Tag Archives: Fortaleza

Brazil Says Cruise Is A Go, 2021-2022 Season Is On

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With government permission now granted, cruise ships are returning to Brazil in November.

After months of negotiations, the green light for the country’s domestic cruise restart was announced on Saturday.

“We’ll have cruises this year: the cruise season is authorized,” Brazil’s Minister of Tourism, Gilson Machado Neto said in a social media video.

The government was committed to bringing the ships back, he added, as the cruise industry “generates 42,000 direct and indirect jobs in Brazil.”

The country is now working with local authorities in homeports and ports of call, in order to create an operational plan for the cruise ships.

Specific health rules, protocols and quarantine definitions are also in the works and set to be published soon, the government said in a press statement. 

Preliminary protocol plans call for ships operating with reduced capacity, COVID-19 testing for all passengers prior to boarding, vaccinated crew, use of face masks onboard and more.

Shore excursions will need to be organized by the cruise lines in a bubble format, following the protocols implemented by, not only the ships, but also of the cities being visited.

The government expects calls in several destination around the country, including Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Angra dos Reis, Búzios, Fortaleza, Maceió and Ilhabela.

Popular in the region, itineraries to Argentina and Uruguay are out of the plans for the time being. So are transatlantic crossings and other international itineraries.

Seven Ships, 570,000 Berths

After a 20-month gap, the country is set to host seven vessels for the local 2021-2022 season.

The highlight is the 2019-built Costa Smeralda, which is set to become the biggest ship ever to sail in the country.  

According to the government, 566,000 berths are being offered during the season; 35,000 up on the 2019-2020 season.

In total, 130 cruises and 570 cruise calls are set to take place between November 2021 and April 2022.

“The cruise sector is essential for the development of the nautical tourism in our country … we congratulate our partners for this victory,” said Carlos Brito, Executive Director of the Brazilian Tourism Board (Embratur).

MSC Announces Grand Voyage to Shanghai

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MSC Cruises has officially announced plans to make its first sailing to China, with the newly-renovated MSC Lirica calling in Shanghai on May 1, 2016 after having traveled across continents.

The 65,000-ton ship will make the company’s maiden call in China’s biggest megalopolis after a 60-day round-the-world Grand Voyage which departs on March 3, 2016 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“We are delighted to once more be able to offer our guests a brand new itinerary – from Brazil to China via Europe – which offers the chance to visit some of the most appealing places on earth, certainly across a huge array of people and cultures,” said MSC Cruises CEO, Gianni Onorato.

Onorato added: “This new Grand Voyage offering is proof of our steadfast commitment to offer our guests innovative and sought-after destinations. As MSC Cruises continues to expand the destinations it calls – such as Cuba which we recently announced – we are further enhancing our global offering while providing travelers best-in-class experiences and service.”

MSC Cruises is offering travelers the opportunity to choose from three different versions of the Grand Voyage, with the ability to embark in either Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (60 nights), Genoa in Italy (41 nights) or Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (26 nights), before arriving in Shanghai.


Shanghai at night taken by Dave Jones

Before setting sail, MSC Lirica will be fully renovated and enlarged under MSC Cruises’ Renaissance Program, which entails a comprehensive overhaul of the ship due to be completed in November 2015.

Prices for the full 60-day Grand Voyage on MSC Lirica will start at $4,799 per person. Included in the price are beverage and laundry packages as well as 8 shore excursions.

During the first leg of MSC Lirica’s 60-day journey, the ship will depart on March 3, 2016 from Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro and sail north along the coast of Brazil – with calls in Buzios, Salvador, Maceio and Fortaleza. The ship  will then cross the Atlantic on a northeast course towards the Canary Islands – with a stop in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife – before reaching mainland Europe and visiting Cadiz, Spain.

From there, MSC Lirica will call the three largest ports in the Mediterranean – Barcelona, Spain; Marseille, France; and Genoa, Italy – providing travelers an opportunity to embark in any of these ports in Europe and providing maximum flexibility as guests journey towards Asia.

After leaving Genoa, MSC Lirica will call Naples, Italy and the island of Crete with Heraklion in Greece. The ship then heads south to Aqaba in Jordan; Muscat, Oman; and Khor Al Fakhan and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.  The ship is scheduled to stay in Dubai overnight and travelers interested in sailing from Dubai to Shanghai will have the ability to embark.

During the last leg of the journey, MSC Lirica sets sail towards the East and the Indian cities of Goa and Cochin, prior to calling Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. She then heads to Phuket, Thailand, and Penang and Port Kelang/Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, before reaching Singapore.

After an overnight stay in Singapore, the ship will bring its guests to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and then to visit Hong Kong. Shanghai is the next call and includes an overnight stay before sailing across the China sea to Fukuoka in Japan. From the Land of the Rising Sun, MSC Lirica heads back to the high seas one more time, returning to Shanghai on May 1, 2016.