SPacificbound Posted June 30, 2013 #1 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Does anyone have experience cruising the Amazon River? I see that HAL has a 20+ night South America cruise that shows the Amazon in the itinerary but I am wondering if there is a better option that has a little more time on the Amazon. Anyone who has traveled the Amazon your experience and opinion are appreciated. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted June 30, 2013 #2 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I came home recently from a South America cruise on Crystal which included several ports on the Amazon River from the small to the medium to the larger ones. At one point we were 1,000 miles form the ocean. It was fabulous. Try to find a cruise that includes a good number of ports. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_T Posted June 30, 2013 #3 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I'd be inclined to use Manaus as your benchmark. Ocean cruises go up the river as far as Manaus, if you want a 'river' cruise you should be heading further upstream from there or into Peru perhaps rather than Brazil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandra cruiser Posted June 30, 2013 #4 Share Posted June 30, 2013 river cruise on Amazon(ship named Aria).First trip next year.But did google Aria to see details,can book on that separately it seems.Looked good but was going to wait till after first cruises to see review.Let us know what you find and decide.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerdawhip Posted June 30, 2013 #5 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) has a 10 day trip to Peru that includes 6 days on the Amazon River. The ship accommodates on 24 passengers. I did this trip 2 years ago and other than the heat and humidity is was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPacificbound Posted July 1, 2013 Author #6 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) has a 10 day trip to Peru that includes 6 days on the Amazon River. The ship accommodates on 24 passengers. I did this trip 2 years ago and other than the heat and humidity is was great. I will take a look at OAT. Thanks for the info. :) Thanks to everyone who responded, I appreciate that. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted July 1, 2013 #7 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) has a 10 day trip to Peru that includes 6 days on the Amazon River. The ship accommodates on 24 passengers. I did this trip 2 years ago and other than the heat and humidity is was great. Only 24 people on the ship ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerdawhip Posted July 1, 2013 #8 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Only 24 people on the ship ??? Yes...it is a small but very modern river boat with only 15 cabins. There are pictures of the ship on their website www.oattravel.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingbarb Posted July 1, 2013 #9 Share Posted July 1, 2013 We're signed up for the same OAT trip in June 2014. What time of the year did you go? Any helpful hints or suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted July 1, 2013 #10 Share Posted July 1, 2013 We've investigated this a bunch, but not yet booked or done an Amazon cruise. That said, we've found that there are two distinct types of cruises one can take: One type is an ocean-based cruise on a regular-sized ship, often RT from Miami or one-way from Miami to South America, via the Caribbean. Several different mainstream lines offer variations of this trip, and there have been a number of reviews posted. Here's a link to one: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1755630&highlight=amazon People have said that in many places the Amazon is so wide that it's more like taking an ocean cruise, not a river cruise. The big boats typically go upriver as far as Manaus, as previously mentioned. These cruises are just too long for us to take - some go for a full month! The other major type is a small river-boat cruise that does half-week to full-week options in the Peruvian Amazon. They are based out of the city of Iquitos, which is a quick flight from Lima. Have come across two main "luxury" operators that look really nice... There's two Delfin ships that hold up to 28 passengers, and another company owns the Aqua / Aria that are similar in size. This seems much more like a "river cruise" per se, to us, than cruising the lower Amazon. Apparently you get out into the jungle for hikes, kayak trips, etc, and see lots of wildlife. A friend of ours went on Aria and loved it. This is the type of Amazon River cruise that's on our list! These two companies both do 3-day and 4-day itineraries; they are different enough that you can combine them into a 7-day itinerary with almost no repetition. When we do this, we'll combine either the 4- or 7-day with a few more days at a land-based eco-lodge in the jungle. Can't wait to find the time! Don't know if the Upper Amazon in Brazil is amenable to this type of cruise, or if they are even offered, but haven't seen any offerings there of this nature. Just the big ships on the big river... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandra cruiser Posted July 2, 2013 #11 Share Posted July 2, 2013 on the small riverboat(24).The Longest Way home,by Andrew McCarthy has a chapter on this.May be a little TOO SMALL for me,esp.if you get a group of people that sort of clash. Also, turned off by the malaria meds needed,and some of the "tours".Was thinking of this,now a little leary.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted July 2, 2013 #12 Share Posted July 2, 2013 It's so funny how the same scenario leads to such different responses... We would be all over this! Love small upscale boats; we had 24 or so on our A&K Nile trip last year and our group camaraderie was awesome. Perhaps the unlimited Egyptian wine had something to do with it... To us, the excursions look amazing. If you clash with anyone you can just tip them overboard and let the piranhas take care of them! :D As far as malaria prophylaxis, we've taken malarone without any issues. Won't vouch for either of the other choices; definite issues with them... Now I'm going to have to book this. Need more time off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPacificbound Posted July 3, 2013 Author #13 Share Posted July 3, 2013 We have booked B2B2B on Celebrity for six weeks South America. I believe we are going to check on a small boat cruise to do before Celebrity since Celebrity only goes as far as Manaus. :) I'm not concerned about the malaria prophylaxis, DH has to take it every time he goes to India on business and it has never caused him any problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted July 3, 2013 #14 Share Posted July 3, 2013 SPacificbound, if you do go on one of the small boats in the Peruvian Amazon, please let us know how it was. This trip is moving up on our list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didicruiser Posted July 3, 2013 #15 Share Posted July 3, 2013 SPacificbound, if you do go on one of the small boats in the Peruvian Amazon, please let us know how it was. This trip is moving up on our list! Please let us know!! Sounds amazing :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPacificbound Posted July 5, 2013 Author #16 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Please let us know!! Sounds amazing :) Our South America cruises start February 15 2015 so I will be looking for early February 2015 for the small boat Amazon cruise. I'm a little obsessive about planning things really early. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPacificbound Posted July 5, 2013 Author #17 Share Posted July 5, 2013 I have sent inquiries to Rainforest Amazon River Cruises and Aqua Expeditions so I'll let you all know what I hear back. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise22 Posted July 5, 2013 #18 Share Posted July 5, 2013 We did an Amazon cruise on one of the very small ships about 11 years ago with International Expeditions. It was in the fall and the water was low. In some places the banks were very high with villages overlooking the river. But, from what I understood, when the snow melts in the Andes and reaches that area, the river level becomes very high and there are no banks with the water going right into the forests. I would think that this would not be an optimal time to go. It was a wonderful trip and I would do it again to see the wonderful wildlife and the people doing their normal daily activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deec Posted December 24, 2014 #19 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Jeanie or JP, Have you found or done the small boat Amazon River cruise yet? This maybe next on our list.... Thanks for your help, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted December 24, 2014 #20 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Not yet. Still on the list, though. 2015 is booked pretty full now, so won't be for a while, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted December 24, 2014 #21 Share Posted December 24, 2014 We saw two luxury river boats on the Napo in Ecuador. One is the RV Manatee. The Napo is one of the tributaries to the Amazon which - according to the Brazilians - starts a few kilometers downriver from Manaus when the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes meet. The Napo is an alternative to the Peruvian tours. Flight from Miami to Quito is 3 1/2 hours, from Quito to Coca is 30 minutes. If you prefer the total jungle experience in comfort, book a lodge. Ours was the Napo Wildlife Center, a lodge run by the local tribe. Beautiful location, excellent bird and other wildlife viewing. Access by canoes. You don't paddle, the locals do. We booked this lodge because the local tribe owns land with a parrot clay lick. There is also an 'ocean cruise' size ship going from Manaus up the Rio Negro and back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingbarb Posted December 24, 2014 #22 Share Posted December 24, 2014 We did the OAT Amazon River cruise in June/July and loved it. The boat isn't as fancy as the Delfin or others but then again, it cost a lot less. We loved our tour guide and naturalist. They were very informative. The food was good and we had a nice group of people. Although the boat can hold 24, there were only 19 of us. Let me know if you want any additional information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deec Posted December 26, 2014 #23 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Barb, Thanks for the OAT information. Were there long bus rides to get to from boat? Did you do pre/post trips. We dont need fancy but really need clean and good showers and good beds....how was the boat in those areas? Did you feel time on the boat was long enough or were you disappointed considering the travel involved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingbarb Posted December 26, 2014 #24 Share Posted December 26, 2014 We booked through OAT. We flew into Lima and spent two days there before we took the flight to Iquitos which is in the Peruvian Amazon and is only reachable by boat or air. We spent one night in Iquitos before boarding the La Aguamarina. We spent six nights on the boat and each day we took one or two skiff rides. We visited a school in a village and had lunch with a local family, we fished for piranha, took a canoe ride, we swam in the Amazon. We had a great time. The boat could use a little work and the rooms and bathrooms are pretty basic. We saw some of the other boats (Delfin for one)and they look a lot nicer (goggle them--some are downright luxurious) but you pay a lot more for the a similar experience. We had booked a post-trip through OAT to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu but because they didn't have the numbers, they had to cancel it so I made our own arrangements through another company for the four of us and it was perfect. If you would like to see a couple of pictures or want some more information about our trip, you can email me at travelbug1948@hotmail.com and I would be happy to respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy The Wanderer Posted December 26, 2014 #25 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Have a look at Rainforest Cruises. They offer tours on different types of boats, and levels of luxury. I did some research a while ago, and concluded that doing the Amazon from Peru was the way to go. Haven't done it yet, but hope we will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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