Catching a plane from Buenos Aires

[lovelyladi]

We are on the DEc 11 Journey SA cruise. All of the non stop flights to the USA from Buenos Aires leave late at nite.(between 9-11 PM). WE get off the ship around 8 am. It is summer and hot. What does one do for 14 or 15 hours and not be totally bedraggled and exhausted at the start of a 10-18 hour trip home (and then squeezed into coach....I looked into business class but the prices ranged from $4-9,000 per person....) I am 59 and my hubby is 61 so we do not have the stamina of a 20 year old anymore

 

I have heard that the ship will put you on a tour bus for 8 hours and drop you exhausted at the airport at 4 or 5. I am considering trying to get a day room at a nice hotel and spending the day at the pool, have dinner and then go to airport but because it will be Dec 23 I wonder if this is possible.

 

From our veteran travelers.....what do you suggest...what are you planning?

Ideas? Andy...does celebrity have any plans?

 

Rochelle

[Hlitner]

Rochelle, We faced a similar problem when we did a 14 night cruise (began and ended at BA) this past February on the Infinity. After a lot of thought we decided to spend a couple of post-cruise nights in BA..which is a very good tourist city. The advantage was that we could relax and enjoy the city and our hotel gave us a late check-out. Since you need to figure on about 45 min to get from city to airport we left at about 5:30 for our 9pm flight. In your situation, assuming you cannot spare the time to stay in BA, your idea of a day room makes a lot of sense. Finding day rooms can be a challenge, but in the past we have always had luck by directly e-mailing hotels and asking their policy and pricing.

 

Hank

[lovelyladi]

We want to be home b4 the holidays and have already booked our air (American Airlines Buenos Aires to Dallas then on to San Diego 15 and 1/2 hours).

Thanks for the imput....any one have a hotel to recommend or is Celebrity getiing a dya room somewhere?

[wripro]

The other alternative is to book a private car and driver to give you a tour of the city, let you have a leisurely lunch at a nice restaurant, give you a chance to do some shopping (actual or window) all while stowing your luggage in the trunk. Then he can drop you off at the airport at the appropriate time for your flight. You will control the schedule so you won't be exhausted and you'll get to see some of a great city instead of sitting in a day room in a hotel.

[lovelyladi]

I like the private car idea! If I can buy a one day pass to the American Airlines lounge (some one suggested the to me) so that we can shower and freshen up b4 the plane this just might be the right thing for us to do!!

 

Great job fellow cruise critics....any other suggestions?

[ab0si]

Caeser Park Hotel does, or at least did, rent out dayrooms. You might want to drop them an email and see what happens.

 

Paul

[lovelyladi]

Thanks Paul

 

is anyone else on the Dec 11 cruise and making post disembarkation plans?

[arzz]

We sailed the HAL Prinsendam from Callao to Buenos Aires last January to February. American Airlines does have a lounge at the airport -- it is quite a bit smaller than the ones at O'Hare and Miami -- I do not actually remember if there are showers there -- I would check with American. The lounge was also VERY crowded when we were there. We, too, had a late evening flight on LAN (we had originally booked on American but we were delayed three days due to a difficult storm on our way down to Antarctica and American put us on LAN when we rescheduled).

 

Be sure you get to the airport with plenty of time to spare -- check with American as I think the requirement is something like at least 3 hours before departure -- we found the Buenos Aires airport experience unique -- I cannot tell you how many check points we had to clear but every time that we thought it was OK to put the passports away it seemed that we rounded another corner and had to wait on line and get them out again. One of the lines, of course, was the obligatory departure tax.

 

A day hotel room would be a great idea if you can find one. A private car is another good idea. We liked Buenos Aires as a city (we were there two days on the ship and one day on our own after our independent tour to Iguazu Falls). Lots of good places to walk and lots of good places to eat -- the dollar stretches well in Argentina -- we were constantly surprised at how well we could eat without spending huge amounts of money.

 

And do enjoy your South America cruise. I have not yet looked at the Journey's SA itinerary. We sailed 27 days from Callao, Peru to Buenos Aires after a 5 day pre-cruise trip to Machu Pichu and we ended with a side trip to Iguazu Falls and this was definitely our "trip of a lifetime" so far.

[ParadiseValleyJack]

Be sure you get to the airport in BA at least three hours before the flight. All of the US flights leave at about the same time in the evening and the airport is absolutely wall-to-wall with people and long, long lines.

 

(-: Jack

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I am moving this thread to the "Ports of Call" Board, as I thought you would get more answers there. Good Luck !

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

[Keith1010]

I have been to Buenos Aires multiple times.

 

I would definitely go ahead and reserve a day room for the day and then you can do some touring to see the city.

 

As you correctly say, most flights back to the United States are in the evening. I would get to the airport about four hours before the flight. It take about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the airport as Hank said. When you get to the airport you will get on the ticket counter line and talk to a security person, then eventually you will get your tickets and check in your luggage, then you will go to another area and there is only one line for this to pay an airport exit tax which is $18.00 per person. Then you will go thru a security line and then possibly one more and then walk to your gate. You never know how long these lines will be so I error on the safe side and say get there four hours before your flight.

 

Keith

[greatam]

I like the private car idea! If I can buy a one day pass to the American Airlines lounge (some one suggested the to me) so that we can shower and freshen up b4 the plane this just might be the right thing for us to do!!

 

Great job fellow cruise critics....any other suggestions?

 

BA Admiral's Club does NOT have showers. Rio and Santiago are the only Admiral's Clubs in South America that have showers. It is $75.00 for a day pass for two people. You will be far better off getting a day room at a hotel. Pool, REAL food (not snacks like in the AC), room to move around, privacy.

[Keith1010]

BA Admiral's Club does NOT have showers. Rio and Santiago are the only Admiral's Clubs in South America that have showers. It is $75.00 for a day pass for two people. You will be far better off getting a day room at a hotel. Pool, REAL food (not snacks like in the AC), room to move around, privacy.

 

I agree and the problem is you can't get to the admirals club unless you have a ticket and you can't get your tickets say in Buenos Aires until about 5:00 PM.

 

Keith