My Cruise to South America and Antarctica

[ScottFromUtah]

DW and I just got home from this amazing cruise and land tour. Our stops included ports of Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Puerto Madryn (in Argentine Patagonia), Falkland Islands, Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina), Puerto Montt (Chile), and Valparaiso (Santiago, Chile). I can't describe what a wonderful trip it was. Maybe I'll just let a few of the pictures do the talking. For 40 of my favorite pictures that DW and I took, click here.

 

[ScottFromUtah]

Here are some other photos from our Antarctica cruise:

 

[Moemg]

Scott, Those pictures were great . It looks like you had the trip of a lifetime !

 

[Arnie]

Wow, these are really nice.

 

[East Texas]

I'm not a Facebook user so I can't get to your pictures. Which ship did you take?

We took our Antarctica cruise in February 2009. We were aboard a smaller ship - La Diamant - that allowed us access to more areas than the larger cruise ships. We had three continent landings and lots of island landings. We were on this same ship for our Celtic Lands cruise. I can highly recommend both cruises!

There is nothing more spectacular than sitting at a dining table and seeing your first tabular iceberg float by. We learned so much on our trips. The naturalists they have on these cruises are excellent!

 

[Meadbh]

Fantastico!

While there are similarities between this an an Alaska Glaciers cruise, the Antarctic landscape is quite different. It's great to come in from the cold to a warm cabin. Obviously you had a wonderful experience. Flying to Buenos Aires and back from Santiago must have added quite a bit to the cost. Can I ask approximately what the vacation cost and for how many days? Did you spend time in your departure or arrival cities?

 

[ScottFromUtah]

I'm not a Facebook user so I can't get to your pictures. Which ship did you take?

We took our Antarctica cruise in February 2009. We were aboard a smaller ship - La Diamant - that allowed us access to more areas than the larger cruise ships. We had three continent landings and lots of island landings. We were on this same ship for our Celtic Lands cruise. I can highly recommend both cruises!

There is nothing more spectacular than sitting at a dining table and seeing your first tabular iceberg float by. We learned so much on our trips. The naturalists they have on these cruises are excellent!

First, I set the Facebook picture album to Public so that anyone, whether a Facebook user or not, could view the pictures. Didn't the link work for you?

We were aboard a medium-sized ship, the Veendam of Holland America, which was able to go into some places that the larger cruise ships can't go but was not able, I'm sure, to go into places that your ship went.

I'm sure you had a wonderful trip, as we did.

Scott

 

[powerplay]

Wonderful pictures, thanks for sharing your adventure.

I had to log into my FB account in order to view the pictures.

 

[ScottFromUtah]

Fantastico!

While there are similarities between this an an Alaska Glaciers cruise, the Antarctic landscape is quite different. It's great to come in from the cold to a warm cabin. Obviously you had a wonderful experience. Flying to Buenos Aires and back from Santiago must have added quite a bit to the cost. Can I ask approximately what the vacation cost and for how many days? Did you spend time in your departure or arrival cities?

We have done the Alaskan cruise, which we absolutely loved. The Antarctica cruise was really quite different, some say a lot better, but I loved them about equally.

We flew from Dallas to Buenos Aires two days before the cruise so that we could tour the city. We had a good time there. We cruised around to Santiago, and flew directly from there back to Dallas. We didn't fly between Santiago and Buenos Aires.

Our cost was about $12,000 for the two of us. That included the two days of touring in Buenos Aires, land tours at all the ports, and two days of touring in Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, and Santiago. It also included round-trip flights from SLC, all other transfers, tips, and two night's lodging in 5-star hotels. It also included special group programs held by our tour agency on the ship. Some people in our tour group went a day or so early to tour Iguazu Falls.

Hope that helps.

Scott

 

[Bestwifeever]

Thanks so much for posting the Antarctica photos, Scott--just lovely. And brrrrr it looks cold . Also helpful was the practical info about the cost, logistics, etc. Not too unreasonable for the amount of travel involved, and of course the experience? Priceless!

(when I clicked on your link to the photos, I too was asked to log in--can't see them just by going to the site)

 

[veremchuka]

great photos scott! the trip of a lifetime without a doubt and for a cost that seems pretty reasonable even to a frugal person like me!

 

[East Texas]

Still can't get into your FB pictures - wants me to logon. If you upload them to a public site, please post the URL.

We went to pretty much the same places. We did go to Iguazu Falls and chose not to go to the Brazil side even though we had our visas. This was the weekend before Carnival and it was packed. We stayed in the hotel (all rooms faced the falls) and drank beer on the patio. Several of our fellow passengers wished they would have had the foresight to stay with us. It was very crowded on the Brazil side of the Falls.

Back to the Antarctica trip - one of our naturalists spoke over an hour on penguin poop. Who would have thought poop would be so interesting?

We also took an Alaskan Land Tour and Cruise with Princess. That's when we decided we would only go on the smaller ships (Le Diamant had a maximum of 200 passengers). Being on a smaller ship is the reason we enjoyed the Antarctica trip much more than the Alaskan trip.

I can highly recommend the Celtic Lands cruise (on a smaller ship - we were on the Le Diamant for that trip also). The Celtic Lands and Antarctica will always be our "best trips" memory. We go through the Traveling Aggies for our trips and we haven't had a bad one yet.

I'm so glad you had a good time on your trip. You went at just the right time of year. One of these days trips such as this may not be available.

 

[ScottFromUtah]

Sorry about the Facebook problem. I'll post a larger group of pictures on a public place when I get back into town.

 

[ScottFromUtah]

We also took an Alaskan Land Tour and Cruise with Princess. That's when we decided we would only go on the smaller ships (Le Diamant had a maximum of 200 passengers). Being on a smaller ship is the reason we enjoyed the Antarctica trip much more than the Alaskan trip.

The smaller ships not only go where no large ship can go, the smaller ones can get up closer to the penguin rookeries and to the icebergs (with and without wildlife). (A telescopic lens and binoculars can make up for some, but certainly not all, of these deficiencies.)

One advantage for us on a large ship is that we went with a group of over 150 people signed up through a Salt Lake City tour agency. We got to meet and spend time with a lot of new friends with built-in social connections. For example, we met a man (at our dining table) whose mother dated DW's father and who got his MS at BYU (where my wife and I were on the faculty) under the direction of DW's father (who also was a BYU professor). We dined with another couple who knew all 10-15 of the people that we knew from his home town of Rexburg, Idaho. Another man (a FIRE'd physician from Portland) was a missionary in Peru at the same time I was (1964-66), so we knew many people in common and had many similar experiences to talk about. Also, the ship had lots of BYU fans, so we were able to talk about the 9th-ranked Cougars and follow their games together while we were on the ship.

 

[East Texas]

I'm so glad you had a great time! These are amazing trips. The only thing I didn't like about our trip was the long flight from Buenos Aires to Houston. I cannot sleep on a plane. At least it was a nonstop flight.

Where will you go next?

 

[heyduke]

I'm not a Facebook user so I can't get to your pictures. Which ship did you take?

We took our Antarctica cruise in February 2009. We were aboard a smaller ship - La Diamant - that allowed us access to more areas than the larger cruise ships. We had three continent landings and lots of island landings. We were on this same ship for our Celtic Lands cruise. I can highly recommend both cruises!

There is nothing more spectacular than sitting at a dining table and seeing your first tabular iceberg float by. We learned so much on our trips. The naturalists they have on these cruises are excellent!

I was an IAATO volunteer on Le Diamants first sailing into Antarctica in 2005 - glad to hear she is still sailing. Do you remember who the naturalists were at your sailing?

PS my moniker is from that trip of an iceberg we passed by.

 

[East Texas]

I was an IAATO volunteer on Le Diamants first sailing into Antarctica in 2005 - glad to hear she is still sailing. Do you remember who the naturalists were at your sailing?

February 2009 Expedition Team
Susan Adie (Expedition Leader)
Brad Stahl (Assistant Expedition Leader) Susan's husband
Fabien Beaujean
Samuel Blanc
Susan Currie
Patricia Hostiuck
Tim Hostiuck
Sylvain Mahuaier Rick Price
Jean-Pierre Sylvestre (everyone's favorite)
Cathy Zell

 

[ScottFromUtah]

I'm so glad you had a great time! These are amazing trips. The only thing I didn't like about our trip was the long flight from Buenos Aires to Houston. I cannot sleep on a plane. At least it was a nonstop flight.

Where will you go next?

Next up for DW and me: A land tour of Moscow and Norway, coupled with a Scandinavia/St. Petersburg cruise in June.

 

[heyduke]

February 2009 Expedition Team
Susan Adie (Expedition Leader)
Brad Stahl (Assistant Expedition Leader) Susan's husband
Fabien Beaujean
Samuel Blanc
Susan Currie
Patricia Hostiuck
Tim Hostiuck
Sylvain Mahuaier Rick Price
Jean-Pierre Sylvestre (everyone's favorite)
Cathy Zell

Tim Hostiuck was the only one that I was with - thanks for sharing - where in east Texas are you as I am not far from you i bet...

 

[East Texas]

East of Nacogdoches. The winter storm came screaming through here a little over an hour ago. A little while ago the weather map showed 60 degrees in my area and 21 degrees just west of us.

 

[REWahoo]

East of Nacogdoches.

So deep behind the Pine Curtain sunlight has to be piped in...

 

[East Texas]

So deep behind the Pine Curtain sunlight has to be piped in...

You're just jealous 'cause we have trees taller than 10'. The temps went from 62 this morning to 29 in a quick slide. I've got family in Knippa and it's even cold there!!!

 

[Brat]

Next up for DW and me: A land tour of Moscow and Norway, coupled with a Scandinavia/St. Petersburg cruise in June.

It has been many years since I was in Norway, it is on my list so that I can visit my grandfather's birthplace before I die.

Oslo is one of my favorites, arriving via Oslofjorden is stunning. Frogner Park, and the museums are special places. I didn't go on a tour, just prepared well and wandered on my own. Eh, don't order strawberries at Holmekollen restaurant unless you have a lot of spare cash. [Family story.]

 

[veremchuka]

So deep behind the Pine Curtain sunlight has to be piped in...

what is the pine curtain? i never heard that before.

 

[kbst]

That looks like a great trip and the the price seems pretty good especially since the airfare was probably 4k of it. We like Holland and are doing our 4th with them on a Baltic cruise in May.
kbst