After driving from Dallas to Tuktoyoktuk (NWT, Canada, about as far north as you can go by road) last April, we thought it would be cool to travel the furthest south you can conveniently visit in the Americas, Cape Horn, in the same year. Royal Caribbean had the answer, 13 nights on the Splendour of the Seas, from Santiago to Buenos Aires. We booked our reservation with RC and paid a 50% deposit. That was before RC hit us with their "fuel surcharge", which may now be refunded.

RC arranged air transport from Dallas to Santiago, returning from Buenos Aires. Their itinerary included an intermediate stop, with approximate one-way 17 hr transit times. Later checking through Travelocity discovered non-stop flights available, with only 10 hr transit times. A call to RC asking for a change to non-stops revealed that changes were possible, but only after paying a $75/person "custom air" surcharge.

Arrival in Santiago was smooth, after an overnight flight from Dallas which permitted some sleep. We easily found the RC representative at the airport, and were led to a bus. Two hours later, we arrived at the dockside check-in counter, and were soon on the ship. We did talk to a couple later that stood at the check-in counter for an hour and a half trying to get the names on their reservation straightened out- a problem which dogged them for the rest of the trip. Read more