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"Must Do" Shore Excursions?


MadMay

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Hi,

 

We're doing two back to back cruises with Star Princess - starting Dec 10 2007 from Ft Lauderdale to Buenos Aires and then continuing from there on Jan 10 2008 to Antarctica and then back to Buenos Aires.

 

Can I ask those of you who have done either of these cruises what you consider "must do" shore excursions? And should we pre-book these or wait for the ship's briefing?

 

We are in our early 60s, still fit, but I'm not big on energetic trekking etc. Primarily goal is to sightsee and experience the places we visit.

 

Also what would we need for cold weather clothing? Would a ski jacket and jeans work?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice :) :) from both of us.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We just came off a Santiago to Buenos Aries cruise on Oceania. Not exactly the cruise you have planned but I do have a recommendation for Buenos Aries, or whatever port will take you to Iguazo Falls. These are spectacular. We saw them as an after cruise excursion out of BA and it required a short flight to Iquazo via LAN. We stayed at the Sheraton at Iquazo. The accommodations were comfortable and the view from our room spectacular. Since this was an extension of our cruise, all our transfers, luggage storage and the like were well prepared.

 

We did the boat trip under the falls on the day of arrival and the train trip to the catwalk the second day. I would imagine a well planned trip could do both in a day and the flight was a little over an hour. It was not cheap but well worth the money and effort.

 

Let me assure you, you will get wet if you go on the boat trip. Take a swim suit, shorts, water proof walking shoes and a towel if one is not provided. Maybe even a change of clothes to wear on the trip back. And plan to take lots of pictures!

 

Keeping in mind we did both the west and east coast of SA, we took plenty of layered warm clothing and traveled in the month of February. We left the parkas at home and were glad we did. They are bulky and even though it was cool, we didn't need the bulk of a parka. Ski jackets tend to be be bulky like parkas and somewhat constricting so a good polar fleece with turtle necks and another layer would be fine. Then as the day warms up you can shed whatever you need to. More important are good shoes.

 

Also, we did the 'end of the earth train' in Ushusia that brought us back to town in time for lunch and it is where we had our best barbecue. (first resturaunt on the right as you hit the area where the barbecue places start)

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And should we pre-book these or wait for the ship's briefing?

 

Definetly pre-book. We were just on the Golden doing the BA to Santiago itinerary and the majority of the excursions were sold out prior to boarding. Some opened up later as people cancelled, but i'd pre-book whatever you are interested in.

 

If you are going to the Falklands, I'd recommend one of the penguin excursions (see the SA review thread below this one for a discussion). We did the Sparrow Cove trip and this is probably the best excursions we have done anywhere.

 

Neil

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We were on the same cruise as Neil, and I couldn't agree more with him:

 

PRE-BOOK as soon as they become available. You can always change your mind once on board. Many excursions are very limited.

 

If you are interested in sights and learning how people live, we also did a very interesting excursion in the Falkland - Long Island Farm. You can read detailed info in my cruise review on this forum below. But this was certainlya highlight for us. You could do penguins in the morning and this one in the afternoon.

 

MC

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  • 2 weeks later...

You will need your parkas if you are going to Antarctica plus gloves, a hat and a scarf. Also warm socks and study shoes. We also took nylon over pants but didn't need them as we had sunny weather with little wind.

 

We did a huge 6 week trip which combined the Iguazu Falls, the cruise from Rio via Antarctica to Valpariso, a weeks trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu and a 5 day cruise around the Galapagos Islands.

 

We took layers and of course when we were in Rio and Buenos Aires it was quite hot but it did get a lot cooler the further south we went and it didn't really warm up until after we left Puerto Montt and started sailing towards Valpariso.

 

If you manage to make it to the Iguazu falls, then you will just need very light clothing as it is hot and humid up there. We also stayed at the Sheraton Hotel and had a Falls room which is a must.

 

We used a lot of private tour guides who were excellent and as we had a good Roll Call we were able to share our guides around. We used private guides in B.A., Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas. In Ushuaia we shared with another couple and used a local taxi driver who could speak English. He took us around for 5 hours for $50US per couple. Unfortunately we missed out on Puerto Madryn, the Falklands and Chocabuco due to bad weather.

 

It is a fabulous trip and we enjoyed every minute of it, even though we had eleven straight days at sea due to missing two ports and we went through a Force 11 gale for 24 hours.

 

Jennie

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In Buenos Aires we used Carlos of Private Tours. He is very good and we booked him up nearly 12 months before our cruise.

 

His email address is: info@privatetours.com.ar

 

In Punta Arenas we used Payne travel and I organized our tour through Pamela. Here is the email address: payne@ctcinternet.cl

 

and finally in Puerto Montt we used another Carlos. His email address is: galindotour@hotmail.com

 

They were all reliable, spoke good english and were waiting for us at the dock when we arrived in that port.

 

We did not have to send any deposits and we paid them on the day in U.S. dollars.

 

Jennie

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Jeanie I am using Carlos also in BA. He has gotten our tickets for us to Iguazu and going to get our hotel and plan on using him for our tours in BA. Am using the tour guide he recommended in Iguazu Falls..

 

What tours did you take with him in BA? Did he do them himself or have a staff? I would love some imput on your experience with his tours.

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terpla,

 

We had Carlos himself, though other members of our Roll Call who booked through him later had one of his guides. We had a very full day.

 

We first of all went to the big square and saw the Church, President's Palace etc. We then went to the cemetary and saw the tomb of Evita. He then took us out into the suburbs where we caught a train which took us to the delta of the Paranas river, where we boarded a boat and took an hours cruise through the various arms of the river and saw the holiday homes of the Buenos Aires residents. Once back on his mini bus we went to the La Boca area and had lunch at a Tango restaurant where we watched a Tango demonstration.

 

At the end of lunch it was around 4pm so we had to return to the ship as it was sailing at 5pm unfortunately. We would have loved an extra day in B.A. but it wasn't too be. We all wished that we could have skipped Montevideo as there wasn't much to see there , and had the extra day in B.A. We didn't have any time at all for shopping and as our cruise started in Rio, I wasn't able to purchase a leather jacket until I got to Ushuaia.

 

Jennie

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Thanks Aussie Gal,

My DH and I are taking from the 19th to the 23rd of Feb. as a post cruise. We have arranged for 1 overnight in Iguazu and the rest in BA. We are doing thus far the 1/2 day tour with him at his suggestion and then in the evening the Tango show and the next whole day will be spent at a Gaucho Ranch, but I am thinking I would like to do the city tour and gaucho ranch a 1/2 day in one day and the Tango show the next night and thus have more time for shopping. We shall see.

 

Thanks again

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terpla,

 

You will have a fantastic trip. Seeing the Iguazu Falls at the beginning of the cruise was great for us as we were on such a high when we boarded the ship. We have never been to either Niagara or the Victoria Falls so this was our first and what a fantastic first, as there are so many of them. We were lucky as it had rained only a few days before we were there and they all had plenty of water. It was breathtaking.

 

Enjoy, it will be a wonderful vacation.

 

Jennie

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On our recent South America trip we had booked our excursions early on-line for each port stop. We took 3 excursions and decided to cancel the rest. We found out during each excusions, that there are plenty of taxis and vans in each port owned by private tour companies for much lower prices. You avoid the hassle of a big bus tour. It is a more personal tour, safe, and you get a different perspective - a more one-on-one. We also made friends with some of the people at our dinner table and shared the cost of the tours and had a great time. In the Faulklands we did take the Sparrow Cove excusion which we really enjoyed, went into town, had fish and chips in the local pub, hired a taxi and for $15 US, the taxis driver took us all over town and out and gave us a great insight of the history and personal lives of the locals.

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Hi,

 

We're doing two back to back cruises with Star Princess - starting Dec 10 2007 from Ft Lauderdale to Buenos Aires and then continuing from there on Jan 10 2008 to Antarctica and then back to Buenos Aires.

 

Can I ask those of you who have done either of these cruises what you consider "must do" shore excursions? And should we pre-book these or wait for the ship's briefing?

 

We are in our early 60s, still fit, but I'm not big on energetic trekking etc. Primarily goal is to sightsee and experience the places we visit.

 

Also what would we need for cold weather clothing? Would a ski jacket and jeans work?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice :) :) from both of us.

 

Just got back from the Golden doing the BA-Valparaiso-Acapulco-San Francisco run. We did a number of private tours, and used the reviews and posts from Edinburgher and BCHappyGirl to plan our excursions. I'll be posting a full review soon, but those are good starting places.

 

In re: warm clothes - yes you will need. I'd recommend some gloves, warm socks (I got and used the long silk underwear from Wintersilks - helped a lot) and also, if you do the penguin rookeries, get something that covers your shoes that you can discard when you get back to Stanley. Penguin poo is pretty gross to get off your sneakers. There are inexpensive shoe covers available and I really wish we'd gotten some!

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  • 1 month later...

MadMay,

We will also be on the January 10, 2008 Star Princess cruise r/t BA. Looking forward to meeting you onboard.

 

Please go to the roll call board for this cruise, so that we can all meet and greet.

 

Jennie (Aussie Gal) and I cruised on the Prinsendam to the Black Sea and the Dalmation Coast a few years ago. We met on the message boards and have kept in touch since.

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