BA to Valparaiso - a few questions!

We are considering a two week cruise on NCL from BA to Valparaiso in December and I have some concerns / questions for anyone who's been on this or a similar itinerary.

My husband and I will be traveling with our three year old son. I'm assuming these itineraries at this time of year don't have many kids. Does anyone know if the NCL kids clubs are good for 3 year olds?

I know many of the stops have tenders - are they safe for little ones?

I've read that many of the ships have to skip Stanley - do you know how often? Just asking because we will already be at sea for many days with a very active little one and would be disappointed with one more!

Any idea what kind of weather we should expect at that time of year? Especially at the southern points? Do you basically pack for summer and winter weather? Are the seas really rough?

We've cruises a few times with our son already but this is the longest we've done with him. Thanks for your input.

We are considering a two week cruise on NCL from BA to Valparaiso in December and I have some concerns / questions for anyone who's been on this or a similar itinerary.

 

My husband and I will be traveling with our three year old son. I'm assuming these itineraries at this time of year don't have many kids. Does anyone know if the NCL kids clubs are good for 3 year olds? Please ask on the NCL board.

 

I know many of the stops have tenders - are they safe for little ones? Does he climb playground equipment? It's not more dangerous but maybe unstable.

 

Do you basically pack for summer and winter weather? Yes, we did.

I would have to google for the average weather in Patagonia and on the Falklands.

We are considering a two week cruise on NCL from BA to Valparaiso in December and I have some concerns / questions for anyone who's been on this or a similar itinerary.

 

My husband and I will be traveling with our three year old son. I'm assuming these itineraries at this time of year don't have many kids. Does anyone know if the NCL kids clubs are good for 3 year olds?

 

I know many of the stops have tenders - are they safe for little ones?

 

I've read that many of the ships have to skip Stanley - do you know how often? Just asking because we will already be at sea for many days with a very active little one and would be disappointed with one more!

 

Any idea what kind of weather we should expect at that time of year? Especially at the southern points? Do you basically pack for summer and winter weather? Are the seas really rough?

 

We've cruises a few times with our son already but this is the longest we've done with him. Thanks for your input.

You won't see many children on board for a two week cruise.

I would post on the NCL Board to ask about the kids program.

About one out of every three cruises miss the Falkland Islands due to the high winds which make it unsafe to run tender operations.

The weather will range from high 80's to low 90's in Valparaiso and Buenos Aires and as you sail South it will become cooler and windy. Lows in the 40's/50's and highs in the 50's/60's/70's. It could be sunny or rainy or both.

The key is to layer clothing.

It's a beautiful itinerary.

Keith

We did a B2B2B series of cruises which started last February and the middle leg itinerary was Buenos Aires to Valparaiso.

Regarding tenders, obviously you are the parent and will have to make the decision. But we've done two cruises through French Polynesia in which the bulk of the ports were tender ports. I've seen young children able to handle the tender process well, as long as they can listen and follow the directions of the ship staff.

The first leg of that B2B2B included a stop at Port Stanley. I had read several times on Cruise Critic that ships frequently can't tender there, so I asked our excursion driver (we were on a Patrick Watts organized tour to Volunteer Point) how frequently that happens. He told me it was infrequent for a ship to not be able to tender so I was surprised at his answer.

While our sea conditions were better than I had expected, the weather was cool at Ushauia and Puerto Montt. Layers are definitely the key.

Thanks for the information. This cruise is on my bucket list and I may be booking it while on board Summit in September.

Thanks for the information. This cruise is on my bucket list and I may be booking it while on board Summit in September.

We enjoyed this itinerary so much that we have booked a Buenos Aires to Valparaiso and Valparaiso to Florida B2B set for 2017. It was a lovely set of cruises with great scenery and interesting ports. And we fell in love with Buenos Aires.

For the southern ports, the layers should include a waterproof (and windproof) shell, with hood. If you plan to spend much time away from shelter, waterproof rain pants and footwear are desirable as well. Rain, sometimes driven by strong winds, is a definite possibility. However, that should not deter you -- this is a wonderful route, which we have done twice. (Actually, 2.5 times, involving a long story...) We got to the Falklands on 1 of 2 attempts.

John

We enjoyed this itinerary so much that we have booked a Buenos Aires to Valparaiso and Valparaiso to Florida B2B set for 2017. It was a lovely set of cruises with great scenery and interesting ports. And we fell in love with Buenos Aires.

We did this itinerary on a HAL ship in March which is late in the year for the Southern hemisphere. The Falklands were not on the itinerary. The port of Punta Arenas was closed due to high winds and a storm approached Ushuaia, so we skipped that and the captain took the entire Chilean inner passage, very interesting. I also liked the coast further north and the return through the Panama Canal.

January is probably the month with the highest likelihood of good weather.

Good to know about January because that is when I am going.:D

We are considering a two week cruise on NCL from BA to Valparaiso in December and I have some concerns / questions for anyone who's been on this or a similar itinerary.

 

My husband and I will be traveling with our three year old son. I'm assuming these itineraries at this time of year don't have many kids. Does anyone know if the NCL kids clubs are good for 3 year olds?

 

I know many of the stops have tenders - are they safe for little ones?

 

I've read that many of the ships have to skip Stanley - do you know how often? Just asking because we will already be at sea for many days with a very active little one and would be disappointed with one more!

 

Any idea what kind of weather we should expect at that time of year? Especially at the southern points? Do you basically pack for summer and winter weather? Are the seas really rough?

 

We've cruises a few times with our son already but this is the longest we've done with him. Thanks for your input.

We did Around the Horn with Celebrity Infinity in January 2014. One of our favorite cruises.

Here is my review:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=248878

The weather in BA, Punta del Este, Montevideo, Valparaiso and Santiago is hot. The southern most part of the cruise, it will be chilly, and a bit cold. The ports between are temperate.

You need to take layers for the different climates.

We did a great tango show in BA, details in my review.

Also, if you have a family and looking for affordable lodging, check out the B&B that we stayed in BA. For $80 we had a kitchen, living room, and three bedrooms. You could sleep five.

Details in my review.

Punta Arenas is where tendering is a bit of a pain. Punta del Este is not so bad.

Regarding a 3 year old, can't help with the kids stuff. You won't see many kids on the ship.

Make sure you have a steak in Argentina, the beef there is the best. In Chile, have Chilean Sea Bass or Crab. Also, crab stuffed empanadas.