Have you taken an "immersion" cruise in Brazil?

[Artemis]

Hi, fellow cruisers!

 

I'm in search of the tiny subset of you who have actually taken an "immersion" cruise in Brazil as a "minority," i.e., one of the few non-Brazilians. :D

 

We are a fairly well-traveled couple in our early 50's, but somehow, we've missed South America. An opportunity to make a quick initial exploration has come up! We are looking at the Splendour OTS (just refurbished) in March for a 7-night roundtrip out of Sao Paulo (port is actually Santos). Combined with a few extra days pre-cruise, we could get a taste of Rio, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Punta del Este, Sao Paulo and Iguazu Falls. Not bad for an introduction!

 

I think I've read most if not all of the reviews of Splendour and Vision cruises pitched to the Brazilian market. But there aren't many! Some hated their experience :eek:; others liked it a lot but noted several differences in food, entertainment, language-related isolation, etc. We are pretty excited about the possiblity and are experienced with going with the flow of a different cultural vibe. But it would help if we got a better handle on a few things.

 

Here are my specific questions. Please feel free to add any other comments or tips!

 

1-Food. Most reviewers note there's a daily buffet brunch to accommodate the late-night/sleep-in crowd and menus have been modified to meet local tastes. Beyond those vague ideas, I'm left wondering about a few details.... Does buffet brunch in the dining room replace both seated breakfast and lunch? Can early risers get breakfast in the Windjammer? Beyond providing cuisine the locals will expect, will the Windjammer feature "the usual fare" as offered on a Carib, Euro, Alaskan, etc. cruise? And same question as to main dining room dinner menus?

 

2-About the mornings. It sounds like we might have the ship to ourselves in the mornings! Can we expect all ship services to be operational at the usual AM times, or will there be limitations? And if things are pushed back to later in the day, what time do things get going?

 

3-Smoking. The sole reference I've found is a review that said they had been warned to expect abuse of smoking rules, but found the usual RCI smoking guidelines being followed. Was that your experience?

 

4-Language barrier. It sounds like we will find plenty of English-speaking staff and crew. Was that your experience? Socially, if all entertainment--on stage, in lounges, games, activities, cinemas, etc.--is in Portuguese, we need to be prepared with a few things to fill our time in case our cruisemates tire of trying to talk to us in a mix of Portuguese, English and gestures! :p We'll bring books and the like, but are there any twists on things less language-dependent like gym use? casino? the pool scene? Can we get any in-cabin movies in English or with subtitles? Will we get international CNN or the BBC?

 

5-Internet. Good connectivity or not? I realize "good" is relative at sea...but we're hoping to have enough that we don't have to devote time to Internet while in port. (We are a mom and pop business, and we couldn't make this trip if we had to tune it all out. :cool:)

 

Well, that's more than enough to start a conversation.

 

Thank you so much for any feedback you can offer!

[dz9yvr]

If you want to exerience this effect close to home, sail on the Allure during Carnival week. There will be more than 3000 passsengers from Brazil. I suspect it will be a culture shock for you.

[seaofwonder]

Bookmarking this....we're doing this same thing out of Panama in March.

[cruisenfever]

Yes, back in 2008 we did a b2b on Splendour starting out in Valparaiso, Chile to Sao Paulo, Brazil and then from Sao Paulo to Lisbon. It was the Sao Paulo cruise that was immersed with Brazilians.

 

I found two links for you that may answer your questions about "immersion" cruises.

 

Here is one link Splendour Of The Seas and here is a post I made on another thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=14859070&postcount=22

 

If you are a US citizen than be aware that you will need a Visa to enter Brazil. They are not cheap.

[johnx7]

1-Food. Most reviewers note there's a daily buffet brunch to accommodate the late-night/sleep-in crowd and menus have been modified to meet local tastes. Beyond those vague ideas, I'm left wondering about a few details.... Does buffet brunch in the dining room replace both seated breakfast and lunch? Can early risers get breakfast in the Windjammer? Beyond providing cuisine the locals will expect, will the Windjammer feature "the usual fare" as offered on a Carib, Euro, Alaskan, etc. cruise? And same question as to main dining room dinner menus?

 

Some of the food is modified or actually brazilian food (such as black beans during the lunch, or the 'feijoada'), but there is plenty of american food. The buffet brunch is not served daily, usually it is served only during 1 or 2 sea days. On the brunch we had regular breakfast food plus burgers, corn and chichen. Even when the brunch is being served on the MDR, WJ would still be open for regular breakfast and lunch. The MDR menus are the same, but the name of some items are different (Warm Chocolate Cake is called Petit Gateau, and Grand Mariner Souffle is called Condensed Milk Souffle). Also, the early seating is at 7:30 and the late seating is at 10:00.

 

2-About the mornings. It sounds like we might have the ship to ourselves in the mornings! Can we expect all ship services to be operational at the usual AM times, or will there be limitations? And if things are pushed back to later in the day, what time do things get going?

The ship is quite empty till 9am, but all the ship services are operational. During the morning, before 11, there are usually yoga, stretching & pilate classes, walk a mile and live music by the pool. After 11, everything goes back on track.

 

3-Smoking. The sole reference I've found is a review that said they had been warned to expect abuse of smoking rules, but found the usual RCI smoking guidelines being followed. Was that your experience?

RCI guidelines are usually followed.

 

4-Language barrier. It sounds like we will find plenty of English-speaking staff and crew. Was that your experience? Socially, if all entertainment--on stage, in lounges, games, activities, cinemas, etc.--is in Portuguese, we need to be prepared with a few things to fill our time in case our cruisemates tire of trying to talk to us in a mix of Portuguese, English and gestures! :p We'll bring books and the like, but are there any twists on things less language-dependent like gym use? casino? the pool scene? Can we get any in-cabin movies in English or with subtitles? Will we get international CNN or the BBC?

Announcements are made both in english and in portuguese. There are some english speaking brazilian guests, although some think they are speaking english but they don't understand anything that is said to them in english lol. On my last cruise there was a poor kid that wrote a new message on the message board asking for other english speaking guests so she could mingle with them, but it seemed she was alone in the ship :( . Entertainment is mostly in portuguese, even in trivias, quizes and the quest. On the TV there is only 1 brazilian channel, all other channels are in english, but I don't can't tell if CNN or BBC are available.

 

5-Internet. Good connectivity or not? I realize "good" is relative at sea...but we're hoping to have enough that we don't have to devote time to Internet while in port. (We are a mom and pop business, and we couldn't make this trip if we had to tune it all out. :cool:)

I never used the internet onboard, since in ports of call the price is usually around R$18 per hour (U$9).

 

Other then this, be aware that the pool deck will always be crowded, you may find kids in the Solarium and the WJ will always be crowded.

 

Also, be aware that brazilians don't usually tip, so if you give the waiters a little tip on bar tabs (or in cash), and also to other crew members as well, you can expect an outstanding service.

 

Some brazilian people may be 'touchy' and unpolited, and brazilians are truly impatient (secure your spot on a line or you may miss it).

 

The price of items in ports of call us usually very good, and the english speaking staff seems relieved and grateful when they find an english speaking guest. :)

 

If is there anything else I can assist you, just let me know!

[seaofwonder]

Good to know that the TVs and stuff are still in English! We normally like to do trivia....but oh well. We'll bring a bunch of card games, etc.

[Artemis]

Thanks, all, for the terrific feedback so far!

• dz9yvr, we were on the Oasis "Carnaval Cruise" last March! Our 18yo boys made tons of new friends (and still FB with some of them) among the bevy of beautiful young Brazilian women. :)
  
• cruisenfever, thank you for the links to 2008 discussions. I learned a lot. Back then, RCI failed to label these cruises "immersion," so non-Brazilians were surprised to find they were part of a cruise experience designed for the local market. I get that--the only times we've been let down have been when we expected one thing and got another. And that can color your entire opinion. I hope to gather feedback from more recent cruisers whose comments won't be negatively influenced by the surprise factor. As you said in one of those threads, "We just never realized how much in the minority we were going to be and it just would have been nice to know ahead of time to be prepared for it. This will not alter our plans to sail again on a cruise immersed with pax from the area............but at least we will know ahead of time and be prepared."
  
• johnx7, wow! Talk about helping me get prepared with recent scoop--you just got off Vision and were on Splendour last February! I really appreciate you tackling my questions one by one and providing such useful details and tips. If you come back and are willing, I'm adding a few more questions based on what I've learned today. (And yes, while traveling, we have been those crazy people who think they are so smart putting together a question and then can't understand a single thing said in reply!)

 

So...here are a couple more questions.

 

6. Food quality in 2012.This is probably the point I'm most worried about. :confused: We're not demanding gourmands, but having reasonably good and healthy food all week is very important to our overall cruise satisfaction. A lot of the 2008 reviews talk about food being very salty (saying it's a Brazilian thing), local provisioning being mediocre and overall food quality being fair. I discount some of the negativity because of the "surprise, you're on a locals cruise" factor discussed above. And I know how variable food can be--that same year, 2008, we were disappointed with the food on Liberty OTS in the Caribbean. I also see how far American food preparation has come since 2008 (and we trail Europeans) in terms of minimizing stuff that's bad for you and maximizing reliance on fresh, local products. And I do know provisioning is a place where cruise lines can choose to cut costs.... All in all, I'd expect (hope!) 2012 reports of food quality on these Brazilian cruises to be much more positive, especially because the Brazilian tourist economy is booming, so the locals do have a choice where to spend their vacation dollars. Feedback?

 

7. Who's attracted to RCI's 7-night Brazilian roundtrips, and what's the local buzz about RCI? The Sao Paulo and Rio cruise calendars reflect that both Splendour and Vision do a mix of short cruises (3-5 night) and 7-night roundtrips. Because these 7-night Sat-Sat and Sun-Sun cruises hit ports that are merely a long drive or cheap flight away, I assume most of the passengers will have been to those ports before and consequently view the cruise as an easy way to take a week off work to relax and be pampered, hit a great beach (Punta del Este), shop and dine at their favorite places in BA, etc. Is that a fair assumption? Are these sailings considered "party cruises?" Do these 7-nighters attract primarily a young, working singles-on-holiday set, or is the demographic heavy on senior citizens, or is there a balance between the young and old, with middle-agers and families, too? And how does the mid-March timing influence demographics? Carnaval's over, Easter Holy Week's two weeks away, Brazilian kids are back in school and it's late summer, so as a Texan, I'm thinking the locals are tired of the heat and humidity :D ...who's choosing to cruise?! What is RCI's brand perception in Brazil, i.e., when the locals talk about taking a cruise, what's the buzz about RCI? How does RCI stack up against the competition? How does RCI pricing compare to the other cruise options?

 

Obrigada! And caipirinhas for everyone!

[Artemis]

Shameless bump :D ...hoping for a little Sunday traffic! Thanks.

[TravelerThom]

Since you are shamelessly asking for comments:p I will make a few, but with the disclaimer that I have never taken an RCI cruise billed as immersion.

 

BUT I did take two cruises on Vision of the Seas out of Santa Domingo, DR where approximately 90% of the passengers were from Latin America (these cruises never touched US territory, so they did not require US Visas [which are a major pain to procure]). The exuberance level of the passengers was higher than a cruise out of Florida, and there were definitely differences in the way people acted. To me, not better, not worse, just different - customs vary from country to country, no doubt about that. I like to experience new things, and was glad that I went on these cruises. If you want things to be "just like home" you'll be in for a shock. But your questions sound like you are adventuresome, and just want to get a feel for what you are in for.

 

I'm sure that there will be Brazilian dishes offered that you've never seen before, but I'm sure that you'll have no difficulty finding most of your USA favorites. The Brazilian passengers will want familiar favorites, but they will also be looking for USA dishes.

 

I would expect the passengers to be well educated and sophisticated. A number will not speak much English, but far more of them will speak English than we [uSAers] speak Portuguese. I think all RCI contact employees HAVE to speak English [probably all employees have to, as that is the common language among the crew]. RCI will attempt to get as many Portuguese speaking employees as they can on these ships, but they will still speak English.

 

Combined with a few extra days pre-cruise, we could get a taste of Rio, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Punta del Este, Sao Paulo and Iguazu Falls.

I have been to all of these, and yes, that is a spectacular introduction to South America. Then you can start planning to get back to Chile [one of my favorite countries], to Machu Picchu, to the Galapagos, and the list goes on.

 

ENJOY

Thom

[johnx7]

6. Food quality in 2012.This is probably the point I'm most worried about. :confused: We're not demanding gourmands, but having reasonably good and healthy food all week is very important to our overall cruise satisfaction. A lot of the 2008 reviews talk about food being very salty (saying it's a Brazilian thing), local provisioning being mediocre and overall food quality being fair. I discount some of the negativity because of the "surprise, you're on a locals cruise" factor discussed above. And I know how variable food can be--that same year, 2008, we were disappointed with the food on Liberty OTS in the Caribbean. I also see how far American food preparation has come since 2008 (and we trail Europeans) in terms of minimizing stuff that's bad for you and maximizing reliance on fresh, local products. And I do know provisioning is a place where cruise lines can choose to cut costs.... All in all, I'd expect (hope!) 2012 reports of food quality on these Brazilian cruises to be much more positive, especially because the Brazilian tourist economy is booming, so the locals do have a choice where to spend their vacation dollars. Feedback?

Brazilian dishes can be really salty, but the regular menu items are the same fleetwide. On the other hand, the regular items doesn't taste bland at all. Also, there is always the Vitality options on the menus (low fat, low salt and low sugar). Regarding food provisioning, I guess it is a matter of luck, as on my last cruise in Brazil they had no salted butter or margarine, nor green apples, but had Ginger Ale soda, butterscotch and butteralmond ice cream (you can't find these flavors anywhere in Brazil). On an overall, the food looked fresh and well made and I don't think RCCL chose to cut costs.

 

7. Who's attracted to RCI's 7-night Brazilian roundtrips, and what's the local buzz about RCI? The Sao Paulo and Rio cruise calendars reflect that both Splendour and Vision do a mix of short cruises (3-5 night) and 7-night roundtrips. Because these 7-night Sat-Sat and Sun-Sun cruises hit ports that are merely a long drive or cheap flight away, I assume most of the passengers will have been to those ports before and consequently view the cruise as an easy way to take a week off work to relax and be pampered, hit a great beach (Punta del Este), shop and dine at their favorite places in BA, etc. Is that a fair assumption? Are these sailings considered "party cruises?" Do these 7-nighters attract primarily a young, working singles-on-holiday set, or is the demographic heavy on senior citizens, or is there a balance between the young and old, with middle-agers and families, too? And how does the mid-March timing influence demographics? Carnaval's over, Easter Holy Week's two weeks away, Brazilian kids are back in school and it's late summer, so as a Texan, I'm thinking the locals are tired of the heat and humidity :D ...who's choosing to cruise?! What is RCI's brand perception in Brazil, i.e., when the locals talk about taking a cruise, what's the buzz about RCI? How does RCI stack up against the competition? How does RCI pricing compare to the other cruise options?

3 night cruises departing friday or saturday are party cruises (I tend to stay away from them), and in some of these party cruises a 40yo couple could be considered seniors lol. 7 nights or longer cruises usually attract families (and even the Quest is PG), and the majority of passengers is around 30-55yo . One of the main reasons brazilians cruise is because a 4 day cruise can be cheaper than a roundtrip flight to the destination, so people isn't essentially looking to relax and be pampered, but to explore a new destination, and only after their 1st cruise they get hooked to cruising, so, you can expect a lot of first time cruisers on cruises of every length.

 

March and april cruises in Brazil attract the same demographics, except kids. It happens because a same cruise that costs $599pp in december costs $389 in mid-march and some people plan way ahead of time so they can budget their vacation.

 

There are 5 cruise lines doing immersion cruises in Brazil: Costa, spanish Iberocruceros, MSC, Pullmantur and RCCL. RCCL is considered by brazilian passengers and TAs the 'premium' cruise line in Brazil. RCCL is the most expensive cruise line in Brazil, and Iberocruceros and Pullmantour are all-inclusive and considered party ships. You may find Azamara, Celebrity and other cruise lines with cruises departing from Brazil, but not immersion cruises.

 

 

Here is just a personal point of view: I would NEVER board in Rio de Janeiro or go to Rio by plane because I am concerned about my safety. Rio has extremely high crime rates, exploding manholes (1), collapsing buildings (2) and higher prices for tourists in taxis, restaurants and almost every place. Instead, I would book the 'Best of Rio' tour in a cruise ship and stick with it. Most brazilians that board the ships in Santos doesn't step off the ship in Rio.

 

There are RCCL B2B cruises that are great to know Brazil, Argentina and Uruguai and in 2 weeks the ship visits Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia, Buzios, Ilhabela in Brazil, Buenos Aires in Argentina, and Montevideo and Punta del Este in Uruguay. An alternate good option is Celebrity, that sails from Santos, goes down thru Brazil (east coast), around Argentina and Chile thru Cape Horn and ends in Valparaiso, Chile (west coast). Don't forget that Santos is 1.30 hours away from Sao Paulo, so make sure to spend some days in Sao Paulo!

 

1. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2011/0719/Rio-de-Janeiro-s-new-hazard-exploding-manholes

2. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/25/world/americas/brazil-building-collapse/index.html?iref=allsearch

[Artemis]

TravelerThom, thanks for your encouragement and for sharing your DR cruise experiences. Staying with the alliteration, your characterization of the pax as "exuberant!" is priceless. Yes, we're pretty adventuresome and open-minded when we travel, so this is not really that daunting. I just wish there were more reviews of this trip from like-minded travelers. Appreciate the thumbs up on your South American explorations. Chile is high on our bucket list, as is Galapagos; cancelled MP once because didn't feel ready--I guess I will have to resign myself to doing it the lazy way. :( I kept hoping I'd condition up for the Inca Trail.

 

johnx7, you are the best! Thanks for returning and offering such thorough, insightful observations in response to all of my questions and concerns. I especially like knowing how RCI is perceived in Brazil and the likely demographics on a 7-nighter, and you've really helped on the food issue (one of us is a picky eater...and it's not me! :D).

 

You really know how to make Rio sound attractive, don't you?! :p I don't take your warnings lightly, and the crazy high hotel costs in Rio are sure to limit our time there, but I can't imagine being that close and not going. FYI this Splendour cruise is a Sao Paulo RT hitting Punta del Este, BA (2 days, 1 night) and Montevideo; we would arrive in advance for 2d Rio and 2d both sides of the falls before embarkation in Santos--yes, I see it's a "fur piece" from SP as we say in Texas! Sadly, we can give SP only the Sunday we disembark until our late night flight to the states. (Haven't done too much city-specific research, as trip is still a question mark, but based on my first pass at SP, we are market people, so that is probably where we'll go directly upon disembark, or perhaps after checking out the Gregorian chants at Sao Bento. Not a shopper...Jardins sounds nice for a stroll, but I could probably shut my eyes and be on any of the world's most fabulous shopping blvds. Prefer something a bit more authentic. Might just go hang at Ibuerapuera--rent a bike? If you want to advise of a couple of "must see/do" Sunday activities, I'm all ears.) I agree, there are tons of other South American cruise options that would be more ideal in a number of ways, but we are trying to fill a specific work-related window of time and are coming off two fairly intensive month-long land trips in the past year...so for a short and easier shot at doing something new and different, this fits the bill. Otherwise, we will "default" to a no-brainer Caribbean cruise. Nice, but "been there, done that" too many times! (Actually, don't know if you can do the Carib too much...I am sure we will happily test that hypothesis!)

 

Thanks so much! This is looking 99%.

[critterchick]

RCI food is really salty, no matter where in the world you travel. I can't fathom that it's saltier in Brazil.:eek:

[Artemis]

critterchick, I can't recall thinking RCI's food is saltier than most, but I did get a giggle over johnx7's remark that "the regular items doesn't taste bland at all." I meant to ask if he was being ironic?!

[TravelerThom]

johnx7...You really know how to make Rio sound attractive, don't you?!

To second johnx7, I have been around a bit, solo backpacking through India, in Cairo when the US started bombing Baghdad in 2003, midnight encounters at the wrong end of Argentine commando guns during the early '80s when the Junta was disappearing 15,000 people, traveling by trucks through the Congo, etc and IMO Brazilian cities are the most dangerous places I've ever been. I survived, but was definitely on "high alert" while I was there. Rio is vibrant and beautiful though, in addition to being dangerous.

 

Thom

[Artemis]

Okay. Y'all are ganging up on me! Seriously, I appreciate the experienced advice and will take it to heart, even though it sure goes against the grain to "put off until tomorrow."

[TravelerThom]

To second johnx7, I have been around a bit, solo backpacking through India, in Cairo when the US started bombing Baghdad in 2003, midnight encounters at the wrong end of Argentine commando guns during the early '80s when the Junta was disappearing 15,000 people, traveling by trucks through the Congo, etc and IMO Brazilian cities are the most dangerous places I've ever been. I survived, but was definitely on "high alert" while I was there. Rio is vibrant and beautiful though, in addition to being dangerous.

Looking back at this msg I have to wonder if I have a subliminal death wish - and we haven't even touched on eating my way across Asia, Africa and South America eating in street stands. There was a street stand in Rio just around the corner from where I was staying that made really outstanding mango smoothies that cost next to nothing - YUM

[Babyeddiedog]

We disembarked Splendour on the 22nd January and I must say we had a wonderful experience.

 

1-Food. Most reviewers note there's a daily buffet brunch to accommodate the late-night/sleep-in crowd and menus have been modified to meet local tastes. Beyond those vague ideas, I'm left wondering about a few details.... Does buffet brunch in the dining room replace both seated breakfast and lunch? Can early risers get breakfast in the Windjammer? Beyond providing cuisine the locals will expect, will the Windjammer feature "the usual fare" as offered on a Carib, Euro, Alaskan, etc. cruise? And same question as to main dining room dinner menus?

 

Park Cafe opens 7am - 10am - Light breakfasts, very nice

Windjammer - 7.30 - 11.10. - Everything you need

King & I - 8am - 10am - Waiter service.

 

The food was the best we've had on RC, the Dog House was excellent too. Unfortunately we didn't try Izumi or the VCL

 

2-About the mornings. It sounds like we might have the ship to ourselves in the mornings! Can we expect all ship services to be operational at the usual AM times, or will there be limitations? And if things are pushed back to later in the day, what time do things get going?

 

Activities start around 9am, but don't be fooled into thinking everyone starts out late, they do get up early for the sun loungers !

 

3-Smoking. The sole reference I've found is a review that said they had been warned to expect abuse of smoking rules, but found the usual RCI smoking guidelines being followed. Was that your experience?

 

Smoking allowed on Deck 9 0r 10 can't remember which but it didn't bother us

 

4-Language barrier. It sounds like we will find plenty of English-speaking staff and crew. Was that your experience? Socially, if all entertainment--on stage, in lounges, games, activities, cinemas, etc.--is in Portuguese, we need to be prepared with a few things to fill our time in case our cruisemates tire of trying to talk to us in a mix of Portuguese, English and gestures! We'll bring books and the like, but are there any twists on things less language-dependent like gym use? casino? the pool scene? Can we get any in-cabin movies in English or with subtitles? Will we get international CNN or the BBC?

 

Entertainment is in Portugese, not a problem if you don't want to participate in BINGO or pool side aerobics/dancing. the theatre announcements are also in Portugese. CNN and English films in the cabins if you need. All announcements are made in Portuguese and English

 

5-Internet. Good connectivity or not? I realize "good" is relative at sea...but we're hoping to have enough that we don't have to devote time to Internet while in port. (We are a mom and pop business, and we couldn't make this trip if we had to tune it all out. )

 

Sorry didn't use it

 

It was a really great cruise, Punte del Este is rather in the expensive side, BA is great. The gym equipment is all new and at the moment everything is clean and sparkling, the R Bar in the atrium is very nice and has some really comfy sofas. My advice would be go for it. Its a great way to experience just a bit of South America, its also an extremely cost effective way to see both countries as Brazil and Argentina are not cheap. :D

[Artemis]

Babyeddiedog, I am so excited to find your post today! I am thrilled you enjoyed your trip so much. It sounds like the Splendour is in top shape after her makeover, and it is great to hear you say the food was the best you've had on RC. You're just a gem to answer all of my questions one by one. Thank you so much. (And yes, favorable cruise pricing vs. land is a great motivator for us. We go to NYC often, have been in both Paris and Sydney in the past year, and I have never seen anything like current Rio hotel prices! What's more, I'm still looking for one that gets consistently good reviews. :eek:)

 

Grazie mille! (One reason we've been so slow to get to places like South America is we love Italy...we are on an Italian travel moratorium until we see more of the world!)

 

TravelerThom, when we did Egypt in 2004, we thought we were traveling independently. Lo and behold, when we arrived, we discovered a tourist police team had been assigned to us. We are just ordinary Joes. So here we go to all the usual places in our car, with the security car following behind, and those guys shadowing us at every stop. Does that scream target or what?! Made us crazy. You all have got me thinking I need to hire a bullet proof remise and big ugly body guard to do Rio...I still haven't wrapped my arms around avoidance of exploding manhole covers or falling buildings.

[Artemis]

Babyeddiedog, I was just looking at your list of past cruises--nice!--and "Jews of Asia" jumped out at me. I think you meant "Jewels of Asia?!" I've found the HTML editor where you create your signature to be a little temperamental, so the "el" might have fallen out.... ;)

[TravelerThom]

... when we did Egypt in 2004, we thought we were traveling independently. Lo and behold, when we arrived, we discovered a tourist police team had been assigned to us. We are just ordinary Joes. So here we go to all the usual places in our car, with the security car following behind, and those guys shadowing us at every stop. Does that scream target or what?! Made us crazy. You all have got me thinking I need to hire a bullet proof remise and big ugly body guard to do Rio...I still haven't wrapped my arms around avoidance of exploding manhole covers or falling buildings.

I concur with your "target" thoughts. I have been to Egypt several times; never been to the Sinai, but over much of the rest of Egypt [to Siwa almost on the Libyian border, to Abu Simbal, to the Red Sea, etc] mostly by local buses [have done the train from Cairo to Aswan, and did Aswan to Luxor deck class on a fulucca (not exactly 5*)]. Usually I was the only non-Egyptian on the bus, and I felt very safe - offing me would have resulted in minimal publicity, and terrorists are looking for publicity. I think I was much safer traveling solo below the radar than accompanied by machine toting guards. Once you get beyond the clutches of the tourist area vendors Egyptians are very helpful and very honest. And no, I do not speak Arabic.

 

so much to see out there

Thom

[Babyeddiedog]

Opps !! Many thanks Artemis.

 

Re. Rio hotels. We stayed in a B&B which got good reviews on Trip Adviser, it was OK but was not as good as it was made out to be. Good luck on that score

[johnx7]

johnx7, you are the best! Thanks for returning and offering such thorough, insightful observations in response to all of my questions and concerns. I especially like knowing how RCI is perceived in Brazil and the likely demographics on a 7-nighter, and you've really helped on the food issue (one of us is a picky eater...and it's not me! :D).

 

You really know how to make Rio sound attractive, don't you?! :p I don't take your warnings lightly, and the crazy high hotel costs in Rio are sure to limit our time there, but I can't imagine being that close and not going. FYI this Splendour cruise is a Sao Paulo RT hitting Punta del Este, BA (2 days, 1 night) and Montevideo; we would arrive in advance for 2d Rio and 2d both sides of the falls before embarkation in Santos--yes, I see it's a "fur piece" from SP as we say in Texas! Sadly, we can give SP only the Sunday we disembark until our late night flight to the states. (Haven't done too much city-specific research, as trip is still a question mark, but based on my first pass at SP, we are market people, so that is probably where we'll go directly upon disembark, or perhaps after checking out the Gregorian chants at Sao Bento. Not a shopper...Jardins sounds nice for a stroll, but I could probably shut my eyes and be on any of the world's most fabulous shopping blvds. Prefer something a bit more authentic. Might just go hang at Ibuerapuera--rent a bike? If you want to advise of a couple of "must see/do" Sunday activities, I'm all ears.)

 

If you plan to shop in Sao Paulo, I suggest the Morumbi and Iguatemi malls. I've never been to the Ibirapuera park, so I can't give you any advice about it. However, as you only have free time from the moment you disembark untill your late night flight, I suggest the RCI tour "The Best of Sao Paulo with lunch", which starts in Santos and includes a visit to a museum, a sightseeing tour, a lunch in a brazilian "Currascaria" (steak house), then visits the Ibirapuera park and ends at the international airport. I haven't done this tour, but for the price ($129) including transfers and lunch, I think it may be worth.

 

Here are some places in Sao Paulo I think are worth a short visit: Ipiranga monument, MASP museum, Pinacoteca museum, Liberdade square (japanese neighborhood), Terraco Italia building (the so called "brazilian Empire State"). There are also some very good restaurants, but they can be quite expensive.

 

Regarding Rio's hotels, I can't help you, but it may be difficult to find an decent hotel in Rio for less than $160/night. Just FYI, my coworker booked a hotel for her & her 2 doughters last year, paid $140/night for a 4-star Tripadvisor hotel and was extremely disappointed.

 

Do you already have plans for BA and Punta del Este?

[Artemis]

Hi, johnx7. Thanks for the detailed SP ideas--I am definitely going to check them out. You're right, the RCI pkg tour/airport transfer is very attractively priced, and while I haven't ruled it out, we generally prefer doing our own thing. Also, the shorex tour descriptions indicate all tours cruise will be in Portuguese, but we can let them know we are interested in an English one. So I thought I'd wait til we got on board to see how many fellow pax are desirous of doing that one in English (and not just that they'd deliver the English version after the Portuguese one--from my non English-speaking friends, I've learned the alternate language spiel is usually about 50% of what the first language got!).

 

$140, I wish! It would be embarrassing if I confessed how much time I have invested into the Rio hotel issue, but let's just say I am currently considering a 3-star for $250 USD/n incl. taxes. To my way of thinking, when a Best Western is getting $300/n, there is something wacky about the market!!! We've enjoyed some truly lovely properties in NYC, Paris, Tokyo, etc. for $300/n. (And yes, all properties, even the Copa Palace, get mixed reviews! I fully expect to be dismayed.) Points programs are a no go because they want a ridiculous amount of points, too! Priceline doesn't break it up into geo areas, so you risk the entire city, and the only reported properties are the two Sheratons, which are more remote than I want to be for a 2d mad dash. Y'all have me freaked about security, so I had to let ST go. If I'm paying that much for a let down, might as well be in a nice neighborhood, I'm going with Ipanema or Leblon, so there's another premium over Copa. And the list of factors go on.... Sigh. Bottom line, March is still high season, and lots of properties are full, so I guess they're on the winning side of supply/demand.

 

BA--I have a lot of ideas in the works here, but I welcome your suggestions.

 

Punta del Este--that's a blank slate for me, all I know is it's a chi-chi beach resort adored by affluent locals! More cha-ching! :p

[Quasar1011]

This actually sounds like a decent cruise for 2014, in conjunction with the World Cup. Unless they jack up all the prices then...

[Babyeddiedog]

Artemis

 

Why not try one of the boutique B&B's in Santa Teresa instead of down by the beach, ok you need to take a taxi if you don't want to use the bus, but you would be saving cash and probably get a much better experience. The downside to ST is the restaurants are more expensive.

 

If you only want to see the main sights in Rio I can recommend an excellent guide. He showed us the main points of interest, got us round safely and very quickly, that way you could get away with only 2/3 nights.