Private Excursions Buenos Aires-Rio

[roomiec]

Has anyone used private tours while on the Samba Serenade?

Three or four couples would like to book excursions outside of those provided by Oceania.

Info on any of the ports(Montevideo Sao Paulo, Parati, etc)would be greatly appreciated.

[osogrito]

Montevideo is a very easy walk right from the ship docks to their main pedestrian shopping and restaurant area. Visitor center right near the dock.

They even had "tourist" police near corners to help direct folks and try and keep they area safer.

 

Buenos Aires has a hop on and off open air bus with a guide on it that goes to all the major sections of town.

Their tourism branch has a lot of info online including downloadable MP3 audio and maps for self quided walking tours of different sections. Not sure if Oceania has a shuttle. May need to take a taxi over to catch the main downtown and the hop and off bus. We were on a different cruise line at the time. There was a free van shuttle from a jewelry store that

picked folks up near the dock. We breezed thru the store briefly after the free shuttle. They didn't seem to mind. No obligation to buy anything. From the jewelry store we were able to tour the downtown pedestrian zone. The hop on and off has stops near there.

[marilynfaye]

We did the BA-BCN Transatlantic this spring so we hit some of the ports you will visit, but not all.

 

In Buenos Aires, we used Maria Angeles Fernandez. We had gone to Iquazu pre-cruise and had one day upon our return to try to see as much of the city as possible. Angeles picked us and our luggage up at our hotel, took us on a wonderful tour, and deposited us right at the ship at the end of the day. Most of the time we walked, but our belongings were safe in the car with the driver, and we didn't have to waste time going back to the hotel to pick up our things.

 

In Montevideo, we used Liz Cowley.

 

In Rio, we used Manu Peclat.

 

Except for Buenos Aires, our tours were all with fellow cruisers whom we met through the Roll Call. If you are interested in joining others on private tours, the Roll Call is a wonderful way to make that happen.