Getting off the ship-during the cruise?

Question

My wife and I are planning a South American cruise on Royal Caribbean-we are really looking forward to it. The cruise is a 15-day one so we were thinking of leaving the ship for a couple of days to do a more thorough land tour. Has anyone ever done this? How does this work?

Answer 1

idk about a couple days, but a couples hours yeahh

Answer 2

I don't know about doing this, but why not go to your starting port early or tour your ending port for a day or two. Your cruise line can even make arrangments for you on this. Also, Tinkertoy just finished this cruise on RC, so you may want to contact him about his reviews.

Answer 3

Yes,  Just got back from a South American cruise on Royal Caribbean.  Our cruise was 15 day starting in Valparasio, Chile and ending in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  You can read my review on www.cruisecritic.com and/or on my Yahoo 360 web page which you can get to from the link on my Answers profile page.

The most important things you need to know is that VISA's are required to enter Brazil and Chile.  The Chile VISA you can pay at customs and immigration in the airport cash or credit card.  For US citizens the VISA cost 130 per person.  In Brazil you MUST get your VISA in advance and no more than 90 days before your cruise departs.  IF YOU DO NOT GET THE BRAZIL VISA THE CRUISE LINE WILL NOT LET YOU BOARD THE SHIP.  When we cruised about 75-80 people who did not have Brazil VISA's were denied boarding.

The cruise ship makes just six (6) port stops in the 15 days and each is for the day only, lasting 8 to 12 hours.  So the only places where you can stay longer and do land tours on your own are before you start; either Santiago/Valparasio and/or Sao Paulo/Santos.  Santos is the port city in Brazil and Valparasio is the port city in Chile.  Both are an hour or more bus/taxi ride from the airport to the ship.  

If you want to spend more time in RIO then you will have to arrange to fly back there after the cruise; or you can try to arrange to get off the ship there.  RC has a form on its web site for people who want to do a partial cruise and it must be submitted well in advance.

We did tours from the ship in all of the ports except Madryn, Argentina and usually the city tour to get a flavor for the city and culture.  We found that this was sufficient and in most of the port stops there wasn't much else to see.  Rio is the one where you are mostly likely to want to spend more time.

There are at least 3 reviews right now of this cruise on Cruise Critic that you may want to read.

Answer 4

I would say call the cruise line because I have never heard of anyone doing this. That way you can get all the facts from a reliable source and that way you won't plan something and then figure out you wouldn't be able to do it. Good luck!

Answer 5

Ask your travel/cruise agent before doing this.  Or you could ask the cruise line directly.  You don't want to be stranded in South America haha.  I would definitely ask people who are certified though.