oceania last day

[namest]

We are sailing to South America on Oceania. Our last day/port

is Buenos Aires. We must disembark at 9;30 a.m. and our plane

does not leave until 11:00 p/.m. There are no shore excursions

available that day. Any suggestions?

[Paulchili]

We are sailing to South America on Oceania. Our last day/port

is Buenos Aires. We must disembark at 9;30 a.m. and our plane

does not leave until 11:00 p/.m. There are no shore excursions

available that day. Any suggestions?

 

namest,

welcome to CC.

Perhaps you want to look into booking a private tour of BA with drop off at the airport (?after a nice Argentine steak dinner).

You may want to search for suggestions at ports of call for South America:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=76

or look at roll call for your cruise. There might be others that are already planning this or may want to join you to cut the cost.

The cruise lines often offer city tours with a drop off at the airport - are you sure O does not offer this?

In any case, a private tour might give you more flexibility.

Good luck!

[JoePDX]

I second booking a private city tour. Recoleta Cemetary is amazing. We also enjoyed visiting the Evita Museum. Small, but well done. If you are there on a Sunday, take in the Antique Market/Street Fair in San Telmo. San Telmo is still worth a visit on other days if you are interseted in antiques at all. La Boca is way over rated and really rather dumpy and very touristy IMHO.

 

Also definitely have a steak dinner! The beef in Argentina is amazing, great flavor! Chez in San Telmo is a nice neighborhood place with good food and a nice atmosphere. La Cabrera is also good, but defnitely HIGH end. Chez was a third the price and just as good in our opinion. Also try empanadas. Yummy.

 

Another option - consider booking a hotel room for the day. So you can freshen up before the long flight home.

 

Joe

[nowornever]

We just stayed at the B.A. Hilton & they told us a day room is 1/2 the cost of the full rate...it might be worth it so you can store your stuff, shower & get a full day of sightseeing in. Other hotels probably have similar deals. Allow about an hour to get to EZE.

 

There is a fantastic street market everyday outside of Recoleta Cemetary if you're in need of things to take back or crafty jewelry, handbags. Got a handbag there 3 years ago & while there a week ago, the same lady was there so I got a twin.

[namest]

thanks for all the suggestions. i have been looking into private

tours, but for this length it is very pricey. i have read about

other guides on this site, but concerned with who they really

are etc.

 

are there hotels that are near the ship? i like the idea of

leaving luggage etc in a room for the day if i could find something

not too expensive. any suggestions?

[JoePDX]

are there hotels that are near the ship? i like the idea of

leaving luggage etc in a room for the day if i could find something

not too expensive. any suggestions?

 

Hi,

 

The cruise terminal is very close to the main business district of Buenos Aires (around a mile or so) where there will be lots of hotel choices. We rented an apartment when we were there this spring, so I don't have any suggestions.

 

Taxis are very, very inexpensive and plentiful in Buenos Aires, so if you don't want to get a guide, you could just taxi around town between the sites. Just make sure you have business card from the hotel with the addrss as most drivers speak minimal English.

 

Hotel will be able to make arrangements for airport transfer and also for a guide if you like too.

 

Be very mindful of your luggage at the cruise terminal and in front. We had friends have a bag stolen. Classic distraction technique by "well dressed" locals asking for directions.

 

Joe

[JoePDX]

Our friends stayed at the Tryp Hotel Buenos Aires and found it to be just fine. Prices seem reasonable. Also location is good too.

 

http://www.solmelia.com/solNew/hoteles/jsp/C_Hotel_Description.jsp?codigoHotel=5952

[digby]

The Sheraton and Park Tower are very close to the ship's dock.

[DD]

We are sailing to South America on Oceania. Our last day/port

is Buenos Aires. We must disembark at 9;30 a.m. and our plane

does not leave until 11:00 p/.m. There are no shore excursions

available that day. Any suggestions?

 

 

We just did the Samba Rhythms cruise from Rio to Buenos Aires. Like you, we were surprised that no tours were offered. Once we got onboard, on about the 3rd day, we rec'd a whole list of available tours for the final day in Buenos Aires. We'd already made arrangements with Carlos of Private Tours, so we didn't take advantage of the offerings.

[suepaul]

We are doing the Samba rythms cruise as well in 3 weeks. We have not booked any shore excursions. I know we are late. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

[spindrift]

If you have more than one night docked in Buenos Aires, I suggest you arrange your flight for the night before you are required to disembark. You need to be off the ship by around 8 a.m., so why not leave the night before after dinner, catch your flight, and off you go while everyone is only staying the night on the ship and have to get up early to be off early.

 

We goofed this year, and so it was so costly to change our flight to the night before, so we booked the Marriott and stayed the night. We could rest the next morning while everyone else was having to get up early to get off the ship. Marriott let us stay for the day. Our friends got off the night before after dinner and went to the airport (while we had to pay for that night at the Marriott just to have a room the next day also).

 

Leave enough time to clear all the "passport" controls at EZE. A nightmare. We went through 5, yes 5, security points. We went to the airport at 7 p.m. and thought we were really early. By the time we got to the gate, we only had an hour and a half to wait.

[tak2]

When we were at EZE, we met an American was travelled frequently to BA for business. At one time he counted he had to show his boarding pass, or passport, to personnel at check point 17 times. Some of those check points were a mere hundred feet away!

You just have to be there early.

[burm]

I second booking a private city tour. Recoleta Cemetary is amazing. We also enjoyed visiting the Evita Museum. Small, but well done. If you are there on a Sunday, take in the Antique Market/Street Fair in San Telmo. San Telmo is still worth a visit on other days if you are interseted in antiques at all. La Boca is way over rated and really rather dumpy and very touristy IMHO.

 

Also definitely have a steak dinner! The beef in Argentina is amazing, great flavor! Chez in San Telmo is a nice neighborhood place with good food and a nice atmosphere. La Cabrera is also good, but defnitely HIGH end. Chez was a third the price and just as good in our opinion. Also try empanadas. Yummy.

 

Another option - consider booking a hotel room for the day. So you can freshen up before the long flight home.

 

Joe

 

 

The Recoleta cemetary is very interesting (you can see Eva Peron's grave- it is under the family name of Duarte) There are some very nice restaurants nearby. A good area to walk around and people watch. As someone else said, taxis are really cheap there, cheaper than taking the city bus at home.

 

Buy a leather jacket! You could even have one custom made and shipped to you at home. I recommend Laffon on Viamonte just off Florida. A lot of American Airline pilots have jackets made there and shipped. I have never had anything fit me so perfectly.

[Meg]

DD,

We will be doing the Samba Rythyms cruise next December, only our itinerary begins in BA and ends in Rio. Did you primarily stick with ship excursions or did you use private guides along the way. Was there any special excursion that you would recommend as a "don't miss"? Any advice or suggestions would be totally appreciated. Thanks in advance,

Meg