Celebrity Infinity S America

I am considering taking the Celebrity Infinity Jan 31st S America Carnival cruise roundtrip Buenos Aires. Please let me know if you have taken this cruise during Carnival and if Celebrity had appropriate shore excursions for that time or if the celebration was overwhelming and ruined the port experience.

We are on Celebrity Infinity - S. America January 31, 2016. Have you received any response on excursions during Carnival time in Rio de Janeiro?

2GoodChickens

This is the first time Infinity has been to Carnival so you won't find anyone who has done this on Celebrity

I will give you my experience. Booked Infinity for Carnival 2007. Tickets to the Sambadrome were included. But then it came down to-which tickets, which night??? The cruise lines didn't know early on. In September, I purchased my own Sambadrome tickets-cheaper, MUCH better seats AND I could book specifically for the second night, which normally has the BEST samba schools. X continued to waiver about the Sambadrome tickets-finally stated that it was first come, first served which night you get.

We canceled the cruise. Flew to Rio with family and friends. Our friends and some of our family arrived two days before we did. They had never been to Rio. The "kids" (35+ year old) had a pretty good time sightseeing. They DID NOT mind the crowds, didn't have any "incidents" with the many thieves and muggers and they think they saw what they wanted to see (although our one son was perfectly content to do nothing except watch the almost naked girls on the beach). But our friends-late 50's-early 60's-another story. HATED the crowds, couldn't stand the lines for attractions, missed a lot of stuff and didn't particularly appreciate all the naked people running around, acting VERY "in your face". So two totally different experiences.

I have been to Rio quite a few times. It is a dirty, dangerous city if you don't pay attention and "have your ducks in a row".

JMHO, unless you REALLY want to see the Sambadrome parade and can put up with IMMENSE crowds anyplace else in Rio, take the HAL cruise OUT of Rio and forget Carnival.

You can fly to Rio JUST for Carnival, as we did, if it is REALLY something you want to see. And that is exactly what we did-I wanted to see the parade in the Sambadromo. That is the only thing DH and I did for the entire trip, other than meeting up with our friends and family for dinner. Two nights-about 12 hours per night at the Sambadromo. Then I flew to Chile for work-DH, friends and family flew to Peru and partied.

You decision. This came from Greatam's answer to a question about Carnival. Came in August 2008. Don't know i X will do similar this time around.

The above answer is from Greatam, whos has a business that allows her to travel all over the world. The full thread is from jwds. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=823976

Greatam generally monitors the Cruise Air forum.

DW and I went to Rio following our Valparaiso-Buenos Aries cruise in 2011 (Celebrity Infinity). We missed Carnival by one week, much to our disappointment, but loved Rio nonetheless. We didn't find it particularly dirty or dangerous, though we use a lot of common sense regarding safety. That being said we walked along both the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches at night (in the well-lit areas) and never felt unsafe. We stayed in a decent hotel near the junction of the two beaches (three blocks from one, two from the other). It's one of the most beautiful cities on earth, but to appreciate it fully you need to see it from above - the Corcovado (the mountain with the statue of Jesus) or Sugarloaf will enable you to do that.

How did you get to Rio from Buenos Aires?

I can hopefully answer questions as we did Carnival in 2011- there is an official website we bought tickets from and they were delivered to the concierge of our hotel. Cruise lines tend to go section 9 which is the tourist area but we took the next one which was cheaper. It starts around 9pm and last until near dawn but we left 1am and you are sat on concrete "bleachers" I think Americans call them. Getting to and from Sambadrome can be difficult due to volume of people and traffic.

We also cruised Buenos Aries around Cape Horn spring 2014 and our friends wanted to do Iguaza Falls so the flew to Rio and did their own sightseeing to Copacabana etc and then flew to Buenos Aries. They then took a short flight to do the falls which are spectacular

Hope this helps

Did the Valparaiso-Buenos Aries cruise on Infinity this past January 2015. Excellent cruise.

We did B.A then up to Iguazu Falls then flew back to B.A. for a flight to Rio.

Rio was the highlight of the trip. We were there the week before Carnival so got to feel the build up and the crowds - that was enough for us.

It was very, very busy the week before Carnival - so you must be able to cope with wild parties in the street, drunk people everywhere, massive crowds, anti-social behavior. If not, really watch carnival on the net.

Rio did not scare us, we were very, very careful.

We stayed at the Sofitel at the confluence of the two beaches - simply outstanding location and their open air cafe had really great food. Paid extra to get a Copa beach view from our balcony - spectacular.

We would recommend that you hire a private guide, car and driver. We did and it paid off in spades in terms of quality, efficiency, effectiveness and safety.

The guide was born in Rio and had worked many cruise lines. He was a photographer on Princess - so he took pictures of us over 3 days of our tour in Rio - the pictures are precious as my husband and I are both in all the pictures.

Another thing, they know where to park, ways around traffic issues, where to eat. The pacing of the tours are based on the customers needs - so for example we were able to wait out the morning fog atop Christchurch mtn and were rewarded with the view of a lifetime. Package tours do not accommodate this. People knew our guide was local, so there was no hassal from street people etc. Buying tickets, they do, and then you get to wait in the short tour guide lineup, not the public line.

Having a private guide is the way we will go forward in our travels.

Have a great trip

ABoatNerd

Interesting thread...we had same question regarding Mardi Gras cruise and decided not to book with our friends.

New Orleans was great fun on a non Mardi Gras land based visit. But we felt that a cruise during Mardi Gras might be overwhelming...fun to see floats and parades, etc, but everything will be more raucus and crowded.

We'll see how the reviews go this yr....

Happy Cruising!

Suggest your post would bet more help on your roll call or in ports.

How did you get to Rio from Buenos Aires?

Sorry for the delay in replying. We flew from Buenos Aries to Rio and then home from Rio.

Did the Valparaiso-Buenos Aries cruise on Infinity this past January 2015. Excellent cruise.

 

We did B.A then up to Iguazu Falls then flew back to B.A. for a flight to Rio.

 

Rio was the highlight of the trip. We were there the week before Carnival so got to feel the build up and the crowds - that was enough for us.

 

It was very, very busy the week before Carnival - so you must be able to cope with wild parties in the street, drunk people everywhere, massive crowds, anti-social behavior. If not, really watch carnival on the net.

 

Rio did not scare us, we were very, very careful.

 

We stayed at the Sofitel at the confluence of the two beaches - simply outstanding location and their open air cafe had really great food. Paid extra to get a Copa beach view from our balcony - spectacular.

 

We would recommend that you hire a private guide, car and driver. We did and it paid off in spades in terms of quality, efficiency, effectiveness and safety.

 

The guide was born in Rio and had worked many cruise lines. He was a photographer on Princess - so he took pictures of us over 3 days of our tour in Rio - the pictures are precious as my husband and I are both in all the pictures.

 

Another thing, they know where to park, ways around traffic issues, where to eat. The pacing of the tours are based on the customers needs - so for example we were able to wait out the morning fog atop Christchurch mtn and were rewarded with the view of a lifetime. Package tours do not accommodate this. People knew our guide was local, so there was no hassal from street people etc. Buying tickets, they do, and then you get to wait in the short tour guide lineup, not the public line.

 

Having a private guide is the way we will go forward in our travels.

 

Have a great trip

 

ABoatNerd

would you kindly provide the tour guide you took. going jan 31, 2016 cruise.

thanks josie