The Spirit Moves Me: This time on 1/15/14 from Barbados to Rio

[taxprofessor]

Having suffered through withdrawal pains after our January 2013 SS Spirit Panama cruise -- the best cruise ever (and 4th on SS, but first on the Spirit) -- we are ready to book the Spirit's January 2014 Barbados to Rio trip. We love the ship and the mix of sea days and port visits. We're very curious about what to do in the ports (other than Rio,of course). Please share your experiences and advice!

 

Thanks!

[Emtbsam]

What are the ports?

[taxprofessor]

Many thanks for the reply.

 

The non-Brazilian ports are Grenada and Devil's Island. These are followed (in order) by Belem, Recife, Salvador de Bahia, Buzios, and overnight in Rio.

[SnoBirdCruiser]

Hello Taxprofessor, we are on this cruise as well, the last part of a B2B from Fort Lauderdale on Jan 6th.

 

Bridgetown, Barbados: Just spent 10 days there in March at a resort.The only tour we did was to hire a cab and got him to take us to Plantation House,very interesting, drive around the island, have a seaside lunch..You can drink the water there, it's very safe.

Recife: We spent 2 weeks at Carnival there way back in '87 so god knows whats there now.If I remember we( there were 4 of us) rented a car and drove to Olinda and on the way back to Recife ,got totally lost. Ended up at an "establishment" whose neon red sign was of the three monkeys(see no evil, hear...you get it) ..it was a house of ill reput, complete with gatehouse and guards!

 

Salvador de Bahia: We were here in 2011. Believe we only did a ship tour...whatever it was it wasn't very memorable, as neither of us can remember a darn thing, except for the tall elevater from lower to upper town..

 

Rio: Since we have been there a few times, will be back again in 2015, we will disembarkaround 8pm on the night we arrive and catch our light home.

 

Look forward to meeting you.

Pat and Ray

[Keith1010]

In Devil's Island they should be offering a complimentary tour which really is the only tour of the island. It is interesting and it is a former penal colony.

 

Keith

[Stumblefoot]

If the Spirit moves you, then I highly recommend booking a Guide who goes by the name "Love of the Universe" to head out and see Concord Falls. It's roughly 8 - 9 miles north of the cruise terminal in St. George's and you'll see three separate waterfalls.

 

On the hike in, you'll travel through a protected rain forest and Love will show you all of the spice plants and how you can tell them in the future. The hike in is only about an hour, but well worth the trip to see the huge fall and swim in the natural pool if you so choose.

[lilant]

.....only 14 days and still no docs??? :confused:

Edited January 2, 2014 by lilant

[Herman The Cat]

Lilant--

 

That's very odd. Did you call your TA to find out when they were sent out to you? Or Silversea to find out when they were sent to your TA. Oftentimes Silversea gets blamed for late docs when in reality the bottleneck is at the TA.

 

In all of our cruises, we've never received them less than 3weeks before the cruise.

 

In any event, you can go log onto myvoyage on the Silversea website and print your tourbook which is the most important thing for planning.

I wouldnt worry about the rest of it...it can be sent electronically. One time we thought we left our docs home and couldnt find them a few hours before leaving for the ship. We called our TA who spoke to Silversea and they said it wasnt a problem and that they would be faxed to the embarkation port.

 

Have a great cruise. We got off the Spirit a few weeks ago and it was fantastic...one of our best ever.

[mw8811]

We received our docs for the 6th Jan departure of the Spirit on 20th December (the same day our TA received them). I too was getting anxious as this is our first SS cruise and are used to receiving them at least 6 weeks prior with Crystal. I was particularly anxious with Christmas/New Year etc getting in the middle of it all!

 

We were very happy to receive our silver box!

 

Mary

[Alldee]

Having suffered through withdrawal pains after our January 2013 SS Spirit Panama cruise -- the best cruise ever (and 4th on SS, but first on the Spirit) -- we are ready to book the Spirit's January 2014 Barbados to Rio trip. We love the ship and the mix of sea days and port visits. We're very curious about what to do in the ports (other than Rio,of course). Please share your experiences and advice!

 

Thanks!

 

Hi

 

We have just returned from a transatlantic cruise, and visited some of these ports.

 

1. Recife and Olinda, we went on a ship tour, which was a waste of time, as we didn't have enough time in Olinda - which seemed to be the most interesting place.

 

2. Salvador de Bahia - we went ashore ourselves, and found it an interesting town.

 

3. Buzios - by tender. Very small place, but lovely shops and a pleasant walk along the promenade. We did a back to back cruise, and were unable to re-visit on the second leg, because of rough sea. Very disappointed, as had plans for the shopping and eating!!

 

4. Don't miss a Tango show!

[lilant]

Hi

 

We have just returned from a transatlantic cruise, and visited some of these ports.

 

1. Recife and Olinda, we went on a ship tour, which was a waste of time, as we didn't have enough time in Olinda - which seemed to be the most interesting place.

 

2. Salvador de Bahia - we went ashore ourselves, and found it an interesting town.

 

3. Buzios - by tender. Very small place, but lovely shops and a pleasant walk along the promenade. We did a back to back cruise, and were unable to re-visit on the second leg, because of rough sea. Very disappointed, as had plans for the shopping and eating!!

 

4. Don't miss a Tango show!

 

hi alldee,

 

thx for all the great info.

[lilant]

... has anyone given this any thought? some friends who have been before recommend to hire a boat for the day when we get there and go up the amazon ....any interest out there? i know it s late.