Rio De Janiero Carnival Cruise 2016

Just booked the Celebrity Infinity cruise departing Buenos Aires, Jan 31, 2016 and stopping for 2 nights, 3 days in Rio for the Carnival. Anyone familiar with this cruise and what to expect in Rio. I understand it is quite a party and wondered how to get around and enjoy the event. In addition, looking for ideas on hotels and staying a couple exta nigts pre-cruise in Buenos Aires. From reading the posts, it seems the place to stay is in the Ricoleta area. Any help would be appreciated since this is our first venture to South America.

Carnaval 2016 is February 5-9. The Sunday and Monday (7 & 8) are the nights that the top samba schools in Rio parade in the Sambodromo in a highly contested and highly anticipated competition between these neighborhood groups. This is probably what you have seen in photos and video. Tickets are required to watch, and are priced according to grandstand sector or seat type/location. The winning schools repeat their performances on the Saturday following. The lower level schools parade on the Friday and Saturday previous. During the whole Carnaval period, there are blocos, free street parties, in various neighborhoods throughout the city. A schedule is published that you can access. The city is packed with tourists, domestic and foreign, and the famous sights are very crowded. You can taxi (inexpensive) from the cruise pier, and also then use the metro and buses to get around town.

Anything else you need to know that I didn't address?

Recoleta is certainly a very good area for a hotel, but there are other choices as well. On our last trip to Buenos Aires, we stayed at the Hotel Boutique Raco de Buenos Aires. This is a small boutique hotel that excels in customer service and has excellent reviews. http://www.racodebuenosaires.com.ar/Ing/Home.htm

Thanks for the information on the carnival as well as hotel. Our cruise arrives in Rio on the morning of February 7 and departs in the evening of February 9. I understand the crowds are very large so I was thinking we may avoid some of the hassel by simply booking something through the cruise line. Although it will still be crowded, at least we will be with people that know where to go and what to see. Since we will be in Rio for almost 3 days, do you have any other suggestions as to "must see" things in that port in addition to the carnival?

Since we will be in Rio for almost 3 days, do you have any other suggestions as to "must see" things in that port in addition to the carnival?

The big two (in no particular order) are

Corcovado Mountain & Christ the Redeemer statue

Sugarloaf Mountain

Note that you need a clear day to properly appreciate the views from either/both of those attractions, not weather that is at all guaranteed at that time of year. Best to get to Corcovado first thing on opening or before, to avoid crowds. Sugarloaf can be nice at sunset.

You can look at a guidebook or on http://www.ipanema.com to see what else interests you in the way of museums, vistas, historic buildings, neighborhoods to explore, beaches, music, shopping, restaurants, and more. And of course, the blocos.

Also note: Most tours that take foreign tourists to the Sambodromo to see the parade put them in Sector 9, the most expensive of the grandstand seating, with assigned seats, and away from the enjoyment of being among Brazilians rooting for their favorite samba school. (Some might consider that a plus. I don't.) The parades start quite late in the evening, each school of the six takes about an hour to parade, and the parades go on into the very early hours of the next morning.

We are from UK and have also booked the same Celebrity Infinity cruise.

Our first time in South America and having only paid small deposit are a little concerned about some reports of safety. We appreciate petty theft can occur in most towns and cities of the world and we always take care in this regard. However we have read reports of theft involving violence.

As this is our first to this continent, any advice on sight seeing would be appreciated.

Our ports of call are:

Buenos Aires (3 days, including extra night pre cruise)

Santos (for Sao Paulo)

Llhabela

Buzios

Rio De Janeiro (3 days)

Punta del Este

Montevideo

Santos is a port city. It is surrounded by beaches to which the residents of São Paulo flee during weekends. Ilha Bela is a chic island beach destination for them. Buzios is an upscale beach town north of Rio. They are beach destinations, and none have significant sights to see, although certainly the cruise line has put together some route of minor sights to make up a tour. From Santos, you could take a tour into São Paulo. However, S.P. is a city devoted to business, congested, not particularly touristy, and is a schlep due to heavy traffic. Its features are clubs and restaurants and museums and high end brand shops, two parks (one pretty scruffy, one lushly tropical), and a couple of tall buildings from which to look out on the expanse of others.

As mentioned, the informational site http://www.ipanema.com is a pretty complete introduction to what Rio offers. The two heights are the most popular attractions. Weather is a key factor, as they are sometimes socked in with clouds. There are also other viewpoints, like Vista Chinesa, along the road in the Tijuca Forrest, and a waterfall and koi pond, troops of monkeys, and more. The historic buildings in the centro, with a stop at Confeitera Colombo, could occupy a half day, and a stroll around Santa Teresa another. You could visit the Feira Nordestina for a taste of northeast culture, food and music. If there on a Sunday, the Hippie Fair has interesting art, crafts, and Bahian food. There are, of course, museums and beaches. And at Carnaval time, blocos to join in many neighborhoods, in addition to the competition in the Sambodromo.

Crime in Rio is opportunistic. Give thieves no opportunity. Wear no jewelry. Carry no bags or purses. Use a small camera, keep it close to your body, put it away out of sight after use. Stay off any deserted streets, no matter what the neighborhood. Take taxis at night between locations. Stay vigilant about your surroundings. Pickpocketing and snatch-and-run are most common. You might think about having credit cards and larger bills in a hidden waist pocket. If faced with an armed assault, give up any visible valuables without reaction, but those are not so common. The Carnival time period is particularly well policed.

We are looking at this same cruise for 2017 so very interested in the discussions. Would you book your Carneval tickets via Celebrity or privately??? Has anyone does this with a group off the ship?? Cheers and thanks for your help, Wendy and David

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If you buy with the cruise line, you will probably be in the assigned seating grandstand Sector 9 with other non-Brazilian tourists, and have transportation to/from included.

The only way for non-Brazilians to buy with any practicality is through a middleman reseller. You can do this online or once you arrive. There is, of course, a markup, which varies between resellers. Each Sector varies in price according to view (middle is best), and there are also options for tables and chairs at ground level.

You can take a taxi to the metro to the Sambodromo, a taxi direct, or arranged bus. Getting out can be more hectic.

The competition parades start quite late and go until the wee hours, with each of the night's 6 samba schools taking about an hour to get from one end of the runway to the other.

There is lots of info online to research.

Thank you VidaNaPrai for your insights and yes will need to do lots of reading!

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Here is one site with a lot of information about Carnaval in Rio.

http://www.rio-carnival.net

(They also sell tickets.)

This Wiki also has good info:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Carnival

And this one is about the samba schools:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba_school

IMO, you might get more out of the event if, alongside looking at the costumes and floats, you know the general theme of the year's Carnaval, and how each of the schools have chosen to conform to it with their individual theme and the words of the "samba enredo" which all that school's participants are singing.

Here is a site where you can hear the samba enredo of one samba school and see the lyrics. (Google a Translate might give a fairly decent translation if the lyrics are copied in.)

http://noticias.r7.com/rio-de-janeiro/viradouro-monta-samba-enredo-a-partir-de-musicas-de-luiz-carlos-da-vila-ouca-15102014

Here is one site with a lot of information about Carnaval in Rio.

http://www.rio-carnival.net

(They also sell tickets.)

 

This Wiki also has good info:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Carnival

 

And this one is about the samba schools:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba_school

 

IMO, you might get more out of the event if, alongside looking at the costumes and floats, you know the general theme of the year's Carnaval, and how each of the schools have chosen to conform to it with their individual theme and the words of the "samba enredo" which all that school's participants are singing.

 

Here is a site where you can hear the samba enredo of one samba school and see the lyrics. (Google a Translate might give a fairly decent translation if the lyrics are copied in.)

http://noticias.r7.com/rio-de-janeiro/viradouro-monta-samba-enredo-a-partir-de-musicas-de-luiz-carlos-da-vila-ouca-15102014

Thank you for your insight & all the info. We are on the Maasdam doing the Amazon round trip Ft Lauderdale in Jan 2016. Lots to think about.

Allan