Buenos Aires tour and transfer

[marylovestotravel]

 

I was wondering if anyone has had a late flight departing Buenos Aires and  booked a transfer and tour from the ship to the airport? What company did you use. Would you recommend the experience?

 

Thanks,

 

Mia

[Paulchili]

41 minutes ago, marylovestotravel said:

 

I was wondering if anyone has had a late flight departing Buenos Aires and  booked a transfer and tour from the ship to the airport? What company did you use. Would you recommend the experience?

 

Thanks,

 

Mia

I imagine that is a good way to pass the time.

While I do not have a recommendation, try also on the ports of call forum for that region - good luck.

[Classiccruiser777]

45 minutes ago, marylovestotravel said:

 

I was wondering if anyone has had a late flight departing Buenos Aires and  booked a transfer and tour from the ship to the airport? What company did you use. Would you recommend the experience?

 

Thanks,

 

Mia

When is your cruise? We are on Marina next February, Lima to Buenos Aires.

 

[Hawaiidan]

55 minutes ago, marylovestotravel said:

 

I was wondering if anyone has had a late flight departing Buenos Aires and  booked a transfer and tour from the ship to the airport? What company did you use. Would you recommend the experience?

 

Thanks,

 

Mia

Took the one offered by the ship. it picket up right at the ship  at the gangway....no need to take the shuttle bus to the terminal... it was a good tour including a BBQ  at a ranch then to the airport getting there about 4.....  The ticket counter was not open for several hours.  When we finally got through immigration  we still has 2-3 hours wait .  Used the UA business lounge  got a shower and rest. 

This is a place  you need to fly Business....the econ lines are miles long  The airport is a zoo... Buenos  Aires is a  ZOO....    Cabs are iffy, the city with massive inflation or some such is very sketchy,  It may have been the Paris of South America....it aint now.     Good luck lots of scammers

Edited February 23, 2020 by Hawaiidan

[clo]

42 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Cabs are iffy, the city with massive inflation or some such is very sketchy,  It may have been the Paris of South America....it aint now.     Good luck lots of scammers

Wow, that wasn't our experience and we were there four or five days post-cruise fewer than two months ago. The cabs couldn't have been any easier to flag down. It's stunningly beautiful. What kind of scammers? Didn't experience anything like that. And, yes, their economy is in terrible shape. But it meant we could get a perfectly cooked Argentinian steak, housemade pasta, a bottle of wine and dessert for US$30. It was my second time there and Bob had been there before we met and we hope to return.

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

When is your cruise? We are on Marina next February, Lima to Buenos Aires.

 

We’ll wave at the port! We’re on the Marina BA to Lima starting 1/27 for 20 days, then Manchu Picchu!

[Paulchili]

47 minutes ago, clo said:

Wow, that wasn't our experience and we were there four or five days post-cruise fewer than two months ago. The cabs couldn't have been any easier to flag down. It's stunningly beautiful. What kind of scammers? Didn't experience anything like that. And, yes, their economy is in terrible shape. But it meant we could get a perfectly cooked Argentinian steak, housemade pasta, a bottle of wine and dessert for US$30. It was my second time there and Bob had been there before we met and we hope to return.

It is a beautiful city but it is indeed a place one does need to be vigilant. The poorer the economy, the more desperate the people are for just survival. In US people generally steal to support a drug habit - in Latin America people steal to eat & survive. We have poor memories of one of our many visits there when we were robbed on the street in public. There indeed are many scammers around. Most of the time we were fine but being robbed once is enough. We did return there but with a very different attitude.

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by Paulchili

[clo]

1 minute ago, Paulchili said:

It is a beautiful city but it is indeed a place one does need to be vigilant. The poorer the economy, the more desperate the people are for just survival. We have poor memories of one of our many visits there when we were robbed on the street in public. There indeed are many scammers around. Most of the time we were fine but being robbed once is enough. We did return there but with a very different attitude.

 

What about Chicago? Do you take the same precautions there?

 

Here's a current piece:

https://www.viahero.com/travel-to-buenos-aires/is-buenos-aires-safe

[Paulchili]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

What about Chicago? Do you take the same precautions there?

 

Here's a current piece:

https://www.viahero.com/travel-to-buenos-aires/is-buenos-aires-safe

Safety means many different things. Yes - There are many more deaths due to shootings in Chicago (usually drug war related -not tourist oriented) but You are much more likely to be pickpocketed in BA (mostly tourist oriented)

Edited February 23, 2020 by Paulchili

[clo]

1 minute ago, Paulchili said:

Safety means many different things. Yes - There are many more deaths due to shootings in Chicago (statistically) but You are much more likely to be pickpocketed in BA.

Knock wood, the only time that's happened to us was on a quiet residential street in Barcelona. I only found out its reputation after the fact. We've spent months in Rio and never even felt uncomfortable much less had any attempt made.

[Mura]

We were in Buenos Aires in January 2002, so perhaps a different world.  We also had the benefit of having met up on line with a resident there who did show us around, although much of our time we were on our own.  But he made suggestions when he wasn't with us.  (I met him on an opera list, not CC.)  We loved our time there.  I remember that my father was there in 1938 on a tour with Toscanini's NBC Symphony and he never stopped talking about how much he loved the city.  In 2002 I could see why he felt that way.  We never felt any danger in walking around THEN.

 

But as for the original question (!), it sounds like booking a tour would be a good way to enjoy the day.  Even if we'd used an agency back then I wouldn't feel that I could recommend them today!  We did use a number of taxi cabs, including getting to the ship from our hotel.  The driver did have "fun" trying to find where the ship was docked, but we got there in plenty of time.

 

Mura

[marylovestotravel]

16 hours ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

When is your cruise? We are on Marina next February, Lima to Buenos Aires.

 

 

We're on the Mar 15 Lima to Buenos Aires. Coming up soon!

 

Mia

[basor]

We have used LOL Argentina for private transfers and tours - they are excellent!

 

[lj77346]

If you have a late night flight back home, we found what works best for us is to book a room for the day in a hotel in Buenos Aires and then, head to the airport in the evening close to flight check in time.  With the hotel room, you can have a peaceful day - see some of the sights in the city, go out for a meal,  just relax in the hotel room, etc.

 

As others have mentioned, the airport in Buenos Aires is chaotic - you can't check in for your flight until 2 or 3 hours before flight time, there are limited services or places to wait pre-security at the airport, and nothing is really close to the airport.  Speaking with others who went on a tour before going to the airport, they were not impressed by the experience - long day and you still arrived at the airport hours before you could check in for your flight. With the low hotel prices in Buenos Aires, we think a day room prior to going to the airport is a viable option.

[Hawaiidan]

18 hours ago, clo said:

Wow, that wasn't our experience and we were there four or five days post-cruise fewer than two months ago. The cabs couldn't have been any easier to flag down. It's stunningly beautiful. What kind of scammers? Didn't experience anything like that. And, yes, their economy is in terrible shape. But it meant we could get a perfectly cooked Argentinian steak, housemade pasta, a bottle of wine and dessert for US$30. It was my second time there and Bob had been there before we met and we hope to return.

Petty crime rampant...Saw a member of our tour, Down Town ,sit on a bench  put his feet up and people grabbed this shoes and ran off.   Ladies having their necklaces torn off just outside the hotel  .   Seeing locals just toss their trash on the street of sidewalk......  People lost cameras, watches, hats   all in broad daylight on tours.    Teams of Pick pockets working the tourist areas.....    

Cabs, that will load up your baggage and take off without you.    Cabs that will en route pull over and demand more money for the trip..     Found hundreds sleeping in doorways  even the cemetery ,like SF....even in the high rent areas. living in alleys and on roof tops    On a ship tour  the guide told us not to go far from the bus because of " danger".

This was 2 years ago and I hear things have gotten not better...   That was my experience.  I wanted to like it  but there was just too much negative to ignore

[clo]

5 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Petty crime rampant...Saw a member of our tour, Down Town ,sit on a bench  put his feet up and people grabbed this shoes and ran off.   Ladies having their necklaces torn off just outside the hotel  .   Seeing locals just toss their trash on the street of sidewalk......  People lost cameras, watches, hats   all in broad daylight on tours.    Teams of Pick pockets working the tourist areas.....    

Cabs, that will load up your baggage and take off without you.    Cabs that will en route pull over and demand more money for the trip..     Found hundreds sleeping in doorways  even the cemetery ,like SF....even in the high rent areas. living in alleys and on roof tops    On a ship tour  the guide told us not to go far from the bus because of " danger".

This was 2 years ago and I hear things have gotten not better...   That was my experience.  I wanted to like it  but there was just too much negative to ignore

As I said, I'm so sorry you had that experience. Ours was 180 degrees from that and we look forward to returning.

[Classiccruiser777]

6 hours ago, marylovestotravel said:

 

We're on the Mar 15 Lima to Buenos Aires. Coming up soon!

 

Mia

If you can this place has a great Tango show: https://www.cafedelosangelitos.com

 

[Mura]

6 hours ago, lj77346 said:

As others have mentioned, the airport in Buenos Aires is chaotic - you can't check in for your flight until 2 or 3 hours before flight time, there are limited services or places to wait pre-security at the airport, and nothing is really close to the airport.  Speaking with others who went on a tour before going to the airport, they were not impressed by the experience - long day and you still arrived at the airport hours before you could check in for your flight. With the low hotel prices in Buenos Aires, we think a day room prior to going to the airport is a viable option.

We didn't have that experience in Buenos Aires (we were boarding the ship there, not leaving) but we had a similar experience leaving Rio in 2013.

 

Looking back I think that maybe the suggestion of booking a day room at a hotel would have been better.

 

We did a full-day tour, which was excellent.  But they actually got us to the airport early ... around 4pm as I recall, and our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 10:40 but there were lots of flight delays so we left later than that.  We had to stand for several hours at the entrance to the airport before they would let us go up to our gate.  No place to sit was a trial for many of us!  And then when we got up to the gate, real food was not available.  Mostly sandwiches and the like.

 

Thinking back on it, I guess we were lucky because lots of people had their flights cancelled at the last minute.  Oceania was working hard to book them on other flights.  So at least OUR flight left as scheduled, albeit somewhat late.

 

Rio isn't Buenos Aires but our experiences seemed quite similar.

 

 

[clo]

14 minutes ago, Mura said:

Rio isn't Buenos Aires but our experiences seemed quite similar.

 

The intl Rio airport, Jobim, was completely redone prior to the Olympics and it is wonderful now. It was an embarrassment previously.

[Queen of DaNile]

3 hours ago, clo said:

As I said, I'm so sorry you had that experience. Ours was 180 degrees from that and we look forward to returning.

We've been to BA twice and thankfully never saw/experienced the horrors Dan did. Had maitre'd call cabs for us from a few late night dinners but also walked peacefully back to the hotel from another. Did put my feet up and had my shoes taken off but that was for a great pedicure. Seriously, you need to be careful everywhere but just be sensible.

 

Have a wonderful trip Mia and enjoy Buenos Aires!!!

 

[clo]

9 hours ago, lj77346 said:

book a room

We were in an airbnb for the princely sum of $32/day so, yeah, I booked us til the following morning and left in the evening. Super easy.

[Hoopster95]

I am off of Marina this morning and currently awaiting flight to Iguassu....

 

Buenos Aires cruise port is excellent, absolutely nothing to worry about as so many people have mentioned to me in the past, complete fear mongering.

 

the terminal building is extremely orderly and modern. Within the terminal, before exiting to the street, there are several reputable tour companies available. They offer both tours as well as transfers. I purchased transfers for $75 the day before (we overnighted).

We Then went outside and took one of the 50 Awaiting taxis to Camineto neighborhood... extremely easy and no big deal whatsoever. The cabbie gave us a flat rate in both USD and pesos. The cabbie also offered me his business card for the EZE airport Transfer for $30. In comparison, friends we met at dinner paid $125 through the concierge at the beginning of the cruise, and just yesterday the cheapest the concierge was being quoted was $200 due to the Carnivale holiday today.

 

The tour company we just used which is located within the cruise terminal is called “Toursguru”. I noticed that they were selling a post cruise tour with airport drop off.... perhaps google them.

Hope this helps you and anyone else reading this thread 👍

[Hoopster95]

As a side note, if anyone would rather have a day room with the ability to tour the city on their own, surf over to the Feb 12-24 Marina roll call as many in the late stages of that thread booked a day room in the same hotel, and the hotel booked transfers for them from the cruise port and also to EZE later in the evening for their night time flights.

[Andee]

We used Buenos Tours during a stop in BA. It was primarily a walking tour, but they did use a van between the ship and the starting/ending point of the tour, so it seems like they'd have the capability of ending a tour at the airport.

[Paulchili]

4 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

Buenos Aires cruise port is excellent, absolutely nothing to worry about as so many people have mentioned to me in the past, complete fear mongering.

 

the terminal building is extremely orderly and modern.

What about the airport terminal which I believe most people were referring to as being a mess.

It used to be a real mess in the past but I believe clo mentioned that it is new and working well now?