what's the best time to board the ship in buenos aires

[urquie]

i've read a number of times that the check-in process is really long in buenos aires. from a previous post...

 

" The scene at the port was a mess! It took 3 hours of snaking through lines in a warehouse type building with no A/C or fans."

ncl tells us not to arrive more than one hour before check-in starts (12pm) and that we must arrive 2 hours before departure (6pm).

i've got to young children and hope to minimize the wait time. any tips would be much appreciated!

[brazilgirl]

I have the same question! No recommendations or experiences out there?

 

The day we depart , our ship (the Infinity ) and the Norwegian Sun will both be in port.

 

We need to be there latest at 3 , as our ship leaves at 5. I´d love to wait in a shorter line!

 

Kim

[smeyer418]

I have the same question! No recommendations or experiences out there?

 

The day we depart , our ship (the Infinity ) and the Norwegian Sun will both be in port.

 

We need to be there latest at 3 , as our ship leaves at 5. I´d love to wait in a shorter line!

 

Kim

 

 

isn't the Infinity there overnight? at least it is when I am going on Feb 28.

[DougH]

When I boarded the Star Princess in Jan 2009 they were saying to arrive in the afternoon. I left my nearby hotel (The Claridge) by cab at 11:35 and was in my cabin by 12:00 noon! No lines anywhere except to have my picture taken at the ship when boarding. Heard tales of people waiting in line for hours later that afternoon. I'd say arrive 11:30-12:30 if not a bit earlier.

[urquie]

When I boarded the Star Princess in Jan 2009 they were saying to arrive in the afternoon. I left my nearby hotel (The Claridge) by cab at 11:35 and was in my cabin by 12:00 noon! No lines anywhere except to have my picture taken at the ship when boarding. Heard tales of people waiting in line for hours later that afternoon. I'd say arrive 11:30-12:30 if not a bit earlier.

 

thanks for the info! sounds like my thoughts of going late may not be so good... i was hoping to have time to check out the san telmo market

[S&B]

Urquie,

 

We were on the NCL last February. I don't know which hotel you are staying at but I think you could still make the market. We were at the Sheraton on Libertador. We checked out early, had them keep our bags and started out for the market. We walked all the way but if I had small children I would probably take a taxi. On the way back we picked up a large bottle of soda, carried it on the ship with us and enjoyed it all week. I will have to say it was a long way back!!

 

I believe we left the hotel for the ship around 12:30 or 1:00. For our sailing the lines were not that long. They offered us water. There were some people that arrived around 3 and they said there were no lines at all.

 

The main problem that we had was that we were dropped off at the wrong pier. However, NCL will bus you to the correct pier. I walked all over trying to find the NCL line and then discovered the problem. Look for the NCl rep. and ask questions as soon as you get out of the cab. I just presumed we were at the right place and did not bother to look at our documents.

 

If you do go to the market remember that it is very crowded. Don't stray away from each other.

 

Have a great time. I wish we could go again. :)

 

Oh, yes, our cab driver did not set the meter when we entered the taxi going to the pier. I thought it would be a flat rate so I did not question it. He reallly soaked us. He knew that we would not be coming back and could not complain. We paid the fare and went on our way but learned a late lesson. Just one of those things. We had no problems in any other taxis. They were all very nice and helpful.

Sorry this is so long!!!