Stella Australis Review

4.5 / 5.0
50 reviews

Outstanding cruise with a quarantine ending

Review for South America Cruise on Stella Australis
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silverllama
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Mar 2020

We were the last sailing of the Stella Australis for 2020 from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas. We were lucky to have great weather. The ship's capacity is 200 passengers with 65 or so crew but we were fortunate to have less than 100 passengers. Embarkation was smooth, including a temperature check to be sure no one was sick, and we really liked our cabin on the 4th deck (it was worth paying a little extra). Dining turned out to be excellent with lots of choices and free flowing wine. A large lounge/bar was open most of the day and into the night. The purpose of this cruise is to visit glaciers and islands and the crew did a great job of taking us out twice a day in "zodiacs". Again, we were very lucky not to have rain or cold weather. Everything went great until we were scheduled to visit Magdalena Island and it's famous penguins. The captain announced that the Chilean authorities were going to close Punta Arenas at 8 in the morning so we were cancelling the island and going directly to port, where we arrived a little after midnight. The next evening we boarded buses with our suitcases to clear customs and make the trip to the airport. We got as far as the gate when the authorities changed their minds and said we would be quarantined on board for a week. To make a long story short(er), the company took great care of us and provided meals, medicines, help with cancelled flights, etc. until we were able to go to the airport and make our way back to the U.S. We could not have asked for more and we will be forever grateful to the Australis company and captain Rodrigo Rojas for the way they treated us!!! I can strongly recommend this trip.

Cabin Review

Very nice cabin with a large, three panel window which provided a great view. Two single beds, a writing desk, safe and small closet were included. The bathroom was larger than I've seen on other ships. No complaints and the staff did a great job keeping everything clean and the sheets changed.

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