t60

I asked the same question on the cruise fashion board. We're going in Feb 2016. Here are a few thoughts for excursions. Wide brimmed hat protects from sun and rain, not straw, plastic throwaway poncho, thin long sleeved shirt for cover up over vest or t shirt, protection for camera, comfy closed shoes..sprayed with water proofer...I've got an old pair I can leave behind, good bug spray with 100% deet (Ben 100), mosquito coils if you're going to stay in a lodge overnight, small towel to take on excursions to wipe hands, brow etc. Apparently light or bright colours attract insects, someone also took net to put over their hat because of stuff dropping down from the trees. HTH What ports ate you visiting?

Sandy in Spain

OH and I cross pack using our own packing cubes,that wat if a case goes missing we both still have some clothes to wear. Also pack a change of clothes in hand luggage.

Sandy in Spain

Jewellery, length of fabric or sarong to use as a BBQ tablecloth, wind chimes. I also get a key ring with something memorable eg boomerang for our Aus cruise and attach it to the USB which HSS all the photo's and journal for the trip. This year we also bought several large wooden hanging parrots from Brazil which are now hanging under our roof top pergola... The neighbours thought they were real when they first saw them :-)

Sandy in Spain

I also had done the search and found a note about a disney cruise and Hal, but no info on blogs

Sandy in Spain

Hi everyone, I don't know if this is the correct place to ask but I can't find any blogs from Kween Karen since 2013. I know she took a brek from them as they were time consuming, but I can't fins anything recent and I think she was taking a cruise last month and continuing with a land and perhaps a furthr sea cruise. Any one know how I can fllow her travels please?

Thanks

Sandy in Spain

Have a look on here http://www.pinterest.com, search for cruise journal, cruise scap book etc whatever combination you choose, there may even be some pages relationg to your desination or ship....have fun

Sandy in Spain

Thanks everyone, How did you carry water with you on the excursions, or were bottles readily available?

Sandy in Spain

I made my own packing folders, but I have lots of packing cubes in different sizes as well. EBay also have a good selection. Some cubes come as doubled sides and others now have interior pockets.

Some have a handle s well, this is the type I ue inside my hand luggage for anything I might need during the flight, just easy to whip the bag out and place under the seat until needed & as it's zipped I know the stuff won't accidently fall out

One adapation I have ued for ll the cubes and folders is to add a clear plastic pocket on the top/front to put in a list of what's inside (esp useful for OH as I do his packing) also means as everything fitted on the way out, it will fit easily again on the way home

I use the cubes when I pack my seasonal clothing away, makes that a lot easier.

Sandy in Spain

Has anyone used a Filofax or similar for their onboard notes etc and then perhaps incorporated iton a scrap book or jouranl on return home?

Sandy in Spain

Has any one experienced an amazon cruise?

What clothes did you take for the Rain forest lodge/walks/sight seeing, canoe excursions etc We will only be cruising on the Amazon itself for about a week, so it's days out in the jungle rather than a week spent in the jungle. We'll be back on board most evenings...so tha's not a problem.

Really don't want to buy specialist clothing or shoes, cotton and linen are sometimes recommended, but the clothes I've seen in Spain seem a bit heavy.

This season we have lots of thin knitted acrylic "floaty" (not see thro) fabric trousers which seem to be crease resistant and will probably dry quickly, but do you think they will be too hot and sticky? Thought trousers would be better than shorts/capris because of any biting bugs, same reason considering tops with sleeves (even a vest style with a shirt cover up)

Any hints, tips, suggestions, experiences on this type of cruise will be much appreciated

Sandy in Spain

We were told to go end of August as it's the end of the season and lots of bagains in the shops

Sandy in Spain

On the Ports of Call board for South America, I typed in Santarem, and got this list of threads:.....snip

And I believe the yellow fever shot is the reverse: Devil's Island requires the shot if you have visited an endemic area, and the interior of Brazil is an endemic area. EM

Thanks for the links EM, I was probably doing something wrong when I tried before

Sandy in Spain

Just tried click your links and got this message ,

<Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.>

Nevermind

No, and while it might have made some sense when the fishing village which has a small school was on the itinerary I don't see where it will be helpful on your trip.

 

Support the locals where you can through the enterprises they have established, when you go to see the Boi Bumba show, buy the DVD. Buy locally made crafts when you can, not the imported trash.

 

You will be approached by children in small boats carrying various forms of wildlife which they hope to get you to pay to hold while you take a photo, don't do this as it just encourages them to take young wild animals out of their habitat and as your guides will explain they are trying to preserve and support the local ecology not destroy it.

Thanks Mark. I absolutely hate it when the children bring along baby animals and it certainly is something we would never support

Sandy in Spain

Don't be put off, it was a fantastic experience.

 

The piranha fishing was another fun trip as were several others that gave you a chance to get out onto the river in small boats.

 

Manaus is also an interesting place, the opera house was worth a visit but the real interest came from the perspective and stories from our guide who was a member of a small tribe much deeper into the jungle.

 

He spent a few months each year acting as guide to earn money to send supplies to his village and to arrange education for the children. His take on 'civilization' was indeed interesting.

 

We were fortune enough to have him on a couple of the trips while we were docked in Manaus.

 

It looks like they have dropped the visit to the small fishing village on the river, in exchange for Devil's Island. We quite enjoyed meeting the people at the village, but I'm sure Devil's Island will be interesting too.

Thanks Mark. It seeems some ships stop in Manaus for 2 or 3 full days, our stay will just be overnight, although they call it 2 days. I've been loooking at peoples blogs and pix for the city and Manaus always sounds interesting. It always amazes me how a lot of the towns/cities in South America have fabulous opera houses and Theatres

I've also read something about taking childrens clothes and pens/pencils over to give to people, is this something you (or anyone else reading this) came across?

Sandy in Spain

What struck me most of all when I did an Amazon cruise were all the giant moths and beetles over the ship's decks and exterior walls. Very colourful! There were lots of flying insects around but we carried sheets of 'Bounce' in our pockets which we were told would ward off any nasties. Some say that's an old wive's tale but we didn't get a single bite. Other passengers had bites the size of tangerines so you can make up your own mind. There is lots of dancing to suit all tastes available on the ship. We went on an excursion to fish for piranha and we caught one! I'm sure others will come along with more information.

Thanks for the info re Bounce sheets, not sure if we can get them in Spain, will have a loook, if not they will go on OH's shopping list when he visits UK next month I've already started to look for some light weight long sleeved shirts for the excirsions...and trousers of course:-)

Last time we went Piranha fishing it was from a small Indian village along he Orinoco, OH caught one which we ate at dinner, I think it had a red underside, anyway I know they just used a stick, a bit of cotton and a bent pin....

Sandy in Spain

Hi we are on the same cruise. snip...

The destination info is not too detailed, but there are talks about the destinations which I am told are good. We do our own research before hand.

As for Dancing. Well if you like, as we do, Ballroom, Latin and Sequence....snip

If your experience of cruising is on the huge RCI ships....snip .... then you will have a great time. We will.

See you around the Ship.😄

So glad you replied 1160451, I had come across some of your previous comments on CC and have tried to add you as a friend in the hope you would get in touch.

Yes, dancing is great esp as we go to classes every week here in Spain, Latin and ballroom, OH isn't that fond of Sequence though. So that will be something to look forward to.

I always do lots of research for our cruises and have already started, there a good series of posts fromTerry in Ohio link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696&highlight=amazon

Yes we have cruised before carefully avoiding Carnival, RCI and Disney, preferring Princess, P&O and Holland America

We have only just booked this cruise in the last week, but I suppose there are many other who might even have booked a year or so in advance, the Amazon cruises always seem popular.

Pease come and join the Roll Call, it's lonely with only me there at the moment and operhaps we can chat more

snip...I suggest you take the trips and I suggest a selection of things i.e. river cruise, woodland walk and above all go on the Bobumba excursion in Parantins as it is excellent ......snip.

Thanks for that Tring, It will be interesting to see how it comares to Rio

Thanks everyone for your comments

Sandy in Spain

snip... You need vaccinations and, in particular Yellow Fever, so arrange for that and remember to take your certificate.

snip,,, :)

When we had our YF a few years ago, OH said then we had to go to plenty of places which need a YF vaccination so as we got our monies worth..:-)

snip ...The night time caiman spotting was a true adventure as our canoe almost sank :),,,,snip

Not so sure we fancy this tour now Mark, although i hald a small alligator at one time and last year when we were in Darwin we got up close to the jumping crocodiles while out on the river

Sandy in Spain

We're off up the Amazon Feb 2016, I have so enjoyed reading your "blog" this morning...it took quite a while :-). It was lovely seeing all the photos. It's all been a great help. Was there any special insect repellent you could recommend, or just anyone which contained Deet? It was also interesting to see what sort of clothing and shoes everyone wore while on their jungle trips....was the jungle floor just damp or quite wet and muddy? Did you take a waterproof with you when you went out at all...a just in case type? Did ou need local currency at all or did US$ work out just as well? We've made quite a few trips to Brazil and South America in the past few years, but this will be our first to Manaus, I'm sure it will be quite an adventure

Sandy in Spain

Hi, Transatlantic flights tend to have more leg room than Euro Continental flights. I am 6' + and no way near small weight wise and normally fly cattle, no upgrade. When checking in, tell them you are not a good flyer and can you have a seat near the front, you may be lucky and get a free upgrade, although very doubtful, or you may get a bulk head seat with loads of leg room.

Thanks, sounds good

Sandy in Spain

Good morning all,

We have booked an Amazon cruise withthe following Ports of call, but I can't find anything about them on this site....I'm probably looking in the wrong place, but I can't see any info on the Ports of Call board, even using seach....help please for

Santarem, Boca da Valeria, Manaus, Devils Island and Parintins,

Thanks

Sandy in Spain

Hello again, we have booked our Amazon cruise and will be flying from Gatwick to Barbados return. I was a bit surprised about the cost of the chartered flight (£800pp) as I thought charters would be cheaper than schedule. At the moment we don't know if we will be flying with Thomson or Thomas Cook. What are your experiences with either of these charters for long distance travel, do you have any suggestions for surviving on a this type of flight apart from upgrading to Premium at another £400pp.

When I boooked I was told our seats would be allocated at check-in so we don't seem to have any choice as to where we can sit

Thanks for your input

Sandy in Spain

We are booked on the Amazon cruise on Braemar for next Feb I have a few questions

1. Has anyone any experience of this destination please? Any hints and tips etc would be great.

2. On our other cruises we have been able to arrange private excrsions, any recommendations please for guides or tours please? or even if it is possible for this cruise.

3. If they have a sort of daily events paper, could someone post a copy please?

4. Some cruise ships have a sort of Destination guide or Port information paper availablle which they distribute on board, is this the same with Fred If anyone has a copy could they post it please?

5. Are there bands etc on board for dancing? We have late sitting dining so it seems with the change of show times we'll need something to amuse ourselves after dinner.

Our Ports of call are Santarem, Boca Da Valeria, Manaus, Pantarins and Devil's Island

I have started a roll call for the cruise

Thanks for your help

Sandy in Spain

Oops I meant Embarkation check in time

We have been given a check in time of 1.15, how ridgedly does this have to be observed? Any idea about the normal latest check in ie could we do 2.30 Sail away is scheduled for 5pm I believe.

Sandy in Spain now in Rio having a great time

The main processions are on Good Friday and are very solemn. Some are very early in the morning, while otheres are late at night

Sandy in Spain