Review of Amazon Adventures Cruise

[A Knitter]

Amazon Adventures Cruise

I always find that if I am able to travel on a cruise as a solo guest, I am fortunate enough to be blessed with the finances to do so. Although I do not like to complain, there were a few disappointments, some under the control of Oceania and others beyond their control. This is my third Oceania cruise. My first was in 2006 to South America on the Insignia, second 2007 to Europe on Regatta, Mediterranean Tapestry and this itinerary to the Amazon. Have been on many other cruise lines and always gravitate back to Oceania. In my opinion Oceania continued to live up to our expectations of service. We had a great cruise critic roll call group and ate at the specialty restaurants on more than one ocassion as a big group. I truly enjoyed meeting everyone.

Embarkation went slower than expected. Maybe because we got on in Miami and due to the H1N1 virus nationwide, we had to complete a questionnaire which slowed things a bit.

We learned the first day that due to refueling problems, we would not be going to Tobago and instead Port of Spain in Trinidad.

Cabin

I had an aft cabin 8066. Although I rely on the movement of the ship to rock me to sleep, I woke up several times as if someone was performing an exorcism, LOL. Once we got to the Amazon, which looked like chocolate pudding, it was smooth sailing. Word to the wise, keep your balcony door closed while entering and until you leave the Amazon. I saw bugs I never knew existed. Some bugs were so big, they needed supervision. There was some noise above in Tapas when they rearranged the tables and chairs, but nothing that would prevent me from getting the same cabin again.

St. Croix was interesting. I had hooked up with Big John’s Taxi Service to take me around in Fredericksted since I had some ancestry to do in the City. They came highly recommended by another member. I picked up two other cruise critic members once I was done and we headed to Christiansted for lunch at the Rumrunner’s restaurant which was very good.

Most of the passengers I spoke to were not too impressed with the Crucan Rum Factory. FYI, you can pick up the same rum in the grocery store for half of the price. $14.00 as opposed to $25.00. We purchased other items and spirits to bring back to the ship. Oceania allowed liquor and soft drinks onboard without hesitation.

St. Barts.

Anchored into town, within walking distance. An internet café nearby very reasonable and took US dollars. Stores very expensive. A mini Rodeo Drive. Louis Vuitton comes to mind along with many upscale stores that carry Gucci and Prada.

St. Lucia.

We had a tour with John from Serenity Tours. There wasn’t enough time to complete some of the things I had planned to do. I will recommend them but make sure you are adamant as to where you want to go and not where they want to take you. The lunch was good, but I would have preferred more time near the Port. There were cold drinks and beer onboard. The Batik factory was disappointing from many years ago when I visited. I was a little shocked when a couple on our tour wanted to pay them with a personal check. They brought no cash thinking I would pay for the tour since the tour reservation had been confirmed with my credit card and they would pay me with a personal check. I don’t think so. Serenity Tours took their credit card but charged 3% for the transaction. I am told they did not leave a tip even after returning to a restaurant to retrieve her purse she left behind.

Trinidad/Port of Spain. Since I was unable to get Batik in St. Lucia, I was able to find a fabric store. Lots of shops, Lots of people as well. Internet cafes available. US dollars also welcome. You can walk to the downtown area from the Dock.

Santarem

After cruising the Amazon River, we finally arrived in Santarem 3 hours later than expected. We arrived on a Catholic Holiday and the majority of the stores were closed. There were kiosks everywhere with Carnival items. The internet café was down. If another ship is in port, they might provide free shuttle transportation which Oceania did not. It is a long walk even though the Currents indicate it is within walking distance. Not so. A taxi ride will cost 3.00 each way. Not much to rave about at this Port.

Boca Da Valeria in Brazil was one of the highlights of this cruise. A small village. Natives dress in their customary costumes and the children are just adorable. Bring a ton of one dollar bills. I also brought lipsticks and eye shadows that we women get in promotions that are never our color. The young teen girls loved them better than the US dollar. The money you pay to take a picture with the young girls or boys goes immediately to the parents so if you can bring toys from the dollar store, it is something they can have just for themselves. One of our cruise mates brought a Xmas ornament for a young girl and the expression on her face was priceless. For $5.00, you can take a canoe ride down the river into their village. I really enjoyed this Port. A word of caution though, one passenger was pick pocketed. Little kids will meet you at the tender dock and escort you into town by holding your hand. The kids for the most part do not hassle you or beg but hover around you. If you are looking for native animals on the island, several of us came to the conclusion that most of them were captured by the children for picture taking. My favorite was the Sloths.

Manaus. Due to the weather and water level, we were unable to do a small boat ride. We had scheduled a tour of 4 of us. Several small tours had to regroup and about 12 of us went on a tour in a larger boat. Now I have to mention that it is very important to pick your tour mates well. Two of mine scheduled for a small tour of 4, the ones with the personal check were outraged that due to circumstances beyond my control and left to the heavens above, were very angry and opted out of the tour which we were all grateful for. The remainder of our group had a wonderful time. Things have a way of working out. It rained; we were wet, but had a great time. It is a 30 minute trek through the rain forest to get to the lake. Bring disposable rain boot covers and/or an extra pair of old shoes as they do get ruined. Kids will wash your shoes after the hike so bring dollar bills. He took us to several small villages which absolutely gives you the feel of what it is like in the Amazon. Also bring the disposable raincoats that you can get at the dollar store. Later that evening 14 of us had reservations at the Gaucho Churrascaria Restaurant in Manaus. $$ worth spent. The restaurant will pick you up and bring you back. Conrado, our tour guide stayed with us the entire time. We bought his dinner. A small price to pay for an escorted safe return. Approx. $60.00 per person US. Highly recommended. The Caprinha’s a Brazilian cocktail were to die for. The best I had had. Conrado of www.amazonriders.com was our tour guide..

The second day in Manaus two of us got an early start and went to the fish market around 6 am. It was great to see the boats come in with the fish, immediately taken to the markets, cleaned and scaled, sold and cooked. After that we walked to the Opera House which doesn’t open until 0930 and if you are a senior, the price is $4.00/7.00 for you young things. H. Stern will take you to the Tropicale Hotel as a courtesy in the hopes you will spend $$ at the jewelry store. There is also an internet café there and other specialty shops. Most of the wood crafts purchased at the kiosks in Manaus were fumigated by the Oceania Staff and delivered to your cabin. One member found that the chemical removed the finish off the wood. Others did not experience that problem.

Parintins

Not much to see unless you plan on seeing the show. Kiosks with local crafts near the tendering there are bicycle taxis for transportation. There is also an internet café near the tender terminal along with locals to peddle you around town. There were lots of locals on motorcycles near the tender terminal. I took a walk on the wild side and asked a young man if he would take me around on his motorcycle which he did for $12.00. He had a second helmet and took me throughout the island stopping to see the costumes of Boca Da Valeria that would be used that afternoon for the show. That was so much fun.

There is an internet café in town. I did not go to the show but understand it was fabulous.

Devils Island

Get on the first tender to walk up the hill to the inmate cells before others gather. It is hard to get a feeling for the prison with tourists in your pictures. Sorry, but it is true. See Papillion if you can before you go. It is not on their DVD list. One of our Cruise Critic members brought it with him and we had movie night the day before we arrived. There is a small gift shop there but again expensive and nothing really from the island. All imported. On the way down back to the ship, will be the time to see the monkeys. Truly enjoyed this Port with the History. Another one of my highlights.

I might add that I must have been the only person who was bit by mosquitoes. No one else saw them. I did take my Malaria pills with no problems or upset stomach after the first two days. Even though I ate first, it gave you the upset stomach you get from taking vitamins on an empty stomach. Keep a few jars of honey in your cabin. A tablespoon coats the stomach.

Barbados.

Busy town, lots of jewelry stores. There are several internet cafes. You can walk or taxi. I found a salon to have my nails and a pedicure done at a fraction of the ships spa. Diamonds international stores and others available to take your money.

Roseau Dominica

Went to the Emerald Pool and then to Scott’s head which is beautiful. Saw the entire island. I wasn’t too impressed with the Emerald Pool. Just another waterfall and pool of water. Only my opinion. Again it was raining. Pick up Dominican coffee at the supermarket in the locals area adjacent to the main tourist thoroughfare.

Virgin Gorda

You can walk to the Baths 2.5 miles if you want exercise or taxi for 3.00 per person each way. $3.00 to enter the Baths. Internet cafes and souvenir shops which are pricey.

Dominican Republic

Cayo Levantado

We were set to tender in Samana but ended up here.

Nothing but a beach resort with an all inclusive hotel that you cannot access, however, I truly enjoyed this Port of Call. The water was crystal clear and refreshing. There are many kiosks selling junk but the best was a lady who makes jewelry right in front of you. Her name is Tatiana and everyone knows her. Her creations are beautiful and very, very reasonable. I spent way too much so take plenty of cash with you. There were also local coffee beans and cigars. There are massage tables set up to have a full body or your feet massaged. The full body for an hour was $60.00 and foot massage $20.00 for 30 minutes. Worth it compared to the reflexology onboard at almost $100.00.

All and all, the trip was wonderful. You expect some disappointments due to weather. Every Port took US dollars including St. Barts for the internet café. The food was wonderful as usual. If something doesn’t suit your taste, there are plenty other dishes to try. If you go away hungry, it is your fault. Crew members remembered me from previous cruises and to me that is indicative of a small intimate ship that is good to their passengers and crew. The Concierge on my first O cruise was promoted to Asst. Purser the second trip and now is the Chief Purser. My previous Butler was promoted to Head Waiter

The gym opened each day at 6AM and by the time I was finished Horizons had the good coffee available. I do not like the coffee in Tapas, but others I spoke to would disagree with me and preferred it instead.

Oceania at sea still lives up to their reputation of being slow, however if you do take your laptop, Blackberry or IPhone, the WiFi is much faster. I was prepared to use the ships internet during sea days but not prepared for the bad attitude of one the teachers, Christine who was very argumentive to many of the passengers. Some of them brought their laptops and had problems sending mail but the bottom line from Christine was it wasn’t Oceania at Sea’s fault, but their fault. I do believe 90% of the passengers wrote negative comments. She came from Crystal and all concurred she should return. Ian, her assistant and new to Oceania was the very best and agreed that many of the problems had to do with the Satellite and not the passenger.

I Phone

I found that the IPhone with the data package didn’t always work when it should have. Once in Port, it would work in the morning, no service minutes later and maybe a signal before we left Port. I would always keep it on airplane mode and turn that feature off last after turning on the data roaming and 3G. When finished, I put it on airplane mode first and then turned off data roaming and 3G. Sometimes it worked better without the 3G. Sometimes, you had to reset the phone and then it worked. It was very frustrating. If you call At&t using the 916 prefix, the call is free. I purchased 200MG and used 46. For all of the roaming I did trying to connect, I was shocked I used so little. Before you leave, I strongly suggest going over with AT&T each Port you will visit and take the agent’s full name. I received several messages from AT&T that I had no coverage in several Ports when told I was covered. I received text messages in error when I confirmed with them I was covered. You just have to keep good records or a log. All and all they try to accommodate and work with you knowing you are out of the country. Often times, I would reset my settings, but be careful not to turn off your JavaScript for your browser. Learn from my mistakes as I couldn’t access my bank accounts because of this setting.

Destination Services

Practically all 640 passengers agreed that this was the Destination Services crew first cruise. It was very unorganized; they could not answer simple questions about Ports of Calls, internet café locations, taxi or shuttle service. Fortunately I did not have any tours with them, but got feedback from other passengers.

Laundry Room

Several disturbance calls about tempers flaring in the laundry room. This trip, several passengers put up a list on the door and left their laundry until 0730 when it opened and returned. An Officer removed the list denying that this was policy. I actually had a great time the few times I did laundry and met wonderful people. Even took turns getting coffee for each other.

Cruise Director

Leslie Jon was great. I was privileged to be on this cruise during his assignment.

I am sure I missed a few things. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me at holmtwin@dc.rr.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

[shorton]

Great review! Thanks so much. Lots of details to ponder for our March 2011 trip.

[Oceanurse]

Welcome back and thank you A Knitter for taking the time to give us such a comprehensive review! You sound like you had a great time. You appear to have lots of energy and enthusiasm for your cruise. People were lucky to tour with you.:D I hope you have hundreds of other adventures in the future!

 

Cathy

[A Knitter]

Welcome back and thank you A Knitter for taking the time to give us such a comprehensive review! You sound like you had a great time. You appear to have lots of energy and enthusiasm for your cruise. People were lucky to tour with you.:D I hope you have hundreds of other adventures in the future!

 

Cathy

 

 

Thanks Shorton and Oceanurse. I had a wonderful time and miss the roll call group already. Happy New Year!!

[JoePDX]

Thanks for you great review.

 

I concur - Leslie Jon is the greatest. Hope to sail with him again someday.

 

Joe

[suec12]

Thank you for the report - I've always had an Amazon cruise on my wish list but maybe I have an unrealistic idea of what it would be. Did you see alot of colorful birds and exotic animals? or were they mostly "photo ops?" How many days were you cruising the river and was the scenery interesting? When you were in the smaller boats on the excursions, did you see large reptiles? maybe I have seen too many movies with snakes and piranahs! Glad you had a pleasant journey!

[A Knitter]

Thank you for the report - I've always had an Amazon cruise on my wish list but maybe I have an unrealistic idea of what it would be. Did you see alot of colorful birds and exotic animals? or were they mostly "photo ops?" How many days were you cruising the river and was the scenery interesting? When you were in the smaller boats on the excursions, did you see large reptiles? maybe I have seen too many movies with snakes and piranahs! Glad you had a pleasant journey!

 

To be honest, an unrealistic idea. Mostly photo ops with animals were with kids in Boca Da Valeria. Sloths are pets in this area. Never saw one hanging in the tree unless a kid was nearby. In Manaus walking through a rain forest, you see monkeys and the familiar lizard but I saw no birds other than what someone had on their shoulder. During our day at Cayo Levantando at the beach, I do believe it was $20.00 to have your picture taken with a Macaw (think it was). No large reptiles in Manaus unless you took an excursion for Caiman viewing at night. I saw no snakes (thank God) and surely thought I would see a pirannah when our tour boat guide in Boca Da Valeria starting bailing out water we were taking in the canoe:eek: down the River. I am sure some of the other 639 passengers may have seen any of the above and I hope that they will comment. There were a total of 3 days cruising the Amazon River. I chose the Aft cabin so I might not miss something. I did see a pink dolphin. You would see some villages and vegetation. Actually, I saw more animals in their habitat during our day in Devil's Island. This cruise was on my bucket list and I was not disappointed but if you have other travel dreams such as Africa Safari or New Zealand, I would in my opinion have done those first.

[lardor]

Thank you for the report - I've always had an Amazon cruise on my wish list but maybe I have an unrealistic idea of what it would be. Did you see alot of colorful birds and exotic animals? or were they mostly "photo ops?" How many days were you cruising the river and was the scenery interesting? When you were in the smaller boats on the excursions, did you see large reptiles? maybe I have seen too many movies with snakes and piranahs! Glad you had a pleasant journey!

 

Are you "real" birders or do you just want to look at birds?

[suec12]

We have binoculars and a bird guide for our area but I doubt that puts us in the "real birders" club - not inclined to trek for birds! I had the impression that in the Amazon you could look up and see some lovely species flitting about (like cardinals here) but it sounds like that is an unrealistic expectation.

 

A Knitter - had to chuckle at your mention of the bugs on your balcony - so while the ship was cruising the river - were the outside decks, eating areas, etc. not much in use? or did you mostly keep the door shut to limit the access to your room by these creatures?

[CintiPam]

Wonderful detailed review that will help many others planning this trip. Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us!

[A Knitter]

We have binoculars and a bird guide for our area but I doubt that puts us in the "real birders" club - not inclined to trek for birds! I had the impression that in the Amazon you could look up and see some lovely species flitting about (like cardinals here) but it sounds like that is an unrealistic expectation.

 

A Knitter - had to chuckle at your mention of the bugs on your balcony - so while the ship was cruising the river - were the outside decks, eating areas, etc. not much in use? or did you mostly keep the door shut to limit the access to your room by these creatures?

 

Leslie Jon had planned a Neptune Party for crossing the Equator sometime after entering the Amazon. I did not see this myself, but large Beetles had literary covered the deck thinking that the party for was them. I am sure the crew spent half the night getting rid of the critters. There was still evidence of them the next morning. They closed the outside portion of Tapas while crusing the Amazon for this reason, so I figured I should keep my door shut since I was one deck below. Happy New Year

[lardor]

We have binoculars and a bird guide for our area but I doubt that puts us in the "real birders" club - not inclined to trek for birds! I had the impression that in the Amazon you could look up and see some lovely species flitting about (like cardinals here) but it sounds like that is an unrealistic expectation.

 

OK, 2 places to easily get to, to see birds.......

Boca da Valeria, in the "center" of the village you'll see several men with paddles in their hands. They want to take you up river to see where they live (about 2 to a boat, 5 bucks each, river is mostly 10/15 feet wide) and you'll see birds on this trip. After you return, just walk up the path that follows the river and you'll be in the Amazon jungle to see more....Take a bottle of water for each of you.

Santarem, the boat docks in an industrial fenced area, walk outside the fence, cross the road so you're on the right side of the road and about 100/200 yards up the road is a fenced area that has a wide opening for you to enter. There are several large trees, bushes and a grassy area to bird in. This year there were 50/100 Grey-blue Tanagers, last year there was the same number of Canary-winged Parrots in the large trees along with pair of Yellow-headed Caracaras... You could see 15/20 different birds in these two areas that you can't see at home...