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The cruise business is booming in Buenos Aires, but experts say the port's infrastructure can't handle the traffic. The Benito Quinquela Martin Terminal, operated through a concession by Terminales Rio de la Plata, has a waiting room that can hold 1,000 passengers but just eight counters for check-ins.

Although there are several private initiatives to build a new terminal exclusively for cruise ships, Alberto Tita, head of institutional relations at the General Port Authority, says the current terminal has all the necessary infrastructure. "La Prefectura, the cruise-ship terminal, the maritime agencies and the other players are fully equipped to make everything run perfectly," Tita says.

Rising cruise tourism nevertheless has some worried. "Regarding passengers, the present infrastructure is a revamped warehouse that takes in tourists. With the growth in this area, it's not enough for the number of passengers that go through it," says Patricio Campbell, president of maritime agency Multimar. Eighty-six cruise ships brought 126,000 passengers to Buenos Aires from November 2006 to April 2007.

Campbell points out that the terminal has only three piers and even though there are no serious size restrictions (only the enormous Queen Mary 2 cannot call on the port), there are maneuvering difficulties thanks to problems with an access channel and concerns over dredging.

On one day in February, Buenos Aires proved itself when it welcomed six cruise ships simultaneously for the first time in its history. The terminal is designed to dock three ships at once so it sent the others to nearby wharves. "With the increase in passengers, the terminal appears overwhelmed when two or three ships arrive at once," noted the Argentine Tourism Ministry in a report out during the 2005-2006 travel season.