Let's Try This Again - Amazon Explorer Cruise On The Volendam - Tips Anyone?

[SargassoPirate]

My 2020 booking of the Amazon Explorer cruise on the Volendam was cancelled by the virus from China.  Now that HAL has opened the same itinerary for bookings on the Volendam for 2022, I'm ready to try again.  My only other HAL cruise was a transatlantic on the Eurodam several years ago.

 

Any Volendam cruisers out there with tips on the ship or this particular cruise?

Edited September 30, 2021 by SargassoPirate

[Sir PMP]

It's a fabulous trip, done it 4 or 5 times, lots to see, go for it..

[ski ww]

We did it on the Massdam a few years ago and really loved, it was one of our bucket list cruises. Spend a lot of time out on deck to see the sights, i.e. entering & leaving the Amazon, Manaus, the opera house in Manaus and more.  

[SilvertoGold]

Excellent voyage.  Make sure you keep an eye out for all the huge bugs (possibly bats and crickets) that make their way to the ship.  On the Lower Prom walls and up top on the outside decks.  Really a sight to see. Boca de Valaria is one place you should see the pink boto. We spent hours on the Lower Prom watching them play around the ship. The Opera House in Manaus is worth the trip. Parintins is famous for its downpours where you can share an awning on a sidewalk with a frog or two. Enjoy!

[Btimmer]

We did the last voyage of the Volendam up the Amazon in December, 2019 and I did a full blog and an Almost Live thread on Cruise Critic. My daily blog is:  http://www.timmerbrazilplus2019.blogspot.com

 

It's a terrific voyage and one not to be missed even if the ship goes aground (spoiler alert).

[zelker]

For those of you 65+ who have been (or are contemplating going, like us), did you (or will you) get yellow fever vaccine and take antimalarial drugs?  Thx.

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by zelker

[StLouisCruisers]

5 minutes ago, zelker said:

For those of you 65+ who have been (or are contemplating going, like us), did you (or will you) get yellow fever vaccine and take antimalarial drugs?  Thx.

 

 

We hope to go to the Amazon on our Grand Africa late 2022.  In 2018 we did a Grand Voyage on the Prinsendam which stopped in Senegal and The Gambia, so we were advised to get the yellow fever shot and a prescription for an antimalarial drug.  We did both and were over 65.  No reactions to either unless you count a little soreness at the injection site for a couple days, like most vaccinations.  Finding a place that actually had the yellow fever vaccine was the hard part since there was a shortage at about that time.  I haven't checked recently to find out whether things have caught up or not.

[zelker]

4 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

We hope to go to the Amazon on our Grand Africa late 2022.  In 2018 we did a Grand Voyage on the Prinsendam which stopped in Senegal and The Gambia, so we were advised to get the yellow fever shot and a prescription for an antimalarial drug.  We did both and were over 65.  No reactions to either unless you count a little soreness at the injection site for a couple days, like most vaccinations.  Finding a place that actually had the yellow fever vaccine was the hard part since there was a shortage at about that time.  I haven't checked recently to find out whether things have caught up or not.

The Grand Africa cruise goes over to South America to do the Amazon??  Seems a bit out of the way.  

 

I've read for years that those over 65 can have some pretty serious side effects from the Yellow Fever vaccine so that's always been a concern.  I do know there's been a big shortage here in the US for years too but not sure how it looks currently.

 

Thanks.

[AncientWanderer]

17 minutes ago, zelker said:

For those of you 65+ who have been (or are contemplating going, like us), did you (or will you) get yellow fever vaccine and take antimalarial drugs?  Thx.

 

 

Not fun being a bearer of bad news, but....

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/health/yellow-fever-vaccination-martin-gore-death-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

 

Definitely something to discuss with your doctor.

[StLouisCruisers]

Just now, zelker said:

The Grand Africa cruise goes over to South America to do the Amazon??  Seems a bit out of the way.  

 

I've read for years that those over 65 can have some pretty serious side effects from the Yellow Fever vaccine so that's always been a concern.  I do know there's been a big shortage here in the US for years too but not sure how it looks currently.

 

Thanks.

 

You're right!  I have two Grand voyages booked and the Amazon is on the South America of course.  Trying to keep details straight for them and the prior Grand Africa and Med cruise (which we got the yellow fever shots for), has me all twisted up today!  LOL!  Thanks for pointing that out.

[zelker]

1 minute ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Not fun being a bearer of bad news, but....

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/health/yellow-fever-vaccination-martin-gore-death-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

 

Definitely something to discuss with your doctor.

Exactly why I was asking.  

[StLouisCruisers]

2 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Not fun being a bearer of bad news, but....

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/health/yellow-fever-vaccination-martin-gore-death-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

 

Definitely something to discuss with your doctor.

 

That is so sad!  What a big loss he will be.  They do say in the article that severe reactions are extremely rare, but still, you never know who will have that reaction.  We are very healthy so our doctor didn't object.  

 

I remember having to sign tons of paperwork where they continually stress reactions can occur including death.  Scary!

[AncientWanderer]

Just now, zelker said:

Exactly why I was asking.  

 

I know.  And I always highlight this to really encourage younger people to go ahead and get their shots.  I regret that we did not, and there are places now where we simply cannot go.  For us, not worth the risk.  (We're both in reasonably good health, but not perfect.)

[Btimmer]

59 minutes ago, zelker said:

For those of you 65+ who have been (or are contemplating going, like us), did you (or will you) get yellow fever vaccine and take antimalarial drugs?  Thx.

 

We didn't do either; and for us, we would not get them if we were doing the trip again. 

DISCLAIMER:  I am not a doctor nor against vaccines and the above is not medical advice.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Btimmer

[KirkNC]

We did an Amazon cruise in 2015 on the Maasdam.  We throughly enjoyed it.  It’s quite different then most other cruises.  We did get the yellow fever and take malaria medication but we’re in our 50’s at the time.  

[zelker]

37 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

We did an Amazon cruise in 2015 on the Maasdam.  We throughly enjoyed it.  It’s quite different then most other cruises.  We did get the yellow fever and take malaria medication but we’re in our 50’s at the time.  

Coulda, shoulda, woulda for us ... but that ship has sailed (being in our 50's 😄).  IF our HAL South Pacific cruise in February were to get cancelled, we're looking at Viking's RT Amazon cruise out of San Juan for about the same time period as an option.  We'd be ok taking malaria meds I think (never have yet and we've been places we probably should have but nothing quite this deep into a jungle/rain forest area) and will have to discuss YFV with our docs.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, KirkNC said:

We did an Amazon cruise in 2015 on the Maasdam.  We throughly enjoyed it.  It’s quite different then most other cruises.  We did get the yellow fever and take malaria medication but we’re in our 50’s at the time.  

 

My experience was when I was 61 on the original Royal Princess.  I had the Yellow Fever vaccination and took the malaria medicine recommended for the time we were in the area.  No issues with the vaccination, but, a fellow guest in the stateroom next to mine informed me that I was loudly hallucinating one night that was, my PCP, thinks was due to the malaria medication.  I have no memory of that incident if it did take place.  

 

Boca de Valeria, the Opera House in Manaus, a night time small boat trip through the rain forest from Manaus where one can hear the sounds of the creatures of the rain forest after dark and maybe have your boat operator capture a small crocodile bringing the creature into your boat and allowing you to hold it.  Great experiences.  Booked a tour to go fishing for Piranha that left from a port on the Amazon, but that had to be cancelled because we arrived at the port too late for the tour to go. 

 

Watching the sea/river waters change colors as Royal Princess transitioned from the Atlantic Ocean into the Amazon was memorable.  

 

An Amazon River cruise offers a unique cruise experience.  

[SargassoPirate]

3 hours ago, zelker said:

For those of you 65+ who have been (or are contemplating going, like us), did you (or will you) get yellow fever vaccine and take antimalarial drugs?  Thx.

 

 

I checked the vaccines that I'll need and I'll take all of the ones without government microchips and the ones that don't magnetize me.  Better yet, I'll just take a big jar of horse de-wormer pills and avoid the vaccines.😵

 

Seriously though, I had every vaccine known to man in the past for international travel and will roll up my sleeves and drop my drawers for whatever the travel clinic doctor recommends for this trip.

 

 

[Sir PMP]

4 hours ago, KirkNC said:

We did an Amazon cruise in 2015 on the Maasdam.  We throughly enjoyed it.  It’s quite different then most other cruises.  We did get the yellow fever and take malaria medication but we’re in our 50’s at the time.  

You just gave your age away☺️..

[Sir PMP]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

I checked the vaccines that I'll need and I'll take all of the ones without government microchips and the ones that don't magnetize me.  Better yet, I'll just take a big jar of horse de-wormer pills and avoid the vaccines.😵

 

Seriously though, I had every vaccine known to man in the past for international travel and will roll up my sleeves and drop my drawers for whatever the travel clinic doctor recommends for this trip.

 

 

Don't go overboard..

[SilvertoGold]

Our understanding is that one yellow fever shot is now considered to be good for life.  A booster shot, we were told, was not needed at 10 years out.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by SilvertoGold

[J&Dhighdesert]

Both my husband and I  took the yellow fever shot.  We didn’t have any side effects.  We got our shot at a military base. We took this cruise on recommendations from table mates.  

[SargassoPirate]

9 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

Don't go overboard..

 

Piranhas

[ski ww]

We were on a different cruise were yellow fever shots were mandatory and people that couldn't show proof of vaccination on boarding were denied boarding. One couple flew all the way from Australia had to go home again.

[Loreto]

19 hours ago, zelker said:

For those of you 65+ who have been (or are contemplating going, like us), did you (or will you) get yellow fever vaccine and take antimalarial drugs?  Thx.

 

We were vaccinated in 2013.  When we returned in Dec 2019 we didn’t. need it again nor did we have to take Malarone antimalarial drugs this time.

it is a fabulous itinerary and we would do it again we are mid 70s loved the Volendam in  a Neptune Suite for our50th anniversary.

Karen