We have been wanting to do a South America cruise for some time now and this holiday cruise was a perfect time for us. This was our 15th cruise with Celebrity. The cruise director, Alejandro from Argentina, was an absolute riot. We loved this guy. The entertainment was excellent too as was our dining room service with David from Kenya. His assistant Alvin was also outstanding.

We loved the itinerary and were overwhelmed by the beauty of Patagonia and especially the scenery as we sailed through the Beagle Channel. In Punta Arenas we took the ferry out to Magdelana Island to see the Magellanic penguins and their newborn chicks. You can get to Magdelena Island by zodiac or ferry. We opted for the slower ferry in case of rough seas. Fortunately the seas were calm and the ride out - though slow - was uneventful. The ferry looks like a Higgins Landing Craft that hit the beaches in WW2 at Normandy. You are inside however and go down into the bottom just before landing on the island. They drop the ramp and off you go. We had an hour on the island and saw thousands of penguins, their chicks and seagulls and their chicks - who also nest there.

The place that really surprised us was Uruguay. We spent a day in Montevideo with an outstanding tour guide and the next day went to Punta del Este, Uruguay which is a magnificent resort area. Beautiful homes, beaches, condos, restaurants, a busy harbor area with all the yachts and sailboats you would see in Miami. It was very classy. We ate at a nice restaurant on the water and had excellent food and service. Uruguay is a very progressive country, very secular which surprised us. Read more