Tag Archives: Salvador

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).

MSC denies accusations of ‘slave-like’ staff conditions

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MSC denies accusations of 'slave-like' staff conditionsMSC Cruises has rejected allegations by Brazilian police that staff were kept in “slave-like” conditions on its ship MSC Magnifica.

Brazilian officials said they “rescued” 11 crew members in the northeastern city of Salvador, where the ship was docked for the day on April 1.

They claimed staff were forced to work for up to 16 hours a day. Some were alleged to have been victims of sexual harassment, reported the BBC.

MSC said in a statement:  “After reviewing thousands of pages of documentation and conducting hundreds of interviews with crew members, Labour Ministry inspectors went on board MSC Magnifica on April 1 and alleged irregularities in the working conditions of 13 crew members, and invited them to disembark.

“MSC Crociere is in full compliance with national and international labour regulations and is ready to cooperate with the authorities.”

The company said it had not received “any evidence or legal notification” from the Brazilian Labour Ministry.

The operation came at the end of a month-long investigation, following a tip-off from crew members on Magnifica.

The labour ministry identified 13 staff who had allegedly been submitted to slave-like conditions.

Two of them refused to leave the vessel and decided to carry on working, while the other 11 were taken to a hotel in Salvador.

MSC Cruises ships operating in Brazilian waters employ a total of 4,181 crew members, of whom 1,243 are Brazilians.

The line said its four ships operating in Brazil during the 2013-14 season had passed “intensive and repeated” inspections by the Brazilian Labour Ministry.