While we are on the subject of SA..anybody gone to the falls while on a cruise?

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Oh Claudia....another beautiful place in South America. This photo was taken from the Hotel das Cataratus. The falls were incredible - and you can walk along a catwalk and ultimately almost under the falls. Or even better, take a motor launch and dart among the falls. Just bring some dry clothes to change into! There were hundreds of beautiful butterflies in the trees.

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This is on my list of "Places to Visit." Thanks for the pics, Margo. Wish I could go.

Beth

Beth...there are more and more cruises to South America - and many feel safer staying in this part of the world.

Maybe you'll find yourself on a ship headed that way one of these days.

My wife and I did a pre-cruise to "Iggy" in Febr. on Seabourn. It was memorable. Ours was a one nighter at the falls, and, we did see both sides, but,if you can, do a two nighter, more leasurely.

Margo - magnificent! We'll have to go there one of these days ... (sigh)

Masaki

Margo,

Most of the cruises I've seen to SA are in January and February, understandably since it is their summer. Being an educator, I just can't leave then. I want to take full advantage of the trip and and spend at least 2 weeks. Retirement is close. Give me 2 years and I'll be the first on the ship!!!!!

Beth

Ours will be a one nighter "mid cruise" if can figure out how to get there and back to the ship ( hey may have another "story" to post if miss the boat
Thanks Margo for the gorgeous pictures.. now we have got to see this wonder of the world.. ;)

P.S. Margo.. someone on another board mentioned that there are helicopter rides over it.. do you recall seeing anything there about helicopter tours?
Thanks!

Claudia:

Our trip was a one day excursion from the ship. We flew up in the morning, returned in the evening (from Buenos Aires). It was a ship's tour so we didn't have to worry about missing the "boat" and they chartered the air so the flights operated on our schedule. A bit expensive, but heck, it's a MUST SEE place.

My wife and I spent two nights (pre-cruise) at the Sheraton on the Argentine side and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The first day we explored the Brazil side of the falls, took a jet boat ride up the river that went partially under the falls, and hiked. We spent the second day exploring the Argentine side which is a convenient walk from the Sheraton which is located in the National Park. Late that afternoon, we caught a flight back to BA.

Although we used a private guide, the Sheraton has an excellent tour desk which offers group tours. The Sheraton is a good hotel with great balcony views of the falls, a fine restaurant, beautiful grounds and a nice swimming pool. It is also located reasonably close to the airport on the Argentine side.

It would be a mistake not to visit both the Brazil and Argentine sides as the views are quite different. You will need a visa to enter Brazil.

For PoP, we will be arriving a day early (hopefully so will the luggage). Does anyone know of a private operator where we can get picked up at Buenos Aires airport, have our bags shipped to hotel while we fly to falls, then fly back to BA that evening? Is this even worthwhile to try to do? Should we just postpone seeing falls until we have more time? If our flight from US is delayed, is there any way to avoid a 100% cancellation fee on such a trip?

thanks,

Marc, we are doing our own thing going from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls in February. We booked round trip tickets on Aerolineas( www.aerolineas.com )for $198.60 p.p. (this includes tax). We are staying overnight at the Sheraton Hotel for $184. per night. The ship's excursion goes up and back in one LONG day (11-12 hours) so that's why we decided to stay over night and do our own thing. The ship's excursion is $795. p.p. and so far including our RT flights and hotel we're still under $600!!

I think if you can figure out where to stash your luggage, you should just fly up and back in one day. Even spending a short time there is better than not getting to see it at all.

Marc, maybe we can convince Ngaire to do a group precruise thing to BA and Iguazu Falls! (I'd better duck--she's not that far away and can probably throw something far enough to hit me for saying that....)Can you get to BA more than one day early?? If we did a group thing, I'm thinking we'd need to stay at Iguazu Falls over night, and we'd then need at least a day (probably two) in BA to get a Tango fix and an incredible steak meal with good Argentinian wine--yummmm!

Vacation time is at a premium. We do have to fly in one day early just to make transfer to Ushuaia. I don't know if we can commit to another vacation day 331 days out when we make air arrangements.

Marc - my two cents is that you might want to consider another trip to Argentina some day. There is a lot to see and do in Argentina - BA, Iguassu Falls, the Andean lake district that spans Argentina and Chile, Patagonia - especially the spectacular Moreno Glacier.
------
Leslie

Leslie, I think we will definitely want a longer trip to Argentina and the rest of South America in the future. However, who knows what the future will bring. If it is efficacious to add the falls to this trip, we would like to; if not, we will just have to add it to a future trip.

Okay, we already established on another thread that Marc is the prime nerd amongst us already "really smart" people. So here is the meaning for "efficacious" in case you didn't already know!!! Marc...you are a real trip! Can't wait to meet Arlene! (and you as well)

3 entries found for efficacious.
ef·fi·ca·cious ( P ) Pronunciation Key (f-kshs)
adj.
Producing or capable of producing a desired effect. See Synonyms at effective.


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[From Latin efficx, efficc-, from efficere, to effect. See effect.]

Olivia:

Efficacy and efficacious are very useful words. They are used to describe whether an action is "worthwhile." We have already established that it is feasible to go to the falls in one day. Now, I am just trying to ascertain whether it is worth it (given limited dollars and time). With both unlimited money and time, there is no need to be either efficient or efficacious.

edited to add:

I found this comparison of the two terms:

I have not done Iguazu Falls either. We may organize a one nighter just to see the falls. Might be fun. Long way off yet, but it is certainly a possibility. Lets see what Marcie learns on her trip doing it on her own. I could do this through K&D but we may not really need a "tour operator" on this. Just fly up there, grabs cabs and book any tours we want through the hotel. Definitely a thought!!

I would never throw anything at you Peggy, I might damage your brain and I need it for Trivia!!! Besides you are too cute and treat Gerry too nicely too have things thrown at you.

Even though it might be arguably efficacious to see the falls in a hectic one-day (or even one-night) fling from BA, it might not be sagacious to do so. This destination is without question one of the most dramatic and memorable places we've visited. To give it short shrift is something to ponder carefully. We spent three days and two nights there and lusted for more time. To see the place fully, one should wander along the trails on the Argentine side, do the same on the Brazilian side, see it all from the air by copter, and then see it from the Zodiacs which take you right into the base of the falls (very, very wet, but absolutely wonderful). For a sense of the grandeur of this place, revisit the DVD of The Mission, for an overwrought Robert de Niro, a somewhat hysterical Jeremy Irons, and a hunky Liam Neeson (but I digress...). I would agree with Leslie that a few hours at Iguassu is not likely worth the trouble, stress and expense. I think that we all recognize that some things are not best visited on a cruise, much as we adore cruising. In my ever so humble opinion, Iguassu Falls is a destination which merits a couple of days. I certainly agree that adding a couple more days to the already fairly long PoP cruise will not be practical for most people - as it won't be for us; but fortunately, we've already been blessed with the waters of Iguassu Falls ruining my camera (when in a Zodiac under a falls, it is best to wrap the camera in a ziploc bag, which I did not happen to have on hand...) and do not have to fit that magnificent destination into the PoP pre-cruise or post-cruise. Cheers, Fred

Fred, thanks so much for your advice. We shall have to wait to see if an extra day is even possible before contemplating a trip to the falls.

Time time time. Something we all need more of that is for sure. I feel I will have an opportunity to go back if I indeed fall in love with Iguazu Falls but some may not of course. Although it is very short something is always better than nothing in my book. Have not looked at the calendar to see how the days of the week fall. My first thought is one night is probably all I could spare but then two might be a possibility depending on how the days fall. I do think PRE is better than POST. As we get closer it is certainly something to contemplate.

A ONE night pre will take ONE more vacation day. A THREE night post will take ONE more vacation day. A post might work out better.

The falls are spectacular from both sides. 70% of the falls are on the Argentina side, therefore you are going to see more of them from the Brazilian side since that faces them and they have a series of catwalk trails. The boat trips go from the Argentine side.

We stayed on the Brazilian side since we were on a trip to Brazil at the time, but took a day trip over to the Argentine side. Although you need a visa for Brazil, if you go on an organized tour over to the Brazilian side they probably take care of that via some kind of group visa.

And as Fred recommends, do watch the Mission before you go - while we were there I kept hearing the music by Ennio Morricone running through my head.

I had Ngaire's staff check with FLL as to whether we would need a Brazilian VISA for the RSSC pre-cruise trip to Iguazu Falls. They said we would not be on the Brazilian side and would not need a VISA. However, if we wanted to go to the Brazilian side on our own, we would need a VISA. So, I guess we'll see what we can from the Argentina side and let it go at that.

Well Marc that indeed may be a better solution to do it POST. I usually am ready to come home after being on a ship and just "personally" prefer to do a pre --- however, with that big difference in the work days the post makes a lot more sense.

Ngaire, I agree about much prefering pre to post. I don't know if we will be able to commit to a day either way. Also, it seems most do falls in two days one night and then it won't make a difference.

Air will be bookable around 21 Feb so we do have time.