Hapag-Lloyd Hanseatic - Perfect Combination of Luxury and Adventure Cruising

By Linda Garrison, About.com Guide

Our Antarctic Hanseatic cruise started in Buenos Aires. Ronnie and I joined a large group of Hanseatic passengers at the Four Seasons Hotel there. We stayed at the Four Seasons for two nights before flying to Ushuaia, Argentina to embark on the Hanseatic. I'll have to admit I was a little concerned when we were told to place our bags outside the room in Buenos Aires the night before our 3:15 am wake up call, and that we would next see our checked luggage late the next day when we arrived at the Hanseatic. However, it worked perfectly for us all. We had been warned about domestic flight baggage weight restrictions, but even that wasn't a problem since all the passengers' bags were together.

We had a 4:00 am breakfast at the Four Seasons, a short bus ride to the Buenos Aires domestic airport where we were joined by the rest of the passengers, and a 3.5 hour flight to Ushuaia. We did not have to identify our bags at the airport in Buenos Aires or Ushuaia. Before joining the Hanseatic late in the afternoon, we toured the Tierra del Fuego National Park via bus and narrow gauge railroad and had a late lunch. Free time for shopping or visiting a museum in Ushuaia completed the long day. Upon arriving at the Hanseatic at about 5:30 pm, we were all relieved to see our baggage on the dock. However, we were all shocked and a little disappointed to see that it was sitting uncovered in the drizzling rain. Fortunately, that was about the only disappointment we had for the next 12 days.