Cruising to South America on the Star Princess in March

[madepaz]

Hi everyone :) ! I was wondering if anyone has been on the South American Cruise from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. My family and I will be sailing at the end of March and would like any suggestion on Must Do and Must See. Ideas on hotels in Buenos Aires are also appreciated. We have heard that it the end of March is not the ideal time to see penguins. Is this true? How is the weather? We also heard that the ship does move a lot and that it is better to stay midship. Is that true? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and happy sailings.:p

[FredS]

Go here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=106

 

on Cruise Critic and you will find a Roll Call of people that are going on the Star around that time. You did not say exactly what dates you were sailing. Also look at the Destination forum for some talk about different places. You might also look at the Ports of Call forum for talk about ports you will visit.

 

The whole ship rocks, if it rocks. Mid-ships will do it less than the bow or stern. Our trip from Rio to Santiago a few years ago was as smooth as it could be. Cape Horn was cold but not at all the wild weather one hears about.

[Druke I]

There are no guarantees re sea state and weather.

 

We went 'round the Horn, March 3-06 on Regal Princess Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, and had mostly good weather and smooth seas, although we did hit some heavy fog and winds coming up the coast of Chile, and had to substitute one group of glaciers for another.

 

A couple of cruises before ours apparently had quite rough water 'round the Horn, and were unable to tender into the Falklands (which would be a pity - I found the Falklands to be one of the more interesting ports of call).

[San Diego Ellie]

Your best bet for dealing with motion is always midship, an a low deck. I am going on the Feb. 19 Star sailing to SA and Antarctica. According to people on our roll call who went on a sailing like yours last year, penguin sightings were sparse in Punta Arena in late Feb., as the penguins had left six weeks earlier than usual (global warming was the guess). For that reason, I would have gone on the January sailing idential to the one I have booked, but could not get frequent flier airfare for that which was crucial for me.

 

If I were you, I would change to one of the earlier 12 day sailings on the Star. Sounds to me like January would be best for seeing lots of penguins.

Ellie

[madepaz]

Thank you very much for answering. I didn't realize I did not write the sailing date. We are planning to travel on the 18th of March from Santiago. I wish we could go earlier but unfortunately because of work schedules we are unable to go earlier. We are crossing our fingers in hopes to see the penguins.

[Sunviking]

I have sailed that itinerary twice, once in January 2004 and once in March 2007. On neither one did we have rough seas and the cruise in March was extremely calm. Around Cape Horn the seas were almost glassy.

 

As far as penguins are concerned, the penguins (I think they are gentoos) that are on the Falklands are there full time so you should be able to see some if you are able to tender in to Stanley. You'll need to take a tour there to Bluff Cove. There you can be only a few feet away from penguins.

 

In my opinion the "must do" tour on this itinerary is the flight and landing to Antarctica. It is expensive but I have done it both times, once with my husband and the last time with my daughter. On both trips I think everyone on the plane agreed that it was the trip of a lifetime and an adventure not to be missed.

 

You are in for a marvelous time on your cruise.:) If you have any more questions I'll try to answer them.

 

Ann

[olegna]

I have sailed that itinerary twice, once in January 2004 and once in March 2007.

 

In my opinion the "must do" tour on this itinerary is the flight and landing to Antarctica. It is expensive but I have done it both times, once with my husband and the last time with my daughter. On both trips I think everyone on the plane agreed that it was the trip of a lifetime and an adventure not to be missed.

 

You are in for a marvelous time on your cruise.:) If you have any more questions I'll try to answer them.

 

Ann

 

 

Tell us more about the flight..... where is this booked? What are the details? Thanks.

[Bruce4fun]

Hey Ann,

Please tell me more about the flight/landing in Antarctica?

Did you see penquins there, were you at a research station or what?

How many people on the plane, what type of plane? Did you land on the snow?

Does someone stamp your passport with Antarctica?

Silly questions but paying $2200 per person is more than double the cost of the cruise!

Thanks,

Bruce

[Pam in CA]

I have sailed that itinerary twice, once in January 2004 and once in March 2007. On neither one did we have rough seas and the cruise in March was extremely calm. Around Cape Horn the seas were almost glassy.

 

As far as penguins are concerned, the penguins (I think they are gentoos) that are on the Falklands are there full time so you should be able to see some if you are able to tender in to Stanley. You'll need to take a tour there to Bluff Cove. There you can be only a few feet away from penguins.

 

In my opinion the "must do" tour on this itinerary is the flight and landing to Antarctica. It is expensive but I have done it both times, once with my husband and the last time with my daughter. On both trips I think everyone on the plane agreed that it was the trip of a lifetime and an adventure not to be missed.

We were on the Golden Princess, Buenos Aires to Santiago last mid-February. As we were having dinner in a restaurant the night before boarding, we heard about the HAL ship that had just docked. The Prinsendam had experienced 70' waves and had a very, very rough voyage. Thankfully, our was relatively smooth. The only thing I'd mention is that it was very, very cold on sea days -- too cold to even sit in the covered pool area (the doors would swing open and you'd get a blast of arctic air) -- so that the inside of the ship was very, very crowded with people looking for something to do. Also, the ship was very, very big for some of the ports.

 

I agree with doing the excursion to Bluff Cove in Stanley. One thing to know is that when the ship is in the Falklands, the ship's excursions use up almost all of the island's resources so if you don't book ahead, there will be little for you to do or see.

 

Silly questions but paying $2200 per person is more than double the cost of the cruise!

If you only paid $1,100 pp, then you did well! As for the Antartica flight, the $2,200/pp is NON-REFUNDABLE. If the flight can't go for any reason, you're out the money.

[mrspunker]

My wifw (Mary) and I are contimplating going on this cruise. I didn't like that HAL 70 ft wave blog but this would be a nice cruise

[FLACRUISER99]

I did this Cruise 3/9/06 and you could see penguins in Punta Arenas & Falkland Islands. However I recommend you pre book in both ports as you could always cancel. Our weather and seas were wonderful no, ship movement whatsoever. In fact people were disappointed at Cape Horn because there was hardly a ripple.:eek: