Bye bye Santos

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Check out of our hotel was at 12 noon so no need to rush. Our official time to check in with MSC was 3pm but experience told us to get there as early as possible. The plan was to have a leisurely breakfast, check out at 12 and then head straight for the cruise terminal. Being Sunday, most of the other guests must have had the same 'leisurely breakfast' notion because on strolling in to the breakfast lounge at 10am it was already quite full with guests. During breakfast we overhead a number of different accents including British, Australian and German. I wonder how many of these would be joining us today on the start of our Ocean going Odyssey.

On checking out we asked for a taxi to the cruise terminal thinking a hotel of this magnitude would have a contact with the local taxi firm. I'm afraid it doesn't work that way in Brazil. The most junior of the reception staff was spoken to in no uncertain terms and had to stand at the front of the hotel a flag down a passing cab!!!

When one eventually drove up to the hotel entrance I said to the driver ‘Cruise terminal' he replied ‘Aeroport??'

‘No!' I exclaimed ‘Ship. Big ship', as I found myself doing a sort of wave motion with one hand signifying the sea. ‘Ah, Schiff?' said the taxi driver as he had already shifted in to gear and was heading (thankfully) loosely in the direction of the port.

‘Which Schiff? MSC Opera??'

‘MSC Preziosa!' I corrected him.

‘Ah, sem Preziosa' came the reply as we cut through some of the back suburbs of Santos following the path of Canal number 2.

The taxi driver got us to where we needed to be with the littlest of fuss.

The cruise terminal gave the usual feeling to the casual bystander (not that there were many casual bystanders) of utter chaos but those officials sent to direct and assist us have done so a thousand times before and whereas you and I would have no problem in punching many of the arrivees due to their impatience, ignorance and sometimes aggressiveness with no respect for fellow passengers, everyone is greeted by MSC with the same polite smile!!

We showed our black cards and handed our passports over with our booking form. These were taken away and seconds later returned with a black sticker with the letter ‘D' in the centre. We were sent a few hundred yards down alongside a transit shed and told to follow the signs for the ‘yellow' salle.

Inside the transit shed, chaos reigned supreme. It looked like a scene from Schindler's List with the refugees taking up almost every available space from being slouched on the floor to blocking the alley ways. A few hundred passengers who had already had their number called snaked their way several deep to the check in counters. Roisin and I showed our papers and were immediately pointed to another roped off section where no queue existed. An official stopped us and then immediately pointed to a free desk. A few minutes and a couple of ID photos later later we were presented with our cruse cards and some information leaflets. Now I know what the ‘D' stood for as I looked down at the German version of the safety notice!! Santos is the largest port in South America and covers a huge area so it was no surprise to learn the MSC Preziosa was not parked right outside the transit shed but was tied up some way down the quay. A bus waited to take the passengers from the terminal to the ship. In 10 minutes we were on board handing in our passport to the ship' officers for the duration of the voyage.

The MSC Preziosa was only built in 2013 so is the new kid on the block. It's about 130,000 tonne so not huge by cruise ship standards and has capacity for about 3,600 guests. Our cabin is on deck 11 – Giada deck. All the decks are named after precious and semi-precious stones. We worked out the Giada must mean Jade in Italian (someone correct us if we're wrong!) Our cabin is reasonably roomy with a small balcony and a sofa.

We're intrigued to learn how many English speakers were on board because until now we have only heard Portuguese and the odd German (not meaning German's are odd but ‘a few' German accents!!) For this reason we decided to attend the welcome meeting. Here they tell you about the daily programme, what to look out for, how the excursions work, what your cruise card is for and an explanation of the information contained thereon. 6 people attended!!! During this meeting we were asked to complete a form that would enter us in a draw to win 50%!d(MISSING)iscount for any excursion throughout this trip. Not bad I thought. A one in three chance of winning. Unfortunately if there is a one in three chance of winning that means there is a two in three chance of losing and these were better odds. Needless to say, the better odds won and we lost!!! As a footnote it turns out that there are more than 6 English speakers on board but as yet we haven't ascertained how many.

Back to our cabin and we were greeted by a tray of chocolate strawberries and a bottle of Moet Champagne. This is another perk of being a black member. At this point I must explain that as with most cruise lines, a loyalty scheme operates and the more cruises you take with that cruise line, the higher up the ‘food chain' you rise. With MSC, Black is the highest loyalty ranking. This is our first cruise as black members, hence me going on about it!!!

It is a maritime convention that everyone understands how to don a life jacket and the features contained thereon. This is known as muster and is obligatory for all passengers; an announcement is made followed by seven short blasts and one long blast on the ships whistle. This is the international signal for a general emergency and everyone must go to the muster station as stated on your cruise card. Whilst everyone was congregated, in our case, in the Safari Lounge, the ships photographer came around taking photos. This is a first!! I hope to god that if we are ever in the unfortunate position of abandoning ship, we don't have to pose with one of the entertainment team dressed as a pirate to get our photo taken before entering the life boat!!

At dinner, a waiter showed us to a table for 6 where two of our compatriots where already sat; Brain and Julie from Brighton. Shortly thereafter we were joined by Stephen and Emelia. Dinner was a pleasant affair where we all got to know a little about each other. Brian and Julie flew in from Florida several days ago where they had spent the past six months (returning to the UK over Christmas and New Year.) Stephen is originally from Hereford but has lived in Brazil, 1 ½ hours from Sao Paulo, for the past 30 years with his Brazilian wife, Amelia.

The cruise has begun. Next stop Rio de Janeiro

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Comments

[SnarcoPolo]

OMG you two, I just looked at some pics - the Preziosa is so full of Wildlife Bling! The snakes in the Safari Lounge are just the start... giant golden lobsters... jade crabs - and then there's the Vertigo waterslide. I am officially Excite
d for you.