Seven Seas Mariner - Nights of Samba & Tango: Rio to Buenos Aires

Where this cruise calls, day by day

10 ports and 2 sea days over 11 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Rio de Janeiro

   BrazilDepart

   Rio is one of the few cities where the approach from sea is the main event — Sugarloaf, the Corcovado ridge and the bay entrance all line up as you come in. Ships dock at Pier Maua in the redeveloped port district, walking distance from the Museum of Tomorrow and the Olympic Boulevard murals. Everything else, from Christ the Redeemer to Ipanema, is a taxi or metro ride and worth planning around traffic.

   • Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado, reached by cog railway or van
   • Sugarloaf cable car from Urca
   • Copacabana and Ipanema beaches
   • Escadaria Selaron and the Santa Teresa hill tram

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth at Pier Maua in the central port area.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (hot and humid; Dec-Feb is peak)

2. Day 2

   Buzios

   BrazilPort

   Buzios is a peninsula of small beaches a few hours east of Rio, a fishing village until Brigitte Bardot turned up in the sixties and the town has been trading on it ever since. The main street, Rua das Pedras, is cobbled and lined with bars and boutiques that only really wake up after dark. Days are spent moving between beaches by schooner or buggy — the water on the north side is calm, the ocean side has surf.

   • Rua das Pedras and the Orla Bardot waterfront promenade
   • Praia Joao Fernandes for snorkelling
   • Ferradura and Geriba beaches
   • Schooner trips around the peninsula's dozen-plus beaches

   Getting ashore

   Ships anchor off and tender passengers to the main pier at Armacao.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar

3. Day 3

   Ilha Grande

   BrazilPort

   A mountainous, forested island off the Costa Verde between Rio and Paraiba do Sul, Ilha Grande was a leper colony and then a maximum-security prison until 1994, which is the main reason it never got developed. There are no cars. The single village, Vila do Abraao, is sand streets and pousadas, and everything else is reached by boat or on foot through Atlantic rainforest.

   • Vila do Abraao, the car-free main village
   • Lopes Mendes beach, a two-hour walk or a boat plus short hike
   • Lagoa Azul snorkelling by schooner
   • Ruins of the Candido Mendes prison and the aqueduct trail

   Getting ashore

   Tender only — ships anchor in the bay off Abraao.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar

4. Day 4

   Ilhabela

   BrazilPort

   Ilhabela sits across a narrow channel from Sao Sebastiao on the Sao Paulo coast and is mostly state park: steep Atlantic forest, hundreds of waterfalls, and a sailing scene on the sheltered west side. The calm-water beaches face the mainland; the wild ones on the ocean side need a 4x4 or a boat. Locals will warn you about the borrachudos — small biting flies that are a genuine nuisance in summer.

   • Cachoeira da Toca waterfall and natural slides
   • Vila (Sao Sebastiao village) with its colonial church and waterfront
   • Praia do Bonete, reachable by boat or a long coastal trail
   • The channel yacht anchorage and diving on nearby wrecks

   Getting ashore

   Tender to the town pier; ships anchor in the Sao Sebastiao channel.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (hot and wet; bring repellent)

5. Day 5

   Sao Francisco do Sul

   BrazilPort

   Sao Francisco do Sul is on an island in Babitonga Bay in Santa Catarina and is one of the oldest towns in Brazil, with a protected historic centre of colonial houses running down to the old waterfront. It is also a big container port, so the two halves of the place sit oddly together. The Museu Nacional do Mar, in converted warehouses, holds a serious collection of Brazilian traditional boats.

   • The protected colonial historic centre and Matriz church
   • Museu Nacional do Mar and its Brazilian boat collection
   • Praia de Ubatuba and Enseada beaches
   • Babitonga Bay boat trips, with resident Guiana dolphins

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth in the commercial port; a shuttle usually runs to the historic centre.

   Best months

   Dec-Mar

6. Day 6

   Porto Belo

   BrazilPort

   Porto Belo is a small resort town on a peninsula in Santa Catarina, and the call is essentially a beach day. The town beach is calm and shallow; the better swimming and snorkelling is at Bombinhas and Praia de Quatro Ilhas a few kilometres round the headland. Ilha de Porto Belo, just offshore, has trails, a small archaeological display and clear water.

   • Ilha de Porto Belo, a short boat hop with trails and swimming
   • Bombinhas and Praia de Quatro Ilhas
   • Praia de Bombas for calm shallow water
   • Boat trips to Arvoredo Marine Reserve

   Getting ashore

   Tender only — ships anchor in the bay off the town beach.

   Best months

   Dec-Mar

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Rio Grande

   BrazilPort

   Rio Grande is a major working port at the mouth of the Lagoa dos Patos in Brazil's southernmost state, and it is a rare cruise call rather than a fixture. The old centre has a neoclassical cathedral and some restored 19th-century buildings; the university's oceanographic museum is a genuine local point of pride. Nearby Cassino claims to be the longest continuous beach in the world, which is more impressive on paper than underfoot.

   • Catedral de Sao Pedro in the historic centre
   • Museu Oceanografico of the federal university
   • Molhes da Barra, the long jetties at the lagoon mouth
   • Praia do Cassino and the gaucho churrasco culture of Rio Grande do Sul

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth in the commercial port, some distance from the historic centre.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10

    Montevideo

    UruguayPort

    Uruguay's capital is a low-key, walkable city where the cruise berth is genuinely close to the old town for once. Ciudad Vieja gives you Art Deco and crumbling neoclassical in the same block, and the Mercado del Puerto is a shed full of wood-fired grills that most passengers end up in by noon. The Rambla runs for miles along the river-sea, and the beaches at Pocitos are a short taxi away.

    • Mercado del Puerto and its parrilla grills
    • Plaza Independencia, the Palacio Salvo and Artigas mausoleum
    • Teatro Solis
    • The Rambla and Pocitos beach

    Getting ashore

    Ships berth in the working port a few minutes' walk from Ciudad Vieja.

    Best months

    Nov-Mar

11. Day 11

    Montevideo

    UruguayPort

    Uruguay's capital is a low-key, walkable city where the cruise berth is genuinely close to the old town for once. Ciudad Vieja gives you Art Deco and crumbling neoclassical in the same block, and the Mercado del Puerto is a shed full of wood-fired grills that most passengers end up in by noon. The Rambla runs for miles along the river-sea, and the beaches at Pocitos are a short taxi away.

    • Mercado del Puerto and its parrilla grills
    • Plaza Independencia, the Palacio Salvo and Artigas mausoleum
    • Teatro Solis
    • The Rambla and Pocitos beach

    Getting ashore

    Ships berth in the working port a few minutes' walk from Ciudad Vieja.

    Best months

    Nov-Mar

12. Day 12

    Buenos Aires

    ArgentinaArrive

    Buenos Aires is a turnaround port as often as a port of call, and either way you need more than a day. The terminal sits in Puerto Nuevo, close enough to walk into the Retiro area but far enough that most people take a taxi. The city rewards wandering: Beaux-Arts blocks, enormous cafes, bookshops in old theatres, and a tango scene that ranges from genuine milongas to dinner shows built for tour buses.

    • Recoleta Cemetery and Evita Peron's grave
    • Caminito and the painted houses of La Boca
    • San Telmo's Sunday antiques market on Plaza Dorrego
    • Teatro Colon backstage tour

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at the Benito Quinquela Martin terminal in Puerto Nuevo, roughly 15 minutes by taxi from the centre.

    Best months

    Oct-Apr