Amazon

[Denisern2]

Are there any other lines besides Princess that do the Amazon? Just liketo compare and am having a hard time finding info.

[karenanne]

Hi Denise,

My DH and I will be sailing on HAL's Prinsendam next Nov. It's a 14 day trip down the Amazon, RT Ft Lauderdale.

[jotabecu]

We will be taking HAL Veendam March 18 Rio to Ft Lauderdale.

 

Also Oceania Regatta has a trip in March out of Miami.

 

You can also check Seabourn and Voyages of Discovery.

 

Enjoy!!!

[barante]

If you compare prices, you will agree that my next cruise, HAL Veendam's 28-day jaunt from Rio to Manaus and then on to Fort Lauderdale, is a bargain. Also, HAL won't offer this itinerary in 2012, and a similar itinerary on the Prinsendam is twice as expensive.

An extra bonus is that you board the ship the day before sailing in Rio, therefore sailing hotel and meals for one day. The ship stops in nearly a dozen Brazilian ports, Devil's Island, Barbados, etc. This one is for the memory books.

[Fattony]

We live in Brazil (Fortaleza). I've heard from some that sailing up and then back down the Amazon can get a tad monotonous, especially on a large ship, which must often stay near the center of the channel (though I would be even less inclinced to take some of the smaller boats, with very rudimentary cabins or just hammocks on the desk). Don't expect to see much from the ship at most places. Your ports of call could well be a different matter. And for some just seeing the famous river is itself an objective. The cruise ships that do the Amazon are usually not the larger of the line's ships, so when you hit the open sea there could be a disadvantage if you're prone to seasickness. That would be a disadvantage for me, but not for my wife.

 

If you don't find a cruise you like that goes up the Amazon, but do find one that starts or ends in Rio or Santos (a big if), you could consider flying from there directly to Manaus, which is the center of the largest number of Amazon jungle cruises (the 1-3 day variety), eco-lodges, etc. My late mother and a friend took a combination boat and jungle lodge tour out of Manaus a few years ago and loved it. You'll see more of the famous Amazon forest there than you will downstream. But, all in all, the Amazon is still not the place for wildlife viewing (forest is too thick, for one thing). The place for wildlife viewing in Brazil is the Pantanal, wetlands area near Bolivia, but that's a heck of a long ways from any cruise ship port (even tougher to get to than Manaus). If you just want to see the Amazon, there are non-stop flights to Manaus from Miami and Atlanta. The city of Belem, closer to the river's mouth, is a pleasant place to visit, and there are some jungle tours, but all in all I think that if you want to see the Amazon, you'll want to get at least as far as Manaus.

[dfb]

RSSC has 2 Amazon cruises on the schedule.

http://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR110302/itinerary.aspx

http://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR120225/itinerary.aspx