Flying to Ushuaia

[FauxNom]

Hi all! We are pondering whether we can squeeze in a trip on the Explorer in March, 2020. It embarks in Ushuaia and ends in Valparaiso. We typically make our own air arrangements, but I wonder if this is one where it makes sense to use the SS flight offers. I have a few questions for the group. Does anyone know or have opinions/theories on:

1. Does the cruise-only fare cover the charter flight to Ushuaia? (One TA said it does, and includes a night at the Azaria Plaza in BA; this seems a bit generous, so I'm a little skeptical if it is accurate.)
2. Does the charter originate in Buenos Aires? From EZE or the other airport? (forum posts seem to suggest Santiago for the Cloud and BA for the Explorer)
3. If we book our own air to EZE, we can jump on the charter if it's included, but would just buy a ticket for that leg if it's not included. Any suggestions on how to time that? The ship departs at 11 p.m. and some of the LATAM flights arrive late afternoon. Would that be sufficient buffer? I understand the charter is usually an early morning affair that leaves you with most of a day in Ushuaia. My work schedule forces me to compress the travel time as much as possible, so I'm trying to understand whether I can commit to the logistics involved in this trip.

Thanks in advance!

Kathy

[Stumblefoot]

Kathy, 

 

The cruse fare includes all charter flights, as well as 1-night at the hotel prior to the flight.  The Explorer 2020 flights do depart from Buenos Aires, but I don’t know if it’ll be from EZE or AEP.  If you’re coming from the States, the vast majority of flights typically arrive in the morning, so you’ll land at EZE and can head to the hotel for your overnight stay.

 

good luck with your planning!

Edited September 7, 2019 by Stumblefoot

[FauxNom]

Thank you, Stumblefoot! 

[jpalbny]

Hi Kathy - this is a great trip; hope you can make it work for you!

 

Agree with Stumbles. The charter used to be a "required" separate line-item purchase. But now it's just included in the fare. Same with the hotel night. They would VERY much prefer that you take the charter - in fact I've heard that they will try very hard to discourage you from getting to Ushuaia on your own. I can understand their point - trying to round everyone up in Ushuaia would be a pain; gathering everyone at a hotel in BA, then flying everyone down together, is easier.

 

From my foggy memory of Explorer in 2009, I think the charter left from EZE. But it was at the crack of dawn so I'm not 100% sure now.

 

I do vividly remember that the charter arrived back at AEP. That place is not my favorite (we have since flown through a few times and it's still not). Their baggage claim was slow as molasses. The worst part, though, was an approximately1h20 bus ride from AEP to EZE in horrible traffic, to get our international flight that night.

[FauxNom]

Thanks JP! I would love to make this work, and it's tormenting me that it's just this close to being feasible. Work obligations on Monday mean that the only sane flights would get me to Ushuaia at 4:18 p.m. on departure day, Wednesday. I can imagine the stress of worrying about delays, cancellations, etc. I'm not surprised that Silversea would discourage independent arrivals for the same reasons. So now I need to figure out whether there's any work-around with my classes. 

Thank you for the info about the distance between the two airports; I'll keep that in mind and try not to build that into the schedule :)

[shipsmail]

Seems very unlikely that the charter flight will start in EZE, more likely in AEP (I agree terrible airport). When you organize your flight to USH yourself, you should plan to stay a night before departure in Ushuaia (Arakur Hotel recommended). Arriving on the day of departure with your own arranged flights is not recommended: it is South America and here it is Argentina (!) with a lot of possible strikes nowadays in the difficult economical situation. 

Earlier this year we had an arrival in EZE from Europe and booked a limo transfer to AEP (about 45 min depending on traffic). Our arrival in EZE was delayed by 3 hours and we had to rebook the connecting flight to USH. We would have missed the ship, when it were on departure day.

[FauxNom]

Shipsmail, thank you so much. It's really helpful to hear your experience with the flights in Argentina. It seems like I should avoid arriving on the day of departure!

[jpalbny]

Shipsmail, I found an old email confirming that we actually did leave from EZE on the charter. It was scheduled for 7AM so it was a very early hotel departure! Though I agree, for a domestic flight to USH it would be more usual to use AEP. And better for an early flight, as it's much closer to the city!

 

SS didn't give us detailed charter flight info until a short while prior to the cruise. Seems to still be their MO, because we don't know anything about our flight from Santiago to Ushuaia this January, to meet Silver Cloud. 

 

Kathy, there is no way I'd chance a 4PM arrival in Ushuaia on embarkation day. 100% with shipsmail on this one. Far too much chance for something to go wrong, and no way to catch the ship if that were to happen. We do sometimes arrive in a port city on embarkation day, but not here. Unless it's on a SS charter, that is.

[FauxNom]

Thanks, JP. You've got vast experience with SS, so I truly appreciate your input. Consider me convinced! I'm now working on the other end of the travel problem--getting flights that leave late enough but get me there early enough to provide a buffer before the charter flight.