seating. We were down to #3 on the waitlist a week ago but my cruisecard had Anytime on it. I went to the Maitre D and begged, so we're now at a table for 4 in late traditional. Phew!

 

We have Muster at 5:30PM and then sail for Montevideo. The ferry from Buenos Aires to Montevideo takes only just over 2 hours so I'm guessing that we'll be cruising at about 2mph overnight.

 

DAY 3

 

Yesterday, we were in Montevideo, Uraguay (pro: ooo-rah-gwai), which is mostly a peninsula nation. Montevideo is only 2.5 hours from Buenos Aires by ferry but is about 350 miles to the Argentine border to the north on one side, and about 750 miles to Brazil, also on the north. It's an agricultural nation with horses and sheep, and not much else. The weather was gorgeous -- it's a more temperate climate than B.A. with less humidity. Much of the city is along the coast with lots of gorgeous beaches. It was sunny and in the mid-70s. We took a city bus tour and for over 3 hours, drove around seeing the city. It appeared to be a very poor country compared to Argentina and we were told that their economy very much depends on Argentina. There were no beautiful or outstanding buildings, their government buildings were pretty much crumbly and falling down, many of them covered for repairs. They were mostly concrete blocks. The "luxury" homes could be suburban CA or FL homes; a few were beautiful but no one said, "Wow!" to anything. B.A. is a beautiful, modern city with lots of open green areas with flowering trees. Montevideo is like a poor 2nd cousin: the green areas were dry with very little growing. It certainly wasn't as lush as B.A. Their economy is very poor with, for example, teachers earning between $250 - $300/month.

 

We set sail about 45 minutes late, waiting for the Crystal Serenity to sail first so we could get out of the harbor. That was very good news for several passengers who, as the Captain said on the P.A., couldn't tell time. A couple of taxis raced up to the ship and screeched to a halt between 15 - 30 minutes after we were supposed to sail.

 

We are now headed straight south to Port Stanley, the Falklands. I happened to be in an elevator with Michael, the asst. cruise director, who said that Port Stanley has had 1 (ONE) sunny day this summer -- and we're in their late summer here.

 

Today is beautiful -- sunny and 70s -- but from tomorrow on, for over a week, it'll be cool and damp. Tonight is formal night.

 

DAY 5

 

Well, today was the Falkland Islands. I'd heard that they'd had only one sunny day so far this summer but we really lucked out -- it was the 2nd sunny day, relatively warm and gorgous (in the 50s). I really didn't even need my jacket. The Falklands are a group of islands with a total of 3,000 inhabitants and over a million sheep. There don't appear to be any roads -- it's all peat, fields and rocks. I took a 4WD tour to see the penguins and the drive was a hoot, the penguins were amazing. The jeep took 6 passengers in each one, and we were 4 jeeps. They had had over 24 hours of downpours so that the ground was very wet and boggy. We had to stay out of the previous tracks since they were too muddy (2 of our jeeps got stuck and had to be pulled out) so we literally went cross-country, over hills and down dales. It took about 30 minutes to get to Sparrow Cove where the penguins were. We got out and there were literally hundreds right there within feet of us. There are 500 breeding adults and hundreds of juveniles. We saw only juveniles since the adults were out catching food to bring back. The ranger with us told us that with their natural enemies, sea lions and whales, only about 1/3 of the juveniles would survive. A bit depressing but that's nature.

 

ROUNDING THE HORN

 

We are going around Cape Horn late this afternoon. It was quite cold, 7-degrees C which is about 45 F. with a wicked wind -- so strong that on some parts of the deck, you couldn't stand up straight. The rounding itself was magnificent; we lucked out with quite calm waters (just a light swell) and no rain. I took quite a few photos, including some with a rainbow circling above the highest mountain on Cape Horn. A little history: Cape Horn is actually an island and part of Tierra del Fuego which is half Chile, half Argentina. There are many islands, most of them very rocky and barren -- and were compared by Joe May, the Port Director, to the rocks in Cabo San Lucas.

 

Today was a day at sea except for rounding Cape Horn. I went to see "March of the Pengiuns" this morning and a matinee production of "Motor City," a tribute to MoTown, this afternoon, which was excellent.

 

This morning at breakfast, the only free table I could find was a table for 6, so I sat down. Individually, 3 other ladies sat down with me and we wound up talking. One woman, from North Carolina, complained that the food on the ship was terrible, with all that weird "South American" food, like veal and duck. She was very disappointed that there weren't more "normal" items on the menu. The other lady complained that she hated days at sea because they limit your time on the treadmill to only 30 minutes and that wasn't enough for her. (I hated to tell her that I thought she really did need more than 30 minutes -- she definitely was pretty plump -- and thought it would be rude to suggest that she read a book instead.) The other lady was delightful but I left after a few minutes because I was afraid I'd say something nasty to Ms. North Carolina and the other woman. At that point, I wanted to escape.

 

USHUAIA

 

Well, Nancy (my sister) got the last laugh. I'd changed my tour in Ushuaia from the 2-hour wildlife tour which left at 7AM (the one Nancy took) to the 3-hour train to the end of the world tour at 10:45AM. Nancy's tour was fabulous -- she said it was extraordinary. Mine... well, as I walked onto the dock to the bus, it started to pour and didn't stop the entire way. The bus windows were fogged up and when we boarded the train, everything was fogged in and it was pouring. I did get some pictures but I think Ushuaia, when it's not shrouded in clouds, is probably spectacular: a colorful city surrounded by snow-capped mountains. We got a peek at the mountains as we were sailing away but while we were there, we couldn't see much.

 

Bill Gates' yacht was anchored just off our stern -- what a ship! Two helicopters on deck and a security boat constantly going around it. Yes, I got some photos.

 

This evening, we went to Sabatinis for dinner and even before we'd ordered, the ship started to pass the Chilean ice fields so everyone jumped up and ran outside to see them. Absolutely spectacular!!!! Totally blue ice from the summit to the Beagle Channel, which we are sailing through right now (named for the ship, the Beagle, that Charles Darwin was the naturalist on). I got what I think are some great photos.

 

We're having a great time. We are soooo glad we have mini-suites on this cruise. It is so crowded and there are so many groups (and any time you have large groups they tend to be obnoxious) -- 100s of Chinese, 100s of Brazilians, etc. With the weather (today it was 7oC and raining), and no one able to go outside, it's crowded everywhere. There are long lines for the Internet cafe almost day and night. I got here at 9:30PM and there were only 2 computers available. I've found myself retreating to my cabin by 3:30PM - 4PM every day and just relaxing on my couch and watching TV and reading. I know that Nancy and Jim have been too and have really appreciated the mini.

 

It's been so cold and windy that you can't even use the covered pool area (the Calypso pool): the doors to the other area open so often that a freezing wind blows constantly through the covered pool area. As a matter of fact, the wind was so strong this morning that we had trouble coming into the dock and were almost 30 minutes late.

 

Tomorrow is Punta Arenas and I'm taking a long (6-hr) tour to Magdalena Island to see the Magellan penguins. I may just collapse in my cabin when I get back. It's going to be cold again -- hopefully not rainy. Once we leave Punta Arenas, it'll start to get warmer. (I know you're not sympathetic but when you have 2600 passengers with no place to go, you feel overwhelmed by all the people.)

 

The Golden isn't bad but is definitely not on my list of favorite ships. The overall service isn't as good as the Sea Princess last summer, for instance, although I have an excellent cabin steward. Not a deal breaker but it pretty much reinforces my opinion that there are just too many people onboard.

 

PUNTA ARENAS

 

Wow! Today was fabulous. Cold, but fabulous. At least it was sunny.

 

We arrived in Punta Arenas this morning and my tour left just after 8AM. This was a tender port and considering Princess was allowed only one tender at the dock at a time, disembarkation went pretty quickly and on schedule.

 

Punta Arenas is in Chile; it's a city of about 100K with a lot of natural resources. They have oil and natural gas, and every house is hooked up to the natural gas line so heating isn't a problem. Compared to the other towns/cities we've visited, except for Buenos Aires, it's pretty well off. Buildings are low and it was explained that the reason is the wind. During the winter, they often have winds over 100kph so they limit exposure to the wind as much as possible.

 

After a 30-minute drive through the city, we went to another dock where we boarded a ferry. I took pictures and it definitely wasn't luxurious but it got the job done. We sailed about 2 hours to an island to the northeast, Isla Magdalena, where the Magellan penguins have their breeding grounds. This is a different type of penguin that I saw in Stanley (Falklands); they live in burrows to get away from the wind. They also have two eggs instead of the one egg that other penguin species have; the mothers and fathers take turns putting an egg on top of each foot and covering the egg with their stomach until they hatch, with them trading off every 15 days so the other can feed. It takes about 40 days for the eggs to hatch; the babies stay covered for about another month before they go off on their own. These penguins are about 18 - 24" high -- not high at all. They are warm water penguins who winter in Brazil.

 

It was in the upper 40s when we left Punta Arenas and when we got to the island, it was probably in the low 40s with about a 40mph wind -- strong enough to have to bend over and whip everyone's clothing. I had a scarf and after only a few minutes, I had to wrap it around my head because my ears were hurting. We had an hour on the island but most people went back to the ferry earlier (yours truly included) because after taking lots of photos of the penguins, you were just getting colder and colder. We were supposedly lucky that it wasn't as windy as usual there. :)

 

On the way back to Punta Arenas, we had dolphins playing along side the ship. These were very small dolphins -- probably only 2' long -- and they followed us for a while. There were two groups of 3 and then 4 dolphins at different times. The ship slowed down when we saw the dolphins so we wound up getting in late. I didn't get back to the ship until about 4PM -- a very long day.

 

We have two sea days and then Puerto Montt, where we have a very long tour planned: 8 - 9 hours.

 

WOULD YOU LIKE SOME CHEESE?

 

OK, I'm going to whine a little. The Pursar's Desk and Tour Desk on this ship is the absolutely worst I've ever experienced on Princess.

 

We were told before we left that we could only book the ship to airport tours while onboard. I've checked 2x at the Tour Desk about when we'd receive the list of tours or when they'd be available. Both times, I was told not to worry; they'd be delivered to the cabins 4 - 5 days before disembarkation. Then, on Saturday, we received a sheet that said we HAD to book a transfer (no mention of tours) from the ship to the airport and have it in by 6PM Monday. So, I went to ask what the scoop was and was told not to worry; I didn't have to have that sheet in if I was planning to book a tour. He said, "Throw it away." Which I did. In last night's Patter, it said that the tours for Valparaiso (the disembarkation point) were closing today with no changes or new bookings -- still no list of available tours anywhere. When I left my cabin this morning, voila! There was the list. Now I have just an hour or two to coordinate with N&J about which tour we want to take. Grrrr..... We'll get it done but it's incredibly disorganized.

 

The good news is that we're now out of the Magellan Straight and in the Pacific, with 15ft waves and lots of rocking and rolling -- whee!!! -- and people complaining. The weather outside is awful -- black as night and very windy. We'll enter an inside passage in a couple of hours and have been promised that it'll rival anything we've seen in Alaska.

 

OVERALL

 

We had a good time and are glad we took this cruise. The ship is not as well-run as we've experienced on previous Princess ships and it was very obvious to many that the ship was too big and had too many passengers for the ports.

[T&J]

As I was on the same cruise I would say great condensed review....I wouldn't agree with JJ Ulrich's comments about the Golden's size. Having done Antartica once on the Regal and three times on the Regal we actually did better than any of those previous sailings in terms of being up close and navigating some tight channels and waters that the other ships didn't. We also benefited from some oustanding perfect weather for the whole South America season thus far in comparitive to the other years.

 

Kinda all true with the exception of this Pam.....

 

Bill Gates' yacht was anchored just off our stern -- what a ship! Two helicopters on deck and a security boat constantly going around it. Yes, I got some photos.

 

 

It's actually called the "Octopus" and it's Paul Allan's Super Mega Yatch at a cost of $200 Million. It is the largest privately held yatch in the world and Bill Gate's was onboard at one point on our cruise and Paul Allan was onboard on the Rio to Buenos Aires cruise and was also in Antartica with us. Just to put it into perspective it took $480 million to build the Golden Princess by Ficanteri Ship yards.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[Host Caroline]

Great review, Pam... Thanks for taking the time to do this! :) A good overview with information that the "average cruiser" will be interested in and benefit from if planning this itinerary...

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the clarification, Tony. I think it depended on the tour guide you had as to whether it was Bill Gates' or Paul Allen's yacht. Some were told Bill, others Paul. You're right in that it was the Octopus and we were up in Skywalkers for sailaway and watched them putting the helicopters "away."

[T&J]

Thanks for the clarification, Tony. I think it depended on the tour guide you had as to whether it was Bill Gates' or Paul Allen's yacht. Some were told Bill, others Paul. You're right in that it was the Octopus and we were up in Skywalkers for sailaway and watched them putting the helicopters "away."

 

Pam...google it and you will see that the owner is Paul Allan.

Thanks again for the review.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[shellbeachjim]

Pam,

The Octopus was in Cannes in 2005 when the Royal Princess was there on the Manaus to Rome cruise. It wasn't docked, but was sitting in the bay. It's one huge yacht. Larry Ellison's yacht (also quite large) was also in Cannes that day and was docked next to where the tenders came in.

 

If you want to see photos of The Octopus, take a peek here:

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/february04/octopus1.jpg

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/february04/octopus2.jpg

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/february04/octopus3.jpg

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/february04/octopus4.jpg

 

Great review. We also did the 4-wheel drive tour to see the penguins in the Falklands a few years ago and it was a blast. I think we got stuck in the mud about 6 times and had to be pulled out by one of the other vehicles. It was an adventure...

 

Jim

[mii]

Thanks Pam for the review. It was quite interesting.

 

Marilyn

[spongerob]

Thanks, Pam. I'm chilly just reading your descriptions. Better not let the wife see this review or she'll never allow me to book this itinerary.

 

I've seen Mickey Arison's yacht, if anyone cares.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Thanks for the review Pam...I loved reading about the ports!!! Sorry the Golden isn't quite your cup of tea, but, you have to admit, South America is an amazing and unique cruise. Brought back great memories of my cruise there 5 years ago...it snowed on us going through the fiords, and Punta Arenas was the coldest I have ever been on a cruise...bitter and windy (luckily, Celebrity had hot chocolate waiting at the tender pier).

 

Today was a day at sea except for rounding Cape Horn. I went to see "March of the Pengiuns" this morning and a matinee production of "Motor City," a tribute to MoTown, this afternoon, which was excellent.

I can't imagine a more delightful day...my S.A. cruise got me hooked on penguins (took every little kid I knew to March as an excuse to see it) and the sailing history of Cape Horn, and I LOVE Motown music...what more could one ask for!

 

 

BTW...Paul Allen's yacht was in the Caribbean in January...he sure gets around.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Pam,

 

Thank you for sharing the emails and the wonderful review. It sounds like you saw some spectacular sights. Please share your pictures if you can, it sounds like they would just be amazing to see.

 

That yacht was in Barbados when we were there in November. I don't remember who they said it belonged to, but it wasn't Bill Gates. It was beautiful and something to see docked near the Crown.

[NorcalGuy]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences Pam!

I have been anxious to hear about this years voyages down there with the larger ships. Sounds a little stressful with all the tendering, the crowds inside (because of the outside temps), and the overwhelming of the ports.

I took a cold trans-Pacific cruise once and I got so tired of everyone being inside all the time. People were sitting everywhere all day, lounges, horizon court, atrium, even Skywalker was packed during the day!

Never the less, I may go anyway, lol! It sounds very scenic.

One question: I realize that the Calypso Pool area was drafty, but were the pools open? Were they heated? I would at least like to be able to take quick swims.

[Pam in CA]

I realize that the Calypso Pool area was drafty, but were the pools open? Were they heated? I would at least like to be able to take quick swims.

I honestly haven't a clue whether they were heated or not. The first three days from Buenos Aires, people were around the pools even if they weren't in them (although some people did swim laps in the Calypso pool). The fourth day, they were in the Calypso covered pool area but it was way too cold and drafty to be wet there. People were back in the Calypso pool area after Puerto Montt and around the open pool the last sea day before Valparaiso. I walked through the Calypso pool area even when it was pretty cold and drafty but didn't see anyone there. I have to admit that I didn't pay much attention as to whether people were in the pool and didn't spend a lot of time in that area.

 

I would love to do this itinerary again... and include Antartica. I didn't find it stressful other than the Tour Desk lack of information and coordination regarding the post-cruise tours to the airport. But then I had a mini-suite and was very thankful I had one so I could escape the crowds. Skywalkers was the best place to go to avoid the crowds during the day but most nights, they didn't open for drinks before 9PM so that we only went there a couple of times for a pre-dinner drink.

 

Something else to note is that the casino wasn't open for much of the cruise since we were sailing within the waters of Argentina and/or Chile. That was one other thing that people couldn't do during the day.

 

The library was very well stocked and it was completely open and on the honor system. You didn't have to check out a book -- you could just go and get as many books as you wanted. I'm assuming this is because just about everyone flew in and certainly didn't have room in their luggage to schlep a heavy book back.

[bdjam]

Thanks for the great review, Pam. It's nice to hear about JJ Ulrich again - I spent a great 15 days with him on Regal Princess. While I've not done the South American itinerary, just the thought of offloading two ships in some of what sound like small ports, and doubling the size of the Falklands population seems daunting. I don't think Princess' obvious objective of getting Golden to the West Coast should have been done this way. Congrats on an easy sail around the Horn - it seems like a flat-bottomed ship like Golden Princess wouldn't be suitable for such seas.

Anyway, glad you had a good time overall...and thanks again for the review.

[LARGIN]

Pam.. Great review... Thanks...

[margord]

Pam,

 

Thanks so much. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review.

 

Marilee

[Coral]

Pam - excellent review!

 

I am very excited about your next cruise! That is one of my dream itineraries on the Prisendam.

[osiebosie]

Pam,

 

Thanks for your review. I have a couple of questions. We are looking at the itinerary Buenos Aires to Buenos Aires.

 

You said, during embarkation, there was a long line but you got bumped to the front because you were "preferred" (Platinum and Elite). Those who got pissed could have been "preferred" also. How do you get that status if this is your first cruise on Princess? Does it have to do with your cabin? We are considering a mini-suite.

 

Was there any weather at all that you could sunbathe in?

 

We have also looked at the Regent itinerary. The ship is much smaller than Princess. Should we seriously consider Regent?

 

How many days would you recommend spending in BA before the cruise? The only language DH and I know is english. Would we be okay?

 

Thanks,

 

Shay

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review Pam. :)

[Druke I]

Pam

 

Thanks for your review.

 

We went 'round the Horn on Regal Princess, 3-06. I don't think I would want to be on a ship as large as the Golden Princess in those waters.

 

Truth be known, even the Regal overwhelmed many of the ports on that itinerary.

 

I still kick myself for not going when originally booked several years ago, on the late great Royal Princess, which was a wonderful "rough water ship". It just didn't work out.

[TorontoTL]

Adding to the chorus of thank yous to Pam.

[Cruisin' Grandma]

Thanks for the great review. Are you going to be posting a link to you photos?

 

Lola in Hamilton

[Pam in CA]

Pam,

 

Thanks for your review. I have a couple of questions. We are looking at the itinerary Buenos Aires to Buenos Aires.

 

You said, during embarkation, there was a long line but you got bumped to the front because you were "preferred" (Platinum and Elite). Those who got pissed could have been "preferred" also. How do you get that status if this is your first cruise on Princess? Does it have to do with your cabin? We are considering a mini-suite. "Preferred" boarding is available to Platinum and Elite Captain's Circle members, as well as those in full suites. Unfortunately, this is not available for first-time Princess cruisers. The problem in Buenos Aires is that the lines were so long and there were no signs or Princess reps to help, that people who qualified for Preferred boarding didn't know about the line and waited with everyone else. I was lucky in that I was on a tour with a guide who knew about the Preferred line and knew where it was. Even when we were on that line, there were no signs or Princess rep until you got to the door to be checked in. The area inside the building was very small and you were allowed through another door one family at a time to check in. There was no way for people in the line that went out the building door, along the side of the building, around the corner, and down the block to see or know what was going on. The sidewalk was very narrow and the whole thing was very confusing with no one to help.

 

Was there any weather at all that you could sunbathe in?Yes, there were a few days from Buenos Aires to Stanley, and then the day before we arrived in Valparaiso. Other than that, it was too cool and windy. In spite of that, I got some color even though I wasn't trying.

 

We have also looked at the Regent itinerary. The ship is much smaller than Princess. Should we seriously consider Regent?I'm not familiar with the Regent so I can't give you a recommendation. We were on the first cruise the Golden had made to many of these ports so hopefully, things will be smoother in the future. However, Buenos Aires is a commercial port and until they build a new facility, isn't equipped for smooth embarkation of any ship, regardless of the size.

 

How many days would you recommend spending in BA before the cruise? The only language DH and I know is english. Would we be okay?

I would strongly recommend booking the 3-day pre-cruise that goes to Iguasu Falls. And do it early. My sister and BIL booked the pre-cruise but didn't do it in time to get to Iguasu Falls... the tours were completely booked. I would also recommend that you pre-book your tours as soon as you can. The tender facilities in a couple of ports allow only one tender at a time and priority is given to Princess tours. Many people were disappointed that: a) the tours were all sold out by the time they boarded; or, b) they had to wait a long time to disembark on their own on the tenders because the tours used them first.

 

In Puerto Montt, most of the tours ended at the same time and with only one tender allowed at a time, the waits were 1.5-hr in line to get back to the ship. We wound up leaving late because the they couldn't get everyone in line back to the ship in time.

 

As a note, if you do the Valparaiso to Buenos Aires itinerary, there's an additional $150 per person Chilean tourist fee that you have to pay at the airport in Santiago. Keep that in mind. We didn't have to pay it since we were leaving, not arriving.

 

You'll be fine with English and US$. Both are accepted everywhere.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the great review. Are you going to be posting a link to you photos?

Yes, I'll post a link but it might be a few days. :) When I was in CA this week, I bought a condo to move into in a couple of months and I'm in the middle of setting up financing and finalizing it, and preparing my condo to put it on the market.

[neildean]

We were on board as well, so I'll add my comments.

 

Embarkation: We arrived independently at about 12:30. (Note that the location of the ship given by Princess is simply "port area". We don't speak Spanish, but had a patient taxi driver who went along the port area until we saw the ship). When we arrived, the line was almost to the door going outside. We stood in the main line for a while, and then noticed that some people were going through a side entrance. I waited in line while my wife asked, and sure enough it was the preferred boarding line. So we got on board quickly, but it would have been helpful if there was at least a sign (if not Princess personel) indicating the preferred boarding line.

 

Also interesting, the porters have the tip (extortion) down to a science. When we got to the front of the line to drop off our luggage, the porter pointed to a box that said "Tips" on it, and made it clear we were expected to put something in before handing over our luggage.

 

Entertainment: We thought it was generally average. Deep Blue was the best band on board, and I don't understand why they have Maruzio (sp?) in such a small area like the Promenade Bar. He was excellent and always attracted large crowds which would block the aisles. We didn't like the other lounge bands. We didn't go to any of the shows, but our table mates at dinner reported opinions ranging from fair to good.

 

Service: Generally good although some inconsistencies which were noticable. For example, my wife had smoked salmon most morning for breakfast in the dining room. Some mornings it would arrive complete, other mornings some portion would be missing (onions, capers, etc.) Not a big deal, but somebody wasn't paying enough attention. Also, the dining room seemed to think that late dining started at 8:15 while our cruise cards and the papers left in the cabin said 8:30. Again, not a big issue but shows a lack of coordintion.

 

Our cabin steward Nestor (C710) was probably the best we've had, very accommodating and quick to fill requests. Dining room service was average to good. Our waiter seemed to be helping out in other sections, so on some nights it was only the assistant waiter serving our section. However, he was pretty much on top of things.

 

Excursions: BOOK EARLY. Most excursions were sold out by the time we boarded. The Sparrow Cove Penguins described by Pam is the best excursion we have ever been on. However, we also had our worst ever excursion in Puerto Montt due to the overcrowding. Princess had eight buses doing the same excursion to Petrohue and Lake Esmerelda and it was far too many people in the same place at the same time. It's just not possible to appreciate the scenery when there are people pushing and shoving to get to the front. In Montevideo we did a private city tour which was good (booked through Turismo Nuevo Mundo in Chile). In Ushuaia we did the Beagle Channel Cruise which was also good, although a bid cold and wet. In Punta Arenas we did the Estancia trip which was good as well, the best part being the lunch of organic lamb roasted over an open fire. For the Santiago transfer, we booked a private tour again through Turismo Nuevo Mundo. But we also noticed it was odd the way Princess first sent around the paperwork for the transfers and later sent around the tour selection.

 

Internet: We rarely ever found the internet cafe to be full. Log on was quick and we were typically able to check e-mail within one minute of logging on.

 

We spent most of our time on board on our balcony or in Skywalkers where the crowds were less noticable. One thing we found particularly annoying were people who use the buffet area as a lounge, using the tables to read, play cards, or watch scenery. The couple of times we tried eating at the buffet, we found it hard to find places to sit. This may have to do however with this being a cold water cruise and people who would normally be hogging lounge chairs by the pool are hogging tables in the buffet area.

 

Overall, we enjoyed the cruise, but felt the Golden was too big for this itinerary with too many people flooding into small towns on port days.

 

Neil

[Colo Cruiser]

. One thing we found particularly annoying were people who use the buffet area as a lounge, using the tables to read, play cards, or watch scenery. The couple of times we tried eating at the buffet, we found it hard to find places to sit. This may have to do however with this being a cold water cruise and people who would normally be hogging lounge chairs by the pool are hogging tables in the buffet area.

 

 

This really ticked me off in Alaska to, lazy and inconsiderate. :mad:

 

 

Thanks for the additional comments.