ship.. links.. prices.. experience.. pic or two

Navimag

Navimag the ferry that I took from Puerto Natalas to Puerto Montt instead of taking the Carretera Austral north.

I paid US$610 for me and another US$150ish for the motorcycle during high season.  If you talk to the travel agents / look at the website, the Navimag Ferry Evangelista sounds like a cruise that you can take your car/RV/motorcycle on.  Well, let me tell you... It is a ferry.  Nothing more.

The food is below average for a normal Chilean meal.  It was edible, don't get me wrong, but hardly gormet.  The "On board entertainment" were very boring (but bilingual) talks or videos on the region or a silly MC trying to get people excited about bingo.  Sadly, bingo was the highlight of the ship provided entertainment.

Of course the best part of the trip is just hanging out watching the scenery go by and drinking moderately priced beers at the bar chatting up other foreign travelers.  The demographics of my voyage were pretty well rounded except that it was almost entirely foreigners (european).  There was a mixture of retiree age, 25-40ers, and a handful of <25ers.  There weren't many little kids on the trip.  Those that were there were extremely bored.

Cabins

Don't bother with paying for the more expensive AA cabins.  I booked an A cabin (4 people) and it ended up only being me and another guy... Most people spent very little time in the cabins and most time either in the bar or cafeteria (too windy out on the deck).

Overall Recommendation

Mixed.  As long as your expectations are that this is just a ferry to avoid riding your motorcycle for the week overland, then I would recommend it.  If you're expecting some sort of cruise with entertainment and activities, look otherwise.  Without several boxes/bottles of wine, you'll be REALLY bored.