Tag 21 – Fortaleza: Between City, Culture and Bar 2 Bar Boccia 🇧🇷🍹

🇧🇷 Fortaleza – Brazil's Tropical Gateway to the Atlantic

Fortaleza is the capital of the state of Ceará in northeastern Brazil and, with around 2.4 million inhabitants, the fifth largest city in the country. The city is located at the mouth of the Pajeú River into the Mucuripe Bay and stretches about 20 kilometers along the Atlantic Ocean.

This alone explains its significance as a beach paradise. Long beaches alternate with red cliffs, palm trees, dunes, and lagoons – a huge tropical water playground.

With year-round tropical temperatures ranging from 25 to 28 °C, Fortaleza is increasingly becoming a popular tourist center – not just for Brazilians. The city is also easily accessible from Europe: it takes just under seven flight hours from Lisbon to reach the Brazilian coast.

🌬️ “Before Fortaleza, 6 AM. The hairstyle is a mess.” 😂

The alarm was supposed to go off at 5:45 AM.

However, I was already awake at 5:30 AM. 😴

During my first deck round, I immediately thought of an old commercial:

“Before Fortaleza, 6 AM. The hairstyle is not.” 😂

It was still exceedingly windy!

After that, it was time for the early bird coffee. At 7:00 AM, I was scheduled to have breakfast with Sabrina.

We had both booked the same excursion through AIDA, which was set to start at 8:45 AM.

Neither of us was enthusiastic about an external provider. And we also decided against an individual shore excursion due to the high crime rate.

📸 First, save the entrance and the photo flat

After breakfast, I watched the docking for a while.

Then it was quickly off to the photo kiosk to secure the first pictures.

Because in three days there will be a server change, and the existing photos from the AIDA photo team will be deleted.

And some photos have already piled up! 😱

So better secure them now before half of the world tour disappears into oblivion photographically. 😂

🚌 Fortaleza on an exploration tour

At 8:10 AM, I met with Sabrina to head to the excursion bus together.

Our program promised a diverse insight into Fortaleza:

First, there was a panoramic drive of about 30 minutes through selected highlights. We passed through the traditional neighborhoods Varjota and Aldeota, past the Praça de Portugal, and into the historic city center.

However, there was initially a small program change:

🛍️ Mercado Central – unplanned 50 minutes at the market

Instead of the originally planned sequence, we spent 50 minutes at Mercado Central first.

The market was not part of the original description and admittedly isn't my favorite activity. 😂

But at least:

I found my magnet! 😎

With that, my stay was already a success.

⛪ São José Metropolitan Cathedral

Next, we visited the São José Metropolitan Cathedral, where we stayed for about 20 minutes.

🎭 Teatro José de Alencar

Then we went on to the Theatro José de Alencar.

There was an interior tour of about 30 minutes scheduled.

🎨 Art, Culture, and Iracema

On the way back to the ship, we passed the center for art and culture and through the neighborhood Iracema.

We even took a small detour to the famous colorful houses of Fortaleza.

Of course, we also took pictures of those. ☺️📸

🇩🇪 A Rare Luxury: A German-speaking Guide

Especially convenient was that we fortunately had a German-speaking guide.

According to our guide, there are only three German-speaking guides in Fortaleza among about 650 guides.

We had indeed struck gold. 😎

Overall, it was a super entertaining excursion with many insights and impressions of one of the richest cities in northeastern Brazil.

From the central market to the cathedral and the theater to the center for art and culture, we got to see many different facets of the city.

🍽️ Back on board – and a hostess gets invited

At 1:30 PM, we were back on board and went to lunch.

Before the restaurant, we accidentally met the hostess Chiara and spontaneously invited her to eat with us.

Because hosts are generally allowed to dine in the guest restaurant when guests 'invite' them. ☺️

A nice opportunity to have a meal together.

However, at 2:00 PM, it was time for some eye care again. 😴

📸 Skyline Shooting & Sail Away Shuffleboard

At 3:30 PM, I first stretched my legs on board again before the skyline shooting was on the program at 4:00 PM.

Then we immediately continued with Sail Away Shuffleboard.

This time it went … let’s say … not so well. 😂

77 : 1 lost!

Yes, that’s part of the sport too. 😎

🍺 Brewery & Prime Time with the Ship's Doctor

At 6:30 PM, we went to dinner at the brewery.

On the plate was a spicy skewer dish with herbed potatoes.

For dessert, there was a beer-à-Misu. 🍺

At 7:30 PM, Prime Time followed.

Tonight, there was a special guest:

The chief ship's doctor, Dr. Oliver Jähn.

When asked why he works on a cruise ship, he had a wonderful answer:

He had seen the Dream Ship back in the day.

Everyone just stood around, waved, did not work, and drank champagne. 😂

I believe the reality on board taught him something different. 😉

He especially wanted to thank the