Our plane lands in Ushuaia at 9:30am, and Cory and I head immediately to the Cruceros Australis office for check-in. The process was relatively seamless and was finished well before noon giving us a wide expanse of day to fill before boarding begins at 5pm. Cory and I are not much for souvenirs, but we dutifully walked the city's main streets, popping in and out of tourist centers, killing time. Later, as we wandered around the waterfront, I wondered just what it would take for us to become the sort of people who nap on benches in foreign countries. . . because after two days of travelling on approximately six hours of sleep, I was getting the feeling that we were about to find out. In a last ditch effort to stay awake we find a quaint little restaurant, far from the main drag and filled entirely with non-English speaking locals.
It's the perfect opportunity to dust off our Spanish, and after we finish our lovely lunch we head down to the pier to await boarding. Needless to say, we are the first people on the boat. Naptime here we come!
Neither Cory nor I have ever been on a cruise before, and we are a bit unsure of the etiquette. In an attempt to maximize our down time, we are a bit late to dinner and everyone is already seated when we arrive. Unfortunately we discover that our assigned table - full of English speakers of varying ages and backgrounds - is full and we are instead seated at a table of Germans, each of whom knows English and is approximately our age. At first we are disappointed by the mistake and feel badly that our presence basically forces our dining companions to be bilingual during meals, but it doesn't take long to see the benefit of the arraignment. Our conversations are lively as we compare travel notes and international experiences. It's tempting to linger over espresso that first night, but Cory and I head back to our cabin shortly after dessert. We are scheduled to land at Cape Horn in the morning, and we need to catch up on some sleep.
Adventure Life has been an extraordinary travel resource for us over the years and today was no exception. Our River Cruise booking was handled by Jess (who has been our personal trip planner for several years) the same day as our inquiry. Suggestions were given for cabin choice and pre-trip options (that were not shown on the cruise line's website) like airport transfers and prepaid gratuities. Trip insurance recommendations followed and we were assigned a travel co-ordinator till the end of the tour. All we have to do is show up! Great service from friendly folks.
APtravelwell
1 day ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
1 day ago
Although there was a lot of paper work, I received help and guidance when I needed it.
Donna Kirby
2 days ago
Our travel was flawless! The rider pickup (airport, hotel, ship) was seamless. Jane's recommendation for Emerald Cruise Sakara was everything I wanted but the experience was soooo much more. Adventure Life took care of each and every detail and this was the easiest of all my travels.
Anne Petty
3 days ago
Follow up was effective any questions were answered in a timely manner