South America from Santos (Sao Paulo) Cruise

Day 1 - Santos, Brazil

Arrive: Fri 13 December 2024 / Depart: Fri 13 December 2024 at 19:00

Santos, one of Portugal’s first New World settlements, was founded in 1535. Today your MSC ship will be docking in Latin America’s largest port, through which passes a large proportion of the world’s coffee, sugar and oranges. The city stands partly on São Vicente island, its docking facilities and old town facing landwards, with ships approaching by a narrow, but deep, channel. Its compact centre retains a certain charm that’s massively popular with local tourists, and there is a good deal of historical and maritime interest around the city. On an MSC South America cruise excursion to the city centre you’ll find the ruins of some of Santos’s most distinguished buildings along Rua do Comércio. Although sometimes only the facades remain, some of the nineteenth-century former merchants’ houses that line the street are gradually being restored, the elaborate tiling and wrought-iron balconies offering a hint of the old town’s lost grandeur. MSC South America cruises also offer excursions to the local Santos Futebol Clube. It’s best known as the club for which the great Pelé played for most of his professional life (from 1956 to 1974); their stadium, the Vila Belmiro, is open to the public when there’s no game on. In addition to honouring Pelé at the club’s small museum, you can take an hour-long guided tour including the players’ bar and dressing rooms. Santos’s beaches are across town from Centro on the south side of the island. The beaches are huge, stretching around the Atlantic-facing Baía de Santos, and popular in summer.

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - At Sea

Day 4 - Buenos Aires

Arrive: Mon 16 December 2024 at 08:00 / Depart: Mon 16 December 2024 at 21:00

Buenos Aires is a must-see on your MSC South America cruise to Argentina. Its heart is the spacious, palm-dotted Plaza de Mayo, the ideal place to begin a tour of the area and explore its historical and political connections; its mismatched medley of buildings includes the famous Casa Rosada, or government house. An amble westwards from the plaza will take you along Avenida de Mayo, the city’s major boulevard, offering an impressive display of Art Nouveau and Art Decoarchitecture. At its western end, Avenida de Mayo opens onto the Plaza del Congreso, presided over by the Congreso Nacional building, the seat of the federal parliament. Casa Rosada, a typically Argentine blend of French and Italian Renaissance styles, stands on the site of the city’s Spanish fort, begun in 1594 and converted in 1776 to the viceroy’s palace. In 1862, President Bartolomé Mitre moved the government ministries to the building, remodelling it once again. The final touch was added in 1885, when the central arch was added, unifying the facade. Behind the Casa Rosada, the Plaza Colón features a gigantic Argentine flag and a Carrara marble statue of Christopher Columbus, looking out to the river and towards the Old World. MSC South America cruises also offer excursions to the north of Buenos Aires, where the four residential barrios of most interest to visitors – Retiro, Recoleta, Palermo and Belgrano – each retain a distinctive character. Nearest to the centre, Retiro and Recoleta – known jointly as Barrio Norte – have chic streets lined with boutiques, art galleries and smart cafés. Recoleta is associated primarily with its magnificent cemetery where, among other national celebrities, Evita is buried. Both barrios also share an extraordinary concentration of French-style palaces, tangible proof of the obsession of the city’s elite at the beginning of the twentieth century with established European cities

Day 5 - Punta del Este

Arrive: Tue 17 December 2024 at 11:00 / Depart: Tue 17 December 2024 at 19:00

When you’re cruising the Atlantic Ocean with MSC Cruises the Atlantic Ocean with MSC Cruises, Punta del Este is the port of call for you in Uruguay. Situated on a narrow peninsula 140km east of Montevideo, Punta del Este is a jungle of high-rise hotels, expensive restaurants, casinos and designer stores bordered by some of the finest beaches on the coast. Exclusive and luxurious, between this and the nearby towns of La Barra and José Ignacio, this is the place to be seen for many South American celebrities in summer. The best thing to do in Punta del Este is what everyone else does: go to the beach. Within striking distance and well worth the trip is the whitewashed Casapueblo, a remarkable villa and art gallery. The beaches are what attract most visitors to Punta del Este, and two of the best are on either side of the neck of the peninsula. Playa Mansa on the bay side is a huge, arcing stretch of sand, with plenty of space for sunbathing and gentle waves, while Playa Brava on the eastern side is where you go if you’re serious about surfing, or simply to compare your height to the fingers of the uncanny Hand in the Sand sculpture, one of Uruguay’s most famous sights. The area’s best sight is Casapueblo, by Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró, a vision just waiting to be seen on an MSC South America excursion. He started the construction himself in the late 1950s, and today it’s an unwieldy yet strangely beautiful villa, restaurant, hotel and art gallery clinging to the side of a craggy peninsula 15km west of Punta del Este. Bright white and lacking any right angles, it’s well worth a visit to see Vilaró’s artwork.

Day 6 - At Sea

Day 7 - Camboriu, Brazil

Arrive: Thu 19 December 2024 at 10:00 / Depart: Thu 19 December 2024 at 18:00

Located in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil, Camboriú is one of the ports called on by MSC Cruises, a place so loved that its population during the peak season, increases tenfold. The city is characterized by a long stretch of sand that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the skyline of the skyscrapers, testimony to the economic development that this seaside town has had in recent years. Camboriú Bay is a treat for the eyes: the thick, lush, green vegetation gives way to the turquoise of the sea, placid and inviting, and also boasts a sunny, humid climate. In this place of relaxation and fun, the evening comes alive with tourists who enjoy the many clubs that overlook the ocean. Fish dishes, sweet cocktails made with fruit and hard liquor are a must on the coast of Brazil. On an MSC Cruises excursion , you can visit Barra Sul ? a walk along the sea to enjoy the view, take beautiful photos to share with friends and walk on the sand ? and the beach in front of Ilha das Cabras, the destination for those who love spending time getting warmed by the sun and bathing in the inviting water. From there, you can take a walk on Avenida Atlântica where there are thousands of the colorful, cheerful locals that populate Camboriú. And the city center is another discovery: losing yourself in the streets and craft shops on the search for objects to take home and give away is all part of the fun. One of the other MSC Cruises excursions, instead, is dedicated to Ilha das Cabras : you arrive on a pirate schooner to this place of privileged, strategic observation to enjoy Camboriú's landscape, and then continue in the direction of Laranjeiras Beach , the most beautiful in the region, where the blue waves lay placidly on the sandstone that is lost in the lush vegetation.

Day 8 - Santos, Brazil

Arrive: Fri 20 December 2024 at 08:00 / Depart: Fri 20 December 2024

Santos, one of Portugal’s first New World settlements, was founded in 1535. Today your MSC ship will be docking in Latin America’s largest port, through which passes a large proportion of the world’s coffee, sugar and oranges. The city stands partly on São Vicente island, its docking facilities and old town facing landwards, with ships approaching by a narrow, but deep, channel. Its compact centre retains a certain charm that’s massively popular with local tourists, and there is a good deal of historical and maritime interest around the city. On an MSC South America cruise excursion to the city centre you’ll find the ruins of some of Santos’s most distinguished buildings along Rua do Comércio. Although sometimes only the facades remain, some of the nineteenth-century former merchants’ houses that line the street are gradually being restored, the elaborate tiling and wrought-iron balconies offering a hint of the old town’s lost grandeur. MSC South America cruises also offer excursions to the local Santos Futebol Clube. It’s best known as the club for which the great Pelé played for most of his professional life (from 1956 to 1974); their stadium, the Vila Belmiro, is open to the public when there’s no game on. In addition to honouring Pelé at the club’s small museum, you can take an hour-long guided tour including the players’ bar and dressing rooms. Santos’s beaches are across town from Centro on the south side of the island. The beaches are huge, stretching around the Atlantic-facing Baía de Santos, and popular in summer.