Tag Archives: Rio de Janeiro

Costa Firenze Debuts in Brazil

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The Costa Firenze arrived in Brazil for its inaugural season in the country earlier this month. To mark the debut of the 2021-built ship, the local office of Costa Cruises organized a special ceremony onboard.

“It is an enormous satisfaction to be able to provide the Brazilian market with a new ship,” said Dario Rustico, the company’s executive vice president for South and Central America.

“The Costa Firenze is a ship that caters to different public profiles, and we are happy to know that the Brazilians are interested in the product, making bookings,” he added.

According to Rustico, the 4,232-guest vessel will receive over 100,000 Brazilian guests through mid-April, when it is set to return to Europe.

Offering regular cruises between Brazil’s Southeast and Northwest regions, the Firenze is set to visit Ilhéus, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro on a weekly basis.

Along with the Costa Favolosa and the Costa Fortuna, the ship is part of Costa’s largest season in South America in the past ten years.

“Costa is ready to continue cooperating to further develop the tourism in the region, moving the economy and generating jobs,” Rustico said, highlighting the company’s manifesto for “sustainable growth, with the destinations being seen as communities.”

In addition to Costa executives and travel agents, the event was also attended by local authorities and members of the Italian community in Brazil.

Also present at the ceremony, Ezio Di Nunzio, the Captain of the Costa Firenze, highlighted the relationship between Brazil and Italy.

“The Costa Firenze arrived at Santos today as many Italian immigrants did in the past. They came here in search of their dreams, helping to build this enormous nation and making Brazil one of the biggest Italian colonies in the world,” he said.

The master also noted that the Fincantieri-built vessel represents “what’s best in the culture, art, architecture and technology of Italy.”

“We arrive to be part of the history of these two friend nations,” Di Nunzio completed.

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).

Rio de Janeiro: Transforming Potential into Reality

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Image result for rio de janeiro port
Rio de Janeiro Port.

Rio de Janeiro is among the two main ports in Brazil, second to Santos in passengers and ship calls, but with a bright future, both as a homeport and key transit stop.

Last year, Rio welcomed 265,188 passengers, down from the year prior, like most other South American ports. For this season (2017-2018), Rio is expecting around 240,000 cruise guests.

To change the picture, the CompanhiaDocas do Rio de Janeiro (CDRJ), which essentially runs the port, wants to make the port experience more attractive to the cruise lines.

“Our goal is to bring in as many passengers as possible. We need to understand the problems, present the questions and, try to achieve the better solutions,” explained Tarcísio Tomazine, president of CDRJ.

Tarcísio Tomazine, president of CDRJ

“My job is to solve the bureaucratic problems and improve the attractivity of Rio de Janeiro’s port. We believe is Rio is a valuable destination, there’s great potential. Our job here is to transform that potential in reality,” he said.

Tomazine claims that his port is an exception in a country like Brazil.

He said Rio de Janeiro doesn’t have significant infrastructure problems.

“We can receive, without much trouble eight or nine ships at once, and we have a deep harbor,” Tomazine noted.

The Norwegian Getaway in Rio during her Olympic charter

Still, there are operational improvements. The navigational channel was adjusted so ships up to 346 meters in length can call, and the water depth is being dredged further to allow ships with drafts up to 14 meters.

The season started with Oceania’s Insignia calling on Nov. 4, with 24 calls expected through April 29.