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Zaandam 21 day South America & Antarctic Explorer cruise log/review

StartrainDD

By StartrainDD,
in Holland America Line

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StartrainDD "Live from...." Rare

StartrainDD

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We very much enjoyed your review and finding it very helpful.Thank you. We are booked on the Dec20/16 sailing. You said that in two ports you could have chosen better tour options. Which ones did you do with HAL and which

organized by your fellow CC members. Which would you consider a pass? What should we not miss? Would appreciate you assistance as we are starting to make our choices. Thank you. D&V

 

Hello D&V! You have a lot to look forward to!

 

None of the shore tours were through HAL. Everyone was private; some of them I arranged, some by others, and a few just "DIY."

 

What I would do different in in Puerto Chacabuco I would do the tour offered by someone named Anne. It is an all-day tour but includes a lunch (something I normally avoid) on a private ranch/farm and the locals put on a native dance show. The 30 or so who did that tour RAVED about it.

 

Our tour at that port was enjoyable but we spent too much time in the van and not enough outside seeing or doing things. So I would go with the other tour. If you find the roll call for our cruise I'm sure a search of the thread with the port name you will find the info on the tour provider.

 

The other port I would do different was Punta Arenas. Again, our tour was entirely 'fine,' but the folks who went on the tour to the Penguin island just RAVED about it. We did have perfect weather for it, so if you plan for that, either through HAL or privately, you need to have a plan B in mind.

 

We are just off our British Isles cruise and enjoyed two days in London. Heading home tomorrow.

 

Arie

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maltcan

maltcan

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We will take your advice and look into these two tours.

Thanks again Arie, for taking the time while in London to answer our questions. We will look for your British Isles reviews. Could be our next cruise. Be Well. D & V.

 

Hello D&V! You have a lot to look forward to!

 

None of the shore tours were through HAL. Everyone was private; some of them I arranged, some by others, and a few just "DIY."

 

What I would do different in in Puerto Chacabuco I would do the tour offered by someone named Anne. It is an all-day tour but includes a lunch (something I normally avoid) on a private ranch/farm and the locals put on a native dance show. The 30 or so who did that tour RAVED about it.

 

Our tour at that port was enjoyable but we spent too much time in the van and not enough outside seeing or doing things. So I would go with the other tour. If you find the roll call for our cruise I'm sure a search of the thread with the port name you will find the info on the tour provider.

 

The other port I would do different was Punta Arenas. Again, our tour was entirely 'fine,' but the folks who went on the tour to the Penguin island just RAVED about it. We did have perfect weather for it, so if you plan for that, either through HAL or privately, you need to have a plan B in mind.

 

We are just off our British Isles cruise and enjoyed two days in London. Heading home tomorrow.

 

Arie

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MillieMarley

MillieMarley

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Hello D&V! You have a lot to look forward to!

 

None of the shore tours were through HAL. Everyone was private; some of them I arranged, some by others, and a few just "DIY."

 

What I would do different in in Puerto Chacabuco I would do the tour offered by someone named Anne. It is an all-day tour but includes a lunch (something I normally avoid) on a private ranch/farm and the locals put on a native dance show. The 30 or so who did that tour RAVED about it.

 

Our tour at that port was enjoyable but we spent too much time in the van and not enough outside seeing or doing things. So I would go with the other tour. If you find the roll call for our cruise I'm sure a search of the thread with the port name you will find the info on the tour provider.

 

The other port I would do different was Punta Arenas. Again, our tour was entirely 'fine,' but the folks who went on the tour to the Penguin island just RAVED about it. We did have perfect weather for it, so if you plan for that, either through HAL or privately, you need to have a plan B in mind.

 

We are just off our British Isles cruise and enjoyed two days in London. Heading home tomorrow.

 

Arie

 

Hi we are also on the 20th Dec cruise and I too have loved your review. I have been looking at a couple of options for Puerto Chacabuco and I am wondering if you could private message me who your excursion was with? My email is rtccass at hotmail dot com. At first I wasn't going to do the e-patagonia tour by you are swaying me in this direction with your experience.

Teresa

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scluvsrain

scluvsrain

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I also did the Chacabuco tour with a small group just like Arie described. The day was wonderful and I loved having lunch at the ranch with the family. The dancing was a lot of fun too. We used empatagonia tours. Good outfit.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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RuthC

RuthC

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Did you need to get any visas or were you covered by the ship's visa?

If you go into Brazil, including a trip to the Brazilian side of Iguassu Falls from Argentina, you need to have your own visa. Otherwise, on the cruises between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso, you do not need individual visas for any country.

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scluvsrain

scluvsrain

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Well. You DO need to pay the reciprocity fee to Argentina before you leave home. You will need the paper receipt when you board in Valparaiso. If you are boarding in Buenos Aires and flying in to Argentina you will need to show it at the airport along with your passport. You get this by going online. It's good for a number of years so hold on to it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 2 months later...
rkacruiser

rkacruiser

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I certainly have enjoyed reading your review and I appreciate you doing so. I am considering this itinerary at Christmas/New Year's for 2017-2018.

 

A question: why did you decide to fly LAN from Buenos Aires to Santiago as part of your return home rather than a non-stop to the United States from Buenos Aires?

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

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I certainly have enjoyed reading your review and I appreciate you doing so. I am considering this itinerary at Christmas/New Year's for 2017-2018.

 

A question: why did you decide to fly LAN from Buenos Aires to Santiago as part of your return home rather than a non-stop to the United States from Buenos Aires?

 

Not answering your question at all, but it reminded me when we were looking for a flight from BsAs back to Los Angeles, we found going through Houston, Texas worked best for us on the West Coast USA.

 

Plus we went through customs in Houston so no pile up in LAX at the very end of the trip. So anyone struggling with a route from BsAS to the west coast be sure to find a Houston option too.

 

Made total sense but the first flights I searched (I do this online myself) had us all over the place with layovers for the best cost -- then pow, up came the Houston option. It was the winner.

 

We were lucky enough to leave by train from San Diego for our "round the horn" HAL cruise. But not lucky enough to leave BsAS without their dreaded $160 "reciprocity" fee - which I think now has been suspended? At least on their end; not ours.

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StartrainDD "Live from...." Rare

StartrainDD

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I certainly have enjoyed reading your review and I appreciate you doing so. I am considering this itinerary at Christmas/New Year's for 2017-2018.

 

A question: why did you decide to fly LAN from Buenos Aires to Santiago as part of your return home rather than a non-stop to the United States from Buenos Aires?

 

The more I reflect back on this trip, the more I would like to repeat it. So if you can go ahead and do it!

 

When we booked the cruise, the flights we took were the best combination of direct and price. The airlines kept trying to steer us to "Two change" flights. Ideally a non-stop is best, but there are few direct flights. If you commit a year ahead then you may be able to grab non-stop flights!

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