Independent shore excursions? Ushuaia,etc..

[familytrippers]

Hi, thinking of booking the 16 day antarctica cruise with Princess in February....but want to know if anyone has booked any more active shore excursions themselves in ports? especially Ushuaia, Falklands, Punta Arenas, or Montevideo? We love to hike, kayak, etc... Think I will need some good exercise with so many sea days! thanks!!!:)

[Keith1010]

In Ushuaia, my wife and I did the trek through the Tierra del Fuego National Park, located about 7 miles west of Ushuaia. We did book this one through the cruise line and enjoyed several hours in this park.

 

Keith

[abbydancer2003]

We're on the 2/2/10 cruise and have booked with Patrick Watt on the Falklands. Ususally, we do ship's tours, but his price was a lot better.

[familytrippers]

thanks a lot, I'll look him up --- have seen his name mentionned on several other boards too. appreciate the help!

[Peregrina651]

The trip out to Volunteer Point to see the penguins is not an active excursion but don't let that stop you. It is one of those once in a lifetime excursions. We also toured with Patrick Watt and it was one of the highlights of the cruise. Since Volunteer Point is on the water, you might want to see if there are water-based ways of getting there; I thought that I heard some mention of it while doing research last year. Do read 'Gixer' thread on the Falklands (it is in this forum, just search for the member name). It is full of information.

 

As for Ushuaia, a couple on our tour went horseback riding. Here is a link to their review. http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=52883 (the same couple also arranged to SCUBA in Puerto Madryn).

Also the Ushuaia tourist bureau has a pdf of what to do in Ushuaia. http://www.e-ushuaia.com/servicios/whattodo.pdf I found it to be very helpful.

 

I did learn in the course of my research that there is plenty of information available on the web about tourism in South America and that many of the websites are available in English. Tourism (not just cruise-ships) is big in these areas and there are operators offering what you are looking for. Each port of call seemed to have a tourist bureau not to mention the websites of the various tour operators.

 

If you have time on the east coast side of your cruise, consider an overnight trip to Iguazu Falls. It is a magnificent venue for hiking.

 

The bottom line is that you should have no trouble at all finding and booking active excursions (from reputable providers) on your own.

 

 

[familytrippers]

what great ideas! thank you! I've started researching....normally I plan everything independently...in this case, some things may just make more sense to do thru the ship what with weather concerns, delays, etc... still I want to try and see as much as possible. We really want to do some hiking / see the highlights in Tierra National Park...still hoping to find a guided tour for that since time is limited. thanks again!

[Sahayla]

My husband and I cruised around Cape Horn in February. We rarely purchase shore excursions on the ship and usually have adequate time and luck finding excursions on our own.

 

Montevideo

Tour a great French colonial home, art gallery and participate in a great wine tasting. Uruguay has wonderful wines. www.portofcallmontevideo.com

 

Stanley

Take a taxi (easy to find and near the pier) to Gypsy Cove to see the Magellanic penguins. Walk around town and to the war memorial. Be sure to send postcards...the stamps are unique.

www.visitorfalklands.com

 

 

Ushuaia

Take a taxi to the station for El Tren del Fin del Mundo and ride the train into Tierra del Fuego National Park. Go early for the best schedule options. Do not opt for the expensive 1st class option. Even though my husband and I had a train car to ourselves the upgrade is basically a free drink and a boring snack.

 

Punta Arenas

Wonderful outdoor market near the town center...best place in SA for hand-crafted wool items.

 

Santiago, Chile

Fabulous city, taxis are abundant and cheap. See the Mercado Central and eat at Donde Augusto if you like seafood. The sea bass and/or parmesan razor clams are wonderful. The Casablanca Valley produces better Sauvignon Blanc than New Zealand...great prices too!

 

Happy Sailing!

[familytrippers]

All wonderful suggestions, thanks so much! We have pretty much set our plans now...leaving plenty of time for just "wandering the ports" a bit...Can't wait for the trip!

[lawteach]

How do you get in touch with this man?

[familytrippers]

If you mean the Falklands, Patrick Watts, his email is

pwatts@horizon.co.fk

[Shorex]

If you have time in Ushuaia, try Nunatak Adventures -- truly for the active and adventurous, and we have used them twice. Also in Ushuaia, have lunch or dinner in town and order centolla, the South American king crab -- to die for.

[familytrippers]

will check them out, thanks! planning to hike to the glacier and whatever else time allows!

[Peregrina651]

If you have time in Ushuaia, try Nunatak Adventures -- truly for the active and adventurous, and we have used them twice. Also in Ushuaia, have lunch or dinner in town and order centolla, the South American king crab -- to die for.

 

Shorex, could you tell us what you did and where you went with Nunatak Adventures?

 

Also, do you have any specific recommendations for where to eat? Or not to eat?

 

TIA

[tjcox9]

We too, did the Volunteer Point excursion with Patrick Watts and it is one of the highlights of our cruising "careers". When we did it, it was about half the price of the ship's tour and we were traveling right along with the ship's tour.

 

If you'd like a bit of background on Patrick, you might want to just do a search for him and the Falkland Islands "War" and you'll find that he is one of the heroes of that incident, no so long ago.

 

He also had a mention in an article in a Nat'l Geo Traveler magazine article on the Falklands within the last year. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! But then, our weather was also ideal, fortunately.