Amazon Cruise

[alwaysonaship]

Has anyone done the Amazon cruise from Manaus to Miami? Really curious what you thought. 

[dalliowner]

Really loved this cruise , do not miss the Amazon floor show. The worst part was actually getting to Manaus  from the UK  and arriving in heavy rain.

[scottie920]

15 minutes ago, dalliowner said:

Really loved this cruise , do not miss the Amazon floor show. The worst part was actually getting to Manaus  from the UK  and arriving in heavy rain.

Morning John,

we are thinking of this cruise April 2020. Would love to hear about highs and lows.

thanks.

[Mauzac]

I shall watch this thread because we are booked on this cruise next April.  

24 minutes ago, dalliowner said:

Really loved this cruise , do not miss the Amazon floor show. The worst part was actually getting to Manaus  from the UK  and arriving in heavy rain.

 

Yes, it's a bit of a nightmare journey to Manaus... two changes and no easy way of doing it.  

[dalliowner]

1 hour ago, scottie920 said:

Morning John,

we are thinking of this cruise April 2020. Would love to hear about highs and lows.

thanks.

 First the lows  12 hour flight to San Paolo  ( lights and entertainment system failed  after 4 hours)  Changed flights  to Manaus  had to go through custom with queues  every where. 4 hour flight to Manaus  worst airline ever been on. booked buisiness class to be told no business class on this flight but could use my ticket for economy . Then on flight, food was a roll thrown by the hostess along the seats with a choice of drinks ,water or orange juice. Got to Manaus during a rain storm and the luggage was left on open trucks from plane to terminal.  Let me say none of this was Seabourns fault.

Got soaked  from port terminal to ship , no covered walkway and when we got on the ships the luggage took to 6 pm to arrive in cabin so waited 4 hours in dressing gowns waiting to change clothes whilst the announcements to come and meet the staff. (Seabourns fault )

Now the highs.

Ship was great , sailing up the Amazon an experience will never forget , did zodiac trips up tributaries and the high lite the complimentary  amazon dance show , I think it is in Parintins , get there early and  get a seat at the front.unbelievable.

To end with  devils island and Barbados more relaxing to end your cruise in the best way.

 So our journey out was a nightmare but was soon forgotten when on the ship.

 

Would advise anybody to take this trip. 

[scottie920]

Trip sounds a nightmare. I would book business but you say domestic flight doesn’t have business? Ho long was your lay over in São Paulo. I assume you arrange flights through Seabourn? Did they offer any assistance (as discussed previous post).

did you need yellow fever for the trip?

[plane7c]

I am booked on the April 5  2020 cruise from Manaus to Miami.  The first Seabourn air arrangement had me fly from Newark to Miami on April 3 then Miami to Manaus arriving at 12:10 a.m. the morning of April 4.  The cruise starts on April 5 so I asked what I was supposed to do until then.  Seabourn booked me in a superior room at the Quality Hotel in Manaus for $589.  I objected to those arrangements.  The second Seabourn air arrangement has me fly from Newark to Miami on April 4 and then from Miami to Manaus overnight arriving in Manaus on April 5 at 7:45 a.m. Group transfer from airport to ship.  

When I booked this cruise on August 1, Seabourn told me I needed a visa to enter Brazil but I informed them that as of June 17, 2019, US citizens no longer need a visa to visit Brazil.  Seabourn then confirmed that was so.  I am concerned about having to get a Yellow Fever vaccination for Devils Island.  Would those of you who have taken this cruise tell me about that?

Looking forward to sailing on the Amazon river and thanks for recommending the Amazon dance show. 

[dalliowner]

scotti 920

 

On this occasion I booked my own flights so it was not Seabourn responsibility but it would have made no difference, I think the hold over in Sao Paulo  was three or four hours but rthis was needed. You  have to take an internal flight to Manaus and I checked what the best airline was , I hate to think what the others were like. you can fly UK to Miami and  Miami to Manaus but when we checked the times meant an overnight stay in Miami but it could have changed.

 

Plane 7c

 

We had to have yellow fever jab , the problem is not Devils Island there are no customs there ,but places like Barbados  who insisted as you had sailed from that area.

 

Hope this helps

 

john

[scottie920]

1 hour ago, dalliowner said:

scotti 920

 

On this occasion I booked my own flights so it was not Seabourn responsibility but it would have made no difference, I think the hold over in Sao Paulo  was three or four hours but rthis was needed. You  have to take an internal flight to Manaus and I checked what the best airline was , I hate to think what the others were like. you can fly UK to Miami and  Miami to Manaus but when we checked the times meant an overnight stay in Miami but it could have changed.

 

Plane 7c

 

We had to have yellow fever jab , the problem is not Devils Island there are no customs there ,but places like Barbados  who insisted as you had sailed from that area.

 

Hope this helps

 

john

Thank you very much. Given me lots to think about. 

[Mauzac]

We are flying from UK to Schipol, Amsterdam, change, then on to Pinto Martins Brazil, change and on to Manaus.  Bit of a nightmare journey but it will be worth it when we board that ship!  

[alwaysonaship]

Thanks for the feedback, the flight really looks like a nightmare. April is the month we can go with friends, and didn’t find much that we were interested in. 

[alwaysonaship]

Found some decent flights on Delta, May reconsider. Thank you the feedback. 

[sunshineocean13]

We did the Manaus to Monaco itinerary in March of 2018, and loved the Amazon portion. Yes, getting to Manaus was a pain. We spent two nights in the Hotel Villa Amazonia before the cruise, and enjoyed walking around, seeing the Opera House, spending time watching fishing boats selling their catch, people watching, as well as a Seabourn excursion to a village and rubber plantation. We loved kayaking on the Amazon as well as the zodiac trips. All were worthwhile. Yes, don't miss the free Boi Bumba show in Paretins. Amazing! We did the zodiac to Devils Island, and liked the tour through the ruins (especially after rewatching the movie Papillon). We got the yellow fever waiver, and had no problems with mosquitoes. We did wear insect shield clothing as well as using insect repellant lotion with Picaridin. It was a great trip!

[Mauzac]

11 hours ago, sunshineocean13 said:

We did the Manaus to Monaco itinerary in March of 2018, and loved the Amazon portion. Yes, getting to Manaus was a pain. We spent two nights in the Hotel Villa Amazonia before the cruise, and enjoyed walking around, seeing the Opera House, spending time watching fishing boats selling their catch, people watching, as well as a Seabourn excursion to a village and rubber plantation. We loved kayaking on the Amazon as well as the zodiac trips. All were worthwhile. Yes, don't miss the free Boi Bumba show in Paretins. Amazing! We did the zodiac to Devils Island, and liked the tour through the ruins (especially after rewatching the movie Papillon). We got the yellow fever waiver, and had no problems with mosquitoes. We did wear insect shield clothing as well as using insect repellant lotion with Picaridin. It was a great trip!

 

We are on this cruise and I looked at the Boi Bumba show.  It is $99 per person.  A lot of money for 1.5 hours. 

 

I had heard it was free at one point, but not now!  

 

 

[Haworth]

We did this as the final part of a 7 week retirement tour round parts of S America, as a consequence we flew from Lima to Manaus via Panama, that option worked well for us, it is worth staying a few days in Manaus so that you can visit the opera house, the market designed by Gustave Eiffel (tower fame) and to do a river cruise to see the pink dolphins.

 

We were slightly disappointed by some of the trip as we expected to see more wild life and some of the excursions were poorly organised and in one case dangerous due to a couple of passengers whose mobility difficulties during a rain forest walk caused the group to splinter with one local guide with the larger group and the other with the said 2 passengers.

 

Devils Island and the other islands were very enjoyable.

 

As a last thought check out the exact requirements for inoculations, especially yellow fever and malaria treatment

[galeforce9]

5 hours ago, Mauzac said:

 

We are on this cruise and I looked at the Boi Bumba show.  It is $99 per person.  A lot of money for 1.5 hours. 

 

I had heard it was free at one point, but not now!  

 

 

But an absolute bargain compared to the  outrageous prices of most Seabourn trips nowadays 

[Mauzac]

6 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

But an absolute bargain compared to the  outrageous prices of most Seabourn trips nowadays 

 

Maybe.. but having been in Rio at carnival time, I wonder if it's something we need to do.  🙂 

[sunshineocean13]

7 hours ago, Mauzac said:

 

We are on this cruise and I looked at the Boi Bumba show.  It is $99 per person.  A lot of money for 1.5 hours. 

 

I had heard it was free at one point, but not now!  

 

 

It was free when we did it, and we were very surprised at the quality of the show. Too bad they're charging for it now - that would make it a more difficult choice.

[2SailingNomads]

We did this back in 2013, before they had zodiac tours, etc.  The cruise itself was very good, it is cool to experience something you read / learned about as a kid in school and never thought you would experience.  You can, at least back then, go for hours without seeing any signs of civilization along the banks of the river.  Expect hot and very humid weather when on the Amazon.  On that cruise we stopped at Devils Island and Jost Van Dyke, don't recall any other ports, but it was 6 years ago. 

 

Getting to Manaus was a nightmare for us, we flew thru Dallas (one of the worst IMO places to connect thru) and our AA (the worst of the US major airlines again IMO) flight was repeatedly delayed to MIA and when we finally arrived we had missed the flight to Manaus by about 30 minutes, despite originally having had a many hour layover in MIA.  Since there was only 1 flight per day to Manaus we had to overnight in MIA, which was the night of multiple major sporting events including the NCAA Final 4.  As a result almost of the hotel rooms were sold out.  AA customer service was abysmal, we waited on a line for close to 3 hours to get rebooked, food vouchers and try to get a hotel room.  (I actually overheard someone saying they had found a hotel with a couple of rooms left so I ran and called them and booked what turned out to be the last room and paid for it myself instead of waiting even longer for AA to try to find us something.) Seems like most of the posters here all had bad experiences getting to Manaus.  Then there is the issue of where to stay, at least in 2013 there were not a lot of decent choices, we stayed at the top rated B&B and while the people were very nice, and did not charge us for the missed night, the room itself left a lot to be desired - particularly as regards cleanliness - the whole place was dirty.  People we met on the ship stayed at the Seabourn recommended hotel but did not think much of it.        

 

I think the take away is be prepared for a not good travel experience if starting in Manaus but the cruise itself was worth it.  We actually were discussing not too long ago redoing it, but starting with the prior segment leaving from Buenos Aires.   

[dalliowner]

It was free when we did it , but it would be  a shame to do the trip without seeing it. We still talk about it now.

[tsavorite]

The Boi Bumba show in Paritins is rather different to the experience of carnival in Rio.  It is a very small town in the middle of nowhere.  The show (which is developed each year from the local Boi Bumba at carnival time) is delivered by locals in the local community centre.  You are right in the heart of the action, close up to the performers, and able to appreciate the quality of the dancing and the costumes and scenery. One of my travelling companions said it was the best excursion he had ever been on.  

[Cru Doll]

We sailed the Manaus to Miami 16 day segment several years ago on one of the Little Sisters. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  We flew direct from Miami without incident.  It was the first two weeks of March, during the dry season.  We had no rain, and to our surprise, we never saw a bug.   It is a very special experience, absolutely worth the travel to reach Manaus. 

My memory of the yellow fever shots and the visas is that both were quite expensive.  

[2SailingNomads]

Yes the Brazilian visa was expensive, but is good for 10 years, and we had to send (or take in my case) our passports to the consulate and leave them there for a week or so while the visa was processed.   

[Fred arbuthnot]

US citizens no longer need a visa to enter Brazil.

[tinkky]

Im thinking of doing this cruise but yes having trouble getting to Manaus most flights arriving 230 am  from US.

just wondering if its worth the trouble,