Money exchange on board Braemar?

We are on the Amazon adventure cruise next year.

Are there money exchange facilities on board to change either US$, Euros or GBP to Reais?

I know that if we arrange a private tour along the Amazon, they will usually take US$, so that's not a problem, but can any one give me a clue of how much local currency we might need for general purchases, eg water, a few local souvenirs, taxis etc really just those small things we wouldn't use a credit card for?

We have been to Brazil before but staying in Hotels and visiting places like Rio and Salvador is a bit different.

Sandy in Spain

We spent two weeks in the Amazon nine years ago on Swan's Minerva II. There were ATM's in Manaus and probably Santarem, but we think we took some with us. I think it is unusual for ships to hold currencies like real as they usually only have the widely used ones like Euro's and US$ - but others can give better guidance on that. The main places we were told by the ship to use real was in the villages as the people cannot easily change them for their own money, but the price was obviously better in real everywhere, so I would not see the point of changing money to US$, unless you are from the US and have them already. We did not use a lot as we had the trips included. We bought an evening meal in an upmarket restaurant in Belem using a mix of our last real and card payment - but do not know how well they were accepted up the river. The villagers were looking for gifts as well, perhaps hats etc. with logos for instance.

In our experience there was not much chance to get private trips in the Amazon and we would not have fancied doing so anyway. Swan include trips, so we did more or less everything and they were all extremely good, especially the river boat trips. I suggest you do seriously consider the trips there and do not on any account miss Boi Bumba! We only use ship's trips if they are needed so are not great advocates of them usually.

I suggest you use the ports of call forum to ask specifics about up to date info on the 'Amazon' or search for it on this site.

I do not recall seeing any taxis, but times could have changed. Would not risk then ourselves though. The traffic in Manaus was horrendous.

We did the Amazon cruise on the Balmoral and exchanged pounds for reals at the reception desk. You will have to exchange UK notes or write a cheque as they may refuse to accept other methods of payments for currency. I'm sure there must be a reason but I don't know what it is. The US dollar is king and can be used almost everywhere in South America but some of the street market stalls preferred local currency. Don't forget to barter with them or you will get ripped off!

I have to admit that we didn't use any local currency on our Amazon cruise with Fred. USD was widely accepted and water was safer to bring from the ship.

We used the ships excursions so that pretty much eliminated the need for any currency other than USD, but if you plan to do your own then that would obviously change things.