Iguazu Falls - before or after the cruise?

[grayjay]

We have booked a cruise on "Celebrity Infinity" in February 2013 and we are debating whether to do our (planned )3 days at Iguazu before or after the cruise. After the cruise means flights will be cheaper - but how to manage the luggage after disembarkation?? :confused: We can't bring it all onto a domestic flight. If we take it to the hotel where we had stayed before the cruise they will surely store it, but we'd have to stay another day/night in Buenos Aires before leaving to Iguazu and another before leaving home - seems to be a hassle juggling with all the dates and the luggage you necessarily have! It would also mean that you have to go from Buenos Aires to Iguazu and back on a domestic flight from the city airport and back home to Europe from the international airport, which means another separate taxi ride. Sounds complicated! If we decided to do it pre-cuise it would mean that the flights will be about 400 $ more, but after disembarkation we could use the shuttle transfer to the international airport. I should perhaps add that we're not much interested in Buenos Aires itself - we aren't city people...

How have others done this? We won't use a pre-cruise tour offered by a company or Celebrity, because they are so expensive and we're used to do tours on our own. The main problem seems to be the luggage and the different rides to/from ship and to/from airports.

Decisions, decisions! Any help very much appreciated! Thank you!

[mare s.]

we're doing Iguazu post cruise but we are going to stay one night in B.A. afterwards (and our friends are staying on for a few nights). Check out LAN...we booked our flights and were pleasantly surprised to find that you can take checked baggage (two bags each total of 23 k weight) so we're not going to have to worry about storing bags after we get off the ship (although the hotel we're staying at in B.A. offered to store our bags, as did the car service we're going to use to get from cruiseport to domestic airport. It's a bit of a hassle, but they also offered to stop by the hotel on the way to the domestic airport to drop off our bags if we preferred) I'm hoping (I always hope although it rarely turns out that way ) that we can get by with just carry-ons for the whole trip since we'll use the on-board laundry. Hope this helps.

[grayjay]

Thank you, this helps quite a lot! So perhaps I'll ask the hotel we'll be staying at pre-cruise if they can store our main luggage for three days, hop on the plane to Iguazu with hand luggage ( lots of t-shirts and anti-mosquito-spray...) come back for another night in the Buenos Aires hotel and use their car service for the ride back to EZE airport. Mmmh, seems possible. We also plan on using the ship's laundry .

Are you flying directly to Iguazu on the day of debarkation? Seems the best idea so far to avoid another Sunday with not much to do in Buenos Aires. I'll check out LAN Airlines for flights.

Can you tell me which car service you're going to use? As I've read on CC that taxis from the port in Buenos Aires are not really reliable to use I'm looking for an alternative.

Thank you again for your help.

[diane.in.ny]

It is simply my personal opinion but I would do Iquazu Falls after the cruise.

 

We had the same decision to make a couple of years ago. It was either do it before the cruise or not at all. Unfortunately, we had to decide on not at all. Air to and from BA and Iguazu at that time was not the most dependable.

 

I don't know the status now but the last thing I wanted to do was miss my cruise.

[mare s.]

we are flying straight to Iguazu after disembarkation (we've got a couple of overnights in Buenos Aires which makes it very nice)...still haven't settled for sure on the car service, but looking at silverstar...has had some good reviews. A bit pricey, but apparently reliable. I certainly would be leery of doing Iguazu pre-cruise just for the reasons stated by diane.in.ny (unless you're doing it with the cruiseline) That's also a reason we plan an overnight back in B.A. before traveling home (also, we thought it would just be too much of a hassle to have to fly from Iguazu to the domestic airport and then transfer the same day to the international airport...plus we do want to spend as much time in B.A. as we can)

[A Tucson Guy]

We are doing BA to Rio this Dec. Here is what we are doing- flying to BA and one night at the Marriott. Next morning fly to Iguazo and stay at Sheraton one night. Next afternoon fly back to BA for three more nights at the Marriott and then board the ship. The Marriott will hold our luggage when we go to the falls.

[clarkovitch]

Any hotel in BA will be happy to hold your luggage for you - they'd be losing out on 2 night's business if they didn't! In Iguazu, by the way, the Sheraton has the location overlooking the falls and it's hard to argue with that, but if you fancy something a bit different you might like to look at some of the more recent hotels also in the national park, like the Loi Suites - you might not be able to see the falls themselves, but the hotel is simply stunning... :cool:

[Artemis]

^ to clarify, Loi Suites is not "in" the national park--it is a 15-20 min. drive away. It looks nice, though, and may provide an overall accommodation experience that is superior to the Sheraton, which certainly doesn't meet the hotel chain's own standards. With that said, the Sheraton's coveted location in the park makes it hard to beat, especially for the visitor short on time.

 

 

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[clarkovitch]

My bad! I thought it was actually in it. Still: looks lovely...

[Aussieflyer]

we are flying straight to Iguazu after disembarkation (we've got a couple of overnights in Buenos Aires which makes it very nice)...still haven't settled for sure on the car service, but looking at silverstar...has had some good reviews. )

I think silverstar is Fred???. If so he was great. Hang the price - the car was new, he was on time, he drove safely, he chatted about his life in BA. We had a different company when we first arrived - a bit of a hairy ride!!!

Iguazu is fantastic. We flew LAN though we did it before the cruise as we were going from BA to Valparaiso and then flying straight from Santiago to BA and home. I bought the tickets for the LAN flights online - no problems and could add our frequent flyer numbers as they are one world affiliated. They were very late leaving Iguazu (i.e. 90 minutes or so) for the return to BA so don't cut it too fine. I think we were still in in the check in queue along with many many others when the time we were supposedly leaving passed. Leave plenty of time at Iguazu for the check in (it took us well over an hour to check in). Things may have changed as it was about 18 months ago.

[mare s.]

Hi Aussie...yes, silverstar is Fred and though he's quite a bit more expensive we're leaning towards using his service (he also told us he can arrange a couple of private tours for us and will store big luggage for us if we'd like to leave it while we're in Iguazu) We're doing Iguazu post cruise and spending a night back in Buenos Aires before our flight home...so we won't have the pressure if LAN from Iguazu is delayed. How was the luggage situation on LAN? The flight confirmation indicates that we can check a large bag as well as take two small bags as carry on. Is that a doable?

[Aussieflyer]

Hi Mare

We only had carry on for our LAN flights as we had an apartment for a week in BA. We left our main luggage in the apartment as we were only in Iguazu for 2 nights. LAN is a full service carrier so I would not think that you would have trouble with luggage. I think that LAN flights to Iguazu are only offered in economy (?) If so the allowance is probably 23 kg for checked bag. We arranges a private pick up in Iguazu to take us to the hotel (Sheraton). Again probably more expensive than a taxi but worth it to know we had someone waiting and ready. I think I did a google search and came up with a site that did global transfers (act as an agent I would say). Have used them in China as well, especially the more regional centres. Enjoy Iguazu - the falls are amazing. We did the river boat - prepare to get wet but fantastic fun. What time of the year are you going?

[mare s.]

Hi Aussie..we'll be in Iguazu mid-January. From what I've heard, it is rainy season, so we're bound to get wet, whether from the Falls or the skies! We're going to stay at the Secret Garden in Iguazu and the owner is arranging airport pick up for us, so that's all set. Can't wait to see the Falls...I'm expecting that to be the highlight of our trip.

[Aussieflyer]

Hi Mare

We were there during the last week in December (we fly back to BA for NYE). It did not rain at all during the day or when we were out and about at Iguazu though it was very humid and hot. Are you having Yellow Fever shots? We did although others didn't. We dis see mosquitos at Iguazu but who knows if they were the yellow fever variety. We had very strong insect repellent (a high DEET? level) to stop any bities. Seemed to work - we haven't got yellow fever :)

Glad you have transfers through Secret Garden - it is supposed to be excellent from what I have heard.

Who are you cruising with and where to?

[mare s.]

yes, going to get yellow fever immuno (not taking any chances!) and using DEET too. we're going on Azamara...Rio to Buenos Aires. love Azamara...we've been on HAL, Celebrity, and Princess and enjoyed them all, but after we did Azamara, we were hooked! Just the right size ship and the crew is tremendous. One of our favorite cruises, though, was the Sydney to Auckland (and we did a land trip from Sydney up to Cairns) I have family in Melbourne and had visited there before, but seeing some of the rest of Australia was a treat.

[Aussieflyer]

We like Azamara as well - it is like a smaller version of a Celebrity ship (not surprising really) - though we have only been on a Mediterranean itinerary on the line (Quest). We are looking at some of their Asia itineraries for maybe next year as we are visiting the Galapagos on Celebrity Xpedition later this year. We were on Infinity from BA to Valaparaiso when we visited Iguazu. Glad you enjoyed Australia - North Queensland is great.