My husband and I booked this cruise with a friend over a year ago when we heard that large cruise ships to Antarctica would be banned as of June 2011. Given the expense of the smaller ships, $10,000 to $30,000, we knew we had to go now if at all. All three of us had also traveled extensively and visited 6 continents so far. Antarctica would be the completion of all 7 continents even though you do not get to stand on land on this cruise.
We left from JFK on TAM on January 26th during a snow storm and learned New York got 19 inches that night. We had a layover in Sao Paulo before arriving in Buenos Aires. We took a taxi to our hotel which cost $38. We stayed at the Howard Johnson's Hotel Boutique Recoleta. Excellent hotel in an nice safe area and within walking distance of many area sites. Hotel staff were very friendly and helpful. Our room was very large, comparable to American size hotel room. very tastefully decorated.
Buenos Aires is a city to experience vs. one to tour. Walking around the different neighborhoods lets you experience the life of the city. We did go to Ricoleta Cemetery to see Evita's tomb. Surprised it is not more prominent or larger. In hindsight, we would have asked locals what their impression was of Evita. We did go to see the Eva Peron Museum which was actually very interesting. We were amazed by the number of Italian restaurants and laughed at how much pizza we ended up eating.
Our cabin was an oceanview on deck 3. We had heard that the Infinity is due for an overhaul in November so were expecting dated decor. We were actually surprised and found the decor fine so we look forward to the changes coming to the Infinity. We found the bathroom a plus as it had a shower along one wall with a curtain vs. the enclosed circular showers that make you feel like you are in a tube on most ships. The only negative we found about the cabin was the lack of storage space. Having sailed numerous times on Royal Caribbean we have gotten used to all the amazing ways they find to create storage space.