Dec. 9, 2007 Samba Rhythms Cruise-Insignia

[rheasue38]

Hi!

My husband, Michael and I just booked this cruise. We love cruising with Oceania and also have a cruise booked with them next summer to the Black Sea.Please join this thread if you are on this cruise!

Rhea

[sandbag7]

Hi; we're Scott and Mary from Chicago area; did a Baltic cruise on Oceania this June and we're looking at this cruise. The Black Sea cruise also looked interesting, but we're not going to do two cruises next year since we also like land based vacations.

Mary just retired from teaching High School for 33 years. I still work. Are you both retired?

If we do this cruise we plan to fly in early for a few extra days in Rio and see Iquazu falls after the cruise ends. Have you planned any pre and post trip activities?

[rheasue38]

Hi!

I retired from teaching elementary school almost 3 years ago. Michael retired from the Dept. of Labor 4 years ago. Our son and his wife did a land tour of South America in Dec. and raved about Buenos Aires and Rio as well as the falls.Their pictures were amazing!!

We thought we'd do a pre in Rio and a post in Buenos Aires. Since the ship docks overnight by the falls, we feel we'll have enough time there.

We actually have 5 cruises booked this year. We are leaving in a little over two weeks for a Princess cruise which visits Casablanca, Gibraltar, Barcelona, Cannes, Zeebrugge, Amsterdam and begins in London and ends up in Rome. We are definitely addicted to cruising. We use to do land tours but I find they're quite tiring. We have traveled with Tauck to Eastern Europe as well as to Hawaii.

Let me know if you book this cruise.

Rhea

[sandbag7]

FYI, the ship does not dock by the falls; rather it stays in one place for two nights to accomodate those who take a ship sponsored tour of the falls with an overnight stay off board. Plane and bus travel are involved. The cost of this tour was $999.00 this year; don't know what it'll be for 2007. I think you need to sign up for it before the cruise starts.

I've heard good things about Tauck; they have a railroad tour of the Copper Canyon in Mexico that looks interesting, and their combined tour of Egypt and Jordan is attractive too.

What did your son like about Buenos Aires?

[rheasue38]

Hi!

Our son loved the scenery on his entire trip. He did stay at the Sheraton Hotel by the Falls for two nights. He enjoyed the food in Buenos Aires. He said the city reminded him of Paris.

After researching our cruise, I realized earler today we do not dock near the falls. But thanks,for the info.

We are also looking forward to our Black Sea cruise next July on Oceania's Nautica. The ports we visit should be fascinating!

Rhea

[aneka]

Hello Rheasue 38 and Sandbag 7,

 

I just found this posting while searching for recommendations for hotels in BA. My husband and I are going on the Dec 9, 07 RIO-BA on Oceania Insignia also. We are in our late 50's, still working and live in the Milwaukee area. We are flying into Rio one day early and looking to stay in BA one extra night. Any hotel recommendations? We have sailed with Oceania from Istanbul to Athens in Oct 06 and loved the ship and the itinerary. We decided to book another cruise and use our discount!

 

We would love to share some private guides. We prefer this over the ship sponsored shore excursions. We are thinking of taking the ship's excursion to Iguaccu Falls.

 

Glad to see some other CC members on this tour. I will post on the Roll Call board under Oceania, Insignia. Maybe we will find some other CC'ers!

John and Annette

[rheasue38]

Hi!

John and Annette, we booked a hotel in Rio (the JW Marriott) and a hotel in B.A. (a Sheraton) on our own. Oceania uses these two hotels but we found the rates cheaper if we booked on our own. We also booked the air through American. We fly to Miami, spend the night and then nonstop from Miami to Rio. We have a nonstop flight home on American. We used miles to upgrade to business class going to Miami and then on to Rio and are flying home on coach.

Have you booked your air or hotel yet?

Rhea

[shoshona2]

Hi,

 

We have been fortunate enough to travel to South America four times in the past six years and found the Iguazu Falls to be one of the highlights of our S.A. travels. If the ship doesn't do the trip to the Falls, you must stay longer and do it from Buenos Aires. We arranged with a private company out of Buenos Aires to pick us up at the ship, take us to our hotel where we left our luggage and then take us to the airport. We spent one night at the International Sheraton right next to the Falls. We did the Argentina side the first day and the Brazilian side the next. We returned to Buenos Aires and stayed at the Marriott overnight before returning home.

 

Sheila

[aneka]

Hi Rhea,

We are so excited to hear from other CC'ers who will be on this cruise. We had a group on the Nautica Ist-Ath cruise and had a great time. We are flying through Miami as well and have booked one overnight at the JW Marriott. We are staying one extra night in BA, but have not yet booked a hotel. Please email me at aneka0925@aol.com and we can discuss flight info and maybe think about some private shore excursions.

Annette and John

[rheasue38]

Hi!

I started looking at some of the tours on our cruise. I want to do a Gaucho tour in Buenos Aires and a tour in Punte Del Este to Casa Pueblo which was featured in the Samantha Brown travel show. I also want to do the full day tour in Rio to visit Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ statue.

Annette, where are you staying in Miami? We are at the Wyndham hotel.

We are also at the JW Marriott in Rio and the Sheraton in Buenos Aires.

Rhea

[aneka]

Hi Rhea,

Our flight goes through Miami, however we arrive and depart within one hour and do not stay overnight in Miami. We are staying one night at the Marriott in Rio and after the cruise are staying one extra night in BA at the Marriott.

Annette

[rheasue38]

Hi!

Did you book the Marriott on your own or through Oceania? How are you planning to get to the ship? Perhaps we can meet at the Marriott in Rio prior to the cruise?

Rhea

[shoshona2]

Oceania charges twice as much as you can get a room yourself. We used our Marriott points and stayed free. It's a short can ride to the port in B.A.

 

Sheila

[shoshona2]

Hi,

 

I meant cab in my last post.

 

Sheila

[rheasue38]

Hi!

Sheila, we have the Marriott booked through Oceania in Rio as well as on our own. We're thinking of going with Oceania because we are concerned about the safety in Rio. I don't want to get mugged on the way to the ship.

Rhea

P.S. I know Oceania's rates are very high but if we feel safer traveling with them, isn't it worth it?

[owl61]

I live in Rio. If I understand these last posts, the question is as follows. Is it worth the extra cost incurred by booking the same hotel (Marriot) through Oceania because the trip to the ship will be safer. Answer, no. Its hard to comprehend how the transportation to the ship from this hotel will be affected by the manner in which a room is booked. The hotel provides private car service to the ship and there are plenty of safe taxis at half the cost. In fact, some believe that the less ostentatious the means of travel the less likely one is to become a statistic so a regular cab is probably more secure than a private limo or hotel shuttle bus.

By the way, the reports of crime in Rio are exaggerated. No need for a bunker mentality.

[rheasue38]

Hi!

Thanks for the info! Looking forward to visiting Rio.

Rhea

[3XABUBBIE]

We are traveling with another couple on the December 9, 2007 cruise from Rio to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The four of us are in our late 50's early 60's. We will be traveling from our home in Scottsdale, AZ to Atlanta GA and then non-stop to Rio on Delta and extending our stay 4 days in Buenos Aires at the end of the trip. We have not booked hotel nights yet. Appreciate all of your suggestions.

 

Our last cruise experience was a mediterranean cruise on the SilverSea which was absolutely fabulous. Any suggestions for us new to the Oceania experience?

 

Has anyone booked their shore trips yet? Looking forward to meeting everyone onboard. From your emails, you all sound like a great group to be traveling with.

 

Marcia

[owl61]

Yes. Pack light. The resort casual dress code aboard the Oceania ships will allow you to leave lots of space in your bags - great for holding all the stuff you will want to buy in Buenos Aires.

[aneka]

Hi all,

 

We have booked the Marriott in Rio on our own using our points. We were just planning on taking a cab to the hotel. Rhea, we would love to get together in Rio and maybe do some sightseeing with you. Please email me at aneka0925@aol.com.

Annette

 

P.S. There is a roll call for this cruise under the roll call link with Oceania/Insignia. It would be helpful if those going would post a note under the roll call. Maybe we could get a meet and mingle party arranged for on board Insignia!

[rheasue38]

Hi!

Marcia, welcome to the boards. We love Oceania! We just returned from a Black Sea cruise aboard the Nautica in July. We had a wonderful time. The food and service were wonderful. There were lots of people in the 50-60 age range.

There are many sights I want to see. I want to see a Tango show, go out to the countryside for a Gaucho barbeque, see the Christ the Redeemer Statue, etc. I also want to visit Casa Pueblo, a museum/hotel in Punta del Este.

Hopefully, we'll be able to arrange a cruise-critic meeting aboard the ship.

Rhea

[rheasue38]

Hi!

Does the airport in Rio have minivans to take you to the hotel? Can you get a minivan at the hotel to go to the port? How far is it from Copacabana Beach to the port and how much should a cab cost?

Rhea

P.S. We travel with a lot of luggage. That's why we need a large cab or mini-van.

[3XABUBBIE]

Rhea.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I am computer literate, but am still learning to navigate this site. So many options and rules. I can't seem to get my email to come up in the right place in the thread. I hope it makes sense to everyone.

 

I am getting some names of some good restaurants and attractions in B.A. Will be glad to share.

 

Marcia