I am back from a January 5 (but really January 6) to January 17 cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I return from a cruise for the first time with a mixed review and a feeling that perhaps land based travel is my future.

I should start by stating my biases. I travel to see places I want to see and, for the most part, have not seen before. I am not a foodie, do not care particularly for cruise ship entertainment (except a good comedian), do not play bingo or trivia and can do without country and western night. The Good: The good is easy to identify. Both and after the cruise, we had wonderful tours. In Chile, Pedro from Christian, The Van Man, picked us up at the airport, gave us a tour of Santiago and then on the way to Valparaiso embarkation port drove us through the wine country of Chile. We stopped for a winery tour and tried wine tasting for the first time in my life. We then toured Vina del Mar, a wonderful seaside community before reaching the Star Princess around 3:30 PM.

In Buenos Aires, post trip, WOW Argentina and their tour guide Carina provide us a fabulous eight hour tour. We saw the tourists stops in the am and then in the afternoon, went to one of the neighborhoods where the street tango dancers performed, the shops were wonderful and just being the people was a treat. Carina loves her city and country and the tour reflected that. I would recommend WOW Argentina to anyone who wants custom tours of Argentina (as well as Chile and Peru). Read more