Chilean Fijords

[PasadenaDave]

Thanks to wonderful photos on the blogs of the current World Cruise, we have Buenos Aries to Santiago in our sights, possibly 2024.

What do you recommend, east to west or west to east?

[Mich3554]

We have gone both directions.  
 

I think it depends on what you plan on doing pre and post cruise.  Getting to Valparaiso from Santiago is a couple hour drive, but the international airport is an easy cab ride in Buenos Aires.  Both flights out will be in the evening.
 

 

[PasadenaDave]

3 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

We have gone both directions.  
 

I think it depends on what you plan on doing pre and post cruise.  Getting to Valparaiso from Santiago is a couple hour drive, but the international airport is an easy cab ride in Buenos Aires.  Both flights out will be in the evening.
 

 

Thanks, I do claim that it would be nice to spend a few days pre-cruise at Portillo, but ski season and cruising season in that part of the world don't match up.  Now in my younger days, a  climb of Aconcagua pre-cruise would have been fun and fits the season, my wife would not find that enjoyable.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, PasadenaDave said:

Thanks, I do claim that it would be nice to spend a few days pre-cruise at Portillo, but ski season and cruising season in that part of the world don't match up.  Now in my younger days, a  climb of Aconcagua pre-cruise would have been fun and fits the season, my wife would not find that enjoyable.

When we went from Santiago to BA, we took time after the cruise to Iguazu Falls.  We scheduled a tour separate from Viking’s offerings, and did both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides. 
We arrived in Santiago a few days earlier, played tourist in Santiago.  The next day, we hired a driver to take us to the ship in Valparaiso and hit vineyards on the way.  

[deec]

Mich3554.  We  leave next week for Santiago.  Can you suggest some things to do in the city?  Where did you eat?  Did you have a local guide for the city?  Hoping to do a wine tour!  Also keeping fingers crossed that we won't be quarantined in our room for an entire day waiting for Covid results. I have done so little planning because we were never sure that we would go!  Our awesome trip will start soon!  Hope it is as wonderful as yours...plan to drink loads of lemonade from the lemons that may dot our journey!!!

[TayanaLorna]

34 minutes ago, deec said:

Mich3554.  We  leave next week for Santiago.  Can you suggest some things to do in the city?  Where did you eat?  Did you have a local guide for the city?  Hoping to do a wine tour!  Also keeping fingers crossed that we won't be quarantined in our room for an entire day waiting for Covid results. I have done so little planning because we were never sure that we would go!  Our awesome trip will start soon!  Hope it is as wonderful as yours...plan to drink loads of lemonade from the lemons that may dot our journey!!!

@deec We did the SA cruise in 2020 and did an all day to the Andes first day and then same couple picked us up next day.  We visited the Pablo Neruda seashore home, had a local lunch and visited a winery before being dropped off at the ship. Both days were fabulous.  I wrote about them and list contact info in my blog.  See Santiago and Valparaiso days at tomko2travel.blogspot.com

[deec]

I  love your blog!!!  I will make time in the next few days to really read it!  found the day you arrived and pictures of the great house you stayed in and the birthday dinner BUT I can't seem to find the next day when you toured with the guide...HELP!!

[Mich3554]

3 hours ago, deec said:

Mich3554.  We  leave next week for Santiago.  Can you suggest some things to do in the city?  Where did you eat?  Did you have a local guide for the city?  Hoping to do a wine tour!  Also keeping fingers crossed that we won't be quarantined in our room for an entire day waiting for Covid results. I have done so little planning because we were never sure that we would go!  Our awesome trip will start soon!  Hope it is as wonderful as yours...plan to drink loads of lemonade from the lemons that may dot our journey!!!

When we went, we stayed in a hotel that was in its own little neighborhood.  The hotel was Hotel Boutique Castillo Rojo, and we walked down the block to a neighborhood eatery for dinner (which was quire excellent).  The first day we were there we took a city tour on a HOHO bus, then took a funicular to the top of a local hill and the gondola back down.  
The hotel was a charming place, I try to find hotels that are not chains and I’d stay here again.  
When we were in Santiago, the riots were still going on and it was suggested you not be out after dark.  You could definitely see the destruction from the riots which were within about 6 blocks of our hotel.  A few areas we walked through you could even feel the results of the residual tear gas.

Our hotel made the arrangements of the guide to take us to vineyards, and to get us to Valparaiso.  He was fabulous, the wineries we hit were pretty good and we picked up some wine for the ship at a few of them.  We got a city tour of Valparaiso and late afternoon he took us to the ship.  

[donaldsc]

5 hours ago, deec said:

Mich3554.  We  leave next week for Santiago.  Can you suggest some things to do in the city?  Where did you eat?  Did you have a local guide for the city?  Hoping to do a wine tour!  Also keeping fingers crossed that we won't be quarantined in our room for an entire day waiting for Covid results. I have done so little planning because we were never sure that we would go!  Our awesome trip will start soon!  Hope it is as wonderful as yours...plan to drink loads of lemonade from the lemons that may dot our journey!!!

 

We did a wine tour out of Santiago with these guys - https://bodegawinetours.cl/.  Check out his reviews on TripAdvisor - https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g294305-d6405728-Reviews-Bodega_Wine_Tours-Santiago_Santiago_Metropolitan_Region.html#REVIEWS.

 

It was excellent!!

 

DON

Edited February 15, 2022 by donaldsc

[deec]

thank you for your help...I just emailed Bodega...I am hoping between the Viking Rep and Marriott we will be able to book something last minute.  Not knowing when we will be free of the "quarantine" is troublesome!

[Clay Clayton]

On 2/14/2022 at 4:09 PM, PasadenaDave said:

Thanks to wonderful photos on the blogs of the current World Cruise, we have Buenos Aries to Santiago in our sights, possibly 2024.

What do you recommend, east to west or west to east?

We did this cruise before discovering Viking (actually even before they existed as Ocean Cruises). We sailed BA to Valparaiso because on NCL at that time (so lots of caveats) the sail through the Beagle Channel was done during the day rather than at night. It’s a beautiful day of sailing with beautiful glaciers and waterfalls.  So I would check carefully the published itinerary to determine if there is a difference of when you’ll be doing this portion. (There are some beautiful photos on the World Cruise thread and blogs that you referenced. 
 

This cruise remains one of our favorites, the perfect mix of sea and port days. Enjoy!

[TravelBot]

On 2/15/2022 at 9:15 AM, TayanaLorna said:

@deec We did the SA cruise in 2020 and did an all day to the Andes first day and then same couple picked us up next day.  We visited the Pablo Neruda seashore home, had a local lunch and visited a winery before being dropped off at the ship. Both days were fabulous.  I wrote about them and list contact info in my blog.  See Santiago and Valparaiso days at tomko2travel.blogspot.com

Hi, did you encounter bad weather on your way to the Falklands? We're thinking of going this December.

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, TravelBot said:

Hi, did you encounter bad weather on your way to the Falklands? We're thinking of going this December.

We were on that cruise in Feb/March 2020 and made it into the Falklands but had to skip Puerto Madryn. I think Lorna’s was the cruise before us and did not make it to the Falklands. I think only about half of these cruises make it in due to weather because you have to tender. We just made it out because the weather kicked up.

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, TravelBot said:

Hi, did you encounter bad weather on your way to the Falklands? We're thinking of going this December.

From my understanding, as the Falklands is a tender port, that chances of getting there is about 50%.  We made it, but the cruise after us and the one before us did not.  As I remember it, we had the worst weather attempting to go around the Horn on that cruise.  The captain started and did a U turn and took us back through the Beagle channel (I think this one).  The following trip (we did this twice in both directions, once before and once during Covid) we lost Falklands, but made it around the Horn.  Second sailing was much calmer than the first.

[deec]

It is a beautiful cruise!

[Peregrina651]

On 2/16/2022 at 5:21 PM, Clay Clayton said:

We sailed BA to Valparaiso because on NCL at that time (so lots of caveats) the sail through the Beagle Channel was done during the day rather than at night. It’s a beautiful day of sailing with beautiful glaciers and waterfalls.

 

I definitely agree with Clay on this one. The glaciers, etc. are west of Ushuaia. You pass by them in the very early morning hours as you arrive in Ushuaia when sailing from Santiago or in the early evening as you depart Ushuaia. We sailed from BA. I skipped dinner to take these pictures; there was no way that I was going to miss the glaciers.

 

Glaciers and...

 

 

Waterfalls

 

[Peregrina651]

On 2/14/2022 at 9:48 PM, Mich3554 said:

we took time after the cruise to Iguazu Falls.  We scheduled a tour separate from Viking’s offerings, and did both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides. 

 

Another ditto!  We did Iguazu Falls on our own and spent New Years Eve there -- the most expensive lodgings we have ever paid for -- but so worth it, falls view and all.

 

The trip is easy to plan and execute entirely on your own. We bought our own flights. We made our own hotel reservation. The airport is in downtown BA (not the international airport outside of the city). We used cabs for transport to and from the airports. We stayed at the hotel inside the park and walked or took the tram to the things we wanted to see; no guide needed.  We took the first flight out on New Years Eve and the next-to-last flight home on Jan 1. It was plenty of time to see what we wanted to see.

 

One caveat: it is very hot and humid at this time of the year.

 

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Glaciers and ... Waterfalls

... and fjords ... 🍺🥌

 

 

 

[MSEm]

We will be on this cruise in Feb 2023.  How cold will it be in Patagonia?  Will i need a heavy coast?

Thinking we will send some suitcases by a forwarding service to avoid hauling clothes not need for our trip to the falls at the beginning of the trip.

 

Also any other good info for this cruise?

Thanks to all,

[frickwg]

On 2/15/2022 at 5:34 AM, deec said:

Mich3554.  We  leave next week for Santiago.  Can you suggest some things to do in the city?  Where did you eat?  Did you have a local guide for the city?  Hoping to do a wine tour!  Also keeping fingers crossed that we won't be quarantined in our room for an entire day waiting for Covid results. I have done so little planning because we were never sure that we would go!  Our awesome trip will start soon!  Hope it is as wonderful as yours...plan to drink loads of lemonade from the lemons that may dot our journey!!!

I recommend the wine tour.  Great fun!!

[SpiritRiver]

1 hour ago, MSEm said:

We will be on this cruise in Feb 2023.  How cold will it be in Patagonia?  Will i need a heavy coast?

Thinking we will send some suitcases by a forwarding service to avoid hauling clothes not need for our trip to the falls at the beginning of the trip.

 

Also any other good info for this cruise?

Thanks to all,

We are booked on this cruise in January 2023, and we’re planning to take a couple of extra layers to add to our other clothes.  Thinking a warm vest plus hat and gloves as outerwear will be fine—going from experience of 25 years of Minnesota winters.  Long underwear and long-sleeved tee if we think we need it.  

[TayanaLorna]

On 6/15/2022 at 9:46 AM, TravelBot said:

Hi, did you encounter bad weather on your way to the Falklands? We're thinking of going this December.

We did not have bad weather between Cape Horn and the Falklands.  We were actually very optimistic that we would be able to visit.  We actually landed for an hour or so and were about a half hour into our excursion with Patrick Watts when the captain called back the tenders.  He was concerned that it would be too rough for the tenders to safely bring us back later in the morning.  We did have 60 mph gusts and 25-30 foot seas that day when traveling.  It was not bad walking around the ship.  However all outer decks were closed as well as the pools and hot tubs.  I loved having a window table in the Restaurant for lunch watching the huge seas.

 

I followed all the Roll Calls before ours and it looks like any port other then Valparaiso, Montevideo and Buenas Aires could be missed due to weather.  I was very surprised to see a stop in Puerto Montt was missed.  When you look at its location it is situated in protected waters.  However when winds are from the South, they blow across open water building a fetch of choppy waters into PM.  A cruise ship either cannot dock safely or tender passengers.

 

When we docked at Punta Arenas we had so much wind that we had to hold on to ropes to walk the pier to the terminal.  When we returned there were 60 mph winds that tossed big waves on to same dock.  Viking had 18 person mini vans to drive us from the terminal to the lee of the ship so we could board.  It took several tugs to pull us off the dock that evening so we could get underway.  We were lucky to make the port. 

 

Our trip around Cape Horn was on seas so flat that the small expedition boats were able to drop people off in Zodiacs to hike the island.

 

The bottom line is that any sailing can have bad weather.  Plan for it with necessary sea sickness meds and packing clothing for 4 seasons.  It could be 90's in Santiago and Buenas Aires and in the 30's when you sail up to the Amalia Glacier.  It will most likely be misty rainy at times in the 50's and it could be very windy.  We used hats, gloves, down vest, mid weight coats with hoods and also wore shorts, t-shirts and sundresses.

[TayanaLorna]

The only disappointment i have about this cruise is Vikings timing of sailing through the North Beagle Channel known as Glacier Alley.  I knew about it from following a HAL cruiser who did the route twice.  I think this section of Patagonia should be given equal billing to the scenic cruising of the Amalia Glacier.  Viking did not even put it in the Viking Daily.  Our sailing was Santiago to BA and in this direction arrival in Ushuaia was 11 am.  Jupiter sailed through the area between 5:30 and 7:30 am.  I set an alarm and we were about the only ones on the Aquavit Terrace to see it (which was kind of nice).  It was absolutely spectacular and we didnt even have blue skies.  There are numerous glaciers tumbling down to the sea on the port side in this direction and countless waterfalls on both sides of the narrow channel.

 

Also the sail out for 2-3 hours when departing Ushuaia at 6 pm is awesome.  The light on the distant snow capped mountains is gorgeous and as the ship approaches Port Williams for its technical stop you see the gables formation.  Simply beautiful.  

 

[TayanaLorna]

East Beagle Channel after Ushuaia.

[TayanaLorna]

North Beagle Channel in early morning misty light.  Sorry I got carried away.