Splendour of The Seas Santos to São Paulo

We are due to arrive back into Santos at 8:30am but Royal Caribbean is advising not to book flights out of São Paulo before 4:30pm. I was thinking of allowing two hours to disembark plus two hours to travel by taxi to the airport plus one hour arrival before flight (and all this is allowing "extra time for delays") so. 1:30pm or 2pm departure. This gives us the afternoon back in Rio rather than waiting around endlessly.

Has anyone experienced this arrival and able to give advice please?

Just a clarification. Are you flying from Sao Paulo to Rio? I can't tell from your post if that is what you mean. I assume that is what you mean.

Also, have you booked passage already for such a flight? There are direct flights from Sao Paulo to Miami. But I don't know what your preferencess are. I can definitely see why you would want time to visit Rio if you possibly can fit in the time. It is a very special city and worth every minute you can spend there.

I think it is good to allow plenty of time to get up to Sao Paulo and the airport from Santos, Brazilian traffic being what it is. I definitely wouldn't cut it any shorter than what you describe in your plans.

Just a clarification. Are you flying from Sao Paulo to Rio? I can't tell from your post if that is what you mean. I assume that is what you mean.

 

Also, have you booked passage already for such a flight? There are direct flights from Sao Paulo to Miami. But I don't know what your preferencess are. I can definitely see why you would want time to visit Rio if you possibly can fit in the time. It is a very special city and worth every minute you can spend there.

 

I think it is good to allow plenty of time to get up to Sao Paulo and the airport from Santos, Brazilian traffic being what it is. I definitely wouldn't cut it any shorter than what you describe in your plans.

I apologise for my unclear post. Yes, we plan to fly to Rio to spend some time before flying to Iguazzu Falls for a few nights and then on to Santiago to catch Celebrity Infinity back to Miami.

By the way, we now arrive back into Santos at 8:00am and not 8:30am.

By the way.today I called Choice Air again and was told to book a flight "after 10:00 am" by one person. I explained that previously two different people at Choice Air had told me "after 3:00pm" and "after 4:00pm" but she insisted it was after 10:00am as the recommended time to book a post-cruise flight for this cruise. I immediately telephoned again to double check with another person who told me "after 4:30pm". They suggested I call Royal Caribbean Reservations Dept to find out why so late. When I did this it was explained to me that Choice Air probably only had their contracted flights available after 4:30pm but if I could get an earlier flight independently, then to get one - allowing for disembarkation by 10am as we arrive in at 8:00am.

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I apologise for my unclear post. Yes, we plan to fly to Rio to spend some time before flying to Iguazzu Falls for a few nights and then on to Santiago to catch Celebrity Infinity back to Miami.

 

By the way, we now arrive back into Santos at 8:00am and not 8:30am.

 

By the way.today I called Choice Air again and was told to book a flight "after 10:00 am" by one person. I explained that previously two different people at Choice Air had told me "after 3:00pm" and "after 4:00pm" but she insisted it was after 10:00am as the recommended time to book a post-cruise flight for this cruise. I immediately telephoned again to double check with another person who told me "after 4:30pm". They suggested I call Royal Caribbean Reservations Dept to find out why so late. When I did this it was explained to me that Choice Air probably only had their contracted flights available after 4:30pm but if I could get an earlier flight independently, then to get one - allowing for disembarkation by 10am as we arrive in at 8:00am.

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The reason that it is called "Choice Air" is because it is your choice to pick what you want and they take care of it for you. The benefit is their buying power with the airlines compared to you doing this yourself.

They may be assuming you are flying back to the states. In Sao Paulo it's recommended to get to the airport at least 3 hours before your Intl flight due to very long lines so arriving at 1:30 for a 4:30 departure would be the way to go. (I've done Sao Paulo to Miami countless times and the lines are RIDICULOUS)

National flights are different, you can get away with allowing less time but I would still get there at least 1.5 hours before.

When I boarded at Santos I was taken by bus from the cruise terminal to a freight wharf 10 minutes away to get on Mariner of the Seas. More time factors to consider.

Another thing to consider is that you may not be flying from the same airport. When we were there we flew in and out of the international airport but to fly to Rio you will probably fly from the domestic airport which is far closer to the center of the city. Based on our experience I would think that any time after noon would be ok.