Just back from Iberostar Grand Amazon

Back from the Iberostar!! LOVED IT.

I will attempt to keep this short but let you know as much as I can.

After a little hiccup with our transfer to the port from the Manaus airport we finally made it to the ship with plenty of time before boarding. It was Sunday so rather than walk around a market across the street from the port entrance (only a few of the stalls were opened) we decided to grab a table and some drinks and wait it out. When we could board there was no line whatsoever. We discover later that there were only 47 people booked on the cruise, my party (two couples), two other couples traveling separately, and a Vantage Travel tour group. So it was a nice small and quiet passage. We were two couples in our late 30s. The tour group was retirement age. We heard the average age outside of the tour groups was 30s and 40s. We had a great time with the people from Vantage, although their tour guide made us feel like outsiders.

Ship’s common areas were very nice and clean. Our room was surprisingly spacious, nice bathroom, nice balcony, mini bar (with soft drinks, water and beer that they will fill up, but I did have to call to get them to do this). We got turndown service every night complete with nice chocolates, fresh towels several times a day. Can’t complain about the room at all.

Food was good in the main dining room. (Didn’t care for the offerings on the top pool deck, don’t waste your time, and the tables on that deck need some work—water damage.) Really nice three square meals. Nice wines at lunch and dinner, great attentive staff. They offer a local fish or meat at dinner. I have to admit I wasn’t wowed buy the lobster at the captain’s dinner. Great hot buffet offerings, soups, salads and desserts. Dress was pretty casual (although no shorts at dinner), even at the captains dinner (our last night, we did the 4-day cruise). A few of the men wore ties that night, but overall a casual tone.

Nice pool, Jacuzzi and loungers.

We had stunning weather. April is the wet season and we only had rain here and there and never during an excursion. We had bright skies and sun. We heard the week before was rain every day!

Excursions: 2-to-3 a day. Two offered in the morning (except for one day) a hike or a boat tour. We chose the hikes each day. Don’t expect to see a lot of wildlife on the hike, but I would recommend them. Learned a lot about the Amazon jungle and plants, trees, etc. But you won’t see birds, monkeys, snakes *smile*, or things like that on the hike. But if you enjoy being surrounded by lush nature then do this in the morning. After the excursion there is a lecture onboard by the guides before lunch. The next excursion is in the late afternoon (4pm) and these are boat rides. Since it is late afternoon it is a perfect time to see wildlife. We saw TONS of birds, a few monkeys and sloths. A plus, we had great views of sunsets. This excursion was a great opportunity for photos. I kept thinking this was their idea of photo-safaris. And while I can’t remember exactly, they might call these excursions photo-safaris. One night after dinner we went on an alligator hunt. While we only saw the red eyes of one large cayman, our guide (Marco, LOVED HIM!!) caught two babies (well one he figured was over a year old and the other was way maybe 2 or 3 years) with his bare hands from our tender. It was pretty amazing. Don’t worry he didn’t harm them but we did get to touch them.

One excursion is a visit to a local village, which is the only option that morning. It is not an opportunity to hand out money to this village (they have electricity, satellite TV) but there is a small market where the women sell handcrafts. You are never felt you have to buy anything, nor does anyone have their hand out. Interesting time to see how they live away from “civilization.”

The guides (we were mainly with Marco and Jefferson) were so great and made the trip! You’ll get to feed pink dolphins, catch piranhas, and just take in the Rio Negro. This trip is on a tributary of the Amazon, and our part was not on the Amazon proper. But because the ship is small we were able to get up close and personal with some amazing scenery. I will never forget the parrots and macaws flying over our heads. They filled the sky.

I will tell you that the cruise director said they have issues with reservations. He has heard stories of people saying that Iberostar will tell you the trip is full when in fact they might sail with only 20 people. We booked though an on-line service (Intelligent Leisure Solutions, which I cannot say enough wonderful things. They booked our trip which included Rio and the service was excellent!!!!! I think this is the way to go.) This is Iberostar’s only ship (they are a hotel chain) and this ship has only been on the water for 2 years. I was under the impression it was at least 5) and the president of the chain evidently loves boats but they don’t know how to market and sell a cruise. I wish I could sell it for them. They have quite a gem on their hands.

It met and surpassed our expectations. If you have any questions feel free to ask away. We just got back a couple of days ago so while it is fresh on my mind I don’t want to bore you with useless banter.

ginger

Thank you for the detailed description of your trip. I certainly sounds like an excellent alternative to a larger ship that only spends one or two days there. Did you do the three day, four day, or seven day trip?

We did the four-day trip. Board on Sunday afternoon and exit on Thursday morning. We thought it was plenty of time. You even see the meeting of the waters Thursday morning. We wished that we had been on the Amazon itself but felt for the time we had this was the way to go.

What a helpful post! It sounds like you had a great trip.

We're planning on taking this trip next spring but were hesitant to book with so little feedback available. I feel much more confident making a booking now.

Did you stay in a hotel in Manaus after your trip? Any recommendations?

We're thinking of flying in the day before just to avoid any possible problems of delayed flights.

Can you tell me where you flew from in the States and what your schedule was like? I've been looking into different options of flying to Manuas, some just seem so complicated with up to 4 flights!

About the excursions.... How were the bugs?? Was water provided? Was the hiking difficult, slippery, muddy? How long did a typical hike last? I'm 43 and in good health but I wonder if I'd hold up well for a couples hours of hiking in a hot jungle.

I read that alcohol was to be consumed in the bar areas only, but you mentioned a mini bar in the cabin. So it is possible to sit on the balcony with a drink and wacth nature go by? It sounds like a great way to spend time between excursions.

Did you use the pool and Jaccuzi? Were they clean and a comfortable temperature?

Thanks for any more information that you can share!! I'll probably have more questions later!

Carol

Hey Carol.

First of all, I would do this trip again in a heartbeat. The boat really is great. I loved that it was small and the rooms were big. (Our bathroom on the ship was bigger than our bathroom at the Doubletree Coconut Grove in Miami, I kid you not.) Also a plus with the balcony (which i didn't sit on enough).

We flew on TAM out of Miami and went to Rio for a few days prior to this cruise. It get anywhere in Brazil on TAM (which we got the best fares on) you have to go through Sao Paulo, which did cause some anxious moments because security in all the Brazil airports was pretty over the top. Lines were long and I think in Manaus we went through at least 10 checks prior to boarding! But even with some tight connection times we didn’t miss a single flight and had all our luggage when we arrived.

So to Manaus we flew Rio to Sao Paulo to Manaus, and we had plenty of time between touchdown in Manaus and the ship departing. (Although only an hour between our Sao Paulo and Manaus flight, and we had to go back through the main check in area of the Sao Paulo airport to change planes which was a NIGHTMARE.)

There is a direct flight on TAM from Manaus to Miami and it isn’t that long of a haul, I think about 3 .5 hours, so we didn’t have to do an overnight flight on the way back, which was such a treat!! I can’t sleep on flights so I hate the overnight trips. If there is a direct flight out of Manaus you may be able to find a direct in as well on TAM.

One last comment on flights: baggage claim. IT TAKES FOREVER. They spit two bags out at a time and there seemed to be about a 5-minute gab between each 2-bag retrieval. It took an hour in Manaus for our bags to finally come out, and by that time our transfer had already left us! I was to the point of tears and the slow pace!

Hotel in Manaus: We didn’t overnight in Manaus but others on our trip stayed at Tropical. We drove through the hotel complex and it is quite large with all the amenities. A couple we spoke to about it didn’t have a bad thing to say about it, but that is all I know about the hotels there.

Drinking: As far as I could tell you could drink anywhere. Top deck has a bar, there is a bar in the all-purpose room, we had cocktails in a common area lounge before dinner one night with some other couples and the bartender even brought us a table out there to put our drinks on. Heck, I even took a beer from my mini bar and walked around the ship with it. So no worries on that.

Hike: Don’t worry about them. The ones we did were VERY easy and inside the jungle it really wasn’t unbearably hot (although the sweat will pour off of you!). I live in Barbados now and am sorta acclimatized to heat, but I didn’t think anyone on the hikes was uncomfortable. You aren’t in the direct sunlight so it really isn’t bad. It felt like strolling though Central Park. J

Water, Water everywhere. They keep a cooler full of bottles of cold water on the tenders so grab one on your way into and out of the hike. The guides make sure you are hydrated.

Bugs: Surprisingly, none of us in my travel party (there were 4 of us) had a single bug bite. They told us that we weren’t in an area for mosquitoes, but of course we sprayed anytime we were out. One evening (I think our last) we couldn’t go on the upper deck outside because of rain flies, but that was the only time I noticed bugs to be a problem. We have more mosquitoes her in Barbados!

We had our Yellow Fever shot before we went and are still taking malaria meds as well. Don’t forget your shots and the malaria meds. We panicked because we had forgotten our inoculation papers that proved we had various shots up to date, and had my father-in-law fax it to us, as I had read somewhere that they check for this in Brazil. But we didn’t see any of that going on and no one even inquired about it either. Just thought I would add this bit of info.

We used the pool and jacuzzi one day and both were very nice. Clean and bug-free, and not many people were using them. What more could you ask for? J

Let me know if I can help further. (I can even recommend a great travel agency we used if needed.)

ginger

Ginger,

Thank you for the enlightening post, and mostly for taking time to get back to us. It was good to hear that you had a wonderful time and we look forward to the same journey later this year.

Happy travels!

I was able to find a TAM flight non-stop to and from Miami. They seem to be the only one's that offer it. And they were less than half the price from United. The United flight had 2 stops, too. Thanks for tip about TAM. Before when I'd look for flights from Chicago to Manaus they had the most awful flight itineraries. But if I look for Chicago to Miami and then Miami to Manaus seperately the prices and schedules are alot better! Now I'll just wait until the time gets a little closer. It's hard to wait so long but at least I know it will be worth it!

Thanks,

Carol

Ginger,

Can you tell me how you arranged for your transfer and who it was with? Were they picking up other people and just decided not to wait?

Carol

Our transfer was arranged by our travel agent and evidently was independent of the ship. We were told that Iberostar does not provide transfers, however they knew about our transfer and made sure the guy came and got us after we were left there. We were lead to believe at the airport that "Iberostar" had already come and gone, but i am not certain that there were any representatives at the airport when we arrived after all since it didn't appear that any of the other guests flew in on that Sunday.

I wish i could be more help. Sorry.

Hi Ginger,

The agency I've been working with has transfers available, either private or group. I thought maybe if I reserved a private transfer they would be less likely to leave without us! If we go with the direct flight from Miami we'll be getting into Manaus around midnight so I'll have to check if transfers are available 24 hours. At least I have plenty of time to work it out!

By the way do you think a dressier sundress would be OK for the Captain's dinner?

Did you or anyone in your group use their laundry service? I'm trying to see if I could get by with carry ons only. Most of my warm weather clothes roll up pretty good and I could wear my long pants and hiking shoes on the plane. It would be so nice to bypass the luggage hassle!

What do you think?

Carol

I will only assume that transfers are 24 hrs a day. But good luck with that. Our transfer was private as well, it appeared to be a car service not a regular taxi.

As a matter of fact we did use the laundry service for pressing and cleaning. Was fast and professional so i would say go for it. I envy you traveling with carry on. . .That would have saved me such angst at the lingering baggage claim.

Hi Ginger,

I was wondering if you would be posting any pictures of your trip. I would love to see some if they are available.

What type of handcrafts were being sold in the village you visited?

Thanks again for taking the time for all of my questions!

Carol

Did you notice if there was an ATM in the Manaus airport?

Did you tip the cruise staff in Reals or Dollars?

Carol

i have some pics that i just need to organize and download. as soon as i do i can let you know how you can see them. i too pics of the room and bathroom on board on purpose so i could share with people who said they would be taking this trip at some point. i will be back in touch when i get these updated.

about the handicrafts at the village it is just basically bracelets and necklaces. i think there was some smallish carved things like small boats, etc. but i didn't really pay that much attention. there wasn't that much available when we were there.

now that you mention it we tipped in us dollars. that's what we had with us. and yes there are a couple of ATM machines at the manaus airport.

think that's it for now. i'll work on those pictures and get back to you.

ginger

Thanks for all of the information!

Carol

To Redcookie and others:

We plan a 4-day Iberostar Grand Amazon trip this year. May you please suggest:

• Cabin location (lower deck is significantly less expensive; is it much worse?)
  
• What is the earliest time for check-in
  
• Are the trips very exhausting for a 50-yo overweight person
  
• Is there any “social life” or do people usually spend time with their own accompanying persons?
  
• Is there anything special (clothes? etc) what we should take with us
  
• Is there any possibility of accessing the internet?
  
• Is Manaus itself worth sideseeing?

Tiger

tiger1mln@yahoo.com

My DH and I are days away from booking the 4 day the travel agency we are with gave us a great price but did not ask about cabin location? do you just get one when you check in???

have never done Latin America so very excited and a little worred abut bugs and getting sick but your review makes me feel that we should go for it..

any other tips??

[Hi. Iread your description of the trip we are booked for dec. however I did not understand your comment about not cruising the amazone we are doing the same trip and We thought that we would be cruising tne Amazone. Also could you tell me if all floors have balconies we are on the middle floor thank you Maddy and jacques supquote=redcookie;10008994]Back from the Iberostar!! LOVED IT.

I will attempt to keep this short but let you know as much as I can.

After a little hiccup with our transfer to the port from the Manaus airport we finally made it to the ship with plenty of time before boarding. It was Sunday so rather than walk around a market across the street from the port entrance (only a few of the stalls were opened) we decided to grab a table and some drinks and wait it out. When we could board there was no line whatsoever. We discover later that there were only 47 people booked on the cruise, my party (two couples), two other couples traveling separately, and a Vantage Travel tour group. So it was a nice small and quiet passage. We were two couples in our late 30s. The tour group was retirement age. We heard the average age outside of the tour groups was 30s and 40s. We had a great time with the people from Vantage, although their tour guide made us feel like outsiders.

Ship’s common areas were very nice and clean. Our room was surprisingly spacious, nice bathroom, nice balcony, mini bar (with soft drinks, water and beer that they will fill up, but I did have to call to get them to do this). We got turndown service every night complete with nice chocolates, fresh towels several times a day. Can’t complain about the room at all.

Food was good in the main dining room. (Didn’t care for the offerings on the top pool deck, don’t waste your time, and the tables on that deck need some work—water damage.) Really nice three square meals. Nice wines at lunch and dinner, great attentive staff. They offer a local fish or meat at dinner. I have to admit I wasn’t wowed buy the lobster at the captain’s dinner. Great hot buffet offerings, soups, salads and desserts. Dress was pretty casual (although no shorts at dinner), even at the captains dinner (our last night, we did the 4-day cruise). A few of the men wore ties that night, but overall a casual tone.

Nice pool, Jacuzzi and loungers.

We had stunning weather. April is the wet season and we only had rain here and there and never during an excursion. We had bright skies and sun. We heard the week before was rain every day!

Excursions: 2-to-3 a day. Two offered in the morning (except for one day) a hike or a boat tour. We chose the hikes each day. Don’t expect to see a lot of wildlife on the hike, but I would recommend them. Learned a lot about the Amazon jungle and plants, trees, etc. But you won’t see birds, monkeys, snakes *smile*, or things like that on the hike. But if you enjoy being surrounded by lush nature then do this in the morning. After the excursion there is a lecture onboard by the guides before lunch. The next excursion is in the late afternoon (4pm) and these are boat rides. Since it is late afternoon it is a perfect time to see wildlife. We saw TONS of birds, a few monkeys and sloths. A plus, we had great views of sunsets. This excursion was a great opportunity for photos. I kept thinking this was their idea of photo-safaris. And while I can’t remember exactly, they might call these excursions photo-safaris. One night after dinner we went on an alligator hunt. While we only saw the red eyes of one large cayman, our guide (Marco, LOVED HIM!!) caught two babies (well one he figured was over a year old and the other was way maybe 2 or 3 years) with his bare hands from our tender. It was pretty amazing. Don’t worry he didn’t harm them but we did get to touch them.

One excursion is a visit to a local village, which is the only option that morning. It is not an opportunity to hand out money to this village (they have electricity, satellite TV) but there is a small market where the women sell handcrafts. You are never felt you have to buy anything, nor does anyone have their hand out. Interesting time to see how they live away from “civilization.”

The guides (we were mainly with Marco and Jefferson) were so great and made the trip! You’ll get to feed pink dolphins, catch piranhas, and just take in the Rio Negro. This trip is on a tributary of the Amazon, and our part was not on the Amazon proper. But because the ship is small we were able to get up close and personal with some amazing scenery. I will never forget the parrots and macaws flying over our heads. They filled the sky.

I will tell you that the cruise director said they have issues with reservations. He has heard stories of people saying that Iberostar will tell you the trip is full when in fact they might sail with only 20 people. We booked though an on-line service (Intelligent Leisure Solutions, which I cannot say enough wonderful things. They booked our trip which included Rio and the service was excellent!!!!! I think this is the way to go.) This is Iberostar’s only ship (they are a hotel chain) and this ship has only been on the water for 2 years. I was under the impression it was at least 5) and the president of the chain evidently loves boats but they don’t know how to market and sell a cruise. I wish I could sell it for them. They have quite a gem on their hands.

It met and surpassed our expectations. If you have any questions feel free to ask away. We just got back a couple of days ago so while it is fresh on my mind I don’t want to bore you with useless banter.

ginger

hi.

I did not understand the fact that you wished you were on the amazone. I thought we were cruising he Amazone.we are booked on the same trip leaving sunday for 4 days.Also do the middle floor have balconies? Could you tell us on what floor you were on? Is it really necessary to get the yellow fever shot and the malaria pills .I hear the malaria pills give side effects thank you very much Maddy and Jacques

We did this cruise in December '08.....

This was the most amazing cruise. The staff was excellent! --- and the tours were fabulous! We cruise a lot on the typical cruise lines (RCCL) and this cruise was beyond my expectations. I give this cruise a double thumbs up. The staff and tour guides were very knowledgeable about the Amazon!

If you ever get the chance to go to the Amazon--don't miss a cruise on the Iberostar Grand Amazon!!

Be aware that this thread was started in 2007. I was on the Amazon from the mouth to Manaus in early Demember, 2009. The river is at its lowest point in 90 years!! The rainy season should have started and perhaps it has gotten better since then, but we were not able to do any excursions that involved any of the tributaries (except getting up the Rio Negro to Manaus).

A bit of information on Amazon River. It is formed by the combination of group of rivers: Solimoes, Negro and others. They meet at Encontro das Águas (Water encounter). After this point the official name of the river is Amazon. Before this point the main river is Solimoes that starts in the Andes in Peru.

This map can help in understanding: http://www.mbarron.net/Amazon/bigmap.htm

As far as I understood from Iberostar website (I have been to Amazon several times, but havent done Iberostar yet, I will do soon) the cruise is on Solimoes and Negro.

You also can check information on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River

Whenever I go to Manaus I stay at Hotel Tropical, but there are other good hotels in town from international chains like Accor.

Besides the jungle, Manaus has some historical sites that can be of some interest and can be visited in one day.

Taking a 7 day cruise in December 2010 and wondering how dressy it is in the evenings - does my husband need a suit?

Taking a 7 day cruise in December 2010 and wondering how dressy it is in the evenings - does my husband need a suit?

How was your trip in December? My DH and I are going on the 7 day trip in May 2011. Any info would be greatly appreciated. We are staying 2 nights at the Tropical. Thanks in advance.

Barb

We went on their 4 night cruise on the Rio Negro, departing from Manaus, in October 2011, and had a great time.

This ship is modern, spacious, and comfortable. The cabins, though small, remind me of those on 5* luxury cruise ships. All cabins have a small balcony. We were on the lowest deck, and I see no reason to pay more for a higher deck.

The highlights of the cruise were the expeditions, 2-3 /day. We went on speedboats for short treks through the rain forest, to see wildlife on smaller canals, to visit a plantation, and to see a recently developed small indigenous village. Guides were overall very good to excellent.

The food, primarily buffet style, was overall very good. There was always something we enjoyed, and plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and salads.

Most of the passengers were Portuguese speakers. The guides all spoke English, with varying degrees of expertise. There was one English speaking group aboard, 21 people with Vantage Tours, who were friendly but filled their own speedboat for the most part. We sat with two lovely German speaking couples who spoke excellent English, and went on most tours with them.

Remember that the Rio Negro(which meets the Rio Solimoes near Manaus, joining to become the Amazon) has relatively little wildlife. You will see birds and caymans, and there is a stop to see pink river dolphins being fed.

If you want to see a lot more wildlife, go to the Pantanal.

Sitting on the upper deck at sunset and sipping a Caipirinha was a lovely way to end the day. All drinks were included in our fare.