Semester at Sea opened the 2026-27 cruise season in the Port of Salvador de Bahia with a six-day call from the World Odyssey.
Offering the program’s 138th World Voyage, the 520-passenger vessel docked at the Brazilian destination on October 7, 2026.
As the first ship to visit the country this season, the World Odyssey is scheduled to remain docked in Salvador through October 13, 2026.
According to Companhia Docas da Bahia (CODEBA), Salvador will welcome 16 cruise ships during the 2026-27 season.
Over 50 calls are scheduled for the port, which is one of the main cruise destinations on the Brazilian coast.
The port authority expects to welcome nearly 185,000 passengers, in addition to approximately 50,000 crew members.
The season will “boost Bahia’s economy, strengthen its tourism cluster and present the state to the rest of Brazil and the world,” said CODEBA’s Business and Market Relations Director, Demétrius Moura.
Salvador will host regular visits from the MSC Virtuosa, which will become the largest cruise ship to operate in Brazil.
Sailing from Santos, the MSC Cruises vessel is expected to bring over 4,500 passengers per week to the city as part of a series of seven-night cruises that also sail to Maceió and Búzios.
Other highlights of the season include the debut of Corazul Cruceros, with the Buenavista making regular visits to Salvador between January and February.
The port will also welcome ships operating for international markets, including the Celebrity Equinox, the Seabourn Venture and the Azamara Journey.
Along with other local authorities, CODEBA launched “Operação Navio,” a special operation aimed at welcoming and supporting cruise visitors.
The initiative is backed by Bahia’s police forces and will see 2,000 bilingual agents welcoming passengers at the Port of Salvador and other key tourist destinations.
“This season, we will have bilingual and multilingual police officers to better serve the visitors,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ana Paula Queirós, commander of the Specialized Tourist Policing Battalion (Beptur).
