duopole

I know this post is over a year old but we were in Santo Tomas last week. It had been 11 years since the ship we were on had been there so information was scarce. If anybody has any questions I can try to answer.

I'm very interested in your feedback, as we have booked today for a cruise with Oceania doing this port! We are more interested in local & ancient culture, anything to do there? We don't like beaches and prefer to eat on board. Thank you already!

Hi Gina

We will be on the maidentrip, boarding in Le Havre. Could you check if the spa will be available from day 1? There is no possibility to book'right Now. Thanks for helping!

Sophie

In Buenos Aires there is a free shuttle bus to the town center, not far from the hop on hop off bus info desk (also in the port they are selling tickets and the hop on hop off bus gets you there (and brings you back). I would not recommend to walk from the port to the city, it's not that far but it's not very safe.

In Ushuaia: no shuttle needed. Taxis are waiting outside and you can negociate tours in National park. They are very friendly, especially if you try a few words spanish. Also boot excursions are available in the port.

In Chile: a lot of ports are with tenders and you need organised excursions due to the lack of touristic infrastructure.

Love South America!

In Buenos Aires there is a free shuttle to the city centre and in the port you can buy ticket for the Hop on Hop off bus which is waiting at the port and bringing you back there. I don't remember the price but it's not expensive at all.

Hi Sophie! Of course. It will be my pleasure To share information and prior experiences with you to make sure you have a great trip. I will also port experiences and impressions here as things happen. I have a detailed list for the NCL SUN ports which I will send. Are you interested in information on car rental in Puerto Montt? I will again take the tour with Felix but have information on the cheapest car rental for automatic transmission cars. Is Oceania stopping at the same posts? Lari

Thanks Lari, any information will do. Our port of calls are BA (we will arrive 1 nights before and stay 1 night with the cruise, so it gives us 3 full days in BA), Punta del Este, Puerto Madryn, Port Stanley, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Laguna San Rafael, Puerto Chacabuco, Puerto Montt, Valparaiso (we plan to book 2 extra nights in Santiago).

What I really want to do is see wildlife, especially whales and dolphins and pinguins, and of course beautiful sceneries like glaciers and lakes. I don't like commercial excursions or war musea ;-)

Rental car could be nice if you advice positively (easy to find your way? roads OK? safe feeling?

Thanks again!

Sophie

Thank you again for all your good advice.

Hi Lari,

We are doing Oceania BA to Santiago on Dec. 22d, I'm very interested in your information.

Could you please send me anything you have fifialiassophie@hotmail.com

I also would like to know what you recommend as absolutely not to miss.

Thank you!

Sophie

Hi,

Thanks to you all for the replies and the interesting information.

I think :rolleyes: we have made up our mind and we will go with the Oceania. The main reason is that we have access to a special offer which make it possible for us to experience the Oceania luxury.

Also the HAL cruise is fully booked on exterior (even on balcony, which would be much more money then our Oceania offer so not even an option).

And yes we are from Belgium and if you want any insider information on this little crazy fantastic place, don't hesitate to ask me :) cheers :)

Hi all,

I'd like your opinion on the following:

What (and why) would you choose between the HAL 14 nights cruise or the Oceania 16 days around South America?

My question is more about the itinerary. I quite know what to expect from HAL as I cruised with them already 3 times, and I have recommandation for Oceania I have the recommendation of a friend :)

But I want to be sure I'm getting the most interesting itinerary, as this is a once in a lifetime cruise for us (as we have to flight all the way from a little chocolate and beer country :):p)

I have copied the links with the itinerary description below:

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/south-america-cruises/buenos-aires-to-valparaiso-MNA151222/

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?destCode=S&portCode=&shipCodeSearch=&dateCode=&flexibleMonths=false&noOfFlexibleMonths=1&pageNumber=0&voyageCode=X573&tabName=ItineraryDetails&fromSearchVacation=true

Thanks for your help!

Sophie

Thank you for the pictures! I will be embarking on 2 august in Amsterdam for the Northern capitals itinerary. Anyone comments or tips both on itinerary and ship? It's our third cruise and first on Costa, our first 2 were on HAL.

Hi everybody!

We are embarking next week for our second HAL cruise. On our vouchers it says that the embarkation time is 1 PM. But according to the Mariners's advantages we have a embarkation lunch, does that mean that as star mariners we can check-in earlier? and how does that work exactly? we have not much experience yet, sorry :-)