South American Cruises
June 8, 2009 by admin
Filed under Cruise Destinations, Featured
One of the best ways to experience a taste of South America is on a South American cruise. Celebrity cruises sail out of Valparaiso, Chile from November to April and offer a great itinerary. Highlights of the trip include visiting Puerto Montt in the Chilean fjords with trips to the beautiful Chilean Lake District; sailing through the Magellan Straits to Punta Arenas and a stop in Ushuaia, the most southerly town in the world nicknamed ‘Fin del Mundo’ – the end of the world. The ship then sails around Cape Horn which is often rough, but on a calm day you can wave to the lighthouse keeper before heading east to the Malvinas (Falkland Islands). These remote islands are like a small English village transported to the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. The next port of call is Puerto Madryn in Argentina, which offers excellent whale watching tours before a day in Montevideo, Uruguay. The final port is Buenos Aires, which makes a great place to linger for a few days and enjoy this wonderful city. This cruise sometimes detours to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, especially around Carnival time in late February.
This trip is highly recommended and better still, if you book in November, you can also sail on the two week relocation cruise from Miami, across the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and down to Valparaiso with stops in Cartagena, Colombia; Manta, Ecuador and Lima, Peru. Trips can also be arranged from this cruise to the ruined city of Machu Picchu high in the Andes.
Life onboard these 14 night cruises (28 nights if you sail from Miami) settle into a pleasant routine of dining and entertainment onboard on sea days. The shows and casinos during the evening offer excellent entertainment. The casinos are Las Vegas style in very pleasant surroundings and the casino staff are patient with new players and friendly, particularly as they meet the same guests each evening and get to know them. The cruise has many slot machines in the casino and poker, roulette, craps and other popular gambling tables offering a very pleasant way to spend the evening.
This exceptional South American cruise offers many different ports and experiences from shanty towns to magnificent palaces; snow capped mountains to lakes and a unique chance to see llamas, penguins, seabirds and whales.
