South America Cruise Reviews

The excellent staff and food along with the amazing sites.  We were non-plussed in our 1st week compared to our previous and Oceania and Paul Gaugin Cruises, so we provided feedback.  There was an immediate change in the personal service---particularly Yoseph, Miodraga, and Victoria.   Anything we asked for was provided.  Personally, the trip was too long for us.  We will go back to the 10-18 day trips.

Exploring the Amazon was the best part of this cruise. Becoming familiar with the flora and fauna was truly once in a lifetime experience. Walking through the tropical rain forest, seeing the beautiful flowering trees and experiencing the antics of the manatees and pink dolphins was a never ending source of amazement.To listen to Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in the resplendent Manaus Opera house was a truly unique musical experience, one that I will remember for a long time. Meeting the local residents along the river was a revealing moment. The smells and sounds of the great river were totally outstanding and could not have been imagined without being there.

I enjoyed our trip to Santarem when we went Piranha fishing. I caught  white piranha which is about 3 1/2 inches big. All the ports are really nice and easy to get in and out the ports.

nothing could be done to improve this cruise to Caribbean and Amazon-except throwing the "whiners" in the river!!!!!!!!!! 150 word are not enough. take the cruise for yourself. yes it hot and humid. amazon basin is on equator and not covered with air conditioned dome.

My favorite excursions of the cruise was the Falkland Islands. The 4 wheel drive to see the King penguins were awesome. It was great to be able to get close to the penguins and I really felt I was in a special place. My next favorite excursion was see the amazing rapids /water falls and Valcano in Puerto Mont. But the rest of the sights were also pretty great. On the boat staff was very friendly and attentive. In the Lido buffet both management and staff definately focused on details and it showed. They had an interesting series of workshops during the trip, called Digital workshops, which were traing classes on varius windows topics. While I consider my self, pretty up to date, i always seemed to pick up something new. I had a really good trip and am greatful for all there efforts and would highly recommend this trip for consideration.

Please see individual comments in various categories that follow.

I am sorry I took this cruise.  Other than the ports in Chile it was hard to see why we stopped.

Food service was repetitious.  Even in the main dining room there were surcharges for steak (at least $20 plus gratuity) and two other items. 

It was not possible to determine what was being served without going to the different venues. 

Drinks were very expensive.

The Norweigan Sun is a small ship holding 1900 passengers and 900 crew members.  My room located forward on the 6th deck with a window on the walking deck.  No music or activity above or below me.  Very important to consider if you want a good night sleep.  Eat in the dining rooms, service is compatible to fine dining, skip the buffet.  It's small and very crowded. Specialty dining at Teppanyaki, Bistro and La Cucina were great, not so at Cagney. No ambiance, more like a diner.  The shows were 5 stars, especially the NCL dancers and singers. The crew made us feel special, very friendly and happy. I would recommend this ship.

We went on this cruise because we had cruised with Norwegian on past 2 occasions. This time food choice for 2 of our shipmate, who were vegetarians was just Horrible. One vegetarian choice was the same for all 17 days ( Vegetarian Lasagne roll) in Seven Seas Restaurant. The person responsible for this must eat this for all 17 days. Will try other cruise line next time in April 2017.  Shows were very good.   

I was in cabin 8076 which is a balcony at the back.  Seems like all the cabins are a little small, but ok. I think because it was a 17 day cruise from San Diego to Valparaiso, Chile, they saved food by serving the inexpensive, but nutritious, food a lot.  They have lobster but you have to pay to get it.  Half of the shows were fair, but the production shows were very good.  The average age was about 67 but I heard the Sun's cruise to Cabo before was a party cruise.  As as transition cruise, the ports and excursions I heard were poor.

Dirty ship, Cold food, Very little choice in food and very poor quality.Complaints not dealt with.  Work being carried out on decks, Noisy and dirty.A cruise line that does not care about the customer.

The Holland America Zaandam cruise was a very scenic trip, the ports of call had a wide variety of excursions - something for everyone, plenty of fun times for all, the ship's cabins were spacious and well appointed for an older ship, the ship's decor was a little plain, not lavish like larger ships, but nice enough.  What we valued most was the itinerary, the price, the quality of the entertainment, the great meals served in the main dining room, and the staff were a fantastic group of friendly, and helpful folks.  An itinerary that was a journey of a lifetime!

From the time we were met at the Quito airport until the time we departed Quito, Celebrity staff made this trip perfect.  Everything was right on time.  Service was warm and personal.  The trip was casual, yet elegant at the same time.  No need to dress up, but the dining room was lovely, staff were very attentive, the bar staff made all our drinks cheerfully and quickly.  The naturalists were with us on every shore excursions to explain all the magnificent birds, animals and plants, and always were looking out for our safety while we hiked or snorkeled.  The ship was immaculate and everything was well-organized and timely. I could not have asked for more and the whole trip exceeded our expectations in every way.

This cruise was everything Celebrity promised....... and more! The crew of the ship was awesome. Everyone was very friendly and did everything to make sure all of the guests were comfortable and happy. The naturalists were OUTSTANDING! No matter the situation, they were reassuring, patient, and supportive. The stops that we made optimized the kinds of animals and terrain that we experienced. It was worth every cent that we paid. I can't say enough good things about sailing on the Xpedition and the crew.

I have a call into Harry knoll. Several days into the cruise a terrible smell came over the ship. It was definitely a sewer smell mostly in the back end of the ship. Lucky us...Had an aft balcony and the smell was wafting into the garden cafe, sports bar and back outdoor eating areas. It was so bad when people walked around the entire back area they had to cover their noses. Complaints caused NCL workers  to shampoo the carpets but the smell persisted.It ws difficult for me to eat much.. (Oh wait that is a good thing because after this long cruise I'm still wearing my skinny jeans. ) Then 10 days into the cruise NCL brought on 250 workers to install cable into the ceiling to improve the internet service . Since they shortened their original dry dock time they had this work done on the cruise. It was unreal. There were worker everywhere day and night taking down ceiling tiles crawling through the ceiling and standing around the holes in the ceiling. There was insulation and debris all over below the open ceiling holes which were just about every other ceiling panel.The workers all wore masks and rags on their heads while us passengers walked around the construction areas. The areas were In  the hallways making it hard to get around the ship. My husband witnessed a lady passing one of the worker groups. Just as she was trying to pass, one of the workers pulled on a pile of cable causing the woman to trip. They just stood there looking at her on the floor. One of the room stewards ran to pick her up before my husband could get to her. The stewart took her to her room. They workers would crawl around the ceiling in the night waking us up with the scraping and bumping from above, I and others started with a dry cough and tickling in the throat. The whole experience was unbelievable. When we were coming back to the ship at the LA port the building and ramps had that distinctive odor. My friend asked one of the port officers what was causing the unpleasant smell. The officer said, "That sir, would be your ship" It was a humorous moment. Then for the final finally, we discovered NCL put  an additional $130.00 pending charge after we Disembarked. I have no idea what it is for and this morning I left a message for the NCL claims department. They have not contacted me. My friend told me when they got their final bill their were charges, which were marked paid on their bill. When they questioned the desk about it they were told one of the contractors used their room number and put on charges. The contractor paid NCL. so they didn't have to worry. They were putting on 0ver 1000 workers on the ship as we were leaving. They would be assigning them passenger rooms. The 250 workers left the ship at the port before we came to LA were also staying in unoccupied rooms. This whole cruise was horrible on so many levels.

This cruise was Great, " The unexplored So. American ports of call."  The Cruise itself a pleasure. Annoying to see Wealthy Ship passengers not paying a fair price for a product in the Poor Port Stands, then indulging in massive amounts of Wine & mixed beverages in the Ship. Treating the Indigenous Port Peoples, inhumanely.  The Food served on the first days is the best, after that food quality, not so good. Want Great Dinners?We recommend for future guests is to purchase many "Specialty Dining packages"!  Great "ProductionShows", aimed @ the 50+ age group.  Other "Booked Shows", also aimed for the 50+ age groups.  

Starting with the booking:

RCI has no idea about visa requirements.  It would seem that if they were boarding 2500 people, they would have all the details and close coordination with the countries to be visited.  They recommended use of their Visa service  -  way overpriced, I should have done it myself as I have done before.  Cost over $980.

A rip-off!!! This did not count the additional amount I paid directly to the country of Argentina for their entry fees ($250).

Next was the food on board:  

Worst I have had at sea.  Poorly cooked and overpriced  -  lobster and filet meals are extra charges up to $40.

Finally activities on board:  

There were no bridge games proctored by professionals as on all other ships.

There were no live lecturers on subjects such as maritime, etc.  There were only some poor videos of a previous lecturer on port visits.

Half of the professional performers were in the central atrium where there were few seats. Should have been scheduled in the theater.

I will never book RCI again at any price!!!

I love Royal Caribbean, but this particular cruise I was a little dissappointed.

The ship was a little old. I bought a picture window cabin and it was not as shown on the Royal Caribbean site. A 14 day cruise and never got the lobster dinner on captains night. Had to pay for it.

service was not to Royal Caribbean's standards.

the one thing we were very impressed with 

was our captain. He was awesome.Very enthusiastic and informative.

If I hadn't sailed on Royal Caribbean many times before, I might be giving a more enthusiastic review. This time, it was hard not to be aware of the many cost-cutting measures I observed, such as the absence of the usual toiletries in the stateroom, the flimsy toilet paper, mediocre food, and even the end of the mint or chocolate on the pillow at night.

On the plus side, however, the scenery was spectacular, the entertainment was very good (the exception, perhaps, were the less than polished big production numbers), 

Buenos Aires is a port worth visiting for several days before the cruise leaves, and Valparaiso, at the end, is also worth a couple of days, at least. One big problem is that passengers are left to figure out what to do with their luggage at the last port, unless they are booked into a hotel.

The staff was very capable, though some grumbling was heard about the Brazilian government's demand that a large percentage of the crew be Brazilian. That may explain why Royal Caribbean, allegedly, will not be doing this cruise route in the future.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas.  The itinerary was great and the Captain got us into all the ports and we were able to go around Cape Horn, which was a highlight.  The excursions were good, and the shows were very good.  We liked having music and dancing every night and dance lessons on Sea Days.  The variety of events on board were good.  The Food and Service was excellent also, especially 2 waiters, Alehandro and Isabelle who served us often on the My Dining Plan.

This was an amazing itinerary for a cruise. South America is beautiful and, going in what is Fall there was perfect. We had nice weather and fewer crowds. We were the only ship in the ports. 

The food on board the ship did not disappoint us and except for NCLs new policy of ala carte pricing in the specialty restaurants we were happy with the meal choices. We also had the drink package which helped with on board expenses.

The down part of the cruise was that many of the crew members were new and so the knowledge they had was not always up to par. We often had to ask for a supervisor for answers to our questions.  Also, the outside entertainment was not 

up to NCL standards. The NCL production team was one of the best but because all other performances had to be translated into 2 languages the choices were limited.