Friday, February 16, 2018- Cruise Day 24; Travel from Iguazu to Buenos Aires

Friday, February 16, 2018- Cruise Day 24; Travel from Iguazu to Buenos Aires

We saw the toucans making their rounds in the tree tops in front of the hotel shortly after daybreak.  We had breakfast and discovered they have champagne near the orange juice so you can make your own mimosas in the morning.  The champagne significantly improved the taste of the orange juice.  

We hit the trails at 8:30AM, and we were pretty much alone on the upper trail all the way to the last observation platform.  Then we did the lower trail and only ran into a handful of people.  It was so much nicer to enjoy the falls without crowds.  We then cooled off in the air conditioned lobby talking to fellow tour members over the free mimosas, and then went up to our room to take last minute showers and finish packing out of the room.  

We boarded a bus at 11:00AM and said our goodbyes to Celeste, who really did a nice job of directing our Iguazu falls tour and getting us to Iguazu.  Valmore accompanied us to the local domestic airport on the Argentinian side of the border.  It has just 3 passenger gates.  We ordered a lunch at the cafeteria, but were a bit worried it might not come out fast enough.  We rushed through lunch and lined up when our flight’s boarding call was made, but our flight was delayed by an hour.  We were worried we might have trouble making our Buenos Aires Dinner and Tango show excursion, but we were reassured that the shore excursions people at Princess would make sure we would make it to the show.  The flight from Iguazu to Buenos Aires was just about 90 minutes in duration, and we were on the ground at 5:00PM.  However, it took a half hour for the luggage to arrive at the baggage claim.  A new Princess greeter met our group and delivered us to the ship, which was tucked away hidden in a large container ship facility.  Shuttle buses were used to ferry passengers from the Cruise ship terminal to the ship because there were a lot of containership loading and unloading cranes and trucks in operation.  

We got to our room at 6:15PM.  Our tickets said to be at the dockside at 7:15PM, but a letter on our bed said to leave 15 minutes early because of the shuttle service from the ship to the cruise ship terminal.  We had just enough time to drop off our suitcases, and freshen up a bit before heading to the Dinner and Tango show.  

We got a bit of a guided tour of Buenos Aires on the way to the Dinner and Tango show theatre, which is situated in the more affluent north part of Buenos Aires.  We drove past numerous green parks, each featuring some politician on a horse statute.  

The Dinner Theatre, called Tango Proteño, is a huge theatre.  We were seated towards the front half of the theatre, which had tiered floors to assure a good view for all diners.  The dinner was delicious with top quality food.  We ordered steaks, of course, since that is what Argentina is famous for.  

The show featured a cast of 30 dancers and a live orchestra.  The dancers were amazing- high level professional dancers like those on Dancing with the Stars.  A lot of high kicking heels and lifts.  They did a lot of different dance styles, demonstrating the evolution of Tango over the years, and tried to tell a story about a Tango Cabaret that had fallen into disrepair, but was revived by new owners with a mysterious connection to the old Cabaret’s hey day.  Janet figured out the plot, while it left Ben scratching his head, but appreciative of the spectacular tango dancing, music and costumes.  

We got back to our cabin after midnight, thoroughly bushed from a full day of activity, and perhaps too much Argentinian Malbec wine, which flowed like water at the dinner program.  We even managed to bring an unopened bottle back to the ship, where there was no alchohol inspection station after boarding after midnight.  Tomorrow, the ship shoves off at 6:30AM.