South America questions

[chloes nana]

I am doing a South America cruise next year with a pre cruise package through HAL for the Iguazu Falls 3 day trip.

So my questions are: the $160 reciprocity fee must be paid prior to this cruise?

And what about the Visa for Paraguay since this is a visa required country? Does this fall under the HAL tour/excursions umbrella or must we get both?

I am very confused????:confused:. My HAL PCC said we didn't need to get visas, but nothing was said about the $160 reciprocity fee either. The State Gov website says no visa for Brazil, but yes for Paraguay?? any help would be truly enlightening. Thanks in advance!

[Riversedge]

We did the Amazon Explorer cruise to Brazil in March and we definitely needed visas. It's rather complicated and can take 4-6 weeks so start early as you will need to send in your passport. If you do anything wrong, you get it back and start over. Rather expensive as well. Since we couldn't go directly to the embassy we had to have a service do it for us which costs extra as well. The good thing is that they are good for 10 years. Can't answer the question regarding Paraguay.

 

Just wondering....are you not going to the Brazil side of the falls? I think it's possible to see it without going to Brazil so maybe that's why they said you didn't need a visa?

Edited October 14, 2015 by Riversedge

[chloes nana]

according to the excursion blurb, you visit both the Brazilian and Argentine sides.

[take us away]

The reciprocity fee usually gets charged to your OB account as only needs to be paid when you actually go into and out of Argentina.

 

You really need to check with HAL excursions about the need for a Brazilian visa for the tour as they are not fun to get and take a while. Recommend you send an email vs a phone call as have gotten better info from email questions as they get routed to someone who has seemingly better knowledge about the question. Whatever they tell you - get an email with their answer. Maybe there is an exemption for this excursion or a special on-site visa.

[chloes nana]

thanks so much for the info. we paid the reciprocity fee, just in case we should need it. the site for the pre-cruise Iguazu Falls says we visit both the Argentine and Brazilian side of the falls. At the bottom there is a blurb regarding "all guests must pay/are responsible for all fees and Visas". So I am just checking to see what anyone else has experienced doing this excursion.

[Alberta Quilter]

I would check the Brazilian authorities about the visa to Brazil. I didn't go to Brazil but my understanding is that Brazil requires a visa for anyone who travels to Brazil, even if it's just to go to the other side of the falls.

[Nanner]

We did go to both sides of the falls on our own in 2014, and the requirement is a visa for Brazil, even for a day trip. Perhaps you take a boat to view the falls, cross the border, but never land there?

 

As for Paraguay, are you doing an excursion that requires a visa there? We did a tour that included the hydroelectric plant that straddles the Brazil/Paraguay border. They did not require a visa for that, though we did enter Paraguay on the tour bus.

 

You really want to be sure you have the visas you will need, as we had to get our visa checked to cross into Brazil from Argentina. We are returning to Brazil in 2016, in part to get our "money's worth" out of that visa, since it is good for 10 years.

[chloes nana]

Hi all just an update in case anyone else needs to know, you have to pay the reciprocity fees of $160 for Argentina, and acquire your Brazilian visa ahead of time. Both are your responsibility if visiting the falls, and other excursions in Brazil. Thanks, to everyone for all the input.

[lcand1923]

I did the HAL Iguazzu Falls excursion as a Post Cruise several years ago.

 

At that time, the excursion "officially" included just the Argentinian side of the falls. I wanted to see the Brazilian side, too, and spoke with our group escort. She told me that the requirements had changed two days earlier.

 

I can't remember the exact dates, but the State Department website had a notice that the change was taking place on March 1. Brazil escalated it to

the Sunday before February 1 or something like that.

 

Luckily, I could get it online from a computer at the hotel. She knew the exact website, etc.

 

DO go to the Brazilian side of the falls. As our group escort told us, "Think of the Falls as a theater production. The Argentinian side is like looking down from the stage. The Brazilian side is like looking up from the orchestra seats." It is well worth the extra expense of the visa.

 

I've learned that the best source is the Government Website for visa and reciprocity fees. I've also learned, when in doubt, buy it anyway, because the rules can change overnight.

[chloes nana]

exactly my thought! the cost is minimal as compared to getting there and not being able to do both sides of the falls!