amazon river cruises on princess

[zaandam_2]

Hi all. I’m considering an Amazon River cruise on the Royal Princess in February and I have some questions. My TA is having trouble getting information from princess, so I though I’d ask the experts.

This cruise leaves Manaus, Brazil and ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The TA says there is a ‘forced overnight’ in FLL and then a charter flight to Manaus the next day. Has this been your experience? Did you have to use a ‘princess’ hotel or could you book your own? How was the charter? What time did you actually arrive in Manaus?

I know I need a visa for Brazil and yellow-fever vaccinations. Any other considerations?

[shellbeachjim]

This cruise leaves Manaus, Brazil and ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The TA says there is a ‘forced overnight’ in FLL and then a charter flight to Manaus the next day. Has this been your experience? Did you have to use a ‘princess’ hotel or could you book your own? How was the charter? What time did you actually arrive in Manaus?

We were on the old Royal Princess leaving from Manaus in April 2005. Yes there was a forced overnight in FLL - it was at the Marriott North. The hotel was fine for its purpose. It did have free wireless internet which was nice. We checked our bags for the flight and cruise at the hotel, so be prepared to have a change of clothes with your carry-on. Because the check-in is at the hotel, you're probably better off staying at the hotel Princess uses.

 

The flight was on World Airways. There were 2 charter flights separated by a couple of hours. Those travelling from the east coast were on the earlier flight. Those of us from the west coast were on the later flight. I have no idea what geographic border they use to distinguish east and west. ;) Our flight was absolutely packed, including a screaming, claustrophobic woman prior to the flight leaving. She eventually calmed down. The flight took about 5 hours. We arrived in Manaus in the evening. The passengers from the previous cruise were waiting at the airport for the plane to be cleaned up and fueled so they could return back to FLL.

 

The new Royal Princess is slightly more than half the size of the old Royal Princess so I don't know how many charter flights they'll use for your cruise.

 

I hope this helps. The Amazon is incredible - an absolute "must see".

[crusdiva]

shellbeachjim,

Thank you so much for the great information.

 

zaandam_2,

Here's another thread about this cruise that I have saved for future reference. It has some great info too.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=565819

[zaandam_2]

shwllbeachjim and crusdiva - thanks for the great info. at this point i have a cabin on a courtesy hold. can't think of any reason to not book it.

[Blackrobe]

This cruise leaves Manaus, Brazil and ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The TA says there is a ‘forced overnight’ in FLL and then a charter flight to Manaus the next day. Has this been your experience? Did you have to use a ‘princess’ hotel or could you book your own? How was the charter? What time did you actually arrive in Manaus?

Basically, I reiterate what shellbeachjim has written. We took this cruise from San Juan to Manaus this past January. Charter flights are used because of the difficulty in making your own flight plans. Most everything flies through Sao Paulo which is much further south. Princess used Omni Air for our charter and packed everyone in like sardines. It was one of the tightest seat arrangements for a US based carrier that I have flown on.

 

For traveling down, I would again concur with shellbeachjim regarding the hotel. I think it is to your advantage to gather with the rest of the cruisers rather than to try and meet up after making your own overnight arrangements. I wouldn't even consider flying in on the day of departure what with weather, overcrowded flights and limited space on alternate connections.

 

We flew out of Manaus at 6:00 p.m. so I would expect that you arrive in Manaus earlier to mid afternoon.

 

If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer them.

[Pam in CA]

I was on the same cruise as Jim and concur with Blackrobe to not attempt to book your own flights and hotel. There are very, very few flights from the U.S. directly to Manaus, if any, and they tend to be expensive. If you're planning a pre-cruise in Rio or Sao Paulo, then that's different. As for the hotel, when we arrived, we found that the time for the flight had changed and if you've made your own hotel reservation, you might miss that information.

 

Also, as Jim said, you check your luggage the afternoon you arrive at the hotel. This is your cruise luggage, not your carry-on, and you won't see it again until you reach your cabin. You also check in for your cruise at the same time and receive your cruise card so it really does made sense to just go with the Princess hotel. They also make sure your visa is valid. Believe it or not, at least 6 - 8 people on our cruise did not have valid visas and had to be rushed to the Brazilian Consulate in Miami to fix that. Don't know how they made out.

 

Also as Jim said, there were two flights. My flight was at about 8AM which with the time change, got us into Manaus at about 1:30PM. We were on the ship at about 3:30PM, maybe a little later. The later flight left FLL at about 1PM and the folks arrived on the ship around 6:30 - 7PM. I remember it wasn't much before late traditional dinner.

 

The first night, dinner is open seating, you could sit where you wanted.

[MercedMike]

We loved that cruise!

 

Check out our trip report and pics at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/royalprincess.html

 

Yes, you need to overnight in FLL and catch the charter flight the next morning. We are usually on independent air but this time it is just easier to let Princess do it. The charter flight was, like most charters, basically miserable. They nagged and nagged about limiting carryons and then let everybody carry on all sorts of junk so there was basically no space for anything. But it is just the price you pay for a wonderful cruise!

 

I know you are going to enjoy this trip. Have a GREAT cruise!

[Nana G]

We are booked on the Pacific Princess for April 2009, I am so excited already and can't read enough about this. Keep the posts coming! We booked this while aboard the Golden and the future cruise rep did a great deal of explaining. because of all the details, we booked air thru Princess and are awaiting the hotel in Fll to be announced. Would not think of booking hotel on our own this time.

Melody

[ssbeagle]

Hi all. I’m considering an Amazon River cruise on the Royal Princess in February and I have some questions. My TA is having trouble getting information from princess, so I though I’d ask the experts.

This cruise leaves Manaus, Brazil and ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The TA says there is a ‘forced overnight’ in FLL and then a charter flight to Manaus the next day. Has this been your experience? Did you have to use a ‘princess’ hotel or could you book your own? How was the charter? What time did you actually arrive in Manaus?

I know I need a visa for Brazil and yellow-fever vaccinations. Any other considerations?

 

We did this cruise on the old Royal Princess and flew to Fort Lauderdale for an overnight at the Marriott. It was a nice hotel about 15 minutes from the port. The busses Princess used for transfers were comfortable. The charter flight we were on was American Trans Air (ATA). They had at least 3 flights back then. We needed Typhoid shots and visas. Yellow fever was not required. We had good flights and good hotels through Princess. It took a while to get through customs when we landed in Manaus. but once through it didn't take long to get to the ship.

 

If you do a jungle trek make sure you bring something with long sleeves and long pants as well as good walking shoes. Also need to bring bug spray. We loved it and I wouldn't mind doing that cruise again.

[Pam in CA]

We booked this while aboard the Golden and the future cruise rep did a great deal of explaining. because of all the details, we booked air thru Princess and are awaiting the hotel in Fll to be announced.

I've done the (old) Royal Princess out of Manaus a couple of times and both times, they used nice hotels to stay at. I believe the first time, we were at a Sheraton. This last time at the Marriott. You're not going to be put in a Motel 6. :)

[Crowsie]

We did Buenos Aires to Manaus a few years back on the old Royal...too bad Princess no longer has that itinerary as we got to see Rio, as well.

 

Can't answer your flight questions but can tell you that the sail down the Amazon is incredible. Really fun to see the meeting of the waters. If you into animals, there are great excursions to see the wildlife.

 

As for bug spray, go with the heavy-duty stuff. We use Ultrathon, a 3M product developed for the military. If even keeps away those nasty, biting black flies we get in lake country here in MN.

 

Humidity is also really high...rivals Singapore and Thailand. We had to keep our video cam out on the balcony because everytime we brought it from the cabin to the balcony to take movies the lens would fog up!

 

Also...the bugs on board at night were...well...big enough to snatch up a small dog. Being topside at night was an adventure...you'd have to watch where you walked as the decks were covered with bugs attracted by the ship's lights. But...the crew was amazing...by the time you wake up there was no sign of a bug anywhere...they must work 24x7 to keep the decks clear. Oh....and when we'd go out onto the balcony at night we'd have to make sure and keep the cabin light OFF before we opened the door to keep the bugs from entering the cabin. :eek:

 

Not trying to scare you...just let you know that this is not your average warm weather cruise. It was one of our favorites...and makes for great talking points at your next cocktail party!

 

On another note...I believe you can't donate blood for 12 months once you've been to a malaria/yellow fever area

[zaandam_2]

crowsie - :eek: i hate bugs. LOL. i like muskol for my bug spray.

 

thanks to everyone for the tips. i finalized the booking today. i won't be using their hotel because i'm a smoker (yeah, i know) so i need a smoking hotel room. there's a little hotel on the intercostal waterway i prefer when i'm in FLL anyway. the cruiselines hote was $188 and i know i can do better.

 

anyone need any luggage? :D