South America in November

[lovetosailwithfamily]

We will be taking the November 20th cruise on Holland how much outer wear will we need for excursions off the ship? We are traveling from Kentucky, USA. Also for those that have taken this cruise are there any must dos. We board in Buenos Aires.

[Keith1010]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

It is always helpful to list the ports because if you are going from Buenos Aires to Rio that is a whole lot different than Buenos Aires to Valparaiso.

I will assume you are going from Buenos Aires to Valaparaiso.

If so the ports that are north will be warm with highs in the 80's. So light clothes work well.

As you go further South it will get colder and windier and the highs will mainly be in the high 40's to low to high 50's. With the wind it will feel cooler. If you are stopping at places such as Punta Arenas and seeing the Penguins which I recommend it will be cold with the wind. Best to layer. Bring a waterproof jacket, hat, scarf, fleece and or sweater and waterproof pants. But you'll layer clothes so if it warms up you can remove the items.

If per chance you are going Buenos Aires to Rio it will be all warm temperatures and you won't need any of the items I mentioned for cool weather.

Keith

[CruiserBruce]

Keith has given you some excellent advice.

Some must dos:

Check your Roll Call. Don't know what ship you are on, so here are the Holland America (HAL for short) Roll Call:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86

Select your ship, then your sailing date, and join in. You will learn what others are doing.

Second, do some reading on the Ports boards, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

Again, you will get ideas on things to do or see.

Third, the HAL board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

for tons of great HAL info.

Lastly, go to the HAL website. It has all the info. Plus, look at the excursions listed for your cruise. You will get ideas on what is important in each port.

[jdvmd]

Just wanted to say hello to a fellow Kentuckian.

We did this trip a couple of years ago from Buenos Aires to Santiago. You will definitely need all kinds of clothing. We did it in March but went from wearing shorts in BA and in Santiago to multi layers of cold-weather clothing elsewhere. Also, bring rain gear.

[lovetosailwithfamily]

I was hoping that it might be a little warmer in November, since it will be Spring there. I had planned to layer, but had not considered waterproof pants. Thanks

[lovetosailwithfamily]

We are doing the same cruise. Were there any excursions other than the penguins that are good? We are staying at the Sheraton Librator in Buenos Aires before the cruise do you recall any transportation hints from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port that may be helpful to us, we will be a party of four. Also, did you do any sight seeing in Buenos Aires ?

[thinfool]

Originally Posted by lovetosailwithfamily

I was hoping that it might be a little warmer in November, since it will be Spring there. I had planned to layer, but had not considered waterproof pants. Thanks

Haven't done SA yet, but my take is that SA in November is like Alaska in May.

[jdvmd]

Originally Posted by lovetosailwithfamily

I was hoping that it might be a little warmer in November, since it will be Spring there. I had planned to layer, but had not considered waterproof pants. Thanks

We just did layers with a waterproof shell jacket etc. My son and husband did the pants but I stuck with jeans. Guess who was cold and wet? This was in the Falklands, however. I am not sure who is going to the Falklands anymore. Ushuaia was more drizzly, freezing rain.

[jdvmd]

Originally Posted by lovetosailwithfamily

We are doing the same cruise. Were there any excursions other than the penguins that are good? We are staying at the Sheraton Librator in Buenos Aires before the cruise do you recall any transportation hints from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port that may be helpful to us, we will be a party of four. Also, did you do any sight seeing in Buenos Aires ?

We did all of our excursions on our own and joined others from our roll call. Cannot think of any bad about this trip. It was wonderful. We stayed at LeMeridien in Buenos Aires and they arranged to have a driver meet us at the airport. Very reasonable. Taxis are so cheap to get around the city. We only had one day so we flew in, got to the hotel, took a quick nap and then went exploring. That night, we did a tango show. Next morning, explored some more and then went to the ship.

[Keith1010]

Originally Posted by thinfool

Haven't done SA yet, but my take is that SA in November is like Alaska in May.

No it's not Alaska.

November is Spring but what that means is that it is warm (80's) in places such as Buenos Aires and Valparaiso and lows say in the 60's or 70's. But as you go South it gets cooler and cooler and windier and the same is for the summer but hotter in the first two places and still cool and windy as you go south.

Keith

[jdvmd]

Originally Posted by Keith1010

No it's not Alaska.

November is Spring but what that means is that it is warm (80's) in places such as Buenos Aires and Valparaiso and lows say in the 60's or 70's. But as you go South it gets cooler and cooler and windier and the same is for the summer but hotter in the first two places and still cool and windy as you go south.

Keith

Perfect explanation, Keith.

[Keith1010]

Originally Posted by lovetosailwithfamily

We are doing the same cruise. Were there any excursions other than the penguins that are good? We are staying at the Sheraton Librator in Buenos Aires before the cruise do you recall any transportation hints from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port that may be helpful to us, we will be a party of four. Also, did you do any sight seeing in Buenos Aires ?

From Hotel to the Port you can take a taxi or have the hotel get you a private vehicle.

You most definitely should take a tour. There is so much to see in Buenos Aires. It is very European. Have the hotel book you a tour.

Keith

[greatam]

Originally Posted by lovetosailwithfamily

I was hoping that it might be a little warmer in November, since it will be Spring there. I had planned to layer, but had not considered waterproof pants. Thanks

There may still be snow showers in Ushuaia and Punta Arenas in November. There will still be quite a bit of snow on the ski hills just outside Ushuaia. The chances of rain are pretty high. The high temp MAY reach 60. The low temp is about 35. You have to remember at the far end of South America you are no further than about 600 miles from Antarctica where it never really warms up.

Buenos Aires and Valparaiso temps will be considerably higher-65-75 for the highs. 45-55 for the lows. And the rest of the trip-as you go south from Buenos Aires, it gets colder. Once you pass through the Chilean fjords and start North up the West side of South America, it gets warmer.

[Keith1010]

Originally Posted by lovetosailwithfamily

We are doing the same cruise. Were there any excursions other than the penguins that are good? We are staying at the Sheraton Librator in Buenos Aires before the cruise do you recall any transportation hints from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port that may be helpful to us, we will be a party of four. Also, did you do any sight seeing in Buenos Aires ?

Following up on my earlier post, there is so much to see in Buenos Aires. It is very European. Here are just a few of the places to visit.

Keith

The Recoleta Cemetery: Very unique. Almost like a small village. Very famous.

Plaza de Mayo. President’s Palace

Teatro Colon. Opera House

The Obelisk. Looks like Washington Monument

Cafe Tortoni. Very famous café. Take a break there to have a coffee.

La Boca. Fun area to walk around with all sorts of cafes and restaurants.