Help! RIO docking to airport

[2cruisecats]

We're on the SA cruise Jan 5/05 Valpariso to Rio. Due to crazy Holland Amercia flight arrangements received yesterday, we decided (today!) to cancel our HAL bookings & book our own flights from Canada (direct from Toronto to Lima & return from Rio to Toronto then on to Ottawa, much better then the 4 transfers HAL had; don't ask about the crazy/tight timing they gave us -- in snow storm season!). I know this means we need to find our own way to/from the ship. The "to ship" is fine. My question is on the RIO end. Where does the ship dock in Rio? (or is it outside the city?) We need to get from the ship to the Sheraton. Is this an impossible task without transfers? (I'm thinking back to the fun we had in Bangkok with Princess!) Is there a transfer service readily available in Rio? All help/comments appreciated! Thanks!

[jasl]

I don't understand why you are flying to Lima when the cruise starts in Valparaiso, sure hope you mean Santiago!!! Air Canada has a direct flight from Toronto. You say you have transfer details to the ship on the way over, but require info on the Rio docking. This is not too far from the Sheraton and would cost about $40.00 US. The Sheraton has a car service and would suggest you contact them at reservas.rio@sheraton.com and request for a pick-up. You will have to give them a time and unless you are booked in a suite (when you can leave at your leisure) about 10:00 AM would be a reasonable disembarkation timing. We loved the Sheraton, ask for a room facing Copacabana. If you are interested in a tour to Petropolis, the hotel can arrange this as well. Another nice trip is to Niteroi. Also, a samba

show can be booked at the hotel. Any more questions, just ask, we have been there twice and will be leaving the Amsterdam when you are boarding.

Have a wonderful cruise.

[grannynurse]

We don't use HAL air but when we don't stay overnight coming home, we still get a ship's transfer from the pier to the airport. Have you asked if this is available? We've been able to buy tranfers even after final payment.

GN

[2cruisecats]

Yes, we are doing air canada's new flight to Lima as we are going to do the pre-cruise first. HAL had us arriving in Lima at 11:45 pm on Dec 31st (after leaving Ottawa at 6:45 am) and doing a city tour in the morning before leaving for machu picchu. Strange timing! Our TA investigated other options & suggested dropping the HAL arangements even as hubby was investigating air/hotel. 8 hours direct from Toronto! we get time to rest & explore. We're looking to use Sherton points in Lima & Rio so haven't investigated other hotels.

[Bill S]

cruisecats: In Rio, the ship docks in the city, some distance from the international airport. My recollection is that you should be able to book a transfer to your hotel once on-board the ship. IIRC, there seemed to be a lot of vans/taxis outside the ship terminal on disembarkation day, as well and there were shuttle/taxi company vendors/stands, too.

 

We had arranged our own air but since our flight was not until late on the evening of disembarkation, we took an excursion to Petropolis, which we really enjoyed and the bus dropped us off a the international airport where our luggage was waiting for us.

 

Rio has 2 airports, one very near the port that is used primarily for domestic flights and the other one is the international airport which is well outside the city proper. If I recall right, the symbol for the international airport is "GIG". Hope this helps!

[xpcdoojk]

I unfortunately, don't have answers for you, but I doing the same itinerary on the Rotterdam in November 2005 from Rio to Valpo, and we are, also, going to Peru to tour macchu picchu, and I hope you will come back and share your experiences with us.

 

Have fun it sounds like a wonderful trip.

 

jc

[bobpatj]

2cruisecats

We'll be boarding the Amsterdam in Rio when you get off. We've been trying to get our flight info from HAL so that we can fill out our Brazil visa forms. (They want a photocopy of our flights or tickets.) This has been impossible so far. How have you been able to handle this? Our TA has been very frustrated with the run around HAL has given her when she's phoned.

[2cruisecats]

bobpatj

Our TA had also been frustrated while trying to get flight info from HAL. On Monday she called HAL to confirm everything as our payment is due Friday. She wanted the flight info before we paid in case changes were required. After several attempts on Monday -- she doesn't give up! -- she was sent the flight nos & times for travel on the 31st to Lima. Arriving in a "new to us" city at 11:45 pm on New year's Eve was not our idea of fun so we canceled their flight & went with Air Canada. Cost is app the same, travel time is less, fewer connections and we managed to get a few days in Lima first. Tuesday was an exciting day but everything got booked thanks to a very determined TA. As for the Brazil visa, we'll be picking ours up at the embassy here in Ottawa next month.

[bobpatj]

2cruisecats

Thank you for your reply. Our TA was able to get our flight info over the phone and e-mailed it to us. I hope that will be enough to satisfy our application requirement! I wish we could just go to an embassy. It makes me nervous to have to mail our passports. Have a wonderful cruise and take care of the Amsterdam for us!

[user8]

2cruisecats,

 

DW and I will be sailing with you. We will be coming from Houston via Miami and are scheduled to arrive in Santiago at 6:50 AM the day of the cruise. Upon disembarkation, we have a direct flight back to Houston out of Sao Paulo. As we will be travelling with a group, I don't have details on how we will get from Santiago to Valaraiso or from Rio to Sao Paulo.

 

We already have Brazilian visas but they are in our old, expired passports. I contacted the Brazilian consulate in Houston and was told we need to carry the old passports with the visas in them along with our current passports.

 

Hope to see you on board.

 

Lee