Antarctica on Seabourn

Can I ask those Seabourn people who have disembarked in Valparaisio how they made their way back to Santiago? Does Seabourn offer a tour of the Valparaisio area/wineries etc before taking passengers to the airport? Has anyone used a private tour company to make the transfer?

Hi,

we used a private company to take us to the ship and do a winery tour for white wines on the way (Christian would have done it in reverse for us too); in fact we used him for all of our transfers and he was always spot on. If you are in the mood for wineries why not visit the Mendoza valley in Argentina (just a flight from Santiago and home of very good malbec).

Ushuaia we took a helicopter flight to the valley for a BBQ lunch - a never to be forgotten experience.

Yep, taxi took us straight to the chair lift.

I got the map from the onboard destination people so local lingo was on the map.

I used "tours by locals" in Valpa. We only did on winery but the rest of the transfer was throughout the countryside, not up the freeway. We spent the first night in Valpa and I thought it was a great choice but you need to stay up in the hills area not down town.

Thanks for the info.

We plan to locate a company to take us from the ship to the airport upon disembarking. We want to make it at least 8 hours so that we don't waste the day. We have been to Santiago before so we hope to visit wineries and see Valparaiso and it's surroundings. We would like to stop for a nice late lunch or early dinner before arriving at the airport. I will check Tours by Locals. I did check one company and they sounded very reasonable. Am not sure if this was a bus or car.

Re: tours ......

 

Falklands ... I did the battlefield tour and my wife went to see the Rockhopper penguins. Both were very good.

 

 

Roxburgh,

 

 

We are having trouble finding a tour operator for the Battlefield Tour in Port Stanley....could you please share who you used.

 

Thanks,

 

Ron Sorensen

 

Ron

 

We used a Seabourn tour for this.

Can I ask those Seabourn people who have disembarked in Valparaisio how they made their way back to Santiago? Does Seabourn offer a tour of the Valparaisio area/wineries etc before taking passengers to the airport? Has anyone used a private tour company to make the transfer?

We used the Seabourn hotel/transfer package.

 

Ron

 

We used a Seabourn tour for this.

 

Thanks for the quick reply....I assume you were pleased with the Seabourn Battlefield tour?

 

Thanks for the quick reply....I assume you were pleased with the Seabourn Battlefield tour?

 

Yes .... however, it does not cover the entire battlefield. For example, you do not see San Carlos or Goose Green. Neither can you walk up Tumbledown or Mount Harriet due to uncleared mines. We did however get to go to Bluff Cove and Fitzroy and then drove the line of advance past Mount Harriet and Sapper Hill and back to Stanley where we stopped at the war memorial there.

We are on the Nov 29 Antarctic cruise arriving in Valparaiso on Dec 20. Do Seabourn offer the usual coach service direct to the airport (Santiago) at the end of the cruise,

Or should I arrange a private transfer, any recommendations please ?

Hi Mrs Waldo

Were there taxis waiting at the glacier to bring you back into town and did you negotiate a price or just use the meter?

We're looking to do our own thing in Ushuaia but don't want to get stuck at the glacier!

Thanks

Gary & Maureen

There were taxis, seemed to be a pretty constant flow of drop off and pick up.

Meter….

Cost about $5

Just found this thread... thankfully!! :D

We are contemplating booking the Feb 3 2015 cruise, but I am concerned about the large size of the boat as opposed to Orion, for example. Specifically, I don't know how much time you actually have on land at each landing when they're having to transport 400 by Zodiac. I love the creature comforts of Quest but don't want to be shortchanged on the Antarctica experience. I read someone's post that said you had an hour on land. I just can't imagine how that is adequate time, but perhaps I'm off base.

Hubby wants to book this, but I am torn between "going for it" and waiting until next season for Orion/Nat Geo. Also quite a nice ship but 2-3 landings/day... and includes South Georgia. However, downside to Orion is no Chilean coast. And - because they're waitlisting - we would have to postpone the trip. I don't want to wait!

Would really appreciate your thoughts.

Just found this thread... thankfully!! :D

 

.

You found it :)

All you have to do now is find the letter

And don't forget to have a look at the Sticky about the referral vouchers as you will get $400 OBC if you are a first time cruiser with Seabourn

Just found this thread... thankfully!! :D

 

We are contemplating booking the Feb 3 2015 cruise, but I am concerned about the large size of the boat as opposed to Orion, for example. Specifically, I don't know how much time you actually have on land at each landing when they're having to transport 400 by Zodiac. I love the creature comforts of Quest but don't want to be shortchanged on the Antarctica experience. I read someone's post that said you had an hour on land. I just can't imagine how that is adequate time, but perhaps I'm off base.

 

Hubby wants to book this, but I am torn between "going for it" and waiting until next season for Orion/Nat Geo. Also quite a nice ship but 2-3 landings/day... and includes South Georgia. However, downside to Orion is no Chilean coast. And - because they're waitlisting - we would have to postpone the trip. I don't want to wait!

 

Would really appreciate your thoughts.

I found 60-90 minutes on land more than adequate. Always interesting to see the penguins but after an hour I found I was 'penguined-out'.

You found it :)

All you have to do now is find the letter

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1966337&highlight=letter+from

I found 60-90 minutes on land more than adequate. Always interesting to see the penguins but after an hour I found I was 'penguined-out'.

No one is timing you. You can stay until the last tender. We saw the Orion in Antarctica. One of the guides said he previously worked on that ship. I stated my cabin was probably larger than the cabins on the Orion. His answer was my cabin was larger than the dining room on the Orion.

Would hold out for Orion - a more "traditional" expedition cruise to the Antarctica. From what you have said, one stop per day (perhaps only 2 hrs each - max) will not be satisfying to you. My husband and I were present on Seabourn's inaugural crusie and we loved it. However one of our friends, also on the cruise, continues to be disappointed that they were able to spend such a short time on actual Antarctica landings. So my comments are mixed. The landings were sufficient for us, and Robin West and team are excellent but you must be the judge of how much concentrated time you wish to spend. After all this is probably a once in a lifetime cruise and you can easily take another to South America - there are lots of choices there.

I also found the 90 minute shore excursions fully adequate. Unless you're going further inland, that's plenty of time for local exploration. We loved the trip in 2013 and wouldn't change a thing. You're right to hold out for the visits to Chile.

My thanks to ALL of you for your help. I am booking with Seabourn this morning. My husband and I will be traveling quite a lot in the coming years, but our bucket list of lengthy vacations (3+ weeks) is fairly short... Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Asia (destinations TBD). 1-2 week ones are plentiful. SO, I struck a deal with him that if we love Antarctica as much as I think we will, we will add Orion's 24 day expedition to our bucket list and do it in the next few years. He agreed. I think this will be a great opportunity to explore many areas... not just Antarctica. I am very, very excited! I'm sure I will have more questions as we near Feb 3rd - even with the fantastic info posted here.

Here are a couple already :o 1) Are you permitted to take a GoPro on a pole for underwater pics from the Zodiacs? 2) Did anyone do a trip to Iguazu Falls from BA? If so, what did you do, and with whom did you make arrangements? I understand that booking this through Seabourn is extraordinarily costly, but the rt flights from BA to Iguazu are only about $350US... so I would imagine there are more reasonable options. 3) If you didn't do Iguazu, what were your favorite excursions from BA? We have three nights and almost 3 full days there at the end of the cruise, as we save about $6,000 in airfare (for both of us) by staying those extra days.

Thank you again!!!!

My thanks to ALL of you for your help. I am booking with Seabourn this morning. My husband and I will be traveling quite a lot in the coming years, but our bucket list of lengthy vacations (3+ weeks) is fairly short... Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Asia (destinations TBD). 1-2 week ones are plentiful. SO, I struck a deal with him that if we love Antarctica as much as I think we will, we will add Orion's 24 day expedition to our bucket list and do it in the next few years. He agreed. I think this will be a great opportunity to explore many areas... not just Antarctica. I am very, very excited! I'm sure I will have more questions as we near Feb 3rd - even with the fantastic info posted here.

 

Here are a couple already :o 1) Are you permitted to take a GoPro on a pole for underwater pics from the Zodiacs? 2) Did anyone do a trip to Iguazu Falls from BA? If so, what did you do, and with whom did you make arrangements? I understand that booking this through Seabourn is extraordinarily costly, but the rt flights from BA to Iguazu are only about $350US... so I would imagine there are more reasonable options. 3) If you didn't do Iguazu, what were your favorite excursions from BA? We have three nights and almost 3 full days there at the end of the cruise, as we save about $6,000 in airfare (for both of us) by staying those extra days.

 

Thank you again!!!!

I believe that Mrs Waldo (who posts on here) did the Iguazu Falls trip prior to embarkation.

We did hire a local guide for the day in BA who was excellent. Cost was around US$ for the day. Do take US$ to BA and don't be shy about asking for a US$ price in restaurants etc.. You will get a much better rate than the official one as the locals are desperate for them. We just changed $100 into local and the rest was paid in US currency.

Edit to the above .... cost of local BA guide was USD $200 for the day.

I believe that Mrs Waldo (who posts on here) did the Iguazu Falls trip prior to embarkation.

 

We did hire a local guide for the day in BA who was excellent. Cost was around US$ for the day. Do take US$ to BA and don't be shy about asking for a US$ price in restaurants etc.. You will get a much better rate than the official one as the locals are desperate for them. We just changed $100 into local and the rest was paid in US currency.

Another thought on using USD in Argentina.....we have family living in Argentina and visit every year for several months. The last several years there have been 2 rates of exchange - the "official" rate and the "blue" rate....today the official is $1 USD = 8.6 ARG, the "blue" rate is $1USD = 15.9 ARG. Even though the blue rate is not official....the blue exchange rate is printed daily in all of the newspapers. Any good guide will be able to take you to a money exchange to receive the blue rate or when you want to pay in USD be sure to ask what exchange rate they are using. We have always found the best is to exchange USD for ARG at the blue rate and pay everything in ARG. If you use your credit cards, you also will receive the "official" rate so will be paying twice as much than if you paid in ARG. Be sure that any USD you take to ARG to use or exchange are in like "new" condition - no marks, spots, creases, etc. You will not be able to use them if they are not in "like new" condition.

Under no circumstances exchange your USD to AGR on the street - you will be approached and offered ARG for your USD but often the ARG are fakes. Only go to a money exchange recommended by your guide or hotel.

It pays to know the current exchange rates, they are quite fluid so always ask in the AM before heading out for the day.

Re: Iguazu Falls

It is very easy to do on your own. We booked through Expedia in our case since the flight and one night at the Sheraton through them was the same price as the flight alone. Would definitely recommend the Sheraton as you can just walk out the door and be on the trails. We met another couple from the ship on our flight and we shared a taxi going to the hotel and back to airport. Recommend you fly LAN rather than Aerolineas Argentinas even if slightly more expensive.

Loved, loved, loved the Quest trip to Antarctica. A few facts:

only 100 people are allowed on each landing at one time. You can spend about an hour and a half at each landing, but I agree that an hour is usually enough. You cannot just wander wherever - there are very strict rules about where you can walk and where you can go( no matter which ship you go on). The Quest expedition team is superb: Seabourn hired the best away from other lines. On the comfort of this lovely ship, you will get alot of information, pictures, explanations etc. Part of the wonderful experience is the magnificent scenery. You will not be disappointed with this cruise !