Another Live from the Oosterdam? 1/29-2/20

[0106]

We had an enjoyable day walking around Isla de Chiloe Castro.  Up a steep hill to the church constructed without nails.

 

 

 

The stilt houses.

 

We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant with a view of the ship, empanadas and grilled octopus, local beer and wine.

[0106]

We had an excellent private tour with Puerto Montt Excursions.  

We viewed- Llanquihue Lake, then proceeded to Green Lagoon,  Todos Los Santos (Emerald) Lake,  - Petrohue Rapids or "Falls" at the foot of Osorno volcano all in Vicente Perez Rosales National Park.  We then visited Puerto Varas.

 

 

 

[Ellencruise]

On 2/16/2024 at 5:27 PM, ajstahle said:

May I ask a favor? Would you check with Guest Services and see if they have Chilean and Peruvian currency to be able to break larger bills into smaller ones? Sometimes when I get foreign currency from my bank, they are not able to provide small bills that you could use for tips and small purchases. I would greatly appreciate it since we board the Oosterdam in BA on 3/5.

If you have any other money tips, please share,  We would be grateful.

On this cruise last year and never changed currency. I used new crisp USD

 

[BetsyS.]

0106 - Thanks for your updates and great pictures!😊  I wonder how they constructed the church without nails!

[BSinPNS]

1 hour ago, Ellencruise said:

On this cruise last year and never changed currency. I used new crisp USD

Concur with Ellen.  One only needs crisp and unblemished USD.  Most vendors in Argentina prefer USD cash and will give you a significant discount over local pesos or credit cards.  In Chile, USD was acccepted everywhere we went. 

[scubacruiserx2]

52 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

0106 - Thanks for your updates and great pictures!😊  I wonder how they constructed the church without nails!

 

  They use wooden pegs in holes and wet them so they swell .

[0106]

1 hour ago, BetsyS. said:

how they constructed the church without nails!

The same way they built ships. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/churches-of-chiloe-unesco-world-heritage

[BetsyS.]

scubacruiserx2 and 0106 - Thanks for your answers!  Very interesting! 😊

[Haljo1935]

As usual @0106 your pictures are stunning. I think I will suffer withdrawals when you close out this Live 😒

Edited February 19 by Haljo1935
Typo

[TiogaCruiser]

On 2/16/2024 at 7:34 PM, perrysburg said:

For future travelers:  We had an EXCELLENT excursion with independent tour company

We saw many beautiful places, we had a delicious lunch, and there were no more than 24 people. EnPatagoniaTours : https://www.enpatagoniatours.com/ 

 

The tour guide was also excellent (and can be hired independently for a private tour- Jorge Lepio: jlepio8@gmail.com, +5698416088)

 

We went with them in 2013 and had a great tour also with Mark. I noticed he apparently is still with the company- he’s the John Denver looking guy in the back right.

https://www.enpatagoniatours.com/our-crew

 

Edited February 19 by TiogaCruiser

[TiogaCruiser]

On 2/1/2024 at 1:44 AM, 0106 said:

We have a private transfer to the Santiago airport with a tour of Valparaiso & Vino del Mar, a lunch break and a stop at a winery in the Casablanca valley before being dropped at the airport in the late afternoon.  I am dreading the time we will have to spend in the airport before our midnight flight.  I know your flight home was from Buenos Aires.  Do you have any insight to the airport in Santiago?  I am specifically interested in if you can check your bags when you arrived and the area where wait for your flight.  I always appreciate your well travelled advice.

This was pre-Covid (2018) but my HAL tour/ transfer left me at Santiago airport some 5 or more hours before my flight. We also got there a bit early.  The guide told us that they usually do not let you in early, but to at least try. I did- no luck. I had to wait (sat on the floor) for about 90 minutes. 
 

In addition, I had my suitcase on a cart and my tote sitting up on top of it but not in my hands. A security team walked up to me and told me to hold onto it as it was likely to be grabbed. 

[NorbertsNiece]

15 hours ago, 0106 said:

In Ushuaia, there was only one pier available for all boats needing to disembark passengers so HAL tenders shared with fishing boats and other excursion boats.  There were very long lines and incorrect information was given by HAL personnel about which line to stand in.  We made it back in about an hour and a half but I’ve heard stories from people were waited for a tender for more than 2 hours.

Ouch. Not good. I wonder how they determine which ships get to berth and which anchor.

 

Regarding lines..... disembarking in San Antonio was not fun. They called the luggage tag colours in really good time which gave a false impression as to how the process was running. When we exited the lift there was a massive line snaking down the corridor, back again, along the lobby, down the next corridor and back again. I'm sure the room stewards trying to prepare the cabins for the new occupants appreciated that. It's a bus to terminal affair.

 

***Get early luggage tags***

Edited February 19 by NorbertsNiece

[ajstahle]

12 minutes ago, BSinPNS said:

Concur with Ellen.  One only needs crisp and unblemished USD.  Most vendors in Argentina prefer USD cash and will give you a significant discount over local pesos or credit cards.  In Chile, USD was acccepted everywhere we went. 

Thank you and Elllencruise.  Puts my mind at ease being able to use US$. 

[BetsyS.]

0106 - Thanks for taking time on your vacation to post reports and great pictures!

I really enjoyed them. 😊   Safe travels home.

[cccole]

2 hours ago, ajstahle said:

Thank you and Elllencruise.  Puts my mind at ease being able to use US$. 

We actually did not find that the U.S.$ was the best everywhere.  Especially in Chile they preferred Chilean pesos so that they did not have to pay to change U.S.$.  We asked our guide the first night in Santiago. Also, if you are going to local craft or other markets they prefer local currency.  If you give U.S.$ they will probably give you local currency as change.  With the problems in Argentina you will get a good exchange rate on the Blue market for U.S.$.  We experienced places that did not take U.S.$.   In the Falklands there was a $50U.S. fee added to a tour when using U.S.$ and not Sterling or a credit card.   We did take a lot of crisp U.S. bills in all denominations and used them when we could.  We also used our Wise Mastercard which is specifically for traveling.  You can add to it during your trip and there is no transaction fee.  This is just our experience in January.  If you have private tours arranged just ask your guide what is the best for you when visiting that location.  Cherie

Edited February 20 by cccole

[NorbertsNiece]

30 minutes ago, cccole said:

We actually did not find that the U.S.$ was the best everywhere.  Especially in Chile they preferred Chilean pesos so that they did not have to pay to change U.S.$.  We asked our guide the first night in Santiago. Also, if you are going to local craft or other markets they prefer local currency.  If you give U.S.$ they will probably give you local currency as change.  With the problems in Argentina you will get a good exchange rate on the Blue market for U.S.$.  We experienced places that did not take U.S.$.   In the Falklands there was a $50U.S. fee added to a tour when using U.S.$ and not Sterling or a credit card.   We did take a lot of crisp U.S. bills in all denominations and used them when we could.  We also used our Wise Mastercard which is specifically for traveling.  You can add to it during your trip and there is no transaction fee.  This is just our experience in January.  If you have private tours arranged just ask your guide what is the best for you when visiting that location.  Cherie

Visiting the Falklands is like visiting the UK. You wouldn't expect to be able pay in USD anywhere in the UK, without prior arrangement. They only have one bank there.

[cccole]

19 minutes ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Visiting the Falklands is like visiting the UK. You wouldn't expect to be able pay in USD anywhere in the UK, without prior arrangement. They only have one bank there.

Absolutely, but I'm not sure everyone understands that U.S.$ are not the preferred currency on this cruise and you may pay extra if you want to use U.S.$.  That's why I recommend asking your tour guide prior to arrival.  We loved the Falklands as I remember you did in your blog.  Cherie

Edited February 20 by cccole

[cccole]

0106 - I hope you had an enjoyable trip from San Antonio to Santiago.  I don't remember if you are staying in Santiago or continuing home.  Safe travels and thank you for letting us cruise with you.  Cherie

[0106]

We disembarked the ship this morning and took a wonderful tour with the German Pirate. We were picked up at the cruise terminal in San Antonio about 9:30.  We stopped at a winery to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful garden.  We drove to Viña del Mar and saw the Flower clock and Easter Island statue.  Next was the sister city, the port city Valparaiso.  Sightseeing in Valparaiso.  
 

We stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant.  Next we drove

to winery in the famous Casablanca valley.

 

We were dropped off at the Santiago airport about 6. 

[dfish]

Safe travels!

 

[0106]

All six private tours I booked in Argentina and Chile requested payment in crisp new US dollars.  This includes the Adventure Falklands tour with Patrick Watts which was the best tour I had on the cruise, mostly because I love penguins.  
 

People in Argentina were extremely happy to be tipped in US dollars because their currency is so volatile.  This was explained to me by the bell person in the hotel and a bartender in a neighborhood Palmero bar.

[Haljo1935]

16 minutes ago, 0106 said:

All six private tours I booked in Argentina and Chile requested payment in crisp new US dollars...

Thete have been a few me tions of "crisp new US dollars." Is that just what posters are saying or do tour providers really want "crisp new" $$ or will they accept the often scraggly "gently loved" bills that tend to be in circulation?

[0106]

15 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

do tour providers really want "crisp new" $$ or will they accept the often scraggly "gently loved" bills that tend to be in circulation

Yes,  they use those exact words.  Many said they would not accept bills that were torn or had writing on them.  They also said they needed to have the “large”. President heads.  They were easy to get at my bank.

[Haljo1935]

10 hours ago, 0106 said:

Yes,  they use those exact words.  Many said they would not accept bills that were torn or had writing on them.  They also said they needed to have the “large”. President heads.  They were easy to get at my bank.

That's interesting, especially the "large head" comment. I can understand, though, being foreign money they might think torn bills or ones w/writing might have no value. And I guess they're not wrong - if someone does not accept your money, it doesn't have value. Interesting....

[0106]

The experience in the Santiago airport was not the nightmare that I had anticipated.  From what I could find out, the International terminal was renovated in 2021 and appears very modern.  We waited in a restaurant for 2 hours before we were able to check our bags for our 11:55 American flight.  There is very little other seating available. We were able to check our bags 4 hours before our flight.  After dropping our bags, we proceeded through the security doors. It took about 10 minutes to get through the passport check and another 10 minutes to get through the airport security scanner.  After a long walk to our gate, there was plenty of seating in what appeared to be a new space.  Yes, it was a 6 hour wait for our flight but I felt safe the entire time.  One weird thing was an additional baggage check before boarding the plane.  No water was allowed through this additional security check.  Our flights were on time and we are now home.

 

This cruise was exceeded my expectations.  If this cruise is on your bucket list, book it!  Please feel free to ask any questions and I will help you if I can.  

Edited February 22 by 0106