Iguazu Falls with Princess or independent?

[islandwoman]

Two of us are booked on the Coral Princess from Buenos Aires to Santiago.  We'd like to fly into Rio, visit Iguazu Falls, and then fly to Buenos Aires to board the ship.  We're trying to decide between the Princess cruisetour, booking with an independent tour company, or putting all of the pieces together ourselves. (We don't speak Portuguese or Spanish)

 

The Princess tour seems expensive.  Has anyone done it and do you think it was a good value?

 

I can't find a tour company that does this itinerary and has reviews on tripadvisor.  Has anyone used an independent tour company for this tour?  If so, would you recommend it?  Will you please share the name?  If you don't think it's OK to do so here, then please email me at jhesselb at comcast dot net.

 

Has anyone put a tour together themselves?  How did that work out?

[frugaltravel]

I did an Iguazu trip on my own. Not hard to organize. I spent time on both sides (overnights) including at the Sheraton Iguazu which was incredible. You can easily do it on your own. I took public buses between the Brazil and Argentina sides but there are other less economical ways to do it. I don't speak Spanish or Portuguese and managed just fine.

 

I rarely take ship excursions for anything unless it can't be done on my own.

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by frugaltravel

[tcdcruiser]

The falls are an easy DIY.  Airport is easy short ride to falls or town. We stayed inside park at only hotel.  Costly but very convenient.  Be ready for hot and humid weather. Maybe brief showers. Wow....what a wonderful experience 

 

[Essiesmom]

This is a good trip to put before a travel agent.  I was there on a group land tour and we stayed on the Brazilian side in the park at Das Cataratas.  Right across the road from the falls, and it was WONDERFUL.  Of course it helped that we were there at ground zero for a total solar eclipse.  And we didn't know it was going to happen until we got there.  Viewed it from a lounger by the pool.  EM

[dfields1814]

I would not use princess in that it is so expensive. I used an Argentine travel agent. He got us to the Falls much cheaper than I could on my own. We stayed at the falls two days about 25% (or more)  cheaper and did more things than one day Princess excursion.

[capriccio]

We DIYed a round trip Rio/Iguassu Falls/Rio in early January 2017 following our LA to Rio cruise.  The per person price was less than half the amount Princess was charging for a cruisetour. 

 

In Rio we stayed in a hotel 2 blocks off the Copacabana (Windsor Plaza) for 2 nights ($164 per night for their luxury room) and had a great full day private tour of the city. On the 3rd day we took a hotel shuttle (included in the room price) to the international airport and caught the morning 1 1/2 or 2 hour TAM flight to Iguassu Falls. I made those reservations directly on line with LATAM 11 months in advance and round trip tickets were $217 each. We stayed two nights on the Brazilian side of the falls at the San Juan Eco Hotel ($72 night). The afternoon we arrived we went to the Bird Sanctuary, the next day we spent the entire day at the Argentine side of the falls (the hotel tour office provided a van and driver for a very reasonable fare), and the last morning we took a 5 minute cab ride to the Brazilian side of the falls for a few hours. At 2 pm we took a cab back to the airport, caught our 4 pm flight and arrived at the Rio international airport around 6 pm. We went right to the United counter and checked in for our 11 pm flight and then spent the next few hours in their lounge before our departure for the States.

[frugaltravel]

Definitely try to spend a full day on each side of the falls.  If you only plan to go once in a lifetime, it will definitely be worth it.  Very different experiences and views.

 

[TheRabbit]

We did a one day turn around from Buenos Aires. Had our flights and our own driver and guide arranged through an agent out of CT I believe.

 

One day was too much for the DW, but adding an overnighter did almost double the cost. Can you do it on your own? After doing it with a guide, I would saying doing it on our own was doable, but with a guide, we got info, highlights to not miss, arrangements, etc taken care of.

 

Email me for info if you want, as we are not supposed to list agents here.

[sawtooth]

We did this trip post cruise with Princess.  Our cruise ended in Rio so it included 2 nights in Rio prior to the falls.

We loved this part of the trip and Princess did a great job.

[Princess@Sea]

Igazu is very easy to do on your own.

[Re-tired]

We did it with our travel agent arranging the details.  It worked great. The Sheraton with a view of the falls was worth every dollar.  Her best advice was to spend two nights at the falls.  The rationale was that we did not want to do the boat ride under the falls and fly back the same day.  By spending an additional night we were able to shower and change to dry clean clothes.   The falls are beautiful, but the water is full of jungle.  Dead, rotting jungle.  Even my flip-flops stunk.  But it was an incredible experience, would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

The Sheraton is a bit remote, but a very nice place.  The restaurant was fine, the bar was great, and the view of the falls was amazing.

[pwlee49]

joint Gate - 1 , from Rio - Iguazu Falls -Buenos Aires 10days landtours , cost not that much .....less than Princess 1/2 $

[satxdiver]

We booked a private tour with Argentina for Less.  We flew into Buenos Aires on EZAir, spent a night in BA and then flew to Iguazu on the private tour.  We spent one day viewing the falls from the Argentina side and the next day from the Brazil side (requires Brazilian visa).  The best view was from Brazil.  The following day we flew back to BA for our cruise boarding the ship that afternoon which was spending an overnight in BA.  We used the same tour company for Machu Picchu on a later cruise except then their name was Peru for less.  Same company with different names and they had an agent in Dallas.  I would recommend them as they were good.

[caribill]

15 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

This is a good trip to put before a travel agent.  I was there on a group land tour and we stayed on the Brazilian side in the park at Das Cataratas.  Right across the road from the falls, and it was WONDERFUL. 

 

When we did it on our own, a Florida travel agent (no longer in business) arranged a several day tour that included :

- Booked our hotel in Rio for before and after the tour

- Flight from Rio to the Brazil side

- Staying at the park at the above mentioned hotel (this is a must!!!)

- A guide who picked us up at the airport, toured the Brazil side with us the first day, the Argentine side the next day, and returned us - to the airport the afternoon of the third day.

- Flight back to Rio (where our ship voyage started)

 

To really experience the falls you must see it from both the Brazil and Argentina sides, so you will need a visa from both countries.

[capriccio]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

To really experience the falls you must see it from both the Brazil and Argentina sides, so you will need a visa from both countries.

I absolutely agree with this but please note that an Argentine visa is no longer required of Americans.  A visa is still required for Brazil but a year or so ago they introduced the $40 e-visa with 2 years of validity and which is done completely on line (as compared to the 10 year $160 visa that required a visit to a Brazilian consulate or using a visa service).

[anthonyy7]

We're spending a couple nights in Rio & the falls (both sides) before boarding the Star next month.  I booked my own flights/hotels and tour guides on the ground.  The Brazil visa online was easy and took just 2 days.   The Princess land tour cost was outrageous! 

[GweninTX]

Very easy to do on your own!