Famous Brazilian Port Readies for Busy Cruise Season

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Rio de Janeiro, the glitzy Brazilian city known for its nightlife and famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, has a thriving cruise-tourism industry at its Pier Mauรก port, which is now gearing up for the summer high season.

The portโ€™s 2024-25 season opened on October 27, 2024 with the expedition ship World Navigator arriving with 200 guests onboard. The ship, operated by Atlas Ocean Voyages, is one of 37 ships scheduled to call during the season, several of them more than once. 

In total, Pier Mauรก, Brazil’s largest cruise port, will handle 107 ship visits, the port has announced.

Pier Mauรก will see an estimated 323,000 cruise guests pass through the facility on international as well as Brazilian cruise line ships. Some vessels will spend multiple days in port, embarking or disembarking guests.

โ€œHaving an increase in the number of long-stay cruises, of up to four days, this season establishes Rio de Janeiro as one of the most sought-after destinations for national and international cruise passengers,โ€ said Marcello Chagas, operations manager at Pier Mauรก.

Several MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises ships are among those that will make regular calls to the port, including MSC Seaview, MSC Poesia, and MSC Orchestra, and Costa Favolosa and Costa Pacifica. Another MSC Cruisesโ€™ ship, the 6,300-guest MSC Grandiosa, will be the largest ship to call at the port this season.

The mega-ship will visit on December 5, 2024 and again on April 6, 2025. The December visit will be a port call on the shipโ€™s 17-day voyage from Malaga, Spain, to Sao Paulo, Brazil, with the call to Rio de Janeiro coming at the end of the cruise.

Princess Cruises will have ships calling at Rio de Janeiro this season, too, for the first time in five years. The 2,680-guest Sapphire Princess will stop at Pier Mauรก on November 25, 2024, as she makes her way south to Antarctica on a 35-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale.

The 3,560-guest Majestic Princess will visit the port on January 7, 2025, as part of her 18-day cruise from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Fort Lauderdale.

Another notable ship returning to Rio de Janeiro is Cunardโ€™s Queen Victoria. The 2,500-guest ship will visit the port on February 5 and 6, 2025, during her 52-day โ€œSouth America Discoveryโ€ voyage sailing roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale.

MSC Cruises in Brazil
MSC Cruises in Brazil (Photo Credit: Bisual Photo)

Other ships slated to call during the upcoming season include Crystalโ€™s Crystal Serenity; Villa Vie Residencesโ€™ Villa Vie Odyssey; Silversea Cruisesโ€™ Silver Ray; and Fred. Olsen Cruise Linesโ€™ Bolette.

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All of the guests who visit the port will enjoy a renovated luggage area, which has been improved with air conditioning and other comforts.

Rio de Janeiroโ€™s Pier Mauรก is routinely included on world and grand cruises, as ships cross the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean and circumnavigate South America, sailing west to the South Pacific, French Polynesia, East Asia, India, and beyond.

The port is included, for example, on Holland America Lineโ€™s 100-day โ€œPole to Poleโ€ grand voyage onboard Volendam, departing on January 25, 2025. The ship will sail to the Arctic Circle and Antarctica, calling at Rio de Janeiro as she sails the South American coast.

All told, the 1,432-guest Volendam will visit 68 ports in 28 countries on five continents.

Oceania Cruises also has Rio de Janeiro on the itinerary of its โ€œExotic Atlantic Shoresโ€ grand voyage, which departs from Pier Mauรก on January 27, 2025. The 684-guest Insignia will sail from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town, South Africa.

Also, many ships sailing to Antarctica will call at Rio de Janeiro as they make their way south to Ushuaia, Argentina, gateway to the Drake Passage and the White Continent.

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Donna Tunney
Donna Tunney
Donna Tunney is a travel news/feature writer and editor with 20-plus years covering cruise news, luxury travel, and Europe and UK destinations. A former staffer at Travel Weekly and at the USAToday Network, she also was a luxury travel columnist at Travel Market Report, and a cruise columnist at Sherman's Travel.

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