Iberostar Heritage Grand Amazon from Manaus, Brazil

[TayanaLorna]

Looking for information about this small boat cruise further up the Amazon from Manaus.  Ship, food, excursions, service, cabins etc.  Anyone who did a blog etc.  I just went through 37 of the 215 pages on SA.   Thanks.

[Lirio]

https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2835697-iberostar-heritage-gran-amazon/#comment-62766560

[TayanaLorna]

Thank you so much.  Your English is great.  What time of year did you travel?  Will we have a problem being English speakers with a little bit of Spanish and very very little Portuguese?

[Lirio]

We traveled in february 2022 during carnival. In this particular cruise we did not identified any english speaking guest as the majority of the guests was brazilians.

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

On 8/6/2022 at 4:13 PM, Lirio said:

We traveled in february 2022 during carnival. In this particular cruise we did not identified any english speaking guest as the majority of the guests was brazilians.

 

 

Thank you for your reply Lirio.  I understand most Iberostar passengers will be Brazilian.  Do many Brazilians speak English as well as Portuguese?

[Lirio]

8 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Thank you for your reply Lirio.  I understand most Iberostar passengers will be Brazilian.  Do many Brazilians speak English as well as Portuguese?

For the guests of the Iberostar I guess that at least they can have a light conversation. 

[TayanaLorna]

16 hours ago, Lirio said:

For the guests of the Iberostar I guess that at least they can have a light conversation. 

Thank you again.  Learning a few words in Portuguese but good to know we can converse with some passengers in English.

[Lirio]

Hello @TayanaLorna how was your trip? Did you manage to do it?

[TayanaLorna]

It was absolutely fantastic.  On our way home now.  Missed connection in Miami due to delay in Brazil.  Will write a lengthy review once home and recovered.

[Lirio]

On 3/8/2023 at 11:34 PM, TayanaLorna said:

It was absolutely fantastic.  On our way home now.  Missed connection in Miami due to delay in Brazil.  Will write a lengthy review once home and recovered.

Where can I find your review?

[TayanaLorna]

10 hours ago, Lirio said:

Where can I find your review?

Lirio.  We have spent the last month processing thousands of our photos from the trip which includes the Iberostar and posting them for our FB friends and family.  I still do plan to write about the Iberostar here on Cruise Critic.  Thanks for the reminder.

[Lirio]

And the rest of your trip as well. It seems you had a wonderful trip with Viking as well.

[TayanaLorna]

Lirio, I began my trip report and have reached the point where our Viking ship entered the Amazon basin.  I am doing it in the Viking Ocean boards and it is called Amazon & Caribbean Adventure, February 2023 Report with Iberostar Grand Amazon River Cruise after Viking.  Its journal style includes excursions we took and some Viking specific info for future cruisers.  If i can figure out how to do it, i will copy a link here.

[TayanaLorna]

I think i did it!

 

 

[JSR]

Fantastic Review, so very helpful. 

I would like to ask some advice about our excursions in the Amazon. We are on a SA Grand Voyage. We are in Santarem twice, and Manaus overnight. On the first night in Manaus we have concert tickets and a GV event afterwards. I am trying to decide if these boat trips are redundant or we should do both. From your experience what do you think?

 

Santarem we can do a Maica Lake boat tour Private

We'll start by seeing the meeting of waters and understanding why the waters do not mix it.
-We'll see some parts of Santarém and learn of its history.
-Around 45 mins later, we'll reach the entrance of Maica, so keep an eye on the water because you might spot dolphins!
-We'll enter Maica and start spotting a variety of birds.
-Once there, we'll get a speedboat and will be able to enter even deeper into Maica where a normal boat cannot go, to spot the animals even closer and to try to find the prehistoric animal Hoatzin!
-After this speedboat tour, we will get back to our original boat and have an Amazonian lunch prepared by our local chef, accompanied by an amazing view of the jungle and the river.
-After lunch we'll go back to Santarem.
 

Manaus we can also do a boat tour The Meeting of the waters
Visit the floating houses communities
Pirarucu " Arapaima" Fishing
Water lilies
Piranhas Fishing
Canoeing though the narrow water ways (when the water is high only!)
Lunch on floating restaurant
Swimming with dolphins
Visit the indigenous community

 

Thank you for your help. Jean

[TayanaLorna]

14 hours ago, JSR said:

Fantastic Review, so very helpful. 

I would like to ask some advice about our excursions in the Amazon. We are on a SA Grand Voyage. We are in Santarem twice, and Manaus overnight. On the first night in Manaus we have concert tickets and a GV event afterwards. I am trying to decide if these boat trips are redundant or we should do both. From your experience what do you think?

 

Santarem we can do a Maica Lake boat tour Private

We'll start by seeing the meeting of waters and understanding why the waters do not mix it.
-We'll see some parts of Santarém and learn of its history.
-Around 45 mins later, we'll reach the entrance of Maica, so keep an eye on the water because you might spot dolphins!
-We'll enter Maica and start spotting a variety of birds.
-Once there, we'll get a speedboat and will be able to enter even deeper into Maica where a normal boat cannot go, to spot the animals even closer and to try to find the prehistoric animal Hoatzin!
-After this speedboat tour, we will get back to our original boat and have an Amazonian lunch prepared by our local chef, accompanied by an amazing view of the jungle and the river.
-After lunch we'll go back to Santarem.
 

Manaus we can also do a boat tour The Meeting of the waters
Visit the floating houses communities
Pirarucu " Arapaima" Fishing
Water lilies
Piranhas Fishing
Canoeing though the narrow water ways (when the water is high only!)
Lunch on floating restaurant
Swimming with dolphins
Visit the indigenous community

 

Thank you for your help. Jean

Thanks for your kind words Jean.  Happy to help.  The first question in my mind is what month is your trip?  I recall our Iberostar guide commenting as we were going through the flooded forests, that where we were would not have been possible in low water a few months ago.  I also recall excursion reviewers complaining that there were few water lillies and the lake was rather dry.  Again due to low water season.

 

If your travels are January-April, taking both excursions would be fantastic.  December its possible depending. 

 

Is the Maica Lake excursion through Gil?  Heard his tours are fantastic.  We did ours on a typical double decker river boat and could only go so far.  Would have been awesome to transfer to smaller vessels and go further.  The Maica Lake region is much closer to a major town and it is totally different then traveling up the Amazon from Manaus.  You will travel along the waterfront of Santarem which is quite interesting and uniquely picturesque.  Its a nice combination of town and traveling to a close but totally different rural area.

 

The trip from Manaus will pass through the Meeting of the Waters whose separation can be viewed clearly from satellite.  You will pass under an impressive bridge and it will take about an hour to reach any of the stops.  It sounds like you will be visiting many of the places we did.  I believe there is only one dolphin (Bota) platform licensed for guests to swim with them - unless they are only taking you to a beach and hoping dolphins show up.  The main lake for seeing the water lillies is where we stopped.  We docked at a floating restaurant with indigenous crafts and from there walked a wooden platform to the lake with lillies.  We did not eat at the restaurant.  There are many places to canoe through the flooded forests and it is amazing.  Pirahana fishing will most likely be there.  Our indigenous village visit was exceptional but no telling if you will be going to same.  Our trip from Manaus was around  4 hours.  We visited the dolphin platform and the village with plenty of time at both places.  The other places we visited were on day excursions from the anchored Iberostar Grand Amazon ship.  The trip back to Manaus was much quicker as we had the help of the current.  This part of the Amazon is different with high bluffs in places where you can really see how the seasonal floods scour its banks.  Your excursion should be 6-8 hours to see all you described.

 

If you are going to a concert in the Teatro Amazonas (Amazon Opera House) I am jealous.  Some day visitors have had the pleasure of hearing an orchestra practicing but we did not.  Enjoy.

 

There is a young travel couple who do UTube videos of their travels.  Their channel is called Jumping Places.  They are from Brazil and travel all over the world.  They did a series of 8 or so videos of traveling by local boat from Manaus to Santerem, Alter do Chao near Santarem, Manaus impressions and several day and multi day trips from Manaus. They are all interesting and show what they see unlike some UTubers who love to talk into the camera showing little scenery.  You might have to search back a year or so for their Amazon series.

 

What cruise line are you using for your Grand Voyage?

 

Happy planning!  Lorna

[JSR]

We are on Silversea Nova. Nova is a new ship about to set sail in a week, large for Silversea with a max capacity of 728.

 

We will be in the Amazon portion of the voyage Feb. 23 - March 3. 

Friday	2/23/2024	Amazon River
Saturday	2/24/2024	Santarem, Brazil		8:00 AM	6:00 PM
Sunday	2/25/2024	Boca Da Valeria, Brazil	T	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
Monday	2/26/2024	Manaus, Brazil		1:00 PM
Tuesday	2/27/2024	Manaus, Brazil			6:00 PM
Wed	2/28/2024	Parintins, Brazil	T	12:00 PM	7:00 PM
Thursday	2/29/2024	Santarem, Brazil		8:00 AM	4:00 PM
Friday	3/1/2024	Amazon River
Saturday	3/2/2024	At sea
Sunday	3/3/2024	Ile Royale, French Guiana	T	8:00 AM	5:30 PM

 

Boca Da Valeria is a maybe for getting of the ship, they may or may not allow tendering depending on the weather etc. My understanding if we can not go ashore, people from the area will board the ship with their wears and some type of interaction. 

Parintins we are doing a pedi- bike tour of the city (the ship arranged for an accessible pedi-bike for me - no idea what that is but I could not pass up finding out) and the Boi Bumba show

Santarem we will probably do the boat tour the first day. The second day I am unsure if my husband and his sister will do the ship tour hike (excursions are included on SS but many are not wheelchair accessible and or they are boring). I may just stay on the ship (I am a paraplegic though quiet active). Or we may do a private tour with hike, where there is a place for me to hang out while they hike. We have not decided whether to use Gil for the boat tour or a fellow on Tours by Locals. 

Manaus we will do the boat tour on the second day. I do not know what time the concert is and I am hesitant to do more then that the first day due to the heat. From what I can see  the Teatro Amazonas performances start around 9 pm. Her is the description of the event: Enjoy stepping back into Brazil’s belle-époque history for a performance in the city’s legendary theatre by the Amazonas Symphony and Choir. First-class canapés, cocktails and champagne will be included.

French Guiana it is a self guided walking/rolling tour of the former penal colony much as you described. 

Thank you for the Youtube recommendation. We will watch we love good travel videos. I just never think to look for them, old school books and google. Maybe I should talk to chatgpt too:-/. I am going to reread your review, it was so good and I was a bit tired when I first read it. 

 

Do you have any clothes recommendations for that leg of our journey. We will not be vaccinated for yellow fever as we are over 60 and never needed it before. Did you have any other specific vaccines? or any other tips? 

Thanks for answering all my questions, it is fun to chat with someone who has done a similar trip. 

Best,

jean

[TayanaLorna]

2 hours ago, JSR said:

We are on Silversea Nova. Nova is a new ship about to set sail in a week, large for Silversea with a max capacity of 728.

 

We will be in the Amazon portion of the voyage Feb. 23 - March 3. 

Friday	2/23/2024	Amazon River
Saturday	2/24/2024	Santarem, Brazil		8:00 AM	6:00 PM
Sunday	2/25/2024	Boca Da Valeria, Brazil	T	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
Monday	2/26/2024	Manaus, Brazil		1:00 PM
Tuesday	2/27/2024	Manaus, Brazil			6:00 PM
Wed	2/28/2024	Parintins, Brazil	T	12:00 PM	7:00 PM
Thursday	2/29/2024	Santarem, Brazil		8:00 AM	4:00 PM
Friday	3/1/2024	Amazon River
Saturday	3/2/2024	At sea
Sunday	3/3/2024	Ile Royale, French Guiana	T	8:00 AM	5:30 PM

 

Boca Da Valeria is a maybe for getting of the ship, they may or may not allow tendering depending on the weather etc. My understanding if we can not go ashore, people from the area will board the ship with their wears and some type of interaction. 

Parintins we are doing a pedi- bike tour of the city (the ship arranged for an accessible pedi-bike for me - no idea what that is but I could not pass up finding out) and the Boi Bumba show

Santarem we will probably do the boat tour the first day. The second day I am unsure if my husband and his sister will do the ship tour hike (excursions are included on SS but many are not wheelchair accessible and or they are boring). I may just stay on the ship (I am a paraplegic though quiet active). Or we may do a private tour with hike, where there is a place for me to hang out while they hike. We have not decided whether to use Gil for the boat tour or a fellow on Tours by Locals. 

Manaus we will do the boat tour on the second day. I do not know what time the concert is and I am hesitant to do more then that the first day due to the heat. From what I can see  the Teatro Amazonas performances start around 9 pm. Her is the description of the event: Enjoy stepping back into Brazil’s belle-époque history for a performance in the city’s legendary theatre by the Amazonas Symphony and Choir. First-class canapés, cocktails and champagne will be included.

French Guiana it is a self guided walking/rolling tour of the former penal colony much as you described. 

Thank you for the Youtube recommendation. We will watch we love good travel videos. I just never think to look for them, old school books and google. Maybe I should talk to chatgpt too:-/. I am going to reread your review, it was so good and I was a bit tired when I first read it. 

 

Do you have any clothes recommendations for that leg of our journey. We will not be vaccinated for yellow fever as we are over 60 and never needed it before. Did you have any other specific vaccines? or any other tips? 

Thanks for answering all my questions, it is fun to chat with someone who has done a similar trip. 

Best,

jean

Hi Jean.  You will be on the Amazon at about the same time we were on the Viking Sea - 930 max passengers but we had around 890.  Would NEVER go on a larger ship but may try a smaller one.  Vikings cruise was San Juan to Manaus or the opposite.  Some people did it back to back to avoid the limited international flight options out of Manaus.  Yours sounds like a very nice itinerary.

 

We have had great luck with Tours by Locals in South America and went over to MUSA in Manaus with a TBL fellow too. The concert sounds beautiful.  The acoustics in the theatre are supposed to be incredible.  If the reception is in the salon on the second floor...Wow...wait until you see it.  I posted some photos but they don't do it justice.

 

Hope the ship is able to stop in French Guiana as choppy waters sometimes makes tendering difficult.  It is where we saw the monkeys very close up.  The path leading to the penal colony buildings is an upward incline, hard packed but not paved.  I think a wheelchair could travel on it. 

 

We never had 90 degree days in the Amazon as the sky was mostly cloudy but the humidity is what gets intolerable.  However all our excursions via boat were delightful due to a nice breeze.

 

We are over 70 and did not get vaccinated for yellow fever.  When going ashore outside a town or on a boat, we wore lightweight, loose long sleeved shirts and long pants.  We sprayed our clothing with deep woods type insect repellent but only once saw mosquitoes when hiking in dense forest.  A wide brimmed hat was helpful and a rain poncho essential.  We brought raincoats and small folding umbrellas but never used them.  We found the cheap plastic rain ponchos worked the best because they covered our camera gear and legs too.  We each had a pair of good binoculars.  Viking provided them but they were more like opera glasses.  Ours are better.  We had lots of US bills in $1.00 and $5.00 denominations as almost everything we purchased from the indigenous tribes on shore was $1.00 or increments of $5.00.  We had BRL also which i got from our local bank before we left but did not really need it.  The locals gave us the exchange rate of BRL$5.00 equaling US$1.00.

 

That's about it.  Clothing for the ship is whatever you like to wear for warm weather or in air conditioning within the dress code for your cruise line.

 

Happy planning for the next 6 months.  Our next trip begins in February for a combination of self guided land trip in Madrid, Umbria region of Italy and Athens with a 2 week cruise Rome to Venice and then Venice to Athens.  Happy to go off season and in cooler weather.