If anyone has some questions about Brazilian Ports

I will try to help you, as a brazilian, answering questions about Brazilian Season!

Good Cruises for everyonee!:D

If you don't mind, we've got one day each in:

Buzios

Ilha Grande

Parati

Sao Paulo (Santos)

Itajai

Are there "MUST SEES" in these ports?

Many thanks!

We will be on cruise from Buenos Aires to Rio next Dec. and will be stopping at the ports listed in the previous post.

Does anyone have any recommendations for tours or self-guided sight seeing in those ports? There is very little written about the ports so our research is lacking.

We appreciate all suggestions!

Hi, we'll be stopping for a day each at Salvador and Fortalezza, after a pre-cruise stay in Rio. Excursions on this trip are included in our fare mostly, but among them, we have to choose.

Any must-sees for the two stop-over cities? We also like to just walk around and soak in a city, so if this is advice, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Wendy--

In Salvador, if you have only a day, you can take a taxi from the port up to the nearby historic center of Pelourinho and walk around on your own to see sights, buy souvenirs and eat lunch. For some history, I would get a good guidebook to read beforehand. A guide won't necessarily help much more. A good online site is www.bahia-online.net to get an overview of sights and neighborhoods. Take the Elevador Lacerda back down to the Lower City and go to the Mercado Modelo for more great shopping. If you have more time, take a taxi from there to the old sugar plantation and current museum of art Solar Uniao (and wait for a taxi to go back). Or you could take a taxi out to the church at Bonfim to get a traditional ribbon on your wrist and see the odd little museum with relics of blessings received.

Nitemare and ND_Murph--

For Buzios, just walk around this expensive, chic little village, eat, shop

Ilha Grande, hiking, very rustic, boat trip to beaches

Parati, historic Colonial center and boat trip to beaches (Trindade)

Sao Paulo (Santos), Santos is quite far from the city of S.P., get a transfer into the city or stay near Santos at one of the nearby beaches

Pls visit http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=864756&highlight=itajai

with a lot of info about Itajai

I will try to help you, as a brazilian, answering questions about Brazilian Season!

 

Good Cruises for everyonee!:D

Hi. Headed to Manaus, Santarem, Boca Da Valeria and Parintins. Thanks in advance. :D We have a tour scheduled in Manaus with Conrado of Amazon Riders.

If you don't mind, we've got one day each in:

 

Buzios

Ilha Grande

Parati

Sao Paulo (Santos)

Itajai

 

Are there "MUST SEES" in these ports?

 

Many thanks!

We are going to those ports on Oceania's ship Insignia during the Christmas/New Years Holiday in 2009. We depart Buenos Aires on Dec. 22 and arrive Rio on Jan. 2.

Hi. Headed to Manaus, Santarem, Boca Da Valeria and Parintins. Thanks in advance. :D We have a tour scheduled in Manaus with Conrado of Amazon Riders.

Santarem I did the ship's piranha fishing trip

Paratins we did the bike ride for much cheaper than the ship's tour then just walked around

Boca da Valeria we took school supplies to donate to the one room school

there are good photo galleries and blogs (holland America) if you use the search feature on cruise critic

Love cruising and would love to see BA and Rio. We are considering the cruise on Silversea Cloud and would love any feedback. Thanks!

04 Feb 2010 Thu Buenos Aires, Argentina

05 Feb 2010 Fri Buenos Aires, Argentina 4:00 PM

06 Feb 2010 Sat Punta del Este, Uruguay 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

07 Feb 2010 Sun Day At Sea

08 Feb 2010 Mon Itaji, Brazil 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

09 Feb 2010 Tue Sao Paulo (Santos), Brazil 8:00 AM 7:00 PM

10 Feb 2010 Wed Parati, Brazil 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

11 Feb 2010 Thu Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 8:00 AM

12 Feb 2010 Fri Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Santarem I did the ship's piranha fishing trip

Paratins we did the bike ride for much cheaper than the ship's tour then just walked around

Boca da Valeria we took school supplies to donate to the one room school

 

there are good photo galleries and blogs (holland America) if you use the search feature on cruise critic

Thank YOu

Hope the OP is still checking this thread, as I would appreciate his expertise. We are considering Star Princess Rio-Ft. Lauderdale, and besides the port of Salvadore, which is well described in this thread, I would very much appreciate information on the other ports of this cruise, which are Santos, Recife, and Fortaleza.

Thank you for any help.

Ellie

I´d be happy to help (I´ve visited all ports in question).

It would be good to know what you enjoy..do you want beaches , wildlife , historical buildings?

How long will you have in each port?

Kim

Thanks you for your offer brazilgirl. We are interested in historical buildings (though not interested in overdosing on churches and cathedrals), wildlife, and beaches, all of which you mentioned.

With that in mind, here are our times in each port:

Santos 7 AM - 7 PM

Salvador 8 AM - 5 PM

Recife 8 AM - 5 PM (I am particularly interested in historic Jewish synagogue and museum on Recife)

Fortaleza 7 AM - 4 PM

Some thoughts on each port-

Salvador- Vidanapraia made some excellent recommendations. I´d also add the "Igreja de São Francisco , which has over 800 kilos of gold used in its decorations. It is considered by many as Brazil´s most beautiful church.

You could also visit the "Projeto Tamar" , which is a ecological site to protect turtles , located on a very nice beach called "Praia do Forte". It´s 55 km from Salvador. Look at http://www.tamar.org.br

Santos-

Orquidario Municipal.... half zoo , half botanical gardens , with emphasis on orchids. There are monkeys , peacocks , Brazilian fauna/flora

Monte Serrat- an opportunity to get a great view of the city-go up by funicular , there is a chapel and an old casino (which no longer is in operation)

"Centro"-the downtown area of Santos has been renovated and you can take a tram tour

The beach (7 kilometers of beach front)

Visit nearby Guarajá..a chicer beach area with upscale shops and restaurants

Fortaleza-

if you are a more adventurous type , you could take a dune buggy trip from Fortaleza to Morro Branco , a very interesting beach area. Coyote Buggytour does this trip for 200 reais.

Or you could visit "Praia do Futuro" , which is nice (in the city) and full of "barracas" (huts which sell food and drinks). Fortaleza has good fish and lobster prepared on the beach.

Recife-

Oficina Ceramica Francisco Brennand- a combination of museum , atelier , gardens , fountains...put together by one of Brazil´s foremost ceramic artists.

Olinda - a quaint colonial city only 7 km from Recife....really cool place.The whole place is full of atmoshpere , neat shops and restaurants and you can really see "colonial" Brazil

Hope this all helps!

Kim

Looking for info/suggestions for:

Belem

Santarem

Boca Da Valeria

Anavilhanas

Manaus

Thanks,

Martini Cruiser

I´ve only been to Manaus , but I have a lot of Brazilian travel magazines. I´ll read up and see if I find any interesting info for you.

Kim

Thanks Brazilgirl!

Here are some suggestions:

Belem- "O Mercado Ver-O-Peso" - a fascinating market which sells herbs , snake skins , alligator teeth and magic exilirs (sounds cool!)This is highly recommended by more than one source.

Best restaurant in Belem-Restaurante Lá em Casa- typical regional food (interesting mixof exotic fruits and fish)

Casa das Onze Janelas- historic building which is now a museum featuring Brazilian artists

Emilio Goeldi Park- Amazon fauna and flora , animals cross your path....

Manaus-

Encontro das Aguas- "Meeting of the Waters"..where the Rio Negro meets the Solimão River

Teatro Amazonas (Opera House)-built during the Rubber Boom in 1896-ornate /european

style

Seringal Vila Paraíso- go by boat to a village which reproduces the Rubber Cycle of the 19th Century

Restaurant- Bistro Ananã..one of the most charmimg in Manaus/innovative fresh ingredients

Anavilhanas-this is a jungle lodge , with its own jungle activites , such as piranha fishing

Santarem (Alter Do Chão)-White sand beaches with green river water (Rio Tapajós)-there is a national park , canoe excursions to Ilha Do Amor (Love Island)

Boca Da Valeria-haven´t found anything ...

Hope this is of some help.I am more of an expert on the Rio/São Paulo/Minas Gerais area of Brazil , or even the Northeast...not so much the Amazon region! It´s a big , diverse country!

Have fun.

Kim

I would love to get your opinions!

We will be on the Star Princess South America Cruise leaving 2/18/10. We will be staying several days pre cruise in Buenos Aires which we will use as our base when we go to Iguazu Falls. Ports of call are Montevideo, Port Stanley, Punta Arenas, Usuaia and Puerto Montt. We disembark at Valparaiso where we will have 2 nights, 3 days. We are open to any and all suggestions!

Let's Go Already!,

Check out you ship's Roll Call Board for this cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=773825

You can also check out other Star Princess Roll Call's for the same or reverse itineraries at these links:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=988734

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=380318

They all will provide you lots of tips.

Let´s go already!,

Dukefan made some great suggestions about checking your roll call. I´d also suggest putting the name of each port in question in the "search this forum" function , at the top of this page (where the threads start).There is a lot of information here about all these ports.

I will be doing a South America cruise for the first time in January.I am really excited .My plans so far:

Stanley (Falkland Islands)-Volunteer Point with Patrick Watts (there is a wonderful thread about the Falkland Islands here you should read)

Ushuaia- I am still deciding , but the Estancia Haberton looks fascinating and so does the catamaran tour.

Montevideo-Either we´ll visit an Estancia or hang out at the beach

The other ports are different than ours...I hope you have a fantastic experience in SA!

Kim

I've been trying to figure our how accessible Rio is for somebody who is not very mobile. Would like to take my mother there, but she has a hard time walking and going up stairs.

I'm specifically interested, naturally, with Christ the Redeemer & Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugarloaf looks doable, but I've read many items re: Christ the Redeemer that mentions you still need to go up lots of stairs after an elevator ride. But, I also see mention of elevators - is this something new? Can you get all the way to the top of Christ the Redeemer without stairs?

Thank you so much for any help!!

Alter Ego-

To tell you the truth , it´s been a couple of years since I´ve been to Corcovado.BUT , I am going this next Saturday! So I´ll check out hte situation thinking of your mom.

I have read that there have been changes...in the past , there were a lot of stairs. i know things are very different now . I´ll give you an update in a week.

The rest of Rio shouldn´t be too bad , although the sidewalks can be a bit uneven. Attention must be taken.

Have a great trip and I´ll report back.

Kim