Here is a Cruise for you Santos(Sao Paulo)-Barcelona
Nov 21, 2013, 12:27 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Traveling the World
Posts: 6,072
Here is a Cruise for you Santos(Sao Paulo)-Barcelona
I am going with my Father from Sao Paulo(Santos) to Barcelona leaving on April 25th on Royal Caribbean Splendour Of The Seas.
I guess its the Globetrotter and FlyerTalker in me to book a trip that requires an over 6,000 mile flight via Mexico City to Sao Paulo from San Francisco and then another 6,000 mile from Barcelona-Munich-Vancouver-San Francisco using miles with Lufthansa doing the BCN-MUC-YVR portion and United doing the YVR-SFO.
Here is how this all got started.
I was looking around for cruises this past January for our April 2013 cruise from New Orleans-Rome and saw a Brazil Repositioning Cruise and thought that would be cool but I was not ready for the challenge just yet and I had Southwes Airlines Vouchers to burn from San Jose-New Orleans so we decided on that.
In August I was looking at the Royal Caribbean Website and had the option of Fort Lauderdale, Galveston, New Orleans and Santos Brazil. Thats when it all began to settle in. Brazil or New Orleans those were the two options my Father gave . Before I could even think for a second it had to be Brazil. So I said Brazil.
Well before you know it I got an email confirmation from the Travel Agent and it was time to find the rest of the deal. You see I am one for creating my own package and not relying on a Travel Agent for everything. We do get $100 Onboard Credit so that is a plus.
So I went on to various websites for flights. I was getting fares from $980 to $13000+ and on boring American or United. Heck it would be more miles to redeem on United for a South America Award than a one way Award from Europe. What would I lose for going onto an Airfare Discount Website.
I had used AirValues.com in the past for a flight to Israel and saved over $500 and got my Frequent Flier Miles. So I punched in the dates and a few seconds later right there in front of my eyes an itinerary for $474 per person from SFO and the times and dates I wanted were there.
I called my Father and said we need to book this now or if we wait the fares will go up and they sure did go up since we booked.
This itinerary has us going on AeroMexico to Mexico City with a day to tour the city plus a flight on TAM. Now this itinerary beats flying on boring American Airlines or United. I like flying on national airlines as I love experiencing the culture before we even arrive to Brazil. Why fly via MIA when you can go to Mexico City for the day? Plus the direction of travel is more direct going South versus going East then South.
South America Take It Away was playing in my head as I pondered what part of the trip to plan next. It had to be the Hotels.
I first booked the Mercure Sao Paulo Central Towers after booking with Booking.com and after finding you could book it with Mercure direct for $88 with Breakfast I cancelled the Booking.com as the Mercure agreed to do so and was very nice. I got the Mercure Central Towers for $88 with daily breakfast in a twin bed aparthotel room with an electric stove.
The hotel also has an indoor pool.
Next course of action who would be crazy enough to take the bus from Sao Paulo to Santos ON the day of the cruise? Not me. So I had some Hotwire Credits on a hotel they misrepresented in terms of the hotel room type(they called it a Suite the hotel called it a Studio) but anyways that is not related to this post).
For $129 I went with their Hotels.Com Partner and called them and the agent was very nice to deal with and got me the Mercure Santos a nice property for $129 for 1 night in a Non Smoking room. All of the rooms are suites with a separate living room and has a balcony with a side view to the ocean. Now this does not include breakfast but I will not mind paying for it if its good.
Then I went on Hotels.com to see what hotels they had in Barcelona. The prices ranged from $74-$430. Going through the reviews on various websites I went over to Hotwire and saw a Hotel in the L'Exanple district for $89+$55 in taxes and Recovery Fees. I read about the District and booked it.
We got the Hotel Amister Art a 4 star Hotel in Barcelona. It's a boutique hotel and the rooms and lobby look nice and it got great reviews on TripAdvisor and other websites.
I then emailed the various properties to note that we need a non smoking room in a quiet location on the top floor away from the elevator. So after that was done it was time to look at shore excursions.
We are looking to take the Royal Caribbean Monteserrat tour for $50 a person with City Transfer and possibly one in The Canary Islands. Since our ship arrives at 6:00 AM and our hotel checkin time is at 2:00 PM it would be a shame not to take the tour.
I figure a taxi from the pier would be around $20 and a Train Ticket to Monteserrat +Entry could be more than $50 a person the tour was better since our luggage is stored on the bus.
Then it was time to book my United Award Ticket. So First I booked myself on an Air Canada Flight from BCN-YYZ-ORD-SFO but the Air Canada BCN-YYZ portion got changed to Tango so I was able to work with United to get me on Lufthansa with similar times but I arrive SFO over 60 minutes before the ORD flight gets in.
After that it was on to the challenges of applying for a Brazilian Visa. My Father and I both went online and read through the rules and regulations. We filled out the online forum and made an appointment which took place in October.
You need a USPS money order+ Passport Photos, Completed Application and the envelope has to be a USPS Priority Trackable Envelope or else you won't be able to get your passports mailed back to you and will have to pick it up on the stated date.
I was amazed that our Passports came exactly on the date they said it would. I tracked our application online and it was not as bad as I thought it would be.
I am also on Cruise Critic and so far not a lot of people have signed up for the Meet and Mingle.
Our ports of call on the cruise are Rio, Salavador De Bahia, Teneriefe Canary Islands and Malaga with lots of sea days.
If any FlyerTalker would be interested in such a cruise please sign up. If you do please go over to Cruise Critic and join the Meet and Mingle. Perhaps we could have a FlyerTalk get together onboard.
Now the countdown begins(:
I guess its the Globetrotter and FlyerTalker in me to book a trip that requires an over 6,000 mile flight via Mexico City to Sao Paulo from San Francisco and then another 6,000 mile from Barcelona-Munich-Vancouver-San Francisco using miles with Lufthansa doing the BCN-MUC-YVR portion and United doing the YVR-SFO.
Here is how this all got started.
I was looking around for cruises this past January for our April 2013 cruise from New Orleans-Rome and saw a Brazil Repositioning Cruise and thought that would be cool but I was not ready for the challenge just yet and I had Southwes Airlines Vouchers to burn from San Jose-New Orleans so we decided on that.
In August I was looking at the Royal Caribbean Website and had the option of Fort Lauderdale, Galveston, New Orleans and Santos Brazil. Thats when it all began to settle in. Brazil or New Orleans those were the two options my Father gave . Before I could even think for a second it had to be Brazil. So I said Brazil.
Well before you know it I got an email confirmation from the Travel Agent and it was time to find the rest of the deal. You see I am one for creating my own package and not relying on a Travel Agent for everything. We do get $100 Onboard Credit so that is a plus.
So I went on to various websites for flights. I was getting fares from $980 to $13000+ and on boring American or United. Heck it would be more miles to redeem on United for a South America Award than a one way Award from Europe. What would I lose for going onto an Airfare Discount Website.
I had used AirValues.com in the past for a flight to Israel and saved over $500 and got my Frequent Flier Miles. So I punched in the dates and a few seconds later right there in front of my eyes an itinerary for $474 per person from SFO and the times and dates I wanted were there.
I called my Father and said we need to book this now or if we wait the fares will go up and they sure did go up since we booked.
This itinerary has us going on AeroMexico to Mexico City with a day to tour the city plus a flight on TAM. Now this itinerary beats flying on boring American Airlines or United. I like flying on national airlines as I love experiencing the culture before we even arrive to Brazil. Why fly via MIA when you can go to Mexico City for the day? Plus the direction of travel is more direct going South versus going East then South.
South America Take It Away was playing in my head as I pondered what part of the trip to plan next. It had to be the Hotels.
I first booked the Mercure Sao Paulo Central Towers after booking with Booking.com and after finding you could book it with Mercure direct for $88 with Breakfast I cancelled the Booking.com as the Mercure agreed to do so and was very nice. I got the Mercure Central Towers for $88 with daily breakfast in a twin bed aparthotel room with an electric stove.
The hotel also has an indoor pool.
Next course of action who would be crazy enough to take the bus from Sao Paulo to Santos ON the day of the cruise? Not me. So I had some Hotwire Credits on a hotel they misrepresented in terms of the hotel room type(they called it a Suite the hotel called it a Studio) but anyways that is not related to this post).
For $129 I went with their Hotels.Com Partner and called them and the agent was very nice to deal with and got me the Mercure Santos a nice property for $129 for 1 night in a Non Smoking room. All of the rooms are suites with a separate living room and has a balcony with a side view to the ocean. Now this does not include breakfast but I will not mind paying for it if its good.
Then I went on Hotels.com to see what hotels they had in Barcelona. The prices ranged from $74-$430. Going through the reviews on various websites I went over to Hotwire and saw a Hotel in the L'Exanple district for $89+$55 in taxes and Recovery Fees. I read about the District and booked it.
We got the Hotel Amister Art a 4 star Hotel in Barcelona. It's a boutique hotel and the rooms and lobby look nice and it got great reviews on TripAdvisor and other websites.
I then emailed the various properties to note that we need a non smoking room in a quiet location on the top floor away from the elevator. So after that was done it was time to look at shore excursions.
We are looking to take the Royal Caribbean Monteserrat tour for $50 a person with City Transfer and possibly one in The Canary Islands. Since our ship arrives at 6:00 AM and our hotel checkin time is at 2:00 PM it would be a shame not to take the tour.
I figure a taxi from the pier would be around $20 and a Train Ticket to Monteserrat +Entry could be more than $50 a person the tour was better since our luggage is stored on the bus.
Then it was time to book my United Award Ticket. So First I booked myself on an Air Canada Flight from BCN-YYZ-ORD-SFO but the Air Canada BCN-YYZ portion got changed to Tango so I was able to work with United to get me on Lufthansa with similar times but I arrive SFO over 60 minutes before the ORD flight gets in.
After that it was on to the challenges of applying for a Brazilian Visa. My Father and I both went online and read through the rules and regulations. We filled out the online forum and made an appointment which took place in October.
You need a USPS money order+ Passport Photos, Completed Application and the envelope has to be a USPS Priority Trackable Envelope or else you won't be able to get your passports mailed back to you and will have to pick it up on the stated date.
I was amazed that our Passports came exactly on the date they said it would. I tracked our application online and it was not as bad as I thought it would be.
I am also on Cruise Critic and so far not a lot of people have signed up for the Meet and Mingle.
Our ports of call on the cruise are Rio, Salavador De Bahia, Teneriefe Canary Islands and Malaga with lots of sea days.
If any FlyerTalker would be interested in such a cruise please sign up. If you do please go over to Cruise Critic and join the Meet and Mingle. Perhaps we could have a FlyerTalk get together onboard.
Now the countdown begins(:
Nov 18, 2014, 6:07 pm
#3
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Miami Beach, Florida
Programs: AA Plat, Sixt Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum, Avis First, Caesars TR Diamond, Mlife Gold
Posts: 4,928
I have done this cruise (14 nights South America Transatlantic), on Vision of the Seas and it was great!! It was $2,000 (single occupancy) Junior Suite.
My adventure began with a cheap $60 Jet blue flight from MCO-NAS.
I used 20K/Cash BMI miles (earned through "4" Ramada stays) for a one-way First Class ticket on US Airways/United from Nassau to Sao Palo. The ticket was worth $6,500 alone.
The used a Round Trip Award on US Airways (40K miles) for TAM First Class GRU-EZE.
Then I used another 20K/Cash BMI for Business on TAP/CO LIS-EWR-LIM.
Then a $300 Spirit (Big-Front-Seat) flight back home, LIM-FLL-MCO.
I truly miss BMI...
My adventure began with a cheap $60 Jet blue flight from MCO-NAS.
I used 20K/Cash BMI miles (earned through "4" Ramada stays) for a one-way First Class ticket on US Airways/United from Nassau to Sao Palo. The ticket was worth $6,500 alone.
The used a Round Trip Award on US Airways (40K miles) for TAM First Class GRU-EZE.
Then I used another 20K/Cash BMI for Business on TAP/CO LIS-EWR-LIM.
Then a $300 Spirit (Big-Front-Seat) flight back home, LIM-FLL-MCO.
I truly miss BMI...
Last edited by gkbiiii; Nov 18, 2014 at 6:17 pm