Corazul Cruceros Debuts in Brazil with Buenavista After Voyage from Hong Kong

Corazul Cruceros is gearing up to begin its first season in Brazil with the ship Buenavista, which is completing a repositioning voyage from Hong Kong with technical calls in Singapore, where the hull was repainted and maintenance work was carried out, and in Mauritius, where additional crew boarded and provisioning took place. According to the company, the ship is expected to arrive in Santos around October 20 or 21 to begin its maiden voyage on October 26, following a test cruise scheduled for October 23.

The Buenavista is the former Oriana, built at the Meyer Werft shipyard and launched in 1995 for P&O Cruises. In 2019 it was acquired by Astro Ocean Cruises and repositioned in Asia as the Piano Land for the Chinese market, until Corazul took possession of the vessel in late September 2026. Technical management of the ship is handled by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), which, according to the company, carried out a smooth delivery without missing deadlines. While Cruise Industry News indicates the ship has capacity for 1,806 passengers, Cruise Mapper states it can accommodate up to 2,140 guests.

Sources differ on the exact start schedule. Cruise Mapper had reported that commercial operations would begin on October 23 out of Santos, two weeks earlier than originally planned. However, Jornal Portuario reported that the ship's arrival was postponed to October 26 due to adverse sea conditions and delays in obtaining administrative clearances, pushing the commercial launch to October 30, with an initial itinerary to Rio de Janeiro and Búzios and a return to Santos scheduled for November 2. Ahead of that voyage, a guest event is planned for October 28.

Corazul's arrival comes as part of the 2026-2027 season which, according to Cruise Mapper, will feature eight ships on regular coastal itineraries in Brazil, including MSC Virtuosa, MSC Divina, MSC Musica, MSC Splendida, MSC Seaview, Costa Diadema and Costa Serena, in addition to the Buenavista, introducing a new operator into a market traditionally dominated by MSC and Costa. Jornal Portuario, on the other hand, noted that the schedule at the Santos passenger terminal calls for ten ships to make port calls through April 2027.

The previous season, 2025-2026, had recorded 602,864 passengers on regular coastal cruises, a drop of approximately 28% compared to the prior season, according to data from Brazil's Ministry of Ports and Airports cited by Cruise Mapper. For the new season, Jornal Portuario estimated a total of approximately 900,000 passengers, factoring in embarkations, disembarkations and transit passengers, in a schedule that also includes changes to the number of port calls compared to the initial program.