Roxy Dinner Show tickets and packages

One show, several ways in

Whatever you book, you see the same production: Aquele Abraço, the Roxy's Brazilian music and dance show, staged in a restored 1938 cinema in Copacabana. What changes from one ticket to the next is everything around it: whether you eat, what you drink, how you choose your table and how late you can cancel. The Roxy plays Wednesday to Sunday. So the real choice is simple. Decide whether the Roxy is your dinner or only your show, then pick the booking route whose cancellation terms suit your trip.

• Show only: the GetYourGuide ticket, or the Roxy's own show package
• Dinner and show: one of the Roxy's dinner packages, booked direct
• No Monday or Tuesday performances

The GetYourGuide show ticket

The ticket on GetYourGuide is sold by the Roxy itself, under the name Roxy Dinner Show - Oficial, as one option: the Aquele Abraço show ticket, about 1.5 hours long. You get a mobile ticket to show on your phone, so there's nothing to print, and you check in at the Roxy's ticket office, where staff meet you. Booked on GetYourGuide, you can cancel free up to 24 hours before for a full refund (direct bookings with the Roxy need 72 hours), and you can reserve now and pay later. The venue is listed as wheelchair accessible. Before paying, read the option's inclusions on the checkout screen, so you know exactly what your night covers.

• Duration: about 1.5 hours
• Mobile ticket, shown on your phone
• Meet at the Roxy's ticket office
• Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

The Roxy's own packages

On its own website the Roxy sells four packages, and every one includes the Aquele Abraço show and the opening act by the house band, Banda Roxy. The show package adds a welcome drink and mixed nuts, but no dinner. Copacabana adds a three-course dinner. Rio de Janeiro has its own three-course menu plus half a bottle of sparkling wine or wine per person. Brasil, the top package, adds exclusive seating, a longer dinner, wine or sparkling wine, soft drinks and juice, and professional photos of your night. Package names and contents can change, so check them on the day you book.

• Aquele Abraço: show, welcome drink, opening act
• Copacabana: three-course dinner and show
• Rio de Janeiro: three-course dinner, wine and show
• Brasil: exclusive seating, longer dinner, drinks, photos

Booking direct or on GetYourGuide

The biggest practical difference is cancellation. On GetYourGuide you can cancel free up to 24 hours before, while on the Roxy's own site you get a full refund only if you cancel at least 72 hours ahead, and nothing after that; date changes go through the Roxy's team on WhatsApp, subject to availability. GetYourGuide lets you pay in your own currency and in your own language. The Roxy's site takes credit cards and Pix, Brazil's bank payment system, and its team supports guests in English and Spanish. Booking direct is the only way to get dinner, though.

Read next: Is the Roxy Dinner Show worth it?

Choosing where you sit

The hall is the old cinema's auditorium, now laid out with tables facing the stage, plus a curved mezzanine. If your seat matters, look at the packages, not just the price. The Roxy says its Rio de Janeiro and Brasil packages include access to the full table map, with no restriction other than availability, and Brasil adds exclusive seating. On the show ticket and the cheaper packages you have less say, so arriving when doors open is the simple way to settle in early. The Roxy itself recommends getting there at opening time and taking in the room.

Dinner: what the packages cover

Dinner is served before the main show, from 19:00, under the restored dome. The Copacabana and Rio de Janeiro packages each have a three-course menu, and the Roxy publishes both menus on its website, so you can read them before choosing, and it says its dishes use ingredients from all over Brazil. The kitchen caters for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free diets and for specific allergies, if you tell the Roxy when you book. Children aged 4 to 11 have a kids' menu on the dinner packages.

Read next: Roxy Dinner Show dress code and tips

Tickets for children and groups

The Roxy welcomes all ages, but minors must come with a parent or guardian. On the Roxy's own site a lower kids' rate applies from 4 to 11, under-4s are booked through the Roxy's team, and a photo ID is needed to check a child's age. The GetYourGuide option shows an adult rate per person, so families wanting children's rates should compare with the Roxy's site. Groups of up to 15 can book directly on the Roxy's website. Larger groups and private events go through the Roxy's events team, who prepare a proposal.

When to book

With five performance nights a week, a short stay in Rio may give you only two or three chances to go, so pick your night as soon as your dates are fixed. The free cancellation on the GetYourGuide ticket lets you do that without much risk. If you're set on dinner, remember that the Roxy's 72-hour rule means a change of plan inside three days costs you the booking. Rio's calendar matters too: millions gather on Copacabana beach for New Year's Eve, and Carnival fills the city, so book earlier if you travel around either.

Who this isn't for

If dinner is the point of your evening, the GetYourGuide show ticket is the wrong choice: book a dinner package with the Roxy instead. If you can only go on a Monday or Tuesday, there's no performance. If you might cancel at short notice, a direct booking is risky, because refunds stop 72 hours before. And if you want a small, quiet room, this isn't one: the main hall is a large converted cinema, and the show is a big production with plenty of percussion.