"In a few years from now you will be more dissappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So, throw of the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails"
For years, we've been planning to someday go on a cruise. It always remains at "someday," and we have no idea where we would like to go. We find the Mediterranean a bit ordinary, and we're not beach people, so the Caribbean doesn't score very high with us either. A cruise following an Alaskan vacation is still an option we consider.
But then it's October 24, 2020, and we go to the Far Travel/Cruise Event in the Fokker Hall in The Hague. Just like we walked around here a few years earlier, we do it again now, but apparently, the seed planted long ago is finally sprouting. We attend a presentation and pick up some brochures. We now know what we want, and that's South America with Antarctica. A place we'll likely never visit again, so we decide to go for it.
As often happens once we've crossed the threshold, things move quickly now. On October 25, we book a 22-day cruise with Holland America Line, starting in Santiago de Chile (San Antonio) and ending in Buenos Aires, in an aft cabin, all the way at the back of the ship, with a view backward, cabin 8138.
We sail along Antarctica for 4 days. Unfortunately, we're not allowed to land because the ship is too large. Anything with more than 200 passengers is not permitted to dock there, or rather, to drop anchor. One of the other stops is the Falkland Islands.
This is already a spectacular journey, but we wouldn't be the Jojo's if we didn't add something more to it. I had read somewhere that the
Iguazu Falls are supposed to be very beautiful, but they're not right next to Buenos Aires. So, we're going to puzzle over how we can fit that in as well.
2/19/22
5 shore excursions booked
2/22
1 excursion booked.
Furthermore, we've listed the flight options and considered what extension would be enjoyable and feasible for us.
3/8
We've revisited the flight options and surrounding days and opted for Air Canada via Toronto. This means we'll need to stay in a hotel in Santiago for 3 nights, as this flight doesn't operate daily. We hope it won't turn into 5 nights due to quarantine requirements, but by that time, the situation with COVID-19 and related measures may be very different. At the end of the trip, we'll fly back via Toronto. From there, we'll rent a car to visit the (partially) frozen Niagara Falls. We'll spend 1 night in a hotel and then fly back home via Frankfurt from Toronto.
We book the Best Western EstacĂon Central in Santiago for 3 nights. A Queen room with breakfast. The downside is that the room is only available from 3 pm, and we arrive at 10 am. It will take about an hour to get from the airport. Then we'll take the Turbus, which takes about 45 minutes to get close to the hotel. It's then just a 3-minute walk. The bus costs $1900 Chilean Pesos. That may sound quite expensive, but fortunately, it's only €2.15.
On Wednesday morning, we need to go to San Antonio, to the port. That costs a mere $5400, which is €6 per person. This Pullman bus stops a 4-minute walk away, and the journey takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. The internet tells us it's a luxury bus with fabric headrests, air conditioning and heating, TV/DVD, pillows and blankets, assistance service, and... a bathtub! đ Still fun, these Google Translate translations. We assume it's a restroom. The 10 o'clock bus would work well.
3/10
We booked the flight with Air Canada over the phone. We couldn't do it online because the last leg of the return trip from Frankfurt to Amsterdam is in economy class, and since we were searching for premium economy, the system wouldn't allow it for a multi-city booking. But we managed to do it. We were assisted by a very friendly staff member who chatted with us about cruising and the Niagara Falls.
Outbound:
AC 827 at 11:55 am from Amsterdam to Toronto
AC 92 at 2:20 pm from Toronto to Santiago, arriving the next day at 10:00 am.
Return:
AC 91 at 5:05 pm from Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo, with a 2-hour layover
AC 91 at 9:45 pm from Sao Paulo to Toronto, arriving the next day at 06:00 am. Although it's the same flight, we have to disembark.
After visiting the Niagara Falls, we'll continue with:
AC 842 at 9:35 pm from Toronto to Frankfurt
AC 9073 at 12:20 pm from Frankfurt to Amsterdam. This flight is operated by Lufthansa, so we'll be in economy, but it's only an hour and 25 minutes.
We've also booked a car through Air Canada to go to Niagara. It's an intermediate SUV from Budget for 2 days.
We'll pick it up at 7:00 AM and return it the next day at 7:00 PM. Cost is €120.40.
We're continuing with booking because things are going so smoothly.We've booked the Tower Hotel at Niagara Falls and opted for the Falls View Tower King room. After all, you only live once. This reservation can be canceled up to 48 hours in advance.
Booking the NH Buenos Aires 9 de Julio hotel through Booking.com was cheaper than booking directly and can be canceled up to 1 day in advance. This includes breakfast for 2 nights, costing $153.16. We'll also receive a €5 cashback, which will be credited 64 days or more after check-out by Booking.com. So, it may take some time.
Now, the only thing left is to book the excursion (flight) to the Iguazu Falls, and then we're all set. We haven't chosen excursions yet for the last few days of the cruise. We'll do that later, depending on our preferences at the time. Since we'll be in cities, we find it too difficult to decide right now.
5/19
We received an email from Air Canada informing us of a flight change. The two flights we had booked have been removed. Now, we'll take some time to figure out how we want to proceed, and then we'll have to call them because the "view other flights" button is not available. This was also the case last time, probably because we have a multi-city itinerary.
5/20
We've listed the options, ensuring that it doesn't significantly reduce our vacation time or increase costs, but rather keeps things relatively balanced. The alternative flights offered in the email aren't suitable since they require leaving a day earlier, which would incur additional hotel and car rental expenses. The car rental, which we booked for €120, would now cost €348, which is quite unreasonable.
We spoke with Brian from Air Canada. Initially, we were taken aback by his deep voice, but fortunately, it became clearer later on, especially as he adjusted his tone. He was also surprised by the changes. Almost everything was marked in red in our booking đ±. Only the return flight from Toronto to Frankfurt to Amsterdam remained unchanged. The flights we suggested were available, so now we're leaving for Santiago a day later, from Amsterdam via Toronto. For the return, we opted for a different flight: from Buenos Aires via Sao Paulo to Toronto. The first leg is with Swiss Air, and we need to reserve seats ourselves as their system doesn't handle it. The other seats are already reserved, and we now have bulkhead seats everywhere. Lots of space indeed. Well, at least for now, as it will probably change again. Then we'll have to call again, but it's a good thing we booked early, as the flights are now over €500 more expensive per person. That's a lot of calls đ. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long to be assisted.
So, the itinerary is now as follows:
AC 9052 Amsterdam - Frankfurt
AC 843 Frankfurt - Toronto
AC 092 Toronto - Santiago
LX 093 Buenos Aires - Sao Paulo
AC 091 Sao Paulo - Toronto
AC 842 Toronto - Frankfurt
AC 973 Frankfurt - Amsterdam
We also adjusted the hotel in Santiago to one day less. Everything should be in order now.
Upon further consideration, the bulkhead seat isn't as great as it seemed. The extra space is nice, but there are no footrests, which is quite essential for my short legs. So, we've changed to row 13 for all seats.
5/21Haha, we've switched back to bulkhead seats where possible đ (Swiss Air doesn't allow it). We plan to check how the airplane looks in June 2022 and whether or not there are footrests. If not, we'll switch again, and if there are, then we'll stick with it.
7/29
Today we tried to tie up the last loose ends regarding the trip to the IguazĂș Falls. We're not entirely there yet, but it's starting to take shape.
We plan to take a taxi from the boat to Buenos Aires International Airport. The journey takes about 1.5 hours. We found a hotel nearby where we could leave our luggage and fly with only carry-on baggage at 13:42 to IguazĂș, arriving around 3:30 PM. Then, we'll take a taxi to the hotel.
The next day, we intend to spend almost the entire day on a boat and hiking tour to the Falls and the surrounding jungle. In the evening, we'll fly back to Buenos Aires and have the hotel pick us up from the airport. We'll then have a chance to sleep in and prepare for the journey to Toronto and the Niagara Falls.
We haven't booked anything yet because we want to inquire whether it's possible to leave the luggage at the hotel for an extra night, possibly with a surcharge. We hope the hotel in IguazĂș still has a room available, as Expedia indicated that there was only one left. However, that was on their website, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything.
If we do it this way, it will cost us approximately $700 in total, whereas it would cost about $1000 per person through the cruise company! We're keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.
7/29
Email sent to Hotel Posada de las Aguilas, Buenos Aires, and received an immediate response that luggage storage is free. It's not clear if this applies to an extra night, but we'll take our chances. Next, we'll email the tour company to ask if they can pick us up from the hotel, and if not, we'll take a taxi. After all, taxi costs there are not high.
8/1
Cancelled the hotel we had already booked in Buenos Aires,
NH 9 de Julio.
8/5
Today we received an email from Holland America stating that the excursion we had booked in the Falkland Islands has been cancelled because the company no longer offers it. We have received a refund, and now we are looking for an alternative. Our preferred option, a day trip, is no longer available as it is fully booked. Therefore, we have opted for the
Bluff Cove Penguin Rookery, which lasts for 3 hours, booked through our HAL account.
9/5
We received a Spanish email from JetSmart informing us that they have made some changes to our flights to IguazĂș Falls. The return flight is now 3 hours earlier and departs from a different airport. We had just sorted everything out and arranged it to fit perfectly with our plans for IguazĂș Falls, but now it's all out of sync, of course. Once we're back from America, we'll figure out how to proceed with this.
10/13
Jan is searching for another hotel, which turned out to be NH 9 de Julio again. Today, we're emailing to inquire if we can drop off our luggage there a day in advance since we'll only be traveling with hand luggage to the Falls. Within 10 minutes, we received a response that it's no problem.
We cancelled the hotel near the International Airport, Posada de las Aguilas, because we're now returning via the other airport from IguazĂș Falls.
10/21
We checked in online with Holland America and received the luggage tags.
10/24
Today, we paid the mandatory gratuity fee. It can also be paid afterwards, but apparently, it's less advantageous that way.
10/31
We booked the tour to the IguazĂș Falls with guide
Marcello We can optionally add the boat tour. We had previously tried to book this with two others, but received no response.
11/4
We have reserved the special dinners on the days when we are at sea all day. Twice at the Pinnacle Grill and once at the Italian restaurant Canaletto. We used the credits provided by HAL for this.
11/5
Booked the NH 9 de Julio hotel in Buenos Aires again, but this time for just one night.
12/12
For Holland America, a PCR test is no longer required, a self-test is sufficient. That's very convenient and especially handy. You perform the test and upload a photo of the result with your details.
However, we still need to wear masks on board for the first 3 days. Chile also requires wearing masks at the airport.
