South America Cruise Reviews

we love all the theme of music and dancing ,the centrum is beautiful and all activity music it happen there ,the only thing we don't understand Portugal language so we did'n go to the show

We had a wonderful time.  We do a lot of camping and backpacking, so the wonderful crew and services of this ship on this trip were  true luxury  for us.  The shows were fair to good, the naturalists on board all had different specialties, and that was WONDERFUL! Paradise Bay in Antartica was AMAZING!  We felt the food was even  better than the good  food we have had on Royal Caribbean. 

This cruise was much more of an adventure than any of our previous cruises because of the destinations and two wonderful podium speakers on the Infinity - MickeyeLive and Milos Radakovich. They thoroughly prepared us for what we would see in the days to come in an educational and entertaining manner. We really liked the layout of Infinity, and its crew. Best to start this cruise rested up and ready for an active schedule. From dawn to evening, there is much to see and learn.

The celebrity Infinity was in need of a lot of up dating the floors were uneven the carpets were worn and dirty and in certain parts of the ship it smelled of bad odors.We had a inside cabin that was small and was not that clean and our shower curtain had black mold on it.The bathroom toilet would not flush and had to call maintenance twice but they did come and fix it right away.The staff was very friendly and helpful on everything. The food i thought was very good and the wait staff very nice. The activities were ok and the shows at night were good. The shore excursions i thought were over priced for what you got it would be better to do walking tours your self or share a cab and see some of the same things yourself.I was disappointed that we missed some of the best fjords because it was in the middle of the night .I think they could miss a stop or two so you could see the fjords in the day.But over all it was a good experience but i don't think i would sail with celebrity again.

Everybody was very friendly, staff and fellow passengers!

There were many activities organized  by the staff. Food was good and shows also good. We enjoyed also the side music as the piano and violin players.

Down sizes:

Our first stateroom was on the third level under the kitchen! It was permanently noisy .After complaining we got a better stateroom.

 Before booking verify what is above your place.

The shore excursions were very expensive for what they were offering. There were many offers outside the ship and  much more reasonable for the same service or better.

The places that we visited. in the Falkland Islands and. in Patagonia were ok but not spectacular. .For instance In Puerto Montt we traveedl each way 90 minutes to see a medium size waterfall.

The Zaandam, its cruise, food, crew and accomodations were great.  Our stateroom was very comfortable, clean and reasonably appointed and they gave us the selection of 3 types of firmness for our pillows which was a nice touch.  Our cabin stewart was very attentive and we could count on our stateroom being made up after we returned from breakfast.  We ate breakfast in the Lido, mainly because we either had an excursion or slept in :-).  They had just about anything you could want for breakfast including cook to order eggs or omelets and the service was fast. We loved visiting Billy in the Ocean Bar for a couple of cocktails before dinner - a great bartender.  Dinner in the dining room was excellent.  The menu was quite varied but they also included some basics for the less adventurous pallet.  Service was good and the presentation on each course was wonderful.  What we didn't like was out of the 13 day cruise there were a total of 8 "sea days" and only 5 ports after you leave Buenos Aires.  Unfortunately we had heavy seas and winds so we couldn't go on the outer decks while we cruised the various channels, glaciers and the Cape Horn so we missed a lot of it and photo opportunities through ship windows just aren't great.  It was frequently foggy as well and cold at about 40-50 degrees (March 4-17).  We had looked upon cruising the Cape, glaciers and channels as we would an excursion - that was not the experience.  Additionally we had such rough seas the Captain couldn't take us in the Chilean Fjords so we missed that totally.  Of course the weather there is usually cool and rainy.  In Ushuaia the guide on our excursion told us that out of 365 days in a year they have only 44 full sunny days.  Guess we should have researched more.  We also felt that with that many "sea days" the Zaandam should have had more varied entertainment.  After a couple of days, tango lessons, bingo, art and jewelery shows get old.  The evening entertainment was great - wonderful shows in the lounge, but when you can't go out on the outside decks during the day it gets a bit boring.  Many people were reading in the lounge areas, my though was I can read at home.  The fitness center is great, used it several times but when the seas were rough I was reluctant to get on the equipment.  The best time to be had was with Buddy the piano man in the Mix Lounge.  He was a great entertainer but as of May 2 he is going to the Holland cruise in the orient.  If you take that cruise with Holland be sure to stop by and say hello to Buddy!

The itinerary was good from the tip of Argentina. The first leg along the coast of Chile was somewhat boring. The unexpected stop at the Falklands was a huge bonus. Going around the Horn was terrific.

The ship, service and cabin were fine , but the food was average and often not hot enough.

The internet service was too expensive as was the wine bought on-board.

Trips bought on the vessel were overpriced and a lot of folks are now making their own arrangements.

I wanted to let you know how disappointed my grandma and I were our cruise experience.  First and foremost, while we were in line to check in for the cruise, we were alerted to a $160/person reciprocity fee that we were required to pre-pay for entrance into Argentina.  Since this was the very first I heard of this, you can imagine my shock and disappointment.  You had let us know of the Brazilian Visa required (costing $160/person) and I had seen that for myself on the Royal Caribbean website, however, there was never any mention of the fee for Argentina as well.  Our only option at the point in time that we learned about it, was to pay or not board the ship.  Needless to say, we paid the fee ($320 total).  As a travel agency service, I think it your responsibility to disclose and clarify any documents we would need to take this cruise so we had all the information upfront and could make a judgment call on whether or not it was worth it to spend all this extra money to take this cruise.  I would like to know if there is any way you plan to rectify this unfortunate situation.

Next, I did receive an email 10 days after I booked this trip, that the cruise was going to be a "culturally enriching experience", there was nothing in that email or on the Royal Caribbean website that led me to believe over 95% of the people on the ship, along with all of the entertainment would be in Portuguese.  If the description was more clear, I would have been concerned - knowing that we would not be able to speak to anyone or really enjoy any of the entertainment.  However, everything I read made me believe it would not be a concern and that there would be plenty of English spoken on board.  That was not the case at all.  The time of dinner even changed to accommodate the Portuguese passengers, which was not discussed on the Royal Caribbean website.  Anytime dining begins at 6:30 and my grandma was already pushing it with how late she wanted to eat.  We quickly found out on the ship, that dinner would actually not start until 7:30 anywhere - dining room or buffet - because that is more standard to Brazilian dinner time.  Again, information that should have been available prior to booking.

Finally, as part of my booking deal, you had said that we would get a $75 credit on any Seapass charges.  There was no discount taken off either of our accounts.  I'm happy to contact Royal Caribbean about this as well, but figured I would address it with you first, as it had been part of my booking deal with Cruises Only.

Decent cruise, I am from the USA I was disappointed that Royal Caribbean did not tell us that a $160 per person tourist visa was required just to board the plane to fly to Brazil.  We also had a $160 per person reciprocity fee for Argentina, we found this out at the port.  The cruise staff was awesome as usual.  Only about 28 out of 2000 passengers spoke English but most of the cruise staff spoke English so language wasn't a barrier at all.  We were able to take all of our excursions with an English speaking tour guide.  Mostly Brazilian passengers and they were very friendly.  I didn't like waiting in line to enter the Windjammer cafe, this is the first time I have ever experienced lines for meals on a cruise.  The food was a 6 out of 10, like eating at Ryan's or Golden Corral buffet for a week, even in the fancier dining rooms.  The food was not bad but not great.  Overall this was an easy affordable way to explore several South American countries.  I would recommend this cruise to others

The Infinity is a beautiful ship, the food is supurb, and the staff is wonderful.  We have been on several Celebrity cruises, and have never been disappointed by the ships or staff. 

We were disappointed this time, because due to circumstances beyond Celebrity's control such as weather, a dock strike, and a fellow passenger who fell ill and had to be transported by the Infinity, we spent five consecutive days at sea, as well as the planned sea days.  We missed several ports where we had booked excursions, and should have checked before we booked the cruise to see how many tender days were included.  These tender days are totally dependent on weather conditions, and it is extremly important when choosing an itinerary in a location or locations where the weather can be very unpredictable.  We had three separate locations where we could have seen penguins, but all three of these were cancelled for one of the above reasons.

When we booked our cruise, (onboard an earlier Royal Caribbean cruise), we were assured that all three cabins were together since we spend a lot of time in each other's rooms.  We specifically requested that all the cabins be together in the front of the ship, but they neglected to tell us that a "crew only" set of doors with a stairwell inside was between our rooms and made it very inconvenient, especially since two of the passengers had knee problems, and didn't need the long walk  to the nearest lobby, and around to the other side of the ship.

We did have our group of six friends, and tried to play cards on sea days, only to find out that there is no card room onboard, and the hours are very restrictive as to when you can use other locations on the ship.   We never had a day when it was warm enough to sit by the pool, even when the sun was shining, and you can only spend so much time in the casino.  The kitchen tour and cooking demonstrations were fun as well as the daily trivial pursuit, but there should be more to do that sit wrapped up in blankets, reading or sleeping.

Considering the amount of money spent on this trip, I would not recommend recommend it, especially if you are an active person.  

My husband and I looked forward to this trip.  I picked Celebrity over Princess because I liked the itinerary and wanted to try Celebrity since I had always heard it was top of the line.  Boy was that a mistake.  The check-in process was great, luggage showed up, cabin okay, then we headed to the lounge.  If you didn't go to the bar you didn't get service.  Went to dinner met our dinner companions for the cruise and the watress and her assistant.  First day was at sea, no surprises, second day port at Puerto Montt, Chile again no problem okay, third day doing the Fjords except that was at 4:00 a.m. and by 8:00 we were moving through other areas, next day the straits of Magellan but here again it was dark outside for the good sections.  Okay we have two days at sea and ready for Punta Arenas, Chile, sorry weather is bad and we could not tender for safety reasons which I completely understand another day on the ship sitting and waiting.  Next day Tierra Del Fuego yeah off the ship and tours, but no penquins.  Back on the ship and finally Cape Horn - yeah it was perfect now headed out to sea all day, next day out to sea coming up to Puerto Madryn, during the previous evening a passenger got sick and we had to make an emergency turn around to a hospital.  This day was canceled and back to sea, the next day at sea. the last four days we had three ports including Buenos Aires. The Guest Services staff from the beginning was rude, unfriendly and anything but helpful.  The last morning of the cruise there was no HOT WATER for showers.  I was very disappointed in Celebrity and the fact that the ship could not have found another port to go to like we understand Princess did.  In addition Princess offered their cruisers a 25% discount for missing one port.  We missed two ports.  We understand things happen but you do not just float around at sea for four days with nothing to do on board.

I like repositioning cruises.  They actually take you from point a to point b.  This was our first South America trip and we found the ports and the Panama Canal transit very interesting.

We took the 13 day cruise from Santiago to Buenos Aires on March 18 through March 31. We booked an outside cabin with an unobstructed view. It felt larger than similar cabins on Princess and had a bathtub/shower arrangement rather than a cubbyhole sized shower which was nice. The food was good, not great. Portion sizes were variable and the meat was often tough. Service was better in the Lido than the dining room; it seemed as if the kitchen was slow downstairs in getting orders to the wait staff. Most definitely, the pisco sours- or at least that is what they claimed they were- we're undrinkable and expensive. Stick to unmixed drinks on board. While it felt like we didn't have enough time in port, in reality, there was enough time to do most activities. HAL's excursions are overpriced and I recommend you do some on-line research to find deals. I would specifically recommend enPatagonia in Puto Chacobuco, kayak Aqua Fresca in Punta Arenas and CanalFun in Ushuaia. Overall, we had a good time and would consider crusing with HAL again.

Overall the cruise was wonderful. As before the service & staff on Infinity were great. The food was top shelf at every meal. Would like to see more & better entertainment. We were very pleased with all excursions, they were better than expected! Both my husband & myself came home with "germs" we caught while on the cruise, as did many others we talked to while on ship. That seemed to be the biggest downside. Thanks for a chance to give input. MJM

Organization of events and everything involved with getting on and off the vessel was disorganized and poorly planned. Best example: Waited 4.5 hours in line outside in the sun just to get on board. That is totally unacceptable. Unfortunately this performance was repeatedly experienced for the 7 weeks we were on board for most of the ports of call. The ship was fine, performed well and the main line crew that serviced the guests were great. Officers were non existent, rarely saw one, gave the appearance of "not interested" and probably was the main reason for dis-array.

Food & Service Fabulous. Had a bad tour experience in Rio, which ruined Rio experience altogether! Tour person was unorganized & rude! Did not enjoy most ports. Thoroughly enjoyed Montevideo & Buenos Aires! As a suggestion, could eliminate all Brazil stops other than Rio, add day to Rio, Montevideo & to Buenos Aires. Would not recommend this itinerary to anyone. This was our third cruise with Oceania. Very Disappointing! Loved the staff, service & food.

We have cruised Carnival many times and have enjoyed the experiences. However we feel that the service and food quality has deteriorated in the past two - three years. On this tour we had one late departure at about 11pm. Many of us had shore excursions that did not finish until 9:30. We are seniors and perhaps were slow in walking back to the ship. However we arrived back at about 9:45 and went to our room to drop off our coats etc. Then we went to Deck 9 to get something to eat. We found all both buffets closed at 10 and they were cleaning up. We were able to find the pizza stand open. The operator was swamped with all the returnees wanting to eat. He called for help but it didn't arrive while we were waiting. Pizza is not on our diet but we did in enjoy the slice of pizza that we were able to get after a wait. The cook was doing his best and it certainly wasn't his fault but many passengers were unhappy. The food in the regular dining room was very good on several nights. The veal was not good (tough and unseasoned) Salmon was good but side dishes were not very good. We did have excellent soups and deserts. Personnel were very attentive and did their job well. In comparing this dining with past cruises, we felt it was not as good. The last day when we departed the ship in Buenos aires was a bad example of organizing and planning. Our bags were picked up at 10 pm the previous night but after a long line waiting to get on a bus to take us to the terminal , we found that our bags were not there. This caused another 30 minute wait standing around with no place to sit down. No one seemed to know when they would arrive. They did arrive after a while and we were able to claim and carry them to our bus for the city tour, lunch. Tango show and delivery to the air line terminal. The tour was ok, the lunch was excellent and the show was very very good. We then were taken to the air terminal at about 3pm. We had about 8 hours waiting for our flights. I know you do not have any control over this wait but the tour should last a little longer, maybe till 5PM when the airlines open their ticket check in positions. Other than that, we enjoyed the trip and will look forward to another Carnival cruise in the future.

The ship was great, spotless, and easy to navigate. The food was very good. There was a good variety including lobster tail, filet mignon, sea bass, salmon, veal, escargot, etc. The crew was most helpful, pleasant, clean, and everyone spoke English. The entertainment was mostly poor. The dancers and singers and ship's band were excellent as were the costumes and themes. The individual entertainers were poor and in one case embarrassing in her ineptitude. There was too much comedy everywhere for all ages-----way too much! There was too great an emphasis on karaoke, trivia, and deck games. The music was mostly DJ's playing some weird rock music. The Latin Band played much too fast and no recognizable songs. The piano player was mediocre. The dance lessons centered on jiggling around. The cruise director was from the Bronx and had never been to any of the ports we visited. He was lost. The administration was very poor with one hand not knowing what the other had was doing and consequently we received many mixed messages or corrections to previous messages. The internet was almost unusable it was so slow. In one case it took 45 minutes to load the Carnival site! Finally they reset the satellite for the southern hemisphere and it was somewhat better but often had "too many users". Best time to use it was the middle of the night. There was one "naturalist", photographer, techno geek on board who saved the whole cruise! Mickey Live was awesome! He had been to all the ports and worked for other cruise lines more accustomed to this type of cruise. He organized all kinds of interesting things to do and see; that no one else from Carnival had any idea of doing. He was a star! Otherwise there were no lecturers, no historians, no one who knew anything about where we were going, no Argentinian tango instructors, no singing quartets, no knowledgable experts on anything. We will not sail with Carnival again as we are looking for something much more cultural and personally enriching.

ship was fine. clean and sparkling. crew couldn't have been better. food was not good! ports were great. shows okay. enjoyed the cruise, only complaint was the food which unfortunately is the biggest part of the cruise

Princess Cruises was well organized and provided us with a great trip. The Star Princess was very nice and seemed to be well maintained. The ports vised were interesting and the stays were just about the right amount of time. On the sea days, my wife very much enjoyed the Brudge Classes, very well done. Some of the other programs did not match up to some of the other crusises we have taken.