Live- Whisper Down the Amazon (4432)

[Floridiana]

I started reading this live report because it allows me to revisit the places we saw on the same cruise on a different ship. I like your spirited style!

 

As for gold jewelry, NEVER wear any in big South American cities. It's a thief magnet. Same with big cameras. I use my small one and put it immediately back in my shoulder bag after each photo. One of the stall vendors in the Manaus market told me to do so.

[fudge]

Day 13 Sunday

We had a nice surprise when we left the restaurant last evening, the crew had decked out the stairwells with Christmas decorations and garlands, and it begins to put you in the festive mood.

 

The small village of Parintins lies on Tupinambarana Island, which is part of a large river archipelago in the mid Amazon, 250 miles East of Manaus. In existence for two centuries, Parintins is rich in Indian culture that is represented in the celebrated annual Boi- Bumber festival. It has a population of 100,000 so it can’t be that small!

 

It is a ritual of magic, mystery, passion and faith that has been held here for over 80yrs, inspired by local legends. A stadium Bumbodromo was built in 1988 to accommodate the over 40,000 spectators that come and take part in the festival each year.

Silversea has arranged an exclusive performance, enacting the show with all the exuberance and vibrancy normally displayed in the Parintins festival, unfortunately the power went out after 20minutes and that was that, end of the show.

 

We docked at 11am, its tender transport should you wish to leave the ship, there is an excursion but we are doing a self exploration again today. A few of us have bandied together to hire a small boat to explore.

 

Well the idea of the small boat never transpired! We could not find one boat owner to take us anywhere. Not a lost cause however, we took the 5 minute tender ride to the town and were greeted by the local tourist guys.

 

We were asked to go on a three wheel bicycle ride, two persons to each bike, it’s a 1hour ride around town; we negotiated the cost from 10US Dollars per person to 10 for two. What a great idea this was, 7 of us went in a group, you visit 4 places of interest.

 

First a church (closed) secondly a huge new stadium which holds a bull fighting festival, then onto a coral built in 1988 it’s a rehearsal for the main stadium which is sponsored by Coca Cola. What is strange that the stadium is Blue, the only place in the world where the cola signs are in Blue, Red is not allowed in there?

 

The whole hour was a real hoot, especially in a group; the town was literally a ghost town even though it was a Sunday.

 

Back on board for lunch around the pool deck, back to lovely sunny days, 102 degrees in the hot sun, we sail at 17.30 for our next port of call.

 

At last! Another pleasant evening “in suite” dining experience, SS finally acknowledged you can order the same day and still present a very decent meal, we decided the dress code was casual, in fact very casual.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good to hear you're back on full evening rations fudge!

 

Sounds like your trip is fun.

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

Day 13 Sunday: Silversea has arranged an exclusive performance, enacting the show with all the exuberance and vibrancy normally displayed in the Parintins festival, unfortunately the power went out after 20 minutes and that was that, end of the show.

We were asked to go on a three wheel bicycle ride, two persons to each bike, it’s a 1hour ride around town; we negotiated the cost from 10US Dollars per person to 10 for two. What a great idea this was, 7 of us went in a group, you visit 4 places of interest.

At last! Another pleasant evening “in suite” dining experience, SS finally acknowledged you can order the same day and still present a very decent meal, we decided the dress code was casual, in fact very casual.

 

Appreciate these continued details and your continued fun sharing. Too bad that the Parintins show was cut short. How was the 20-minute portion that you saw? Worth it? Interesting? Did most, about half, etc., of those traveling on your ship do this shore performance?

 

Great idea on the three wheel bicycle ride. Seems like wonderful fun. Keep up the good "work" with your Amazon adventure. Glad the in-suite dining is now working well.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day , Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 88,030 views for this posting.

[fudge]

Terry,

From memory the show was 149US dollars, we chose to opt out on this one however, for those who did attends 20 minutes was enough.

 

Feedback from others who did go said that most are asking SS for a full/partial refund. Of course there are certain things out of SS hand like the power cut, I personally think the chances of a refund are very slight, I may be wrong.

 

We are now happily sailing back down the Amazon, pleasant day on the top deck three and a half days at sea, enjoying the ships hospitality. ;):D

[Silver Spectre]

Terry,

From memory the show was 149US dollars, we chose to opt out on this one however, for those who did attends 20 minutes was enough.

 

Feedback from others who did go said that most are asking SS for a full/partial refund. Of course there are certain things out of SS hand like the power cut, I personally think the chances of a refund are very slight, I may be wrong.

 

We are now happily sailing back down the Amazon, pleasant day on the top deck three and a half days at sea, enjoying the ships hospitality. ;):D

 

If you do not get a refund onboard, insist on a written response from the Tour Manager and then chase when you get home. Or not if you are not fussed.

[fudge]

Day 14 Monday

We have our last land trip today, a place called Alta do Chao. This is a very brief stop, we don’t dock until 08.00hrs and we sail by 12.30pm. Already the cruise is winding down; we are beginning to receive our disembarkation notices and other paperwork to ensure we have a comfortable finish to our holiday.

 

This village enjoys a lovely location amid lush vegetation above the Tapajos River. The small settlement consists of rustic native cottages dotting the fringe of a tropical forest. Thanks to its beautiful sandy beach and the rivers amazingly clear water it has become a popular local weekend resort.

 

During our call we take the tender ashore and enjoy a refreshing swim or explore the village. The village has a good selection of indigenous art and crafts, many of the items are from the now closed museum, local souvenirs can be purchased and the village can be explored on your own.

 

For sun worshipers, what a fun morning that was! Arrived on shore bright and early to a wonderful white sandy beach as described by SS. There is a beach to your right as you leave the tender, but we were directed to an even nicer beach. Go on the walkway to the top, turn immediately left, go 200mtrs to an unspoiled beach with shallow fresh water to swim.

 

Don’t forget to take a bottle of your favourite tipple with you, we had a nice bottle of Proseco, another couple took a bottle of Rose. We were joined on the beach by the Master of the ship Luigi, we had yet another photo opportunity, and I asked the captain, “Why can’t we stay until 4pm? As quick as a flash, he replied “what time is your flight”?

 

Our last day ashore was very pleasant indeed relaxing under the sun. Clean environment with friendly locals, dollars are once again accepted if you buy late souvenirs or nick knacks.

 

For those seasoned SS cruisers you may like to know that SS will not be hosting a pool deck BBQ. Of all the SS cruises we have been on SS do not operate one on the Brazil cruise. The official line is the hot climate, the bugs, the inclement weather, Etc Etc. For us it is a disappointment, one of the highlights of the cruise in my humble opinion, oh well there are other options.

 

Another grill night tonight with four newly formed friends, the rib eye steaks are very nice as is the Billy Billy Red wine; it’s a tough life on SS. We looked at the temperature for the UK, 4/5 degrees, freezing cold; thank heavens we return to Cyprus, not as hot as here but very pleasant. Our 5 cats will be so pleased to see our suitcases, and we hope us of course?

 

With our cruise almost at an end, with all the land excursions over, it will be difficult to write anything you seasoned cruisers don’t already know. I have mentioned most of life on board and the Whisper in particular. Please feel free to fire off any questions you have about the cruise or the Whisper, I will try my best to answer them.

 

This blog is dedicated to the most wonderful lady Judy Abbott, who we had the pleasure to meet on the Silver Cloud in 2011, one of Silverseas most memorable Cruise directors.

Edited December 8, 2014 by fudge

[fudge]

Group picture with Captain Luigi.

[fudge]

Who is Fudge? I will give you a clue, not the guy dressed in White :D

[duct tape]

I have enjoyed your trip very much. Thanx for taking us along!

[Emtbsam]

Have a fun remainder of your cruise and a safe trip home.

[Throast]

Fudge,

Many,many thanks for your dialog, We have enjoyed it daily, we head out on the cloud on Jan 5th so have thoughly enjoyed your thread, have a great end to your cruise

Kindest regards, Peter and Elspeth

[blondietoo]

Fudge,

hubby and I have really enjoyed your blog. We wll be 1st time SS passengers on this same itinerary in November 2015. Even more excited now! What is the Venetian Society??

[OctoberKat]

Fudge,

hubby and I have really enjoyed your blog. We wll be 1st time SS passengers on this same itinerary in November 2015. Even more excited now! What is the Venetian Society??

 

Ditto for us, blondietoo, look forward to meeting you. And more thanks to Fudge for such stimulating reporting.

[duct tape]

Once you have sailed on SS, you become a member of the Venetian Society, the designation of previous cruisers. Each segment there is a VS (Venetian Society) Cocktail Party, gratis, where the company (via the Captain) thanks you for your loyalty. The names of the most frequent cruisers are read, for bragging rites, and then every one just goes to dinner, as usual. It is fun to celebrate the folks who reach SS milestones and they get their 15 minutes of fame. It is all good and helps the Marketing Department Dept.

[fudge]

Day 15 Tuesday

Thank you all for your kind comments, I also enjoy reading Cruise Critic, I have gleaned some valuable information from other travelers.

 

The Captain is racing along to meet our deadline in Barbados; today’s highlight is a British Pub lunch in the restaurant after pool volleyball at 11am. The guy making the sandals is doing a roaring trade; thankfully Mrs. Fudge is not tempted!

 

Well, the highlight of the cruise: A sing along at the British Pub event, soggy fish and chips, limp Steak and Ale pie washed down with Newcastle Brown Ale (and another insane)

 

The voices sang good old traditional songs, Summer Holiday, my old mans a dustman, get me to the church on time, pack up you troubles in your old kit bag. I can hear you all tapping your feet already and humming the songs. Are we having fun, or are we having fun???

 

We were joined by a lovely couple from Sweden who were totally perplexed by the whole event, but they did join in, good for them.

 

Nothing to tempt us for the main restaurant menu this evening so it’s a Pizza in our suite with friends.

[TLCOhio]

Day 15 Tuesday

Well, the highlight of the cruise: A sing along at the British Pub event, soggy fish and chips, limp Steak and Ale pie washed down with Newcastle Brown Ale (and another insane) The voices sang good old traditional songs, Summer Holiday, my old mans a dustman, get me to the church on time, pack up you troubles in your old kit bag. I can hear you all tapping your feet already and humming the songs. Are we having fun, or are we having fun???

 

YES, does sound like great fun. Am I understanding (being non-British), that the Newcastle Brown Ale helped make up for the soggy fish and chips and limp Steak and Ale pie? You need to help us in the "Colonies" to understand all of these important UK "details" in their proper historic/cultural/culinary context.

 

Keep up the good sailing and excitement.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 165,630 views. Appreciate the interest and follow-up questions/comments!!

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[RachelG]

Newcastle Brown Ale is actually very popular here in Oklahoma. Sounds like a fun time.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Newcastle Brown is actually surprisingly brewed by a Dutch owned British based massive factory brewery in the UK. I wouldn't say it is a particularly popular beer in pubs in the UK as much as it use to be but it is a reasonably popular supermarket bottled and less so canned drink. I think it's popular abroad more because of it's name than flavour. So technically Newcastle Brown is a Dutch beer, not British I guess ....

 

From today it is likely to sell significantly less in the UK as one of the largest UK pub chains - J D Wetherspoons which has over 900 very popular pubs - will not be stocking any Heineken products due to a "falling out".

 

As Fudge will confirm the days of sing songs around a piano with those songs are long gone from UK pub life and only ever appear when you're abroad. The food sounds disgusting and I do hope that people don't think it's like that in blighty.

 

Jeff

 

ps Boiler being replaced over four or five days from January 5th .... :)

Edited December 9, 2014 by UKCruiseJeff

[OctoberKat]

Newkie Brown!

[fudge]

Jeff,

I can confirm you would not hear that nonsense these days but it was a laugh, Mrs. fudge confirms the bread and butter pudding was very nice, the Swedish couple enjoyed the trifle. The trifle, what's that all about?

 

The place was packed, as usual we had to queue for the food, did we invent queuing? ;)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Jeff,

I can confirm you would not hear that nonsense these days but it was a laugh, Mrs. fudge confirms the bread and butter pudding was very nice, the Swedish couple enjoyed the trifle. The trifle, what's that all about?

 

The place was packed, as usual we had to queue for the food, did we invent queuing? ;)

 

fudge,

 

I was brought up in a flat which was built on the exact spot where the Fortune Playhouse once was ... And from my bedroom, during summer when the windows were open, I use to listen to two different pubs in Whitecross Street competing with two pianos with all those songs!

 

I guess your London evening gave that poor chef (who doesn't do room service) all day to cook that fish and stack it in an oven to nicely soften and lose it's crisp .... and helped SS get all the punters off of the wine for an evening and on to beer for a night! Quite a saving really!

 

Cynical ..... mois ... mais non!

 

Jeff :D

[blondietoo]

Ditto for us, blondietoo, look forward to meeting you. And more thanks to Fudge for such stimulating reporting.

 

We look forward to it too! :)

[fudge]

Day 16 Wednesday

Oh my god, almost the end of the cruise:

 

Did you know?

The Amazon is 18 miles wide at its widest point wherever that is? Allegedly, we have consumed 25% more Red wine than on any other Amazon cruise, boy the Brits can drink can’t they!

 

According to the Cruise director SS will not be holding any BBQ nights on any of the cruise ships because the food is outside and needs refrigerators Etc.

Our last formal evening this evening, an invitation to sit with the International Hostess, time to put on our best finery.

 

A fun afternoon around the pool deck with even more pool volley ball, how much excitement can we have??? The Captain has indicated a pretty large swell this evening during dinner should be fun!

 

As usual the Masters fair well get together in the show lounge with most of the staff and crew, music from Andrea Bocelli singing “time to say goodbye” there won't be a dry eye on the ship.

 

Last day of fun tomorrow and then packing!! All good things must come to an end.:(

[Silver Spectre]

Quote button not working.

 

From Fudge:

 

According to the Cruise director SS will not be holding any BBQ nights on any of the cruise ships because the food is outside and needs refrigerators Etc.

 

From me:

 

And no more galley lunches either. And the bouillion is now hidden away from dirty guest fingers.