I’m woken by a loud bing bong. It’s never good news when the captain broadcasts into your cabin early morning. Or is it? It’s to tell us we aren’t going to have our day in Ushuaia, the port town at the bottom of the world, as the Argentineans have banned us from visiting because we have just been in the Falkland Islands.
It’s a disappointment but turns out their loss is our gain (and it is a big loss for all the local guides and coach drivers relying on us for their income that day). Instead of seeing Ushuaia, we have a brilliant morning transiting Glacier Alley - a stretch of the Beagle Channel named in honour of five glaciers along the route - and on through the spectacular Chilean fjords to Punta Arenas.
The sun is shining, the scenery is magnificent and the crew thoughtfully bring hot chocolate out to those of us on deck braving the outdoor chill. Truly it is one of those cruise moments none of us will forget.
It is just one of so many unforgettable moments on this cruise - for me a two-week voyage from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Valparaiso in Chile; for others an epic 87-day adventure sailing round-trip from Southampton with P&O Cruises.
In the Falkland Islands, I bounce down to Bluff Cover in the back of a 4x4 to see a colony of Gentoo penguins and their chicks and am rewarded with a solo appearance of a majestic King penguin. He strides majestically out of the sea, shakes himself off and begins his stately progress along the beach, stopping now and then so the cameras trained on him can get his best side.
We circumnavigate wild Cape Horn (thankfully it’s calm-ish) and spend two days cruising up close to the mighty Amalia and Pio XI Glaciers, the latter covering an area larger than the city of Santiago de Chile (1,265sq km). Forget hot chocolate. This time, warm gluhwein is doing the rounds for those of us on the open deck.
South America is made for cruising as it’s not only packed with phenomenal sights - both natural and man-made - but they are easy to get to as so many are on or near the coast. No wonder P&O Cruises will be back circumnavigating the continent again in 2026, this time on a just-released 75-night no-fly epic from Southampton on Aurora, a ship reserved for adults.
It’s a terrific itinerary, taking in everything from historic cities and unforgettable landscapes to sun-kissed beaches. You can follow in my footsteps and go penguin-spotting during a day in the Falklands and look out for calving ice as you sail up close to the Amalia and Pio XI glaciers.
You’ll have two days to explore Rio de Janeiro - time enough to get a bird’s eye view from the Christ the Redeemer statue and step on what must be the only two beaches in the world immortalised in song (Copacabana and Ipanema) and two in Lima.
You’ll also round Cape Horn, transit the Magellan Strait and visit the Chilean town of Punta Arenas, where tours go in search of Magellan penguins and fall in love with the beautiful colonial walled city of Cartagena in Columbia. Finally, there’s plenty of sun, sand and sea time on calls into six Caribbean islands.
Did I say finally? Actually, I’ve kept the best until last - the cruise from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal, that incredible waterway started by the French and finished by the Americans. It takes about eight hours to transit and is fascinating, being listed and lowered in the locks at either end, sailing through the Gaillard Cut and over the Gatun Lake.
To think that in just one holiday you’ll not only experience one of the world’s greatest engineering feats but also round the Horn, a sea passage feared by even the most hardened sailors in days gone by. If that’s not bragging rights, I don’t know what is.
