obiwanderkenobi
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- Aug 10, 2023
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@JeffR onboard experience definitely depends on the ship. On the trip to Colonia I was on the Buquebus ferry "Francisco" which is a newer catamaran. The onboard experience was pretty sleek and modern, and the business class seats were huge with lots of space between each individual seat. The business class section had its own food and drink bar as well. The return journey was on the ferry "Silvia Ana," which is a much older ferry. No food and drink bar, and the business class seats were 3x3 airline style, although larger and less cramped than tourist class. The experience on the "Silvia Ana" felt less "luxe" and much more dated.
I can confirm though that business class got priority disembarkation in Buenos Aires, which was fantastic. I was concerned at first, because the business class section on the "Silvia Ana" is at the front of the ship and you have to navigate through tourist class to get to it (i.e. tourist class passengers are much closer to the exits when the ferry arrives in Buenos Aires). This differs from the ferry "Francisco" where you can board and disembark directly to and from business class without ever having to enter the tourist class spaces. However, once we arrived in Buenos Aires, the "Silvia Ana" staff basically formed a gauntlet down the walkways, preventing tourist class passengers from leaving their seats and allowing the business class passengers to be first in line for immigration.
The ferry was pretty crowded as it was a late afternoon return from Colonia, and I would not have wanted to have been deep in the tourist class line for immigration, there were easily several hundred passengers. I could easily see myself being in line for at least an hour and probably much longer during high season. As I was one of the first few off the boat, I was able to process through immigration in about 8 minutes from the time I entered the queue.
I just looked at a random weekday a couple of weeks out and the difference in cost between tourist and business class is $9 USD each way. For me that's worth it just for the priority immigration processing in Buenos Aires alone. There's definitely more added value on the way to Colonia since the Buenos Aires departure terminal has a priority check-in line, VIP lounge, and priority boarding. Less added value on the return trip because the Colonia departure terminal does not have a priority check-in line, VIP lounge, or priority boarding, so you have to wait and queue with everyone else. In Colonia, about 20 minutes before boarding even started a few hundred tourist class passengers formed a huge line to get onboard as fast as possible to get the best seats. I just sat and waited until everyone else was finished and boarded last - the business class section was only half full, so I still had a row of seats all to myself.
@darksider415 - I agree on Colonia being super expensive, especially restaurants. First bistro I went to on arrival day, one beer and two small snack/tapas size burritos was $22. Dinner the first night at a brewpub came out to $50 for two beers, a small cheese plate appetizer, and a not very good entree of roast beef and sweet potatoes. Lunch on departure day was $33 for one beer and a small bowl of shrimp pasta. After spending $100 in less than 24 hours on restaurant food for just myself, I was super ready to get the heck out of there and return to BA. Lovely town and still had a great time, but the prices are ridiculous.
I can confirm though that business class got priority disembarkation in Buenos Aires, which was fantastic. I was concerned at first, because the business class section on the "Silvia Ana" is at the front of the ship and you have to navigate through tourist class to get to it (i.e. tourist class passengers are much closer to the exits when the ferry arrives in Buenos Aires). This differs from the ferry "Francisco" where you can board and disembark directly to and from business class without ever having to enter the tourist class spaces. However, once we arrived in Buenos Aires, the "Silvia Ana" staff basically formed a gauntlet down the walkways, preventing tourist class passengers from leaving their seats and allowing the business class passengers to be first in line for immigration.
The ferry was pretty crowded as it was a late afternoon return from Colonia, and I would not have wanted to have been deep in the tourist class line for immigration, there were easily several hundred passengers. I could easily see myself being in line for at least an hour and probably much longer during high season. As I was one of the first few off the boat, I was able to process through immigration in about 8 minutes from the time I entered the queue.
I just looked at a random weekday a couple of weeks out and the difference in cost between tourist and business class is $9 USD each way. For me that's worth it just for the priority immigration processing in Buenos Aires alone. There's definitely more added value on the way to Colonia since the Buenos Aires departure terminal has a priority check-in line, VIP lounge, and priority boarding. Less added value on the return trip because the Colonia departure terminal does not have a priority check-in line, VIP lounge, or priority boarding, so you have to wait and queue with everyone else. In Colonia, about 20 minutes before boarding even started a few hundred tourist class passengers formed a huge line to get onboard as fast as possible to get the best seats. I just sat and waited until everyone else was finished and boarded last - the business class section was only half full, so I still had a row of seats all to myself.
@darksider415 - I agree on Colonia being super expensive, especially restaurants. First bistro I went to on arrival day, one beer and two small snack/tapas size burritos was $22. Dinner the first night at a brewpub came out to $50 for two beers, a small cheese plate appetizer, and a not very good entree of roast beef and sweet potatoes. Lunch on departure day was $33 for one beer and a small bowl of shrimp pasta. After spending $100 in less than 24 hours on restaurant food for just myself, I was super ready to get the heck out of there and return to BA. Lovely town and still had a great time, but the prices are ridiculous.
Some of them in the harbour at Puerto Madero haven't moved for years, at least not as long as I've been here, and some of the others are small river boats doing the 3-hour run to Carmelo from Tigre (which is absolutely worth doing).