some questions about SA verses alaska

[karen327]

I had posted a thread on the "ask a cruise question" section asking for advice from people who have been to both alaska and SA. I had more of my questions about alaska answered, was wondering if anyone could answer these questions, and also give me their opinion as to which would be the better cruise, alaska or around the horn of south america

 

When you say that there is a lot of wind, how bad?

 

How rough can the seas be?

 

Do they ever make people stay inside for safety?

 

Do very many people get sea sick?

 

 

Are people outside much when in the southern part of the continent? Or is most viewing through windows?

 

Can you see the shore most of the time, or do you just look at water like in the carrabean

 

How much of the sailing is through scenic areas?

 

 

Which ship would you recommend for a couple in their 40's who love nature, scenery and star gazing, as well as shows for entertainment, but not into the party scene or having to get dressed up a lot.

 

Is it easy to hire someone to give a private tour on shore for a reasonable amount of money like in the Carabean?

 

Do very many locals at the ports speak English? Are there communication problems If my spanish isn't very good?

 

Thanks for any input you can give me.

[kimiata]

Hi Karen,

 

Based on our one Alaska cruise (August 2006) and our one SA cruise (December 2008), here's what I know.

 

The southern part of SA is windy, REALLY windy, as in the strongest winds I have ever felt in my life in one port (Punta Arenas). I think they said they were over 50 mph. It was deemed too dangerous for us to walk along the pier back to the ship, and they made us take a bus instead.

 

The seas were rougher in SA than on our Alaska cruise. The worst day for me was between Montevideo and Puerto Madryn. It was also very rough at times between Port Stanley and Ushuaia, and kind of rough the day we went past Cape Horn. We didn't ever have to stay inside for safety.

 

I was seasick on both the Alaska and SA cruises, but I usually get seasick at least once. We heard rumors of someone getting so sick they had to leave the ship. But everyone we talked to did fine, much better than I did.

 

We spent a fair amount of time outdoors admiring the scenery, but it definitely was not bathing suit weather. The scenery was non-stop gorgeous for a few days as we sailed through the Chilean fjords.

 

We hired drivers/guides in three ports for a reasonable amount of money. Two spoke some English, one didn't.

 

I can't tell you which cruise would be "better" though. We LOVED both of ours! Hope that helps a little.

[oavcech95]

I can say that the SA is perfect. Here check my blog http://celebrityinfinity.blogspot.com/

[Keith1010]

Karen, I provided some answers to your inititial quesitons on the other thread. I do prefer the SA cruise over Alaksa but they are both great cruises.

 

When you say that there is a lot of wind, how bad? How rough can the seas be?

 

I've combined these two questions because all of this varies by cruise. The odds say you will have some rough seas when going around the Horn meaning there will be around 12-24 hours when the seas will be fairly rough. If you think you are prone to getting sea sick then I would recommend that you prepare for that ahead of time. In our case we take Bonine. We have done this cruise multiple times and each one was different.

 

Do they ever make people stay inside for safety?

If the seas and winds are extremely rough than you will want to stay inside until things get back to normal. One time around the Horn it was not possible to go outside. I don't think the locked the doors but one was smart enough to stay inside. Another time seas were relatively calm.

 

Do very many people get sea sick?

 

Again, this can vary by voayge and by person. The key is just to prepare for this and to take either the over the counter medications, ginger, or use a patch or sea bands or some remedy.

 

 

Are people outside much when in the southern part of the continent? Or is most viewing through windows?

 

People do both. They will go out and about to take in the scenery and then go inside. Same in Alaska when viewing Glacier Bay. People go inside and outside.

 

Can you see the shore most of the time, or do you just look at water like in the carrabean

 

You will see shore quite a bit depending on where you are sailing. It is beautiful.

 

How much of the sailing is through scenic areas?

 

Quite a bit of it will be scenic.

Which ship would you recommend for a couple in their 40's who love nature, scenery and star gazing, as well as shows for entertainment, but not into the party scene or having to get dressed up a lot.

 

I would look at Celebrity. Some dress up is needed but there will also be a fair amount of casual nights.

 

Is it easy to hire someone to give a private tour on shore for a reasonable amount of money like in the Carabean?

If you want to do private excursions you can. There will be some ports that you can just walk around. And some you might want to do the ship excurision.

 

Do very many locals at the ports speak English? Are there communication problems If my spanish isn't very good?

 

This will vary but we have not had problems.

 

Finally, if you do this itinerary arrive a minimum of the day before or possibly more.

 

Keith

[BCHappyGal]

My humble opinion would vote for SA - that remains our favorite itinerary out of over 25 cruises including 2 Alaskan.

 

We cruised SA aboard Celebrities ship Infinity and that too remians our favorite ship...

 

We were lucky and enjoyed calm seas for the whole 28 days including around the horn!

 

Yes it was very windy in both the Falkland Islands and Ushuaia but still enjoyed both and we plan to repeat this itinerary. We sailed out of Ft Lauderdale so went south along the entire west coast of SA and I highly recommend this portion of the itinerary too.

 

For a full detailed description check out my review under the Celebrity reveiw section or e-mail me and I will send it to you ann at century 21 vancouver dot com just be aware that I am still on vacaiton in Fl for another couple of weeks.... just got back fromt he Amazon river crusie.

 

Yes you can prebook english speaking guides and drivers for a very reasonable amount of money that will provide an excellent private tour. Just goggle every port on the intenet and do your homework ahead of time. The ports are not overrun with touristy vendors like the Carribean as they get few crise ships.

Ann

[karen327]

For everyone who took the time to answer my questions, thank you very much. I think a SA cruise will make an excellent vacation for next winter.

I will definately take the time to read some of the cruise reviews.

[cruisingrandy]

We have done both Alaska and SA 2 times. I think SA is much more pristine. But in SA you will see more snow caps mountains if you go early as possible in Nov. or first of Dec at the latest