What a day in Brazil! Would I go back? Yes

When I sailed around South America on Queen Victoria, apart from the occasional very poor port, like Fortaleza in Brazil. It was an amazing voyage.

Brazil is such a vast country and has Iconic places to visit like Rio De Janeiro so why were we in Fortaleza. As I mentioned Brazil is vast and there must be ports worth visiting surely. We were all advised at the tours desk that there were amazing beaches and we could highly recommend a visit to any of the ‘beach escape’ tours the ship was running. We had a lot of people booked on tour and it was a busy morning setting up the theatre so we had a smooth dispatch of the tours and all went well. Famous last words, as that was just the start of the day. Only one of the tour team managed to go on tour that day as we were so busy. The rest of the tour team decided to head into the city which was a shuttle bus ride to a central drop off by a shopping center.

Alarm bells should have been ringing, Cunard had created quite a stir with the local community. There were so many poor people gathering round and I got off the coach with one hand on my wallet.

When we strolled up into the town we could feel like we were being watched by everyone. One of our highlights apart from the local coffee in a plastic cup were the streets that had coffins lined up for sale. The coffins were stood up like in a western movie not with bodies in, I hasten to add. I guess so you could get the right height while you are still able to stand. I don’t speak Portuguese so still have no idea about those coffins and why there were so many shops in the same street all selling coffins.

Coming back to the safety of the ship is always nice after a day like that one. Little did I know that the desk would be so busy with complaints later that day. Many of the people who went on tour were expecting an expert guide. Few ships had visited the port before and the quality of the guides was generally below standard. Not good English quietly spoken on the microphone, very little content to show and tell. Plus, the idyllic beaches were anything but. Pipes were leading out to sea and there was a lot of garbage and more on the beach. That evening was a tough one taking the complaints about the tours and port in general. I would go back there and travel the hour or two up the coast away from the city to the idyllic beaches but on this occasion a lot was learned about what not to take people to see and do in Brazil.

Have you had a bad port experience? Let me know what your worst tour was and why. I can then help you plan your next voyage and give you my first-hand experiences to help you get more out of your cruise and the ports of call. Adrian Partridge 0333 300 2480