This is one of those journeys I had dreamt of doing all my life. Look at a world map or globe & who would not admit to being excited about traveling round the tip of South America. I was & persuaded my wife she could be as well.I had been to the Falklands in the 80's, & wanted to see it again, & explore some of the towns & cities of Argentina & Chile. Months of planning & research via Trip Advisor & Cruise Critic forums, the cruise was booked through an internet agency, the countdown began. And what a trip !We flew to Buenos Aires via Sao Paulo on British Airways from London, a 15 hour overnight journey. The flight was full, service was ok, but as always its a bit of a drag. Arrival in Argentina was on schedule, mid morning local time, & after a long wait for bags, sailed through the arrival formalities. ( thanks to advice gained on these forums about money exchange & taxis ). You forget about being tired, as you take in your new surroundings. We checked into the Inter Continental Hotel in central Buenos Aires. Got some sleep & set off exploring this great city. Over the next 2 days, we took in a tango show, a bus tour of the city, had some great food, & enjoyed the sun, about 30C.

Embarkation On Sunday 3rd, at 1pm, we got a taxi to the cruise terminal. From our hotel, no more than 15 minutes. We always are really excited at this point, looking for that first view of our ship. In this case Norwegian Sun. We had cruised with NCL before & love the Freestyle concept. Couldn't wait to get on board, have a cold beer & some lunch. Well, the taxi stopped on the side of a busy port road, next to a high perimeter fence. Other taxis were dropping off passengers here as well. We got out, grabbed our cases, saw a gap in the fence, & followed others through. Hordes of people, no officials in sight, hot sun...chaos. It transpired two ships were checking in. Eventually dropped our bags off, only to join another long line of people for remaining formalities. The line moved at a snails pace, no air con., few NCL reps to be seen, no water provided for the many elderly passengers in line. It dragged on & on. Without doubt the worst experience to date checking in for a cruise. 2 hours in trying conditions. Come on NCL sort this out. These are not the first impressions you want to give your guests.

On Board Having got on board, had a cold beer, ( & a complementary glass of bubbly ),& found our stateroom, everything went uphill from here. Our stateroom was on deck 8, starboard side. Plenty of hanging & storage space, very comfortable bed, ensuite bathroom with shower,( quality toiletries provided), TV with multiple channels including CNN & a selection of films, good furnishings, sofa & table, balcony( with 2 outdoor chairs & a table),small fridge, coffee maker & minibar. It was spotlessly clean. We really enjoyed our stateroom. Our room attendants kept it clean & well stocked. Sure, the odd item was overlooked, or a towel missing, but it was soon put right. The balcony was great. really pleased we opted for it. Made the most of the sunny days. Our impression of the Norwegian Sun was that it appeared to be a happy ship. With only one exception, we found the staff to be friendly, talkative in many cases, & eager to please. That doesn't mean that service was always tiptop or quick. Mistakes were made in the dining room. However, they were always rectified with an apology. Generally speaking we found the staff provided an excellent service. We always found if you smile back, say hi, & treat people with respect, you get genuine good service. Read more