Just off the revitalized Splendour OTS in Brazil!

[Artemis]

Well, mum, you have every right to beam with pride! :) He impressed me not only because he did a great job making drinks, but also because he carried himself so professionally. The whole mixology thing is such a fad right now, and some bartenders like your son carry it off well, and others behave a little silly and sort of ruin the old speakeasy ambiance they're intended to evoke.

 

I hope you get to sail with him when the ship moves to Europe for the summer season!

[rskjas]

Thank you! :o He is really enjoying working on the Splendour.

 

Sue :D

[TravlnStyle3]

Great review, thanks for sharing. WHat did you think of the ports? Would you recommend any excursions or sites? We're considering the New Year's cruise to Brazil on December 28th 2012 but i've gotten seriously mixed reviews about the ports and the experience overall (i can't figure out if it's an immersion cruise or not, there is no note about it being mostly marketed to the Latin American countries but you never know). I don't know if i like the idea of having all of the announcements in Portuguese and gearing so much of the experience towards South American natives...i don't know a lick of portuguese!

 

Welcoming any and all suggestions because it's RCL New Years in South America vs. Azamara New Years in South America, and since i'm in my mid-20's, Azamara seems kind of boring to me. I like the excitement and breadth of activities of the RCL ships.

[Artemis]

TravlnStyle3, sorry I didn't notice your post sooner! :o

 

I assume this is the cruise you are considering...here's what I got off the RCI website for a 12/28/2012 8-night New Year's Eve cruise: Sao Paulo; Buzios, Brazil; Cabo Frio, Brazil; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; Copacabana Beach, Brazil; Salvador De Bahia, Brazil; Ilheus, Brazil; Sao Paulo

 

We didn't do that itinerary! So I can't offer too much port-specific help (although I know Buzios and Salvador in particular are "hot" with travelers right now, so check, e.g., the New York Times travel section archives for articles about them).

 

Our Brazilian RT cruise on Splendour OTS did begin and end in São Paulo, and we went to Rio (and Iguazu Falls) on our own in advance. So here are a few bits and pieces about those ports and then the overall cruise experience:

 

- When they say São Paulo is your port of embarkation/debarkation, please understand that the actual seaport is Santos, and it is a 1-1/2 to 2 hour drive from the international airport (GRU - Guarulhos), depending on traffic. (There is a domestic airport in SP--I think it's generally estimated to be 1 hour from port.) Unless you spend time visiting SP pre-cruise, you are likely to transfer from GRU to port. Because taxi transfer can cost more than $100 USD, most pax book the RCI transfer at $32 USD per person, which is by far the most convenient and reasonably-priced option. Even then, there are some tricks and tips to making that transfer, e.g., the last embarkation day bus departure from the airport is noon; if you arrive before embarkation day you might have to provide a "same day dummy flight number" to get on the transfer list (per the current way RCI's pre-cruise ground arrangements are set up); and at the end of the cruise, your flight to the US is likely to be a night flight, but just in case you have day flight options, note that non-Brazilian pax do not clear shipboard immigration until 10a or later and then face that time-consuming transfer to the airport + everyone down there strongly suggests arriving at the airport 3 hrs in advance of an international flight (we didn't find more than the usual 2 hrs was necessary, but I wouldn't push my luck traveling over New Year's!).

 

- SP itself is the 6th largest city in the world, largest city in Brazil and most geographically massive metroplex I've ever seen from the air...wow! My point is, on the ground, it can be challenging to visit, so if you plan to do SP on your own, be sure to do your homework to make each day's touring is efficient based on location of sights. We didn't have time this trip to do anything in SP but the ship's "day tour/airport transfer" on disembark day. What we saw from the bus overview was impressive--it's a big, modern, skyscraper-covered city with some gorgeous natural green spaces and the usual assortment of museums and historic attractions. The shopping is supposed to be great.

 

- On to Rio...all I have to say is, we love, love, loved it! (And visiting by cruise ship is a wise economic decision because the hotel prices in Rio are out of this world, and will be especially high over New Year's Eve! We've been in NYC, Paris and Sydney in the past year, and we paid more in Rio for far less.) Anyway, I don't quite understand the itinerary's breakout between Rio and Copa...if you don't either, I'd certainly ask RCI for clarification. My best guess is, on the 31st, you'll have 9A-7P for touring Rio and then you will board the ship, it will pull away from the dock and then the ship will cruise the Copa/local coastline and harbors from 9P-1A for the New Year's celebration, fireworks, etc. Sounds delightful! Suggest you check out the usual online travel guides or Google "Rio in one day" to see some sample itineraries. Of course, the two big tourist attractions are the Christ Redeemer on Corcovado Mountain and Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar). If you were prepared to be among the first off the ship in the AM, you could do both plus the Copacabana and/or Ipanema beach scene in one day, but considering distances, traffic and attraction crowds on December 31 :eek:, I think it would be a jam-packed, down-to-the-last-minute day--one definitely best done via ship's excursion to totally relieve you of the stress of making it back to the ship on time. Otherwise, if you prefer to go on your own, then you will have to decide between the Christ and Sugarloaf (I'd be hard-pressed to choose, loved them both!, but definitely do one).

 

- Iguazu Falls is the most amazing natural wonder I've ever seen, so if you have time to add it to your trip, I highly recommend it. It straddles Brazil and Argentina; the national parks on both sides are well-designed and -maintained; the Brazilian side gives you a panoramic overview of the 275 falls; the Argentinian side offers many more "up close and personal" experiences with the falls; from either side, you can do one of those boat rides under the falls! You can do the Brazilian side in half a day; the Argentinian side takes nearly a full day. Flights are about 2 hours from both SP and Rio and can be fairly inexpensive; pay attention to airports when you book, as there is an Iguazu Falls airport in both Brazil and Argentina!

 

- You'll need a visa for Brazil (but not Argentina). It's $140 USD (the cost is high because of reciprocity—the US charges Brazilians an appreciable sum and subjects them to an interview before they’re issued a visa to visit America.) You must submit your visa application to the Brazilian consular office with jurisdiction over your state of residence—see this list of all consulates with states covered by each.

 

- You won't need any shots unless you do any rural travel pre-/post-cruise OR you've traveled in a yellow fever country w/i 90 days of entry.

 

- The official tourism website is www.braziltour.com. In addition to all of the usual online travel guides and discussion forums, I thought the TripAdvisor Brazil forum was the single best source of information and tips on everything from security and money matters to public transportation and attractions.

 

- That is definitely an "immersion" cruise. Splendour OTS is based in South America for their summer season (our winter), and the vast majority of pax will be Brazilian. You'll note I mentioned a record (high) 70 English-speaking on our cruise, and their countries of origin were varied--some US, but plenty from Canada, the UK and then those from Europe and Asia who spoke English as a second language. Younger Brazilians have often been required to take English in school, so you might be able to converse with those in your age group; but most pax we encountered knew as little English as we knew Portuguese! We adored the Brazilians on the whole--they were friendly, polite, fun-loving and easy to share the ship with, and we all got along via lots of smiles, gestures and exchanges of the few words of the opposite language both parties had mastered! Yes, most announcements led off in Portuguese, but then followed with English. But significantly, the ship's staff and crew speak English (and are happy to use it for a change!), so you are never in danger from a saftey standpoint or have any reason to feel "out of the loop" from a comfort and enjoyment standpoint. In fact, everyone goes out of their way to help the English speakers, e.g., you will be placed at dining tables with other English-speaking guests (unless you request a table for 2 or tell them you are happy to be seated anywhere regardless of language).

 

- The Brazilians are late-night people, and Splendour makes venues, music, food and drink available until the crowd's done, usually 4-5 AM! I can only imagine how festive the partying will be on a New Year's Eve cruise!

 

- If you want to learn a little more about the "immersion" aspect, here's a "what did you think about your immersion cruise?" thread I started pre-cruise to gather information. To sum that thread, I'd say years of experience has paid off--RCI has come a long way, baby, with the handling of their Brazilian cruises! First, they're telling everyone up front what to expect, and second, they've learned how to provide a typical, RCI-standard cruise experience in those waters.

 

- I have all of our daily Cruise Compasses, which are a great "show and tell" for what a Brazilian immersion cruise is all about. If you want them, let me know.

 

Hope this helps! I think your idea sounds great! The only pause I'd have is, what aggravations and premium costs we will face because it's New Year's Eve, and am I willing to bear them in exchange for enjoying such a unique and fabulous celebration?!

[truffles2]

For what its worth, overall, we found South American to have less English-speaking people than anywhere we had ever been. However, we got along just fine and loved it.

[Marie51]

Does anyone know if they added refrigerators when they refurbished the cabins?

[NYcommodore]

Do the hotel staff and crew all speak Portuguese as well, and if yes, did you find a high percentage of brazilian staff?

 

Also, were the dining hours in the MDR adjusted to cater to the later crowd (sailed the Costa Classica 15 years ago and the late seating was moved from 8:30 to 9:15 on account of all the Mexicans traveling that cruise...off course that meant that the doors opened at 9:30 or 9:45!)?

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review........

[christie584]

Artemis, You are quite the reviewer :) hope all is well with you and that you are planning another cruise soon. If you two feel like cruising Northern Europe again we'd love to have you on our cruise!

 

Marie51: We were on the same sailing as Artemis and we had a balcony cabin. There was no fridge in our cabin, so I wouldn't think they would place them in outside or inside cabins either.

 

NYcommodore: We found a lot of Brazilian crew members and found that most of the crew spoke Portuguese and English (some were English only, but none that I spoke with were Portuguese only). I can't think of a time when we were in an area where there were no Portuguese speaking crew members. And for dinner, we had the early seating which was 7:30, but I believe the late seating was at 10:00.

[Artemis]

Hi, christie584! I have been thinking of you and your Baltics trip research :D ...so exciting!

 

Marie51, we had a frig in our junior suite, so I guess that's the dividing line on that amenity.

 

NYcommodore, forgive me if I am telling you something you already know, but in addition to the two traditional dining seatings, there is My Time Dining (like restaurant seating), and you can actually convert your My Time Dining to a standing reservation if you like. That's what we did--the first night, we got lucky with a very nice table, excellent waiter/asst and terrific fellow diners (all English-speaking by RC design), so we all agreed to make it a "standing reservation" for the week with a "whenever you show up" between 7:30-8p start time (early birds had a cocktail and cheese plate while waiting). The casual "whenever you arrive" start time is something our waiter actually encouraged because "it's so Brazilian." ;) Because they have fewer tables to serve during early dining hours, the wait staff is very attentive--not rushed or over-taxed.

[scottishwee35]

Is this on the whole time?

How loud is it :(

I really don't like the idea of this thing blaring out whilst I'm trying to relax or read :eek:

 

We were on Freedom of the Seas last year and it was not bad, not loud, not on all the times. but I love the bands every afternoon near poolside, that was excellent.

 

Now we book Splendour of the Seas next year, we are looking forward to.:)