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Chilean ports summer 2017/2018 valparaiso or san antonio ??


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I will be on HAL on the Zaandam beginning March 3, 2018 in Buenos Aires and scheduled to stop in Valparaiso on March 17. Just received notice this morning that we will now be stopping in San Antonio. From what I have read it seems that it is still feasible to do a tour of Valparaiso from the San Antonio port. Does that sound logical? Thanks for your help.

 

Helen

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We are leaving on the Zaandam - HAL on 9/281/17 and we have now been officially changed from Valparaiso to San Antonio - we don't know why - it just is. All Valparaiso shore excursions have been deleted, and nothing new has been put in its place - if any one has any idea why, would love to pass it on to a bunch of angry cruiserx - thanks

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Does anyone know why the change is being made? It appears that Valparaiso is a much better choice for tourism so I'm wondering what has prompted this apparent change.

Thanks

Cheers!

This link may help to explain the situation.

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/valparaiso-cruise-calls-at-risk-on-berthing-labor-issues.html

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Looks like they may have built the brand new facility and forgot about the other aspects needed to attract and maintain customers. Hope they can get act together.

 

It's a bit of a pain for us as this is a stop on our S.A. cruise and we are going to visit Valparaiso city and now have additional travel time to/from.

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Looks like they may have built the brand new facility and forgot about the other aspects needed to attract and maintain customers. Hope they can get act together.

 

 

 

It's a bit of a pain for us as this is a stop on our S.A. cruise and we are going to visit Valparaiso city and now have additional travel time to/from.

 

 

+1

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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I'm sure it is also about the money, always is. Carnival Corp. likely is getting a better deal at cheaper rates from the city of San Antonio than from Valparaiso. I doubt the cruise lines care about their passenger experiences and inconveniences on land before and after a cruise. They only care about their own bottom line.

 

Celebrity is sticking to Valparaiso so if I ever do a Cape Horn cruise again I may choose Celebrity if I want to visit Valparaiso as part of my vacation.

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Princess is now showing San Antonio instead of Valparaiso on their website.

Princess has pushed back departure from San Antonio for Emerald Princess Feb.14 by an hour, now leaving at 6:00pm instead of 5:00pm. Princess has sent an email notification making the change official.

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Princess has pushed back departure from San Antonio for Emerald Princess Feb.14 by an hour, now leaving at 6:00pm instead of 5:00pm. Princess has sent an email notification making the change official.

 

I'm happy to hear that - that might allow our Valparaiso tour operator a bit more breathing room if he can still make the tour work.

 

I haven't received anything from Princess yet :(

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Does anyone how to get to Valparaiso from San Antonio?

 

Do a Google map and you will see the distance and estimated driving time.

 

You can get a taxi, van, bus service. Rent a car. Lots of choices.

 

We are doing a private tour in Valparaiso, so it is more costly because they have to pick us up and return us to San Antonio. But the up-charge was quite reasonable and competitive with us doing it ourselves.

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Princess has pushed back departure from San Antonio for Emerald Princess Feb.14 by an hour, now leaving at 6:00pm instead of 5:00pm. Princess has sent an email notification making the change official.

 

I have always had it as 6:00pm. The impact is the next port, La Serena where arrival and departure are both 1 hr later than before (same time in port). This makes sense as the ship has further to travel overnight than from Valparaiso.

 

I will be willing to admit it may have been 5:00pm way back before Princess decided to sell segments (as in when we booked the 60-day trip), but with San Antonio being a segment break, the extra hour gives more time for boarding passengers to catch the ship. So, I believe it has been 6:00pm for some time now.

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There is much traffic during the high season and that is the reason why some cruise companies have to disembark in San Antonio instead of Valparaiso.

Fortunatly I found a tour operator that can pick us up at San Antonio port and take us to Valparaiso and Santiago visiting the highlights. This is tourguideushuaia.net

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Hello Gphanton. Thanks for the info. I also found a tour operator that can pick up and take Chile (Valparaiso and Santiago) visits.

Liz Private Tours . This is lizflor2.blogspot.com

Seems to have all contacts around!

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hello Koolforkatz,,,,dont worry,,,, it is very easy to go to Valparaiso from San Antonio port,,,,,i,,,do not miss the Valparaiso city,,,best regards

Princess just sent out emails. They are using the San Antonio Port for embarkation, debarkation. Rats. I called their hot line. They said they eould vontact me regarding my debarkstion excursion.[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]

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We are on a 2019 NCL cruise and I received this from my TA yesterday...

 

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners:

 

September 25, 2017

 

IMPORTANT PIER CHANGE INFORMATION

 

cid:3D654837-8ECC-4DEE-9080-B35CB3450FEBNorwegian Cruise Line has important information regarding Norwegian Sun's South America sailings departing from Chile of December 23, 2017; January 20, February 17, December 22, 2018, January 19, 2019; February 16, 2019 and March 16, 2019. All guests booked on these sailings need to be aware of this change and travel professionals are asked to forward this information to their clients.

Because of berthing conflicts, the embarkation port for the previously mentioned Norwegian Sun sailings are being changed from Valparaiso to Puerto Central in San Antonio, Chile.

Puerto Central San Antonio is the biggest port in Chile. Transport companies, taxis and buses are familiar with the port and the location. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to welcoming you aboard the beautiful Norwegian Sun.

Sincerely,

Vivian Ewart

Vice President, Passenger Services

 

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We are on a 2019 NCL cruise and I received this from my TA yesterday...

 

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners:

 

September 25, 2017

 

IMPORTANT PIER CHANGE INFORMATION

 

cid:3D654837-8ECC-4DEE-9080-B35CB3450FEBNorwegian Cruise Line has important information regarding Norwegian Sun's South America sailings departing from Chile of December 23, 2017; January 20, February 17, December 22, 2018, January 19, 2019; February 16, 2019 and March 16, 2019. All guests booked on these sailings need to be aware of this change and travel professionals are asked to forward this information to their clients.

Because of berthing conflicts, the embarkation port for the previously mentioned Norwegian Sun sailings are being changed from Valparaiso to Puerto Central in San Antonio, Chile.

Puerto Central San Antonio is the biggest port in Chile. Transport companies, taxis and buses are familiar with the port and the location. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to welcoming you aboard the beautiful Norwegian Sun.

Sincerely,

Vivian Ewart

Vice President, Passenger Services

 

Thanks so much! We are on NCL Sun Feb. 17, 2018 and have heard many rumors, but this is the first time I have seen it in writing.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Yes seems to be that is the 2nd year that the San Antonio port replace the arrival ship to Valparaiso. That is like 1 hour and half.

If you take a private tour you can do tour and transfer with luggage to cover things, it will be a long day to cover all. Or you can explore the town of San Antonio wich has not too much but you can relax and feel more local culture as it not touristic. In a way WE help them to develop the area more touristic and get more jobs !

This is what my travel agent told me and they are connected with local guides in each port like (liz2arg at yahoo dot com) to organize cruiseship passengers first class private tours.

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  • 3 weeks later...

:(

Do a Google map and you will see the distance and estimated driving time.

 

You can get a taxi, van, bus service. Rent a car. Lots of choices.

 

We are doing a private tour in Valparaiso, so it is more costly because they have to pick us up and return us to San Antonio. But the up-charge was quite reasonable and competitive with us doing it ourselves.[/quote

 

Hello. I am wondering if you did this private tour successfully. We too are lookong for a Valparaiso / Santiago tour that picks up and drops off at San Antonia pier. Which company did you use? Reply to mktsurusaki ar yahoo dot com..

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