abranz

we are on a 12 day cruise on holland america.

we start from buenos aires.
some of the stops are montevideo, port stanley, punta arenas, puerto monte and finally ending in valparaiso.

we will spend a couple of days at each end in buenos aires, valparaiso and santiago.

being my first cruising experience i'm concerned that 12 days may be too long.
in retrospect i think i should have started with a shorter cruise. o well.

Dayenu

Abranz, this cruise is on my wish list, I want to hear all about it!

ncounty

It sounds awesome. I had a great time in buenos aires. The SOHO area is my favorite; so cool....

At the stops, you'll be gone all day sightseeing so your cruising time really isn't the entire 12 days.

abranz

thanks ncounty,
you are making me get more excited than i was before.

dayenu,
i will definitley give you the dirt on all of it.

travel4now

abranz, we're also sailing Holland America, our first time with them. Our ship Amsterdam is rated 5 stars. Doing Alaska in September to avoid summer crowding in the small port cities. It's Seattle to Seattle, and We'll cruise the Hubbard Glacier, take excursions in the ports. My other 1/2 hasn't been to Victoria, BC, --a nice surprise is in store. Binoculars are at the top of our what-to-take-along list.

abranz

travel4,
how do you find out what your ship is rated and what is the rating system based on?
we are on the veenderdam (i think)

jacketwatch

Not sure how T4N got that rating but the most prevalent site is: www.cruisecritic.com. You will find scores of passenger reviews as well as profesional ones. You can also go to: www.cruisemates.com as a source for reviews.

Dayenu

dayenu,
i will definitley give you the dirt on all of it.

Will there be anything I don't want to know?

travel4now

Yes, abranz, like jacketwatch I use cruise critic. I found it on a list of all ships listed for the many cruise lines. The professional reviews are very descriptive on cruisecritic.com whereas the

travel4now

(WHOOPS!) ...passengers tell their own sequential, detailed experiences.

travelteri

Dh, dss age 20, 14, dd 17 and Mom (me) will be cruising for the first time on this NOS leaving Thanksgiving day. I'm a little nervous about all the time at sea since I get very seasick! I'll have my patch, ginger and wristbands from the start! I'm also a little concerned that there will be enough for all of us to do together. We think this may be our last vacation with all our kids together. We really want to make it special for all of us. The boys will be going thru skateboard withdrawal! Also, the oldest is vegetarian, will there be enough variety for his picky palate?

ncounty

there is quite a variety of food and activities on board. I would think most people will be fine finding things to do separately or together. Personally, I am curious and interested in everything (not very picky) so I would find that I was not able to get to all the activities I wanted to do on cruising days. Of course, when docked, you can do your own thing together exploring the ports. hope you have a great time!

travel4now

You'll all have plenty to do on this ship. It might even have skateboarding on the top deck like the Voyager does. But hey!--you can all learn to ice skate! It's your first cruise, but seasickness may not be a problem. We cruise a lot. I've never been seasick. My better half used to get real seasick over 10 years ago and took medicine, but never once has he been sick since the big ships have the wonderfully effective balancers. Now we do transatlantic crusies every year. have Have a wonderful cruise!!

TC

Not exactly un-biased -- everyone knows that I LOVE Cozumel and spend a good portion of each winter there. I am amazed at your comments on "carjackings" and "roberies" in Cozumel. I have <u>NEVER</u> heard this mentioned even once in the 16 years we've spent winters there. It goes completely against the ethics of the island. Having said that -- I've seen plenty of cruise tourists sink there Jeep into the sand trying to drive on beaches. We had to push one out so the occupants wouldn't miss there departure. We've seen people driving too fast, drunk, with way too many passengers, etc. etc. and these offenders will be delayed by officers. Maybe the confusion comes from the look of traffic officers on Cozumel. They are often young men on motorcycles wearing simple tee shirts that say Police in Spanish. I suppose a tourist could mistake the identity.

While I agree that souveniors are much cheaper away from the stores that your cruise line will tell you is the only <u>safe</u> place in town, you will find a difference in quality between the 7/$20 shirts (I've never seen them quite that cheap) and the $15 shirts at Cinco Sole. The material is a lower quality and the printing may not last -- but then, its just a tee shirt. So who cares?

I've also not noticed the pricing going up in the afternoons. I will agree that pricing is higher when the cruise ships are in town, but any shop doing business with a cruise line (the ones listed on your little map who give out special "gifts" or have "drawings") must give a HUGE percentage of their income as kick-back to the cruise lines. That is the real reason the clerks ask what ship you are from. They must keep track and pay up or they will be black listed by the cruise ships. So if the price goes up for you, its the fault of the cruise lines, not the shop owners who are just trying their best to make ends meet in seasons of hurricanes and flu.