After making preparations for her deployment in Kiel, she left the port on 27 August and crossed the Atlantic, stopping in Funchal on the island of Madeira en route to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, arriving there on 25 September. There, she met the flagship of the East-American Cruiser Division, the protected cruiser . By this time, the dispute with Venezuela that had prompted the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903 between that country and Britain, Germany, and Italy had been settled, so she was no longer needed to enforce the settlement. Instead, "Bremen" was tasked with showing the flag to protect German economic interests, German nationals living overseas, and assist with German diplomatic efforts. At the time, the German division used the Danish port of Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies as its primary base of operations.