South America Cruises Are Must See

Deals are aplenty for people looking at South America cruises! This year, Crystal Cruises offered $2,000 cash-back and Carnival Group offered $250 in prepaid gratuities and cash-back. NCL's Norwegian Sun went on an 18-day expedition from Valparaiso, Chile to Los Angeles starting at $549! Similarly, Royal Caribbean's "Radiance of the Seas" offered a 14-Night Buenos Aires to Valparaiso cruise in April starting at $549. Princess Cruises offered to take passengers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a 14-day trip to Manaus, Brazil starting at $999 or from Valparaiso, Chile to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for as low as $699! It's hard to imagine staying anywhere for $50/night, let alone on a beautiful cruise ship with all-inclusive meals and tons of activities!

If it's adventure you're seeking, then run-of-the-mill South America cruises with all the typical port stops and generic tours won't do it for you. Stay away from big cruise liners and instead look out for more intimate boats that can get you to all the pristine islands and hidden gems. Lindblad Expeditions' "Polaris," for instance, focuses on the Galapagos, with port calls at Paracas, San Juan, Puerto Mollendo, Arica, Isla Pan De Acuzar, Coquimbo and the Juan Fernández Islands. The expeditions offer creature comforts but put more emphasis on enrichment, offshore activities and off-the-beaten-path ports than other North Atlantic cruises. Their team of historians, naturalists and team leaders focus on wildlife and up-close exploration, which is ideal for a place with the world's most diverse assortment of wildlife. Ideally, you'd hit up their Antarctica fleets during the summer months, while saving South America for spring or fall.

A common complaint of people who've just finished their first South American, Alaskan, Caribbean or Mediterranean cruise ship experience is that the port stops were "generic" and full of other tourists. Nothing shatters the illusion that you're a Christopher Columbus or Vasco de Gama out in the wilderness more than people with Hawaiian shirts and cameras. For an offbeat cruise, try Costa's "Magica," "Romantica" or "Mediterranea," which focus more on Brazilian adventures that are lesser known. You'll board with an eclectic crowd from a diverse assortment of countries. Costa "Magica" provides 7-night Brazilian South America cruises visiting Santos, Salvador, Ilheus and Ilhabela. Costa "Romantica" offers Buenos Aires trips that also stop in Uruguay's Punta del Este. They also have cruises focusing on Argentina and Uruguay for the more experienced traveler. The best way to see all the sights is to choose a less ambitious voyage that focuses on a few distinct areas, rather than a "greatest hits" marquee tour of all major ports.

There are many cruise lines featuring adventurous South America cruises. You can hop aboard Celebrity Cruise lines' "Infinity" for a 14-night holiday cruise that stops in Valparaiso, Chile, Puerto Montt, Chile, Chilean Fjords, Strait Of Magellan, Punta Arenas, Chile, Ushuaia, Argentina, Cape Horn, Chile, Puerto Madryn, Argentina, Montevideo, Uruguay, Punta Del Este, Uruguay, Buenos Aires and Argentina. Or you can spend 19 days sailing from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso on Crystal Cruise line's "Symphony," which spends the night in Argentina, then passes through the Drake Passage, visits the Falkland Islands and boasts offshore visits to the Chilean fjords. Princess takes you from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Manaus, Brazil in 14 nights, stopping in: Parintins, Brazil; Boca Da Valeria, Brazil; Santarem, Brazil; Devils Island, French Guiana; Trinidad; St. Lucia; and St Barthelemy, Guadeloupe. Regardless of which itinerary you choose, you'll likely have to return to experience all this continent has to offer!

More about south america cruises

Mediterranean Cruises

If you decide that boarding a Mediterranean cruise ship is for you, then you should know that most cruise lines separate the adventures into Western Mediterranean cruises and Eastern Mediterranean cruises. The Western Mediterranean cruise consists of Italy's Western coast, the south of France, coastal Spain and Lisbon.