Exploring South America can be an enormous undertaking for independent travelers and backpackers alike. The continent’s vast landscapes and diverse cultures reward effort, but covering so much ground takes time and endurance. Cruises offer a comfortable, efficient alternative: they allow visitors to sample many highlights across the continent’s 17 nations while enjoying onboard amenities and fewer logistics to manage.
South America contains some of the world’s most compelling cruise destinations — from the Amazon rainforest and Chilean fjords to Brazil’s beaches and the remote edges of Tierra del Fuego — yet it receives far fewer ship deployments than the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Alaska or Asia. Still, major lines such as Holland America and Princess deploy substantial vessels in the region each year, and several small luxury lines operate frequent sailings. That mix yields imaginative itineraries for travelers who want to visit multiple major ports in relatively uncrowded Southern Hemisphere waters, especially during the region’s summer months from November through February.
One convenient itinerary sails down South America’s west coast through the Panama Canal from Fort Lauderdale aboard Celebrity Cruises. Departing Florida on Dec. 5, the 2,170-passenger Celebrity Infinity calls at Cartagena, Colombia’s perfectly preserved walled colonial city, then Colón, Panama, for a transit through the Canal to emerge on the Pacific side in Manta, Ecuador, a lively beach town popular with windsurfers. The route continues south to Lima, Peru’s historic capital, and Arica, Chile — known as the “City of Eternal Spring” — before reaching Valparaíso just before Christmas. Valparaíso, Chile’s cultural capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is famed for its steep hills and funiculars, earning it the nickname “Little San Francisco.”
Several luxury lines operate a well-traveled Atlantic-coast route of South America. Silversea Cruises runs the 540-passenger Silver Spirit on a voyage from Bridgetown, Barbados, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 21-day itinerary includes a visit to the notorious Devil’s Island penal colony in French Guiana, multiple Brazilian ports such as Fortaleza, the historic fortress at Natal and Recife — sometimes called “Brazil’s Venice” — and several days anchored off Rio de Janeiro. It also stops in Uruguay at colonial Montevideo and Punta del Este, the glamorous seaside resort near a major seal colony, before finishing in Buenos Aires, famous for tango and its wine culture.
Brazil has attracted growing attention from luxury cruise lines seeking winter sailings along South America’s sun-drenched Atlantic coast. Crystal Cruises offers a 15-day Brazilian holiday between Dec. 19 and Jan. 3 aboard the 960-passenger Crystal Symphony. Departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, the voyage calls in Trinidad and Tobago, visits Devil’s Island and Brazilian ports including Fortaleza and Recife, and culminates in Rio de Janeiro. Regent Seven Seas also focuses on Brazil with a 21-night cruise from Rio to Miami on the 708-passenger Seven Seas Mariner. That voyage includes an enrichment program run by Smithsonian Journeys and features an eight-day segment navigating the Amazon River, one of South America’s premier inland-cruise experiences.
Oceania Cruises presents another Brazilian-focused option with a 25-day itinerary aboard the 684-passenger Regatta from Nov. 4–29. Beginning and ending in Miami, this voyage includes time on the Amazon as well as extended overnight stays in the Caribbean at both ends of the trip.
For travelers seeking a truly adventurous experience, round-the-Horn voyages that traverse both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts are available. Oceania’s 16-day sailing aboard the 1,258-passenger Marina runs from Buenos Aires to Valparaíso and rounds South America’s southern tip via Tierra del Fuego. The Dec. 22–Jan. 7 itinerary calls at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands and Ushuaia, Argentina (the world’s southernmost city and a gateway to Antarctica), and explores the dramatic Chilean fjords along the way.
Seabourn Quest © Seabourn Cruise Line
Seabourn offers an extensive series of interconnected South American sailings aboard the all-inclusive, 450-passenger Seabourn Quest. Starting Oct. 15 from Fort Lauderdale, the ship embarks on a 15-day Caribbean and Amazon River segment, then crosses the equator for additional legs that include Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, the Falkland Islands, the Strait of Magellan and Chilean fjords. After a 56-day southern circuit that reaches Valparaíso on Dec. 20, the Quest reverses course on a 24-day voyage to Buenos Aires that visits South Georgia Island, Patagonia and even Antarctica, continuing a season of extensive South American exploration before returning to Fort Lauderdale in late March.
For travelers aiming to see almost everything, Regent Seven Seas schedules a 72-night circumnavigation of the continent, sailing Miami to Miami. The Seven Seas Mariner departs in mid-January and spends more than two months visiting a broad cross-section of South America: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, the Falklands, Uruguay, Brazil, the Amazon and Caribbean ports. The itinerary can be broken into shorter segments ranging from about 12 to 33 days to suit different schedules.
Whichever route passengers choose, cruising South America delivers dramatic mountains on par with Alaska’s ranges, beaches as bright as those found in the Mediterranean, a culinary diversity that rivals Asia and cultural variety as rich and exotic as any remote region on earth — an ideal way to escape winter and explore a continent of striking contrasts in comfort and style.