You can also enquire about payment terms and cancellation options, insurance needs and cruise-joinin

There are two great capital cities in the Southern Cone of South America: houston texas hotel Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Both are located at approximately latitude 35 degrees South, only 700 miles apart but separated by the towering Andes mountain range. Air travel between them is an up and down hop of only two hours duration, so spending houston texas hotel time exploring both cities and their surroundings is a viable vacation in its own right.
But instead of a quick hop over the snow-laden Andes, why not take a luxury cruise? You can depart from Valparaíso (the port for Santiago) and arrive in Buenos Aires an invigorating and memorable houston texas hotel 14 days later. By adding a few days extra at each end, this is a wonderful alternative to the standard South American trip. In between, your floating resort will navigate the pristine mountainous channels of the Chilean Pacific coastline, following the sea lanes of the early navigators such as Magellan and Drake as they discovered the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific at the southernmost tip of the continent. You will Round Cape Horn within almost touching distance of Antarctica, before making stops in Uruguay s playground of Punta del Este and its capital, Montevideo , and finally Buenos Aires .
It is very important to point out that these cruise liners are floating houston texas hotel resorts , accommodating over 2000 passengers with every conceivable entertainment available and excellent dining options. These are not the cruises you should consider if you wish to get up close and personal with glaciers and to sip 10-year old Scotch with 10,000 year old ice. But they are great options to consider if you wish to get a variety of Patagonian experiences through the available excursions, to be pampered for two weeks and in addition get to visit the important cities of Santiago, Valparaíso, Montevideo and Buenos Aires.
This cruise will introduce you to the natural beauty of Patagonia. It is a land of snow-tipped volcanoes reflected in glorious lakes, raging rivers and lush vegetation such as Volcano Osorno and Lago Todos los Santos near Puerto Montt . It is the National Park of Torres del Paine near Puerto Natales in Southern Chile where the craggy peaks of the Andes mountain chain loom large over this natural wonderland. It is Tierra del Fuego , an unspoilt wilderness and nature-lovers paradise. It is Cape Horn, ( Cabo del Hornos ), a mystical place of sea legends where two great oceans collide. Your cruise will immerse houston texas hotel you in a part of the world that is truly unique.
Expect to be surprised at the vastness and untouched beauty of the rugged and mountainous Chilean Pacific coastline from Puerto Montt to the southernmost town of the continent at Ushuaia . Expect to marvel during the ship s approach to the town of Ushuaia with its picture-perfect snow-peaked backdrop. Here you can feed your spirit of adventure as you witness the small crafts preparing for their 400 mile crossing of the treacherous houston texas hotel Drake Passage to Antartica.
But you came for Cape Horn. If you are like me who grew up with stories of the great navigators and of the violent seas around the Cape, then you will succumb to a sense of awe and drama as you finally witness the part of the world where two oceans seem to collide; where thousands of brave pioneers who perished in what must have been a frightening end, are remembered by the monument houston texas hotel of an Albatross on the Cape s highest point.
After the dramatic scenery and build-up to your arrival at Cape Horn, the second half of your 14 day cruise takes on a more wind-down mood as the Atlantic coastline is flat and temperatures rise again, tempting bathers onto the ship s pool deck. Before arriving in Buenos houston texas hotel Aires there are stops in Punta del Este, the South American jet-setter s playground and Uruguay s capital city, Montevideo, to look forward to.
Excursions are plentiful at each of the ports of call and with careful planning you can experience many elements of Patagonia s magic. At Puerto Montt, a good option is a trip to the aforementioned natural beauty of the Chilean lakes region. Your next stop at Punta Arenas is the gateway to many tours to the Torres del Paine National Park, a dramatic scenic wonderland of nature which warrants houston texas hotel a much longer visit by itself. houston texas hotel At Punta Arenas , a favourite excursion is to Isla Magdalena, which is an island in the Straits of Magellan totally dedicated to a colony of Magellanic Penguins. It is estimated that there are over 60,000 pairs that make the island their breeding ground.
There are many other excursions which provide additional insight into the flora, fauna and cultural life of Patagonia. For example, on the Atlantic coast of Argentina, the final stop in Patagonia is at Puerto Madryn, a small town founded by Welsh colonists in 1865. From here, a popular excursion is to the Valdez Peninsula, which is the only known continental breeding place for elephant seals. The excursions from Punta del Este and Montevideo provide unique opportunities to sample the history, culture and life of Uruguay.
Of course the cruise ends in Buenos Aires which is a vacation city in its own right. Several excursions are available to sample what this cosmopolitan city has to offer. Certainly this is another location that warrants some days at least to experience the history and culture of this important South American capital.
In summary, the cruise provides a sampler for the feast of nature that is Patagonia and in addition an opportunity to experience the life in three important South American capital cities. As always with cruises, the variety and breadth of your experience is dictated by the available houston texas hotel budget. Passengers can choose between starting the journey in Valparíso, houston texas hotel sailing from the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic and disembarking houston texas hotel in Buenos Aires, or starting in Buenos Aires and disembarking in Valparaíso. I chose to depart from Valparaíso and on reflection I think it was a good choice, as the coast of Chile is dramatically mountainous and the wonderful sunrises and sunsets as we passed houston texas hotel through the many fjords seemed to heighten the anticipation of arriving at Cape Horn. By contrast, houston texas hotel the Atlantic coast of Argentina is flat so the second week was more of a relaxing time with excellent visits to Punta del Este and Montevideo in Uruguay, before arriving in Buenos Aires. In the entire two week cruise, there are 6 or 7 full days at sea which is a chance to relax, exercise to burn off the calories from the lunch buffet and recuperate houston texas hotel a little from the excursions. The abundance of pure fresh air and chilly temperatures calls out for some relaxation too.
A great website to find the dates of sailing, houston texas hotel prices, ship information houston texas hotel and so on, is VacationsToGo . This website lists all cruises worldwide and the section under South American Cruises will list all of the details, including dates, itineraries, costs, ship details with accommodation descriptions and information on all facilities on board. Reservations can be made by a phone call to a reservations agent who will provide cabin/stateroom availability information houston texas hotel for specific dates and will answer any questions you may have. I have found them to be extremely helpful.
You can also enquire about payment terms and cancellation options, houston texas hotel insurance needs and cruise-joining logistics. They can also provide some information houston texas hotel about the available excursions at each port-of -call which I found to be a very useful pre-cruise planning idea. It is not necessary to reserve the excursions houston texas hotel ahead of the cruise but a review of what is available can be a good way to optimise budget dollars.
The cruises only operate during the Southern Hemisphere summer months from November to March. I travelled at the end of February and certainly warm clothes are necessary for the days in the extreme southern locations. Temperatures are of course much warmer houston texas hotel in the first and last days of the cruise. Weather houston texas hotel conditions at Cape Horn are very unpredictable. According to crew members we were lucky to have calm weather at Cape Horn (although some of the passengers were hoping to experience real Cape conditions with high seas and raging storms). You will need clothes for all weather conditions. The Cape can be extremely windy so layer-up.
The website mentioned above provides all the pricing information for each cruise date. The most economical accommodation is an inside cabin for two which will cost approximately $1,500 USD per person for this cruise. These are perfectly comfortable. houston texas hotel Generally the earlier and later dates in the season are priced lowest, so bargains can be found if you are flexible with your dates. The website also shows the brochure price and then their discounted price. Whilst this most likely is some sort of marketing tactic, I have noticed that as the date for certain cruises gets closer, their discounted prices do sometime drop a little, so availability may be a factor pushing prices lower. If you have identified a cruise of interest, it can help to monitor the discounted price for a few months as it may become more affordable as the date approaches.
houston texas hotel Some of the cruises allow you to prepay tips. I like this idea as it avoids the last minute scramble to find currency to be put in envelopes to be distributed to the appropriate personnel. You can expect that this will add about US$200 per person to your published discounted price for the cruise.
houston texas hotel The amount houston texas hotel paid for your cruise is then similar in concept to an all-inclusive resort. Everything is covered (except alcoholic beverages). There are several dining houston texas hotel options apart from the main dining room and all are excellent. In addition there are a few very up-scale dining houston texas hotel choices for which a supplement has to be paid. The breakfast and lunch buffet choices were excellent. Facilities included a well-equipped gym and spa, a running track, casino, computer rooms, reading rooms, retail shops and a theatre for live Broadway-style shows each night among others. On the cruise I took, they had two very good speakers houston texas hotel covering inf