Tour costs

Number of ship tours taken – 13

Cost of ship tours – ranged between $54 and $199 USD

Average cost of other tours - $30 USD

Recommendations:

If you are adventurous, can speak a little of the language and don’t mind going off on your own, then bypass the ship tours and strike out on your own. Some of the places that we visited were so small, that you could easily walk from one attraction to the other. The tours were only offered because most of the passengers were over 65 and many had mobility issues.

As far as safety goes, South America is no more dangerous than Toronto. As long as you use your common sense, then you will not run into any problems. (So skip that night time trip into the slums of Rio to look for drug dealers!) The only incident that I heard of involved a teenager running off with someone’s camera.

If you can find 2 or 3 like minded individuals, then you can share a taxi and visit many of the same sights as the ship tour for about half the price. I did this on several occasions with other passengers. If you don’t have problems walking, then you can also walk to many of the sights. At some of the small towns, I simply walked behind the tour bus and followed the tour groups. I got to see everything that they did and it didn’t cost me a cent. Some places (like Buenos Aires) have hop on, hop off buses. These are a great way to explore the city (if it isn’t raining!)

However, I would recommend taking the ship’s tours if:

- you are visiting a place that is more than an hour away from the ship. Some of the places that I went to were quite remote. Not only would it have cost you a fortune to hire a cab, but you would be out of luck if the cab broke down. If a bus breaks down (like one did), it is up to cruise line to get you back on the ship. They will not leave without you. If your taxi breaks down and you miss the boat, that’s your problem

- you are frail, weak and have mobility issues. Many ship tours were specifically designed to meet the needs of the elderly and the handicapped. Most public transit in South America does not meet these needs and you will be out of luck if you use a wheelchair

- you are worried about your safety. Nothing bad happened to me on the trip, but at 5’ 9”, I towered above nearly every man, woman and child that I encountered in South America. There is safety in numbers, so if you are worried that something might happen to you, then stick with the pack

- you are not fluent in the language and really want to know what is going on in the country. All of the ship tour guides that I met spoke perfect English and were young. They told us all about the corruption and political scandals that were going on in their countries. They talked about the history of South America as well as it’s future prospects. You would not be able to get this kind of information from a taxi driver unless you spoke perfect Spanish or Portuguese