Cruise season in Chile begins 6 November; Punta Arenas expects 47 calls
As of next 6 November Chile’s port cities will display their best since on that date the official 2012/13 cruise season begins which extends until mid April and the country has great expectations of recovering a leading position in the region.
Only last year the number of cruise calls in Chilean ports was up 25% over the previous year, according to Sebastian Moreno, head of the Conosur Ports Corporation and this season he anticipates a confirmation of that tendency which has become very significant for the Chilean tourism industry.
“This coming season the Chilean ports which will receive the highest number of calls are: Puerto Montt with 51; Punta Arenas, 47 and Valparaiso, 39”, said Moreno who revealed that the first visit this season will be the Veendam, next 6 November, which will be calling at the port of Coquimbo. The same vessel will end the season 14 April also calling at Coquimbo.
To the north of Chile, Arica will receive the first cruise 15 November, the Seabourn Sojourn and the last will be the Celebrity Infinity, on March 3. Another five vessels are expected to call at Arica during the season.
Iquique also expects seven cruises, with the first arrival 12 November, Le Boreal and the last the Hanseatic on March 17-
Antofagasta is the Chilean port with the lesser cruise activity, only three vessels, with the Seven Seas Mariner the first on January 26, followed by Regatta on January 28th and Hamburg, February 4.
Valparaiso will be the third most important port in the number of calls, beginning 7 November with the Veendam, and the last of the season on 13 April.
Puerto Montt, by far will be the port most visited by the ‘giants of the sea’ totalling 51 calls, beginning with the Veendam on 9 November and the same cruise will close the season on 11 April.
Puerto de Castro will receive 11 cruise vessels, the first call Seabourn Soujourn on 22 November and Princess Daphne the last call on 6 March 2013.
Veendam will make the first call at Puerto de Chacabuco on 10 November and Princess Daphne will close the season on 21 March 2013. Chacabuco is planning for 24 calls.
Punta Arenas will be the second most visited port with 47 cruise vessels, The Veendam will open the season calling on 13 November and the last in calling at the end of the season 6 April 2013.
Puerto Natales will receive four cruise vessels: Le Boreal on 23 November and the last to call will be Hanseatic on 7 March 2013.
Last year Chile passed a bill which authorizes the cruise vessels to operate their casinos while in Chilean waters, which had been banned since the privatization of the industry in the country. Moreno said that the full impact of the measure will only be entirely assessed in 2 or 3 years more since the cruise industry plans itineraries with several years’ anticipation.
Chilean tourism authorities estimate that the average expenditure of each cruise passenger when they come ashore is in the range of 97 US dollars plus all the other activities that the cruise industry generates in the different ports.
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Please can we have some bad news stories on Chile. Some of the paranoid readers here will start to think that MP is in our pockets.
@1
Frank has answered your question.
@3
I can recommend the Antarctica XXI. Chilean operated fly-cruise to the Antarctic. Or if you prefer Patagonia: Skorpios cruise that sails through the fjords and islands of Chilean Patagonia.
Please can we have some bad news stories on Chile. Some of the paranoid readers here will start to think that MP is in our pockets”
I agree, but maybe you should start the ball rolling yourself?
There's really only two main problems that I can see in Chile that we are not overcoming at the moment. The first one is electric power generation and the second is delinquency. There are projects to tackle these issues but they don't seem to be making much headway. A more robust approach must be taken to win this battle.
If you were to hold Chile up and compare it to an economically advanced country like Sweden, you would find all sorts of things wrong with Chile. In Sweden you don’t see children juggling at traffic lights for a coin, you don’t see families sifting through rubbish bins “recycling”, you don’t see the levels of crime we have. But to put it in perspective you have to go back to when Mr Armstrong walked on the moon. Back then Chile was a 3rd world country with half the population in poverty. In the 4 decades since then we have done more than almost any country to reduce poverty, with the most dramatic improvements in the last 20 years.
Our growth has been fast and steady, almost never faltering. Even now, in the depths of the worst global recession since the 30s we are growing at 5%.
What is so encouraging is that everything is going in the right direction, maybe some things too slowly for some, and is set to continue – there are no alarm bells ringing saying that we are going to falter.
What is wrong with Chile?
Socially: we still have small pockets of 3rd world poverty in the country, but we have outperformed the region in reducing poverty.
Economically: as TCP says above, electricity it too expensive for industry and we need a better energy policy. The economy needs to diversify more, although this is happening slowly. There is too much red tape and bureaucracy in everyday life and for businesses.
One day we might be the Norway or Sweden of South America, but with a much more beautiful country and...as any Swedish exile coming home will tell you, we have a lot more fun.
7 TCP
I’m with you on the delinquency. I’m investing in a shotgun after two close calls in the last two months. I think the carabineros should use a larger calibre handgun. Have you noticed that whenever they have a shoot out, the delinquents seldom die of their injuries.
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