At the end of the year, the MSC Armonia sets sail from Barcelona and heads towards the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. Among other places, she visits Malaga and Funchal on the way. You can get the inside cabin on this cruise for £345 (~€402) per person. An ocean view cabin costs a bit more at £469 (~€546), while a balcony cabin would set you back £784 (~€913). Full board and tips are included.
It is best to read the current MSC Cruises regulations regarding Covid on the ship in advance. Among other things, you must wear mouth and nose protection in all public areas if you are not in your seat. You must have proof that you have been vaccinated or have recovered. MSC cruises, booked until the end of August, can be changed flexibly, but a fare difference may apply.
Compared to other deals, the other route options don’t give you much better deals. If you’d like to depart a bit earlier and spend £150 (~€175) – £200 (~€233) more, here are your options briefly (Prices are listed as inside / ocean view / balcony except for the last two, where no balconies are available):
- Venice to Salvador Bahia at £421 (~€490) / £575 (~€669) / £930 (~€1,083)
- Venice to Rio at £498 (~€580) / £671 (~€781) / £1,085 (~€1,263)
- Venice to Sao Paulo at £536 (~€624) / £719 (~€837)
- Venice to Itajai at £699 (~€814) / £843 (~€982)
You get full board service with breakfast, lunch and dinner (some speciality restaurants are excluded) as well as cold and hot water, coffee, tea and milk with meals. All cabins have double beds, which can also be converted to single beds if required.
Route
- Day 1: Barcelona
- Day 2: Alicante
- Day 3: Malaga
- Day 4: On the sea
- Day 5: Madeira
- Days 6 – 11: On the sea
- Day 12: Salvador
- Day 13: On the sea
- Day 14: Rio
There are three ships that will make their way down to Brazil during the Fall. This one, MSC Armonia is the cheapest and it’s not bad at all. However, if you’d want very fancy features such as a zipline, you can take a look at MSC Seaview which starts at £901 (~€1,049). MSC Fantasia has very cheap balcony cabins starting at £668 (~€778) for the same route and £833 (~€970) for 19 nights.
The Ship
The MSC Armonia was built in 2004 and is 274 meters long and 32 meters wide. It offers space for almost 2700 passengers and 700 crew members. The ship has a total of 4 restaurants and a few bars. In addition to a spa and fitness area and all kinds of cultural and leisure activities, there is also a theatre.
Flights
There are flights to Barcelona from many European cities, mainly with airlines such as Ryanair, for well under €100, especially if you book at short notice. Currently, the cheapest one-way ticket from Brazil to Europe would get you to Frankfurt for €405 on TAP in the days after arrival. Prices increase later, as Christmas comes closer and flights tend to be more expensive.
Of course, it all depends on how long you want to spend there beforehand and/or afterwards. In any case, we recommend that you take a flight that arrives quite early – in the event of a lost connection, you’d miss your entire cruise.
Cover Picture: MSC