South America Cruise Reviews

We went on the 14night Cape Horn Rourte from Rio de Janeiro that ended in Valparaiso, Chile. The itinerary was good except that it stopped in Falkland Islands which was mistake. We could not disembark because of the rough waters. We should have stopped in Montevideo instead as far as I am concerned. We also stopped in Ushuaia which was one of the reasons I went on this cruise but that was aborted as well because of the weather which was a big disappointment. I won't go on this cruise again.

This was the most disappointing and terrible vacation.  The embarkation in Rio was a complete disaster.  We missed almost all our ports.  We did not stop at Falkland Islands.  We did not stop at Ushuaia.  We lost money on all our excursions.  We were almost killed on one of the Princess excursions to see the penguins, which we never saw.  We were stranded in the port in Punta Arenas.  IT WAS AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL all around.

Wasn't as enjoyable as other cruises we have taken with Celbrity. Excursions and entertainment were not consistently up to the quality we have previously experienced. Internet was very slow as well. 

It is an intimate experience secondary to the 100 passengers onboard.  From the airport pick up to the hotel, the level of services was incredible.   This continued on to the cruise, the post cruise hotel and the airport drop. 

Not a bad first cruise experience. I really felt everyone worked so hard to make this a great experience. We started off on the wrong foot however. Several special surprises planned for me by husband were not pulled off by staff. They were quick to correct but it was beside the point - the surprise was lost. Super amazing bed and pillow. Having a balcony was a huge plus! Room service at any time was solid. It was fun to use that when you wanted a break from food in restaurants (and people).

This cruise of South America was completely different than we expected.  The southern part of South America was much colder than we expected. We loved seeing the penguins .  The Beagle Channel was absolutely  beautiful! 

This was a 64 day cruise from Miami around South America traveling around Cape Horn and back through the Panama Canal to Miami. The longest cruise we have taken to date and we can honestly say we hated to see it end. The people we met, both passengers and crew were delightful. The only negative we experienced was the location of the ship in some ports. The docking was often in container terminals that you could not walk through and frankly were dangerous, shuttles to and from town were often $8 each way per person. On the wholethis was a fabulous trip and yes we would definately do it again.

We read a lot of negative reviews. And feel like we definitely got a great value for what we spent. It was not as nice as Azamara or Celebrity but you are not paying the higher rate. The ship looked great. Very clean. The staff were all very friendly. The entertainment overall was good. The magician was horrible. But the singers and dancers were good. Great music in the bars. The food was just okay. The buffet was marginal. The specialty restaurants were great! The ports were not great. And the tours were too expensive for what you got. Over all though it was a great bang for the buck. We will do it again

This was a great cruise with excellent stops and shore excursions.  Most of the stops do need an excursion booked as the port cities don't offer a lot close to the ship, but all of the excursions we took were very well planned with great guides and excellent local hospitality.  They all included great meals, not standard box lunches.  The staff on board was very attentive and made sure we had a great time.

The cruise left from Santos, Brazil, which is about 2 hours from Sao Paolo.  When booking the cruise, it was never mentioned that the board language would be Portuguese, but when I was reading other reviews, this came to my attention, so unlike some of the other passengers who were very surprised upon arriving at the port, I had a few weeks notice.  The check-in process was complete chaos and the cruise terminal is next to the Garbage dump of the harbor, so it smells horrendous on one side, but the smell dissipates the further to the south and east you get.  Luckily, we were on the far end since there was a Costa and MSC ship parked closer to the terminal.  If you are doing a Royal Caribbean cruise from Santos, you should fly in the night before and then get to the terminal at 10 AM to try and beat the madness. There were huge lines and the priority-lane doesn't really exist because everything was so backed up.

The itinerary was nice.  We started at Portobelo, which is probably the worst port. It would have made much more sense to either dock at Florianopolis or Blumenau instead of the middle of nowhere.  There are some transfer services, but good luck finding a rental car or any way out of the town on your own. The beaches were okay, and there are a couple small shops if you need sunscreen or want some ice cream or acai.

We also went to Ihlabela, near Sao Sebastian. This was a great port.  They have lots of tour options onshore and we booked a boat and snorkel trip with time at a beach for $24 (80 reais) a person.  They also offered discovery scuba diving for $90 a person.  We saw some nice fish and some dolphins, but no turtles.  The beach was crowded being the main vacation time between Christmas and New Years, but we still found a spot and the water was really warm and great for swimming.  

The next stop was Buzios (I think).  This was a nice port, with nice shopping and restaurants, but a little overrated in our minds.  We went to Ferruda (spelling?) beach and one other beach. The water was cold, but it was really sunny, which helped offset that cold.  Unfortunately it was also extremely windy, so we were just covered in sand.  Also beware of people trying to rip you off. Our taxi driver tried to charge us double the fare (there is a chart in Buzios with fixed rates) going to the beach.  The taxi driver on the way back was fair.

We also went to Rio de Janiero. We booked a ship-run excursion, mainly because I had read that traffic has been bad with the construction for the olympics and some people said there are always long lines for the attractions. Truth be told, we would have been okay on our own.  We went to the Christ the Redeemer statue as well as Sugarloaf, and we had a little time to go to the beach too before heading back to the Port.  I think if we had done this on our own, we probably would have had another hour or two to explore.  Rio is a nice town.  We didn't have any problems with pickpockets or other crime.  The port is kind of junky and in a bad part of town though.  

After Rio, our ship parked in the water near Copacabana beach with about 5 other cruise ships to watch the fireworks.  There was one ship "in front" of us that blocked a little of the fireworks, but it was a great show.  The band on the ship though, was simply awful.  We were in the mood to dance for hours, but this band was so bad.  We took a break for half an hour hoping it would be better, but when we reemerged, it was even worse (hard to believe).  Perhaps my wife summed it up best when she said at one point, "this is giving me ear cancer". Tough to dance to, but many of the Brazilians were trying their best to support them.  The DJ in the Viking Crown lounge was much better, but we still went to bed sometime after 3am.

New Years Day was spent at sea, then the next day was Ihla Grande.  This island is beautiful, and was probably my favorite port.  It poured rain, but it was like walking through a rain forest and since it was still so warm, we didn't care.  We just covered our beach things and swam in the water in the rain at Praia Preta (the black beach) where the sand is black and the water amazingly clear.  We also saw some monkeys here, which my wife loved.  We ate at a small restaurant called Gabi Biel, and it was fantastic.  The prices were a little higher than we would have expected on the mainland, but we paid 110 reais for a big filet mignon spread for two including rice, beans, farofa, chimmichurri and fries as well as drinks.  They also had good wifi.

And that was it for the ports.  The next day we were back in Santos.  Getting off the ship took awhile as well and it was pouring rain, and then it was tough to find our ride since there are so many people just standing out there and parked in odd spots so he was unable to get through the traffic mess. Traffic was really good though getting back to Sao Paulo and we had time to stop at a Churrascaria before going to the airport to catch our 5pm flight.

Food was okay on the ship, actually below average for Royal Caribbean.  Chops is nice as usual and there is an Izumi which was quite good.  Those both cost extra, but worth it if you have the money since the dining room was not great at all.  This ship also didn't have any special Indian menus that we liked from some of the bigger ships.  My wife and I just blamed the food on the effort the crew was making to have some Brazilian food like bean stew, rice, farofa, etc. on the ship too and limited their options as well as it being a small ship.

I am not sure if I would take this cruise again.  It was nice to see the ports, but I was pretty disappointed with the onboard experience for both this cruise and the one we took the week before. The entertainment, with the exception of the dancers, was just so-so, and the music performances were not good with the one exception of a Bossa nova singer who was fantastic. Not sure what her name was though, Julia or something like that I think.  

Since it was New Years, the Christmas decorations were still up, which made the ship feel a little more like "home". If you are looking to choose between this and the Christmas cruise though, this one was definitely better.  I wouldn't be surprised though if Royal Caribbean cancels these Brazilian cruises in the future.  They are just not up to the standard that Royal Caribbean is used to setting and I think that is obvious to the crew and staff onboard that has worked on other ships.

The water was very rough, the food was just ok, service was good, ship was less than expected, crew messed up on the disenbarkment process at Buenos Aires and we were delay 2.5 hours which cut our tour short, tours were not what we expected.  Overall, the trip was good, but not up to par with other experiences we have had.  I would not recommend this ship or Princess.

Barco viejo

entretenimiento malo 

casino malo 

no paro punta arenas 

pésimo servicio

realmente esperbamos mucho más de ese crucero la atención fue mediocre y el queque no parara en punta arenas pésimo 

*** TRANSLATED 1/14/15 BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE *** 

hulk

bad entertainment

bad casino

I keep punta arenas

terrible service

esperbamos really much more attention that cruise was mediocre and the cake will not stop lousy tip sands

The cruise was fine, the fact that we had seen al the cruise staff shows on the first half the cruise made it alittle disappointing. the other entertainers were not very good. The tours were very poor and not anywhere close to vaue for money. One was cancilled and two of the places we visited the shops were closed.

The passenger service was very poor, it seemed like they did not know what they were doing. An example of this I asked one of them about logging on to my stateroom account and I was having problems logging on and his answer was have you had your cell phone next to your cruise card. By the way the cell phone next to your card semed to be the standard answer for any problem.

This cruise was relaxing, entertaining, informative - everything I hoped for and more.  The room was comfortable and clean, the cabin attendants were extremely courteous and helpful.  The food was delicious, and we found a service team who made each meal a delight.  They watched and remembered our reactions to food and offered options they thought we would appreciate.  We had very good experiences with our shore excursions, especially the trip to the penguin preserve, which I will remember for the rest of my life. The entertainers were talented and enthusiastic, and the cruise staff encouraged participation by all.

The cruise was my fourth on Celebrity and frankly, it did not live up to my past experience on Celebrity.  The entertainment was marginal, a few good acts but mostly just marginal.  The crew worked hard, special kudos to the waiters in the main dining and the activities staff.  Cruising the Straight of Magellan, Cape Horn etc was magnificent. 

The boat, however, really needs an upgrade.  Minor maintenance seemed lacking, phones hanging off the wall, broken elevator buttons, etc, minor things, but things that should not be allowed.  Crew seemed rushed, understaffed and almost like a training cruise. 

One other thing activities ran over on top of one another, and some parties were allowed to go too long and interfere with other activities. 

The debarkment at Buenos Aires was a disaster.  Poorly executed lengthy and congested.   Worst I ever experienced. 

This cruise did not live up to my past experience on Celebrity.

Our cruise was fantastic!  Holland America did it again!  The Zaandam  is a great ship.  It is the perfect size for us.  Holland America's hospitality, elegance, and commitment to excellence can't be beat.

This cruise turned out to be the best we have taken.  The itinerary, the ship, the crew, the outstanding service, the shore excursions - all made for a memorable cruise.  It certainly exceeded our expectations and don't have enough words to described how pleased we are with the overall experience.

room cold (very cold) did not have the refrigerator, my husband found or chew a piece of glass on my birthday cake ! We were rush out of the restaurant while I was   Celebrating my BDay ! We spend a lot of time on line for costumer service which a lot of times they were not interested on our problems! And on the last day they were very rude! 

Where to start...  The cruise left from Santos, Brazil, which is about 2 hours from Sao Paolo.  When booking the cruise, it was never mentioned that the board language would be Portuguese, but when I was reading other reviews, this came to my attention, so unlike some of the other passengers who were very surprised upon arriving at the port, I had a few weeks notice.  The check-in process was complete chaos and the cruise terminal is next to the Garbage dump of the harbor, so it smells horrendous on one side, but the smell dissipates the further to the south and east you get.  There was a huge line to get luggage dropped off (we also had one of our bags get "lost in transit" from the handling station to the ship, but I was able to track it down around midnight) and then the line inside the terminal was five times as bad.  There was a line for priority check-in, but this was overrun by Brazilians who just were pushing in where ever they could.

Royal Caribbean requires proof of payment of the reciprocity fee for Argentina prior to boarding, so I had to print that out too.  Needless to say, if you are doing this cruise, you should fly in the night before and then get to the terminal at 10 AM to try and beat the madness.

At dinner, we asked for tap water (strange enough that it wasn't provided automatically as it had been on every Royal Caribbean cruise I have been on, including those in Europe) and were told that it was forbidden.  We had to purchase all drinks in the dining room, so we bought some Evian waters for $4.50 a bottle.  This happened the second night as well and I decided to go talk to guest services about it.  They said that was incorrect of the wait staff and that they should have provided tap water on request.  We just switched wait staff and received water the next nights without an issue. Mr. Haag/Matos at guest services mentioned that the water would be removed from our bill and made himself a note, but this never happened as it showed up on the bill we received prior to disembarking.  While in the end the problem was taken care of, this was a major "yuck" for us and really negatively impacted our view of Royal Caribbean.  One of the main reasons we sail with them is because they provide free water/lemonade/ice tea/juice with meals unlike the European cruise companies (e.g. Costa, MSC, AIDA, TUI).

The itinerary could have been nicer.  Punte del Este was nice, but the town is very small.  The beaches were pretty clean though and the water on the south side of the peninsula was fairly clear.  The north side was a murky brown though and looked a little gross.

Buenos Aires was fantastic.  All Aboard was 11:30pm, so you could watch a tango show, although a midnight departure would have been better.  Steaks there are great, the sites are nice, the port is right in the middle of town, taxis are cheap, really everything a port city should be.  Just no bank terminal at the cruise port and taxis didn't take credit cards, so there was no quick getaway from the point of arrival.

Montevideo is a city of contrasts.  Part of the town is nice, and part of it is incredibly run down.  The beaches closest to the pier are really disgusting and the water is brown and gunky.  I would recommend just looking at some of the sites, eating some ice cream, and calling it a day.

And that was it for the ports.  The next two days were at Sea.  It was Christmas on the ship, but there wasn't a real "Christmas show" or anything in the Broadway Melodies theater, just a small program in the overcrowded centrum area. Bad weather led the other deck parties to be held in the Centrum as well.

Food was okay on the ship, actually below average for Royal Caribbean.  Chops is nice as usual and there is an Izumi which was quite good.  Those both cost extra, but worth it if you have the money since the dining room was not great at all.  This ship also didn't have any special Indian menus that we liked from some of the bigger ships.  My wife and I just blamed the food on the effort the crew was making to have some Brazilian food like bean stew, rice, farofa, etc. on the ship too and limited their options as well as it being a small ship.

I probably wouldn't take this cruise again.  I would much rather just spend time on the mainland in Argentina and Uruguay and leave the cruising in South America for Brazil or the Caribbean.

The 3 port cities are good overall however the Rhapsody of the Seas is one of the older ships in the fleet for Royal Caribbean. The boarding and embarking process were very chaotic and cumbersome. The Porto de Santos is really a commercial shipment port. It was not created for passengers.  The quality of the food was average to below average depending on the venue. However. the Guest Services team was excellent.