Falkland Islands: Cruise Tourism Booming!

From the Daily Mail newspaper in London this past weekend, they have this headline: "Why Falkland Islands' cruise ship tourism is booming, with 60,000 visitors expected to arrive this year".

Here are some of the story highlights: "Falkland Islands tourism has made a remarkable comeback in the past few years with the number of cruise ship visitors rising from less than 30,000 in 2012-13 to potentially double that this year. The boost comes thanks in no small way to the return of the Norwegian Cruise Line's services to South America this season from October to March. Their Sun vessel, which has a maximum passenger capacity of 1,900, is planning nine stops at Stanley as part of its cruise around Cape Horn this season. The Norwegian Sun cruise ship, which holds 1,900 passengers, is planning nine stops at Stanley this year. Should Mother Nature be kind, the Falklands could be nudging their heights of 2007-08 and 2008-09 when they welcomed more than 62,000 visitors before the global economic crisis hit and numbers slumped to 29,000 three years ago."

There are many pictures and other details included with this travel piece. This includes this info: "By far the greatest attractions of the Falklands is its abundance of unspoiled wildlife, the marine bird species in particular."

While we have not yet done this part of the world, it is on our future to-do listing as we would seek to include the Falklands with a sailing around Cape Horn. Have previously been in Argentina and Uruguay. Others planning travel here or been there recently??

Full story at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3206010/Why-Falkland-Islands-cruise-ship-tourism-booming-60-000-visitors-expected-arrive-year.html

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 27,301 views for these postings.

Hi, Terry, and thanks for posting this news story! We will be on the Star Princess around the Horn in late February 2016, with a scheduled stop in the Falklands. Hopefully our ship will make it there.

It is one of our stops on our Oct. 2016 Oceania Insignia cruise from Lima to BA.

I have read that weather can make or break this stop. I hope we are lucky.

We had a port call at Port Stanley in February, 2015. I found the community to be very welcoming and appreciative of our business. All were very interested in talking with the ship passengers and very friendly. And there is no Diamonds International -- despite being a woman who loves the little baubles which hang off my earlobes every time we are in a port which does not have yet another Diamonds International store I find the port refreshing.

The Falkland Islands was our favorite stop on our South America cruise. We toured with Patrick Watts and had an extremely interesting day! Stanley had been on my bucket list for some time and I was not disappointed. I hope that others will also have the same opportunity!!

We were there in 2006 and loved it as well. I'm happy that in January we'll stop in Stanley again on our Silver Seas Expedition cruise to Antarctica (setting foot on this continent will be a first for us). We found the people in Stanley very welcoming and friendly, so we're happy to help their economy :)

Hi, Terry, and thanks for posting this news story! We will be on the Star Princess around the Horn in late February 2016, with a scheduled stop in the Falklands. Hopefully our ship will make it there.

portofinoitaly: It is one of our stops on our Oct. 2016 Oceania Insignia cruise from Lima to BA. I have read that weather can make or break this stop. I hope we are lucky.

Hi' date=' Nancy!![/i'] Appreciate your dropping by, saying "HI!" and good luck with your upcoming Feb. 2016 adventure. Since your varied and many Australia-New Zealand travels in early 2014, part of that with us on the Solstice, what have been your big trips since that time? Love to hear more details!!

Wonderful to hear from others about how much they enjoyed the Falklands. Sounds nice that things generally worked well for most. Hope things work well for portofinoitaly.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 117,608 views for this posting.

It is one of our stops on our Oct. 2016 Oceania Insignia cruise from Lima to BA.

I have read that weather can make or break this stop. I hope we are lucky.

Hi portofinoitaly, I am led to believe that 96 out of every 100 ships get to tender their passengers ashore at Port Stanley so you will be really unlucky if you do not get to land there. If you like wildlife, please consider going to Volunteer Point where there are 100's if not 1,000's of King, Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins to be seen , all in one location. It's a bit of a roller coaster ride to get there and back, so the journey is not recommended for anyone suffering from a bad back. In my opinion, it is one of the best excursions to see wildlife anywhere in the world. Hope you enjoy your time there, regards, Harold

I am interested in knowing how many times these islands are not visited because of rough seas during a specific month.

I am booked for Dec. 2016 and it would be a huge disappointment if the weather did not cooperate.