Question 1

Santos on Your Own

Accepted Answer

Santos is mainly a starting and finishing port, so a day on your own usually means the day before or after the cruise, or a few hours on a port call. The historic center, with the Coffee Museum, the Pelé Museum and the heritage tram, is the place to start, and the seafront and its beach garden are a short ride away. The Coffee Museum: The former Coffee Exchange at Rua XV de Novembro 95, where Brazil's coffee prices were once negotiated, now shows coffee's journey from plantation to cup, with a café and a souvenir shop. The Pelé Museum: It opened in 2014 in restored mansions on Largo Marquês de Monte Alegre in the Valongo district, with photos, shirts, boots and trophies from his career. The heritage tram: Historic streetcars run a tourist route around the center, from the old Valongo railway station. Monte Serrat: A funicular, running since 1927, climbs the 157-meter hill in the center for a view over the whole city; a stairway of 402 steps is the alternative. Boarding day: Follow the check-in time your cruise line gives you. The terminal recommends arriving after 11:30 a.m., because the morning is set aside for passengers leaving the ships. After the cruise: After collecting your bags, taxis leave from platform 2, and cars collecting passengers exit through gate 3. On a port call: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own. Santos keeps Brasília time, three hours behind UTC. Opening hours change, so check before you go.

Question 2

Getting Around Santos

Accepted Answer

Taxis and city buses connect the port, the historic center and the beaches, and the seafront has a cycle lane. São Paulo and its airports at Guarulhos and Congonhas are reached by road down the Serra do Mar. Taxis are not expensive, but check that the meter is running once you get in. City bus fares are paid with tickets sold at most stops or in cash on board, and buses thin out at night. Watch for pickpockets on crowded buses. A signed cycle lane runs along the beachfront, though riding on most of the beaches is not allowed during the day. From Ponta da Praia, on the channel, boats cross to Guarujá. Two highways, the Anchieta and the Imigrantes, link Santos with São Paulo, and a toll is charged when you leave São Paulo.

Question 3

What to Eat in Santos

Accepted Answer

Seafood restaurants, beach vendors and lively bars make up much of eating out in Santos. In the historic center, the Coffee Museum has its own café. There are seafood restaurants on Avenida Bartolomeu de Gusmão, the seafront road at Ponta da Praia where the aquarium stands. The fish market near the Guarujá ferry sells fresh fish. Beer, caipirinha and batidas are served in bars everywhere, and many bars have live Brazilian popular music. On the beach, vendors sell coconuts for drinking and local crafts.

Question 4

Tipping in Brazil

Accepted Answer

Many Brazilian restaurants include a 10 percent service charge in the bill, and no further tip is required. Tipping is uncommon. Taxi drivers generally do not expect tips, though rounding up the fare sometimes happens. Brazil uses the real.

Question 5

Coffee Museum, Football, and Brazilian Urban Life

Accepted Answer

Two things shaped Santos: coffee, which filled its port and made the city rich, and football, through Santos FC and Pelé. The city celebrates both in museums in the historic center. Pelé spent most of his career with Santos FC, and the Memorial das Conquistas honors the city's greatest players, Pelé among them. Santos FC plays at the Urbano Caldeira stadium, opened in 1916 and known as Vila Belmiro after its neighborhood. The Pelé Museum has interactive displays, including a virtual penalty kick that measures the speed of your shot. Canals more than a hundred years old run through the city, part of a sanitation plan by the engineer Saturnino de Brito. Our Lady of Monte Serrat, whose sanctuary crowns the hill in the center, is the city's patron saint, and her feast day is September 8.

Question 6

Brazil's Coffee Capital

Accepted Answer

Santos was founded by the Portuguese in the 1540s and grew into one of the world's great coffee ports. In the 20th century it also became a beach resort and, from 1998, a cruise port with its own passenger terminal. 1543: Brás Cubas moved the port to a calmer site, Enguaguaçu, after a chapel to Saint Catherine was completed on a small hill there. 1546: Santos was founded by Brás Cubas. 1603: The church on top of Monte Serrat dates from this year, built at the request of the governor-general Francisco de Sousa. Turn of the 20th century: Coffee exports through the port made the city rich, and at one time coffee was about 70 percent of Brazil's exports, with prices negotiated at the Coffee Exchange. 1910s to 1930s: Santos became a seaside resort, the funicular up Monte Serrat opened in 1927, and the beachfront gardens were laid out from 1935. 1945: The municipal aquarium, opened by President Getúlio Vargas, and the municipal orchid garden both opened. 1998: The Concais passenger terminal opened at Armazém 25, after a 1995 change in the law allowed foreign cruise ships to sail between Brazilian ports. 2014: The Pelé Museum opened in June, during the World Cup year. Where to learn more: The Coffee Museum at Rua XV de Novembro 95, in the old Coffee Exchange, tells the story of coffee and the port.

Question 7

Santos with Children and Families

Accepted Answer

Santos has several family outings: an aquarium, an orchid garden with animals, a funicular and a long beachfront garden. Plan them for the day before or after the cruise. Younger children: The municipal orchid garden in José Menino has more than 3,500 orchids and about 500 animals, among them agoutis, tortoises and peacocks. School age: The municipal aquarium at Ponta da Praia, opened in 1945, has more than 200 species in 32 tanks, including penguins, sharks and a sea lion. A ride for everyone: The Monte Serrat funicular and the heritage tram in the historic center are both short rides. Teenagers: Football fans can try the virtual penalty kick at the Pelé Museum, which also shows trophies from his career. Opening hours change, so check before you go.

Question 8

Accessibility in Santos

Accepted Answer

Ask your cruise line about assistance at the Concais terminal before boarding day, since every passenger collects a check-in number at the cruise line's counter. In town, the Monte Serrat funicular is the alternative to the 402-step stairway, so ask before you go whether it can take a wheelchair. The Concais garage is inside the terminal, next to the boarding and disembarkation area.

Question 9

Shopping in Santos

Accepted Answer

For souvenirs, the Coffee Museum shop and the city's weekend craft fairs are the places to look. The Concais terminal itself has fashion and accessory shops and a pharmacy for last-minute needs. The Coffee Museum has a souvenir shop. A handicraft fair is held on Saturday afternoons and evenings at the end of Avenida Conselheiro Nébias, and on Sundays on Rua Conselheiro Ribas, with paintings, jewelry, clothes and sweets. Fair times vary, so check before you go.

Question 10

Beaches Near Santos

Accepted Answer

Santos faces a long urban beach, with a garden 5.3 km long and about 45 meters wide running behind it from José Menino to Ponta da Praia. The beaches are good for a walk, but check the water-quality flags before you swim. Small red flags by the footpath mean swimming is not advised; the state environment agency publishes a weekly beach-quality bulletin. Gonzaga and Ponta da Praia are two of the beach districts, and Guarujá, a beach resort, is 10 km away across the channel.

Santos

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What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Santos