South America From Santos

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.

When sailing near the Brazilian coast with an MSC South America cruise you’ll discover a region dubbed the Costa Verde e Mar by the tourism authorities.

It’s the magnificent beaches that take centre stage here. On your voyage with your MSC cruise ship, the obvious stopover is at the finest bathing and surfing beaches which lie on the Porto Belo peninsula, close to Florida.Porto Belo is a fishing community situated at the hub of a series of idyllic beaches clinging to the adjacent peninsula.
The most enticing stretches of sand and warm, aquamarine waters, just waiting to be discovered on an MSC South America excursion, are at Bombas and Bombinhas, 5km and 8km east of Porto Belo respectively and separated from one another by a rocky promontory. The bay in which they’re found is extremely pretty, with rich vegetation behind the beach, and waves suitable for inexperienced surfers.
South of Bombinhas, if you’re looking for open sea and more powerful waves, the east-facing Praia do Mariscal is better, but should be braved by only the most expert of surfers. You can get the most from your day off your luxury cruise liner with some local sightseeing tours.
Enjoy a local holiday attraction and head out to Ponta do Lobo or venture further afield and catch a boat to the islands of Arvoredo and João da Cunha, both of which have fine beaches.
Those who feel that no vacation is complete without a spot of shopping will enjoy the shops and boutiques in Porto Belo that sell local crafts, wood carvings, paintings, original artworks and locally-made costume jewellery – so be sure to bring a souvenir back to the ship!

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.

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.