Review of Amazon Ports: Manaus, Boca de Valeria & Recife

[stingraynz]

The following is a very wordy excerpt from my 21-day Amazon to Rome cruise on Royal Princess.

 

Royal Princess Cruise Review – Amazon River/Africa/Mediterranean

Entire trip April 4th – 28h 2004

Cruise Departed April 7th, 2004

 

Have a great adventure and remember be a traveler not a tourist.

 

On this voyage, we were a group of four, my sister, my mom, my aunt & myself. We are all addicted cruisers because we think it’s a very civilized way to see the world. I had never been to any of these ports previously. We have been on at least ten cruises each. Also we do not understand the meaning of travelling light therefore, we had an abundance of luggage.

 

It started out being just my sister and I on this trip. We booked it 9 months before and used the time well to do an abundance research. A few weeks before the trip departed, I asked my mom and aunt to join us when I saw an e-mail come out with discounted pricing. I asked if they were interested around noon and by the time I came home from work around dinner they had both decided they were in.

 

The trip we had was absolutely one of the best (of course, I say this every time). We have been on Princess many times and were worried about the changes coming in since the Carnival take over. This cruise was just the one we needed to get our loyalty back in check. We loved everything from the ports & excursions to the onboard service and staff. I may make some negative comments along the way not to complain, but more for an advantage to those who are reading to make necessary changes.

 

Before you go:

 This trip had a lot of extras to do such as medications, vaccines and a Brazilian Visa.

 Make sure you fill in the passenger questionnaires on cruise line website prior – so the info will be already there when you check in

 We brought some currency of the embarkation port. So we would have some handy cash. Actually I brought enough Brazilian Reals for the length of our stay in Brazil because I read that our ATMs and Brazil’s are not too compatible and it is hard to get money. I did notice while we were there, there are plenty of exchange bureaus and we did use them but I try to avoid the unfavorable exchange rates.

 Brazilian Reals pronounced ‘hey-ow’ singular or ‘hey-ice’ plural was about 3 Reals to the US dollar. In this report if I mention dollars I am speaking in USD. We Canadians are so used to converting our dollars that I never think in terms of CDN dollars when abroad.

 Be careful of the older bank notes, often if the notes are out of circulation they will not be accepted. Therefore, if you get one that doesn’t look like the others, don’t accept it. I had a similar problem in London with an older 20 British Pound note.

 The amazon region wasn’t as rainy and bug ridden as I expected. I expected a lot of both. In fact, when we went in April it wasn’t rainy at all. However, it was still very humid as you would expect in a rainforest. Bring light breathable clothes and a light rainwear. It is muddy so bring good shoes that cover your feet. I went as far as bringing a bug hat and never had the need to put it on. Some good bug repellent with deet is all you need and cover yourself in it when going out into the jungle.

 

MEDICATIONS & VACCINES

 

We had to book an appointment with a travel doctor specializing in what meds you need to visit different countries. We had to get a vaccine for yellow fever in order to embark the ship in the Amazon. I already had the booster with includes tetinaus as well as the hepititis vaccine mine was called ‘Twinrix’. We also took an oral vaccine for cholera put out by Aventis but I can’t remember the name. Also an anti-malarial drug called malarone. Pretty much everything was covered by my Health Insurance at work (even the vaccine) so I got what I needed. The only thing that was mandatory was the Yellow Fever Vaccine.

 

I would suggest going to http://www.cdc.gov/travel or http://www.travel.state.gov to check out requirements.

 

Here's the website with information about the visa we need before going on the Amazon trip.

http://www.brasilemb.org/consular_visa_tourism.shtml

 

Brazilian visas were needed to enter Brazil. There are a few ways to obtain the visas, your travel professional can assist, you can use a visa service or prepare the forms and go to the consulate in person. You can get the forms from the Internet and print them off and complete them, you need a passport-type photo taken and a money order. If you live close to a city where there is an Embassy it is probably easiest to bring it and pick it up in person. The Brazilian visa took ten working days to process and it is valid for five years.

 

We used our Air Canada points for the open jaw air flights. The Princess air rates were very competitive. If we didn’t get the flights ‘free’ on points (and I use that term loosely), we would have booked through Princess.

 

My Mother and Aunt used the Princess air and they had a flight to Fort Lauderdale with a mandatory overnight at the Embassy Suites FL. The next day Princess flew everyone down to Manaus on a charter flight via ‘World Airlines’. There was probably about 2 or 3 charter flights to Manaus. They said they enjoyed their flights down as well as the stay at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale.

[stingraynz]

APRIL 4TH DEPART TORONTO TO SAO PAULO BRAZIL

 

We left on our flight to Sao Paulo at about 10:30pm. The flight was about half full so we got to spread out a bit. Since the flight was direct (about 10 hours) they must use a large plane because of the fuel requirement. The flight was uneventful and outside the window there was a beautiful full moon to gaze at.

 

APRIL 5TH ARRIVE SAO PAULO BRAZIL

 

I remember the sunrise being spectacular (as they always are at altitude). We were arriving in Sao Paulo about 9am so we were flying past the Amazonia region at dawn. The area is so vast and the rivers were immense. It was hard to believe we were passing the Amazon overhead and by that night we would be back. My sister Lisa and I work for the same corporation and we have plants in South America so some of the people at work who have been to Sao Paulo had said to make sure we had windows in order to look out at the Amazon region. It went on for over an hour on the flight and the jungle was dense.

 

We could have flown into Rio instead of Sao Paulo. We choose Sao Paulo because I may never get back to see this city and being a city of approx. 22 million people it is the largest city in South America and the 3rd largest city in the world. I know Mexico City is one of the three but I couldn’t think of the other.

 

I figured I would have to get to Rio on another trip. I also knew it wasn’t going to be a city I would be satisfied seeing in one afternoon. Since Lisa and I still work, time was a constant problem with this itinerary. We were pushing it to be away the 3.5 weeks as it was. We couldn’t get any more time to go to Rio. It will just have to be a future trip.

 

When we were descending down to Sao Paulo, it was a fabulous sight. I am just in awe of these South American cities so huge and so many high rises. There was a mass of buildings all nestled in and around the mountains, it was so beautiful.

 

We booked the use of a day room that way we had a place to hang around and leave our luggage if we wanted to go on a tour. Or we could also just laze by the pool.

 

We stayed at the Marriott out by the airport. Like many big cities, the airport was about 40 min out of the city. We arrived at 9am and our flight to Manaus wasn’t until 8pm we wanted to be close to the airport because I was worried about being caught in afternoon rush hour from Sao Paulo. This way, if we wanted to see the city we could go on a tour from the hotel and be back in time to go to the airport and it would be very close. Usually we stay right in the city being visited but on this trip Sao Paulo was an added plus not a pre-requisite.

 

We arrived and went through customs and we had to get a tourist card we had filled out stamped. We got our luggage and went to go look for the hotel shuttle. The hotel was very nice and the staff was friendly. English isn’t widely spoken at all so we struggled with our Portuguese but they were very accommodating. The hotel information is;

 

- Marriott –Day room

- Address: Av Monteiro Lobato S/N

- Guarulhos

- Sao Paulo BR 07190-000

- Phone: 55 11-6468-6999

- FAX: Phone: 55 11-6464-0594

 

Guarulhos has a population of 1.2 million and is 17km from Sao Paulo. It is 1 hour ahead of NY and around these parts of Brazil everyone (men & women) are very beautiful.

 

After we got into our room, we went down to see the concierge about taking a tour. She was away on vacation and no one was taking her place so we decided to take a cab to a big mall I had read about. The International mall was about a 40min cab ride and cost about $30,00R (Brazilian Reals) about $10USD.

 

The mall had a lot of stores and we walked around for a few hours. The main things I was looking to buy in Brazil was leather, leather shoes, Bossa Nova or other Brazilian CDs, and gem stones. We were not very lucky we found nothing we were interested in. By this point we were tired and them we came across the ‘Hypermercado’ something like WalMart. This was a great store that I wish we found right away. We bought some bottled water and drinks we needed for when we were in Manaus. You could buy liquor, wine and beer. I also found some CDs there. I knew they were going to be a crap shoot but they were really cheap $6,90R (about $1.30usd each) and I listened to them when I got home (3 weeks later) and I made some great choices.

 

Now my feet were really killing me, we got a cab back to the hotel. It was so nice to take a shower and get into bed to relax before we had to back to the airport at 6pm for our 8pm flight. The weather in Sao Paulo that afternoon was 82F “Hot & Humid”!! It was very welcomed since we were leaving snow behind in Toronto.

 

We got back to the airport by the hotel shuttle, it took a few minutes. At the airport we had to check in with Varig airlines at the domestic terminal and then we had to pay a departure tax. I can’t remember how much but less than R$10. Once we were through security, we went looking in the shops. We found a cool piranha fish key chain that we know someone at home would like and I found my Bossa Nova Cds. One thing I have learned through the years, if you find something you like ‘strike while the iron’s hot!!’ and buy it. In this case ‘yes’ the airport is more expensive, but we did not see any more piranha key chains or the Bossa Nova Cds. So I was very happy with my purchases. We then ate dinner at McDonalds. We had to check the quality control of the Big Macs in Brazil. They hit the spot!

 

Since my sister and I both like window seats we usually sit apart from each other on the plane. I liked watching the lights of Sao Paulo as we left.

 

I had mentioned about the anti-malaria drug I was taking called ‘Malarone’, well, it has the strangest side effects. A common side effect listed was vivid dreams. I didn’t have to be sleeping to have odd effects. Earlier in the day I heard an Avril Lavingne song playing in the mall. I couldn’t get the song out of my head. It was like an obsession and I felt very light headed and dazed the entire time on the drug. It was a little unsettling, I felt like I had malaria. Who needs to drink when you’re on that!

 

The flight was right across Brazil so it was 4 hours. It seemed like an eternity, but that may have been the Malarone. However, during the flight you could see many flash thunderstorms around the region. The lightening put on a fantastic show.

[stingraynz]

While we were in Manaus we made all of our tour needs through Luciana at Viverde.

 

They offered many tour choices and even arranged our airport pickup and made the hotel reservations. I found her on the internet on one of the websites and we contacted them. Luciana was very prompt with her responses. In fact she responded first out of them all and that is how we came to use her services. We even called her and her English was perfect. She was very nice and she said that correspondence through e-mail would be th best way to organize what we needed in Amazonia.

 

In total this is what they arranged for us

 

-airport pickup

-reservations at Manaus hotel for one night

-meeting of the water tour (full day)

-flightseeing tour over Amazon (1/2 hour)

-private guided tour (full day)

 

They offered many other tours and adventures. I couldn’t say enough about their service and tour selections. She gave us exactly what we needed and made very good suggestions.

 

When our flight arrived at 11pm at Eduardo Gomes airport there was a girl waiting for us holding a sign with our name on it. That is always a very welcomed sight! Especially when you are tired, jet lagged and on Malarone. I was wondering how she was going to lift all our bags into the car? But when we got outside, there was a guy waiting with the van. We booked a non-guided airport pickup which means they don’t speak English. It was cheaper and we didn’t care. They spoke better English than we spoke Portuguese so we made very small, small-talk and we were off. They were very nice and welcoming to Manaus.

 

They dropped us off at the Taj Mahal Hotel and we paid the driver R$ 50,00 + tip for the pickup.

 

There are a few hotels in downtown Manaus, the Taj Mahal was one of them. I also remembered seeing the Novotel and a Best Western. I always am weary of hotels that don’t show photos of the hotel property and if they show one or two and it looks seedy or tired you know they are. They always show the best photos of the best configurations. The Taj Mahal looked better than the others and Luciana also recommended it so we stayed there.

 

A few comments regarding the hotel. It was right downtown, so it was very close to downtown sights and the pier. It was just a few blocks east of the Opera House (Teatro Amazonas). The people that worked at the hotel were so sweet. Especially at the front desk and the bell boys that looked after dragging our luggage around and storing it for us the next day.

 

The hotel is a high rise and we booked a deluxe room. It was more like a two star dorm than anything else. It was clean, but very sparse. It was fine for one night, but I was glad to be going to the ship and not staying there for a few nights. I have to stress there was nothing wrong with the hotel, but I was expecting a five star downtown hotel and it wasn’t. I don’t know where the ratings come from. There was other room options that were more expensive, so I would suggest taking a higher priced room perhaps. The room as it was, were very reasonably priced and it was worth the money we paid. This reminded me of a hotel that students would stay in. It reminded me of a dorm and there was lots of young adults there.

 

There is another hotel option about 10-15 min away called the ‘Tropical Hotel’. It is the biggest hotel in Brazil and is a huge sprawling resort. It is right on the Rio Negro and is a five star that looks like a five star. Luciana also recommended that hotel, but then because we were coming in after midnight and leaving first thing in the morning on our tour, we decided on the TajMahal.

The rate of one night at the Taj Mahal was R$ 142,50 + 10% (Subject to change)

Payment: in cash or credit card on check-out.

[stingraynz]

APRIL 6TH MANAUS BRAZIL

 

Weather: Hot & Humid (80F & 80% respectively)

We woke up early and checked out. Make sure you call for the bellhop far in advance because he is very busy and the elevator takes a long time. We stored our luggage with him so we could pick it up after our tour later on in the day. Breakfast was included with the room rate, it was a buffet but I only had some coffee and toast. Everything looked good and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 

The tour operator picked us up in the lobby at about 8:30am. A van went around to all the pick up points and then dropped everyone off at the pier where we met the tour guide. The tour operator was called ‘Amazon Explorers’ and they were excellent. I think many of the tour brokers in Manaus use them as well as the ship tours. They have a kiosk in downtown Manaus not far from the pier as well at the Tropical Hotel. You can also book them through Luciana at Viverde, which is what we did. This particular tour took us to the Meeting of the Waters, Lake January and to see the giant lily pads as well as a jungle boat ride and hike. It was all day and included lunch for the price of R$ 70,00 each + R$ 3,00 harbor tax. We paid in local currency to the Amazon Explorer driver. The similar all-day tour with the ship called ‘Meeting of the Waters & Lake January’ cost $89 USD compared to ours which was less than $25USD and we had a great lunch buffet and the ship tour had a box lunch with a sandwich and fruit.

 

Manaus was not what I was expecting. It was a very bustling city of 1.7 million. It is a duty free zone so you can do some shopping here if you desire. A woman we met on our tour was from SaoPaulo, she was a photographer and she bought a nice Nikon digital camera while in Manaus so you may want to check some stores. The general store hours are open 9am-noon, closed noon to 2pm and open again from 2pm –5pm.

 

I was expecting more rain in the rainforest but it was a beautiful sunny day. We caught our tour riverboat right in front of the Royal Princess. She was a beautiful sight. Manaus is a city of tourism there is lots tours offered and lots of guides available. You can book ahead or find tours available right off the ship. There is no need to book ship excursions if you want to go on your own. The locals are very friendly, however, English is not widely spoken. Unless you are talking to a guide most will not know any English so bring your dictionary. Police, security guards and taxis will probably not know any English.

[stingraynz]

AMAZON RIVER INFORMATION

 

Our guide Ally was very knowledgeable on his facts but I could only write so fast, so take my facts and figures with a ‘grain of salt’. I didn’t verify them in the encyclopedia.

 

In Manaus there is very much a population made up of city folk and then along the banks of the Amazon, the people are very much river dwellers. You can tell these people depend on the river for every facet of their life. The city folk drive their cars and live in high rises and go to work just like any other city. Those on the river banks and outlying areas, adapt to the river. Their houses are either up on stilts or float because the river water levels change so much between the dry and the rainy season.

 

In July at the height of the rainy season, the water can be 15 feet higher then when we were there in April. The entire pier area is a floating pier to accommodate the changes in the water levels. The water depth at the pier was 105 ft. Down river at the meeting of the water it is 280 ft, remember, in July it is 15 feet higher than that.

 

The gas stations are floating out in front of the harbor and the buses are riverboats. There are no highways leading to Manaus you can only get there by airplane or boat. It was cool that we did both. Manaus is located 1000 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean. So when we sailed from Manaus that is how far the Royal had to sail downstream to get back out to the Atlantic.

 

In Manaus there are two main rivers the Rio Negro and the Amazon. They come together just down the river from Manaus. This is what is known as the ‘Meeting of the Waters’. The Rio Negro is the color of black coffee and comes down from Columbia. (As an aside: a far distance up the Rio Negro from Manaus is where the ‘Survivor Amazon’ took place if anyone watched it. The river boats they departed on, were the exact same type we took on our tours. The beginning of the show was all taped from Manaus.) The Rio Negro is very acidic and has a pH level almost of vinegar. They said not as many fish live in it and I could see why, however, they do have manatees in the Rio Negro. Up river where the ‘Tropical Hotel’ is, the river is 9km wide and down near Manaus it is between 2 and 6 kms. There a lot of long islands in the area so it looks like you are looking across the river but it is actually just an island. In the rainy season all these islands disappear in the high water levels.

 

The Solimoes River comes from Peru and it is muddy. It looks like café au lait (coffee with milk). This is where the piranhas live. The widest part of the Amazon is at the delta at the Atlantic. It is 200 miles wide and the fresh muddy water actually goes out 200 miles into the Atlantic before it mixes. The Amazon Region has the largest supply of fresh water in the world and the Great Lakes are the second. These rivers are large and wide and also have many arms flowing out and in. I bought a map of the Amazonas region in Manaus and it is amazing to study.

 

Back to the meeting of the waters. When the Solimoes and the Rio Negro meet to become the Amazon River they run side by side for 13 miles without mixing. It is absolutely fascinating! This is due to the fact they are very diverse in make up, speeds and temperature. Just as we were leaving Manaus towards the meeting of the waters we saw two pink dolphins.

 

It mostly rains in the afternoon, so they told us it is better take tours in the morning. Just as we were taking our pictures of the meeting huge black clouds rolled in and there was a big storm. It made for fabulous shots of the black sky against the two different rivers. It rained for about 40 minutes and that was the last of the rain.

 

After the meeting of the waters we steered down an arm of the river called the Solimoes. We went to a small outpost in the area of Lake January where we got off our river boat and there was a handicraft market and a restaurant. From there we took a walk through the jungle to a raised walking platform (like a dock). It was about 20 feet off the ground and remember, in the rainy season the water would be right up to the planks. At the end of the path was the ‘Vitoria Regia’ lily pads. They are easily 4 –5 feet in diameter and were fabulous. Seeing these lily pads have been on my list of ‘to dos’ for years. I saw them in National Geographic once and remember thinking ‘I have to see them’. Well today I can cross that off my list. They were unbelievable!

 

After that we shopped a while in the store. You could buy most things you wanted here, t-shirts, hats, key chains, postcards, lacquered piranhas, amazon head dresses and Indian bow and arrows, beaded necklaces etc.

 

After we made our purchases, we boarded smaller wooden boats and went on the jungle cruise down a bunch of little streams and veins of the river. From there we got out and went on a short jungle hike where they pointed out beetles, spiders, flora and fauna. It was fairly muddy so bring closed toe running shoes preferably. This is certainly where you are going to need your bug repellent. We then boarded our boats and went to a very small boathouse and dock where again you could buy things but the draw here was the many kids with their jungle pets out for pictures. You give them a dollar either local currency or USD and they would pose for a picture or you could hold their animals and take a picture. I held everything possible from alligators, parrots, monkeys, snakes but my favorite was the sloths. I have held these many times in Columbia before. They are so cute the way they cling to you and don’t move and they are the softest things I have ever touched. I had read a review on CC where a woman said she hated the kids with their pets and to stay away from them. Well that was one of my favorite parts of the day. People at work said I was crazy and asked if I was worried about bugs they might have on them. Honestly I didn’t care for a second during but I was washing my hands and arms with a gallon of antibacterial soap afterwards. We saw pink dolphins again on the ride back to the outpost.

 

When we got back to our outpost we saw a small group of 5 or 6 people in the restaurant, we found out later on that that was the Captain of the Royal Princess and some others. They had a big spread put out for us to eat. The food was excellent. There were some salads, vegetables, pasta, manioc (similar to the Italian polenta) I had to try that because that is what they were always eating on ‘survivor’. There were a few types of fish and I don’t usually care for fish and this was outstanding. There had some hot pepper sauce made from local ingredients. It was amazing and had a real burn to it. The drinks were extra, I tried a locally made soda. It was pretty good very similar taste to cream soda but looked like ginger ale. It was a great meal to end a great tour. After we ate we got back on our original large riverboat to sail back to Manaus. You could buy some items like t-shirts, souvenirs and drinks on the riverboat. I bought a great book about of the amazon with many incredible photos. The riverboat took US currency.

 

On our tour were some people from other parts of Brazil, also many people from the ship. The majority of the passengers were embarking in Manaus like us. We also met some of the entertainment crew from the ship. The female headliner Laurie Miller and a few guys from the show band, John and Graham. It was cool to meet them before we even got on board and then see them performing in all the Production shows.

 

It was recommended by Luciana to bring on this tour; zip away pants, rainwear, flashlight, snacks (watch what you eat in Manaus), apply a lot of bug repellant and sunscreen, wear good sturdy shoes but they will get muddy, drink plenty of water (bottled only)

 

After the tour docked they drove us back to the Taj Mahal Hotel where we picked up our luggage and finally got to the Royal Princess to embark. The taxi from the hotel to the pier was R$10,00 ($3.30usd) for a 10min ride. We felt like we had already been away a week and it had not even been two days. By the time got aboard it was about 4pm, mostly everyone must have been onboard because not one other person was checking in with us. So we gave in our passports they checked our yellow fever vaccination certificates ( I was beginning to think no one cared about them). We gave the porter in charge of getting luggage onboard a big fat tip to look after our bags and on we went.

[stingraynz]

As I mentioned before my mom and aunt decided at the last minute to come as well and they used the cruise line air and transfers so they were on board already. We dumped our knapsacks off in the room and went to look around. One of our usual stops just after embarking is to go meet the Maitre’d to see if our table is in a good location. We met Rui from Portugal and he had a good table for us so we kept our original table assignment.

 

Our cabin was Aloha 224 mini suite. It was the size of a hotel room rather than a cabin. It had a large bathroom with tub and shower (all rooms had a tub) a sitting area and a double size balcony. We asked our cabin steward Rudy if he could take away the table and chairs on the balcony and put two chaise loungers and when we came back from our night tour they were there.

 

I have been on 6 princess cruises (with a 7th booked) and I have always been on Aloha deck. Even times we didn’t book Aloha, we have been upgraded to Aloha. Thank you Princess! It’s like I have some kind of ‘Aloha Deck’ Karma.

 

We had booked the tour ‘Alligator Hunting at Night’ through Princess. It wasn’t offered elsewhere. So we had to unpack with lightening speed eat at the buffet (I call it the trough) and get outside to meet with our group.

 

In the months prior to leaving we had a cruise critic roll call of about 10 people. I knew two of the members were going on the alligator hunting tour as well, so we made plans to meet up prior to the tour. We met Barbara from Arizona and Bob from Ohio at the gangway, they had both already been on the Royal since Fort Lauderdale. We liked them right off the bat and had a fun night. We took the same sort of riverboat to the same outpost on Lake January where we had been in the afternoon. The night was very hot and humid, there was a full moon and the jungle was making a lot of noises. It was a magical night.

 

When we reached our same outpost we saw the same guy who drove us in the smaller wooden boats that afternoon. We waved to him right away and we got him to be our alligator catcher for the night. There was just the four of us (me, my sister Lisa, Barbara, Bob) our guy ‘the catcher’, a boat driver and a guide. It was very personal service. We went into the darkness into those little streams I saw earlier that day and we went very slow looking for the alligators eyes which were bright red. As soon as the eyes were caught in the beam of the flashlight the boat moved in and the catcher leaned over the front of the boat and swooped down to grab at the alligator. Once the alligator was grabbed and pulled into the boat we all sat around in a huddle and the guide spoke about the alligator and pointed out the facts. Obviously this had just come out of the wild so we were not picking it up, but we could pet it and touch it’s feet while it was held by the catcher. He showed us his war wounds from other nights of hunting alligator tours. Our alligator was just a baby and was small and cute. You could tell our guy wanted to get us a bigger one because he kept searching with the flashlight. Then he found some more eyes the boat swooped in and out he pulled an alligator covered in weeds and swamp grasses. This one was huge! Probably the biggest one that would be allowed inside the boat. You could tell they were very happy with that one. At this point we had two alligators in the boat (oh! If Princess only knew). Anyway they ended up bringing the big one back to the outpost in case other boats didn’t get a chance to see a good one. Some boats didn’t even get any at all. I knew our afternoon guy was going to be a good catcher! We still don’t even know his name.

 

We could take pictures with the alligator and Barbara told him she wanted to hold it and I asked if I could hold it. It didn’t seem to be moving around, so it didn’t appear dangerous. You could tell the guy holding it was uneasy letting me do this. All he said was “if it starts moving, don’t let go!” So we both held it and got out pictures. It wasn’t until we got home and I was looking at the pictures that I realized it was the same alligator that we caught and was brought back to show. I had thought it was one they had there like a pet. Our tour guide we had in Manaus the next day said it must have had fishing line around the jaws. Well I looked in the pictures and not only was it the same alligator our boat brought back, but it clearly had no line tying it’s mouth shut. Oh Boy! I’m braver than I realized. That was worth the $66 just for that.

 

When we got back to the ship I showered and flopped into bed. I would say it was a successful day.

[stingraynz]

APRIL 7TH MANAUS BRAZIL DEP 7PM

 

Today was going to be another very busy day and our last day in Manaus. We had room service deliver our coffee and danishes at 6am and we had to be off the ship by 7am in order to find a cab to take us to the Tropical hotel. We were taking a airplane flightseeing tour at 8am that we had booked through Luciana and the Hydroplane dock was at the Tropical Hotel. After the flightseeing our tour guide for our Manaus tour was to meet us right at the dock. At 8:30am.

 

The Tropical Hotel was about a ½ hour away by car. Getting the taxi driver to understand where we wanted to go was very interesting. It was R$24,00 for the ½ hour ride, the cabs were really well priced. The Tropical Hotel is a gorgeous hotel property out near a very affluent beach area of West Manaus called Ponta Negro. Once we found where the plane took off from we walked over and found the flightseeing tour office at the hydroplane dock. The rate was US$ 120 x 2 for a ½ hour ride – paid in cash. Luciana recommended the hour ride and when we were there so did the tour office. They showed us the map and it goes all over the Rio Negro archipelago it would have been better but we didn’t bring enough cash that day and our tour was meeting us at 8:30 so we stuck with the original plan. Maybe next time for us. But any of you may want to consider this for yourselves.

 

The airplane took us all around the area we had been seeing all along Lake January, meeting of the waters, river solimoles. It was great to see it all from the air. We then flew over the thick Amazon jungle as well as all around Manaus. We could even see the giant lily pads from the air. It was well worth the money and we got some great shots.

 

After saying goodbye to the pilot, we saw our tour guide approaching. I tell you these tours from Viverde went off like clockwork. We met Sena and he was so cute and sweet. We barely walked 2 feet when we saw some rocks that were a great purple color. Lisa and I collect sand and rocks from all over (it’s just one of those things we do). We asked Sena if it would be alright if we collected a few rocks to take with us. He smiled and said sure (even though he was probably wondering what the hell we wanted the rocks for) and he even helped us get a few good ones. It was at that moment, I knew we were going to love our tour with him. We went up to the parking lot and met Marcos the driver and then we were off.

 

Viverde has some pre-planned tours on their website. We told Luciana we were interested in seeing the opera house and that we wanted to see all the animal sights. This is what we decided on 5-6 hour tour including INPA, Natural Science Museum, CIGS zoo and Fast city tour. It was US$ 85 x 2 - Payment: in cash to the driver. It included all admissions.

 

We started at the CIGS zoo. This is a military zone used to train the soldiers in jungle maneuvers. Sena told us they have to really protect the borders from Columbia and because it is all jungle the soldiers must know how to survive for weeks in the jungle. At the zoo they have specimens of all the species found in the amazonas region. Years later, they decided to open this zoo to the public and the admission cost goes to fund the zoo. Generally there was a strong military presence around Manaus.

 

We saw all sorts of animals, birds and reptiles. Things to note were mainly boas, tapirs, jaguars, monkeys, vultures, toucans and parrots.

 

The Natural Museum was really nice & when we arrived there we were the only ones in there. There’s something really great about being the only three people in a museum. It was like it was a private viewing. Here they show all the species of the Amazonia region both from the water and land. Some of the fish they had on display were absolutely prehistoric looking and really bizarre. They are had a lot of creepy things like specimens of parasites you can get from the water to gigantic specimens of spiders & insects (bugs and flys). They also had beautiful displays of butterflies and moths. They had some tanks of fish such as piranhas and pirarucu which are huge. They use the scales from this fish for a lot of the detail work on handicrafts that you will see. As we were nearing the end of our visit to the museum, two bus loads of cruisers came in and overrun the small museum. That could have been us on that tour, if we didn’t have Sena.

 

Next we went to the INPA botanical garden. Here we mainly went to see the manatees that they have. They are on display in aquarium tanks. We saw eight manatees then went on to see the different trees of the jungle and some huge spider webs and an electric eel.

[stingraynz]

The Opera House (Teatro Amazona) was truly a highlight of the day in Manaus. One of those things I was only going to see because it was on the tour and everyone said it was a “must see”. I was definitely more interested in the natural aspect in Manaus. Well this opera house blew me away! Not only is the architecture a fabulous example from that era, but the art and design inside was so brilliant that I could have wandered around in there for hours. This Opera house dated back to 1897 and was built during the rubber boom. During this time Manaus was the richest city in the world, they told us of how the rubber barons would light their cigars with hundred dollar bills. The Opera House had a lot of influence from Amazonia and Manaus mixed in with the French architecture. Throughout the theatre there was the symbols of the meeting of the water. This was seen in inlaid wood on the floor and on details on the walls. There was a huge ballroom with grand outdoor terraces overlooking Manaus. You could just picture debutante balls taking place in this grand ballroom.

 

We sat down for a bit in the theatre, at first in the first few rows and then up in the balconies. We were very lucky that an orchestra was practicing to we could listen to a performance in there. The acoustics were so good it still gives we chills to think about it. Some friends of ours who spent some time in the Amazon said ‘make sure you try to catch a performance in the opera house’. I though ‘yeah OK, I’ll get right on that’ well now I understand why they wanted us to hear a performance in there. It really was spectacular. It was nice to sit and listen and not have to follow a schedule. Again, I was happy not to be on a large tour. Sena made everything so easy he would go ahead and buy the tickets to the attractions and then we would wander around together as he would explain everything. You cannot use flash photography inside so we bought the packaged set of postcards. They were really nice so you may want to get them as well.

 

After the Opera House Sena took us to a souvenir shop just across the square. It was big and had everything we would ever need to buy. We picked up all the remaining amazon souvenirs we needed. For example, I got an oil painting of a toucan and some old vintage postcards from Manaus. At the front steps of the opera house we bought some pretty good maps of the amazon and Manaus. They were about $R10,00 each.

 

At this point we needed to buy some bottled water for consumption on tours and on the ship for the next few days. We asked Sena if we could go to a grocery store or market. Him and Marco discussed it at length and came back and said there are two places; a huge one that was more expensive but would have everything or a smaller store where they shop with good prices. We decided to go to the smaller store first to see what they had. He was right it was so small I wouldn’t even have noticed it driving by. We bought all the water they had (approx 6 large bottles), as well as 6 bottles of pop and a big slab of cheese (Sena was buying this for himself and we told him to throw it on our bill). Altogether this came to about $R25,00 which is about $8USD. You can’t go wrong with that.

 

We loaded our supplies into the trunk and Marco filled up the car with gas and we were off to the Central Market. The downtown area near the port was busy, hot and dusty. We really lucked out and Marco just pulled right up to the market and we parked the car right there. He waited with our stuff and Sena, Lisa and I went to see what was in the market. The market was one of the older buildings of Manaus also dating back to the rubber boom. It was adorned with beautiful iron work, stained glass and woodcarvings.

 

They had lots of stuff for tourists to buy such as t-shirts and souvenirs. Of course we had already picked a lot of that stuff up so we went to see the fish market area. There were all those weird species of fish I had seen previously at the natural museum and here they all were, available for sale. Sena said some of the breeds could live a long time out of water and there was this type that would move along the counter as if it was walking. Not our regular fish back home! If you go to the market you must also take a look at the area with all the Amazonia lotions & potions. There are lots of special plants and herbs that are used for medicinal purposes.

 

Now our day with Sena and Marcos was coming to an end. We liked the tour so much and they were so nice. We traded e-mail addresses and hugged goodbye at the port. I would really like to go back to Manaus on a future trip and spend more time there.

 

I could not say enough about the service we received from Luciana from Viverde and all the people she put us in contact with. They were all very professional and personable. They made our time in Manaus so special. I think they had a lot to do with the fact that we loved every moment there and we would want to visit there again in the future.

 

Luciana was always very prompt with her e-mails, she answered every question or concern we had. Viverde offers a lot of tours and I would imagine could set up anything you wanted. If they didn’t offer something in particular I’m sure they could get you in touch with someone who can. The private guides (Sena) and the tours from Amazon Explorers were excellent. We spent two full days using her services as well as our airport pickup and reserving our hotel room. Every thing she planned went off like clock work. In fact she gave us all her numbers in case we needed to contact her and we never needed to use them.

 

Here is her contact information:

Amazonas by Viverde - http://www.viverde.com.br/home.html

Viverde Website hosted in US - http://www.guariba.com

Address: Rua Guariúbas, 47 - Cj. Acariquara

Zip Code: 69085-350 - Manaus/AM - Brazil

 

There were other tour guides services you could use but I would go with Viverde. If you want to play it by ear and not reserve in advance, you could go to the Amazon Explorers kiosk in Manaus or at the Tropical Hotel. You could get all sorts of boats tours, meeting of the waters etc right on the pier when you get off the ship. Many guides were out there with tour options. The long and short is; in Manaus there is no need to take the ships tours. There are many alternatives that will either be half the people and/or half the price. Sena told us that tourism is the main source of income of many people in Manaus, so you know there will be many tours available. Do not plan on taking a tour with a taxi driver, English is not widely spoken by anyone who is not a tour guide.

 

We sailed out of Manaus around 7pm. I’ll never forget the sunset we had that night. Many colours of orange, pinks and red as well as great cloud formations. It wasn’t what I was expecting to see in the rainforest. We went to dinner a bit late so we could see the meeting of the water one more time. It is just east of Manaus. So if you are sailing out it is about 40-50 min after you sail. If you are arriving it is just before you start seeing the factories and industry of Manaus. The water colours are so different you can see it even at night.

 

DAY OF THE WEEK:

We were in Manaus on a Tuesday & Wednesday so it was business as usual and we had no problems with anything not being open.

[stingraynz]

APRIL 8 BOCA DE VALERIA (AMAZON RIVER) BRAZIL 11AM TO 6PM

 

TEMP 77F

High 31C/88F

Light Breeze/Calm Waters

20 knots

 

Doesn’t that weather forecast sound great. Well it was! That morning we woke up to the brown water of the Amazon and we sailed gently down river until about 11am when we anchored at Boca de Valeria. By this time the light breeze had vanished and it was extremely hot and humid!

 

Boca de Valeria is a small tributary of the Amazon made up of about 13 buildings including modest dwellings, a school, church & a town meeting place (bar). It has about 75 permanent residents, but the day the ship arrives it seems all the neighboring river dwellers paddle in for the day. There is no tourism infrastructure, so everyone was on their own for the day. You could meet the people or explore the town. Many people went for a hike up the paths and hills behind Boca and many said they saw macaws and all sorts of wildlife. You could also somehow negotiate a deal with the locals to take you around the surrounding area in their boats. Princess is one of a few cruise lines that stop in Boca de Valeria. Of course they only go in maybe twice or three times each year. For example the Royal Princess goes in twice a year; when they go to Manaus and when they come out.

 

There can only be approx. 200 people allowed to go to ashore at a time. So the tenders are very regulated at the beginning of the day. If you allowed 1 to 2 hours ashore that would be enough. If you wanted to go on a hike or similar allow for more time. If you wait to let the hordes of people go first and stay back enjoy your lunch you will have plenty of time to go in the afternoon. The ship doesn’t leave until 5pm. You may not want to go in the heat of the day either (11am - 2pm).

 

The ship drops lines at the back of the ship so locals can hook up their boats and they get close to the ship. The crew throws food, soap and toiletries over the side to the people. Make sure you go up on deck and watch this.

 

The people in the town were so nice and even though we could not speak to each other at all, it was nice to spend time with them. You can take a look in their homes and other buildings of the town or just take pictures with the children. You will be expected to give them something in return for this so you can give a dollar or some sort of trinkets. I read a few reviews before our trip so I knew we would be visiting here and we wanted to bring something for the kids. It is not recommended to bring candy because it isn’t good for their teeth. We decided to bring all sorts of coloured pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, stickers, bright coloured ‘post-it’ notes and erasers. We put them into small snack size ziploc bags. We weren’t sure how this would go over but the kids absolutely loved them. They loved the fact there was a little pack to hold them in. We also brought Canadian flag pins, every kid in that community must have been wearing a Canadian flag. We were like the pied pipers, there were tons of kids following us around. They could also use clothes and flip flop type sandals. When we went back to the ship we saw how the crew was throwing them food and toiletries so we threw all our toiletries from our balcony. Right away the mothers were eyeing the ziploc bags we put them in. We also threw running shoes, sandals, slippers, sweatshirt, jacket, pants and a few t-shirts. They went wild for the clothes and you could see the mothers were really happy to get the stuff. Others from surrounding balconies asked us if we had any clothes left…trust me we had plenty. This was stuff I figured they needed more then me. They could really use kids t-shirts or socks. If I had known I would have brought some especially since you could get a few and it doesn’t cost that much.

 

Even though it was a beautiful hot and sunny day, there was a rainbow just over the little town when we were getting ready to leave. It was very precious. We also saw many pink dolphins swimming around the ship so keep and eye out for them the whole time. There was also the most gorgeous sunset as we sailed away with the clouds forming the shape of a seahorse. People were claiming this stop was exploitation at its finest, however, I felt no one got anything for free we got our pictures and they got something in return & it was an even trade. We not get anything for free and we didn’t take anything from them. I think everyone got what they wanted. I really enjoyed the day and so did a lot of others.

 

On the nights that the ship is sailing along the Amazon, make sure you go out and look at the stars. Since there is no big cities around, there is minimal lights and the constellations are spectacular. You can see so much more than you will at home. Although we were south of the equator, we were not south enough to see the southern cross and other southern constellations.

[stingraynz]

APRIL 9TH AT SEA (Good Friday)

 

Temp 29C/84F HIGH 31C/88F

Humidity 90%

24 knots/Calm seas partly cloudy

 

Today we got up early to watch Brad Pitt and George Clooney in Ocean’s 11. Well to our surprise it was vintage movie day on the TV and it was the original Ocean’s 11 with Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Okay so it wasn’t Brad Pitt, but there is something about the original, I love it and could watch it many times (Okay, I admit it, I have watched it many times!)

 

Up until now the trip has been so busy we hadn’t had a chance to really enjoy the room. We had A224 mini suite with private balcony. The room was fantastic! It was bigger than the size of our Marriott hotel room in Sao Paulo and had a huge bathroom complete with tub and shower (all rooms on Royal Princess have bathtubs). There was a big marble vanity in the bathroom and the shower spray was very powerful. The balcony was large enough to get rid of the chairs they supplied out there and have two chaise loungers. This room was so great to have for such a long sailing and we lived on the balcony. I give A+ for the room and the room stewards that go along with it, Rudy and Leo from the Philippines. The room was located just across from the stewards’ station and they were always milling around outside our door. Now some people might not like this and at first we thought it was weird that they were always standing out there. But then we realized very quickly that they were always very handy when we needed anything, towels, glasses, coffee & conversation. We loved having them around and they were all so nice. So we felt the location was a positive. Now, the self-service laundry room down the mid section hallway, I wouldn’t want to be near. So keep this in mind.

 

Today we left the region of Amazonas and entered the region of Para. After we went to breakfast we went to the Recife lecture given by Joe May who gave all the port lectures. He was a great speaker, in fact, he spoke about 10 languages.

 

After lunch we sat on the balcony and watched the world go by. Actually, we saw the customs officials and the pilots leave when we passed the city of Macapu. Just moments later we crossed the equator. The only reason I would know that is because they made an announcement I think people actually believe there are markers (my sister may be one of them!)

 

In the weeks (months) prior to the cruise I had been in touch with our Cruise Critic contingency e-mailing and sharing the growing excitement. At 3pm today we met for the first time in the Horizon lounge. Lisa and I had actually already met two fellow CC’rs Barbara and Bob (on the alligator hunting evening) they and a few others were some of the lucky ones that sailed in on the prior sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to Manaus. We had a very good turn out only one person didn’t show. We found out later, he came looking for the meeting at the wrong time. It was nice to meet these people, especially on such a long sailing we had time to get together on the sea days and plan ahead to take excursions with. We met quite a few people that I will keep in touch with for future travels.

 

Later on in the afternoon, we were getting closer to the ‘Amazon bar’ where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was time to say goodbye to the muddy waters of the Amazon (sniff, sniff!)

 

Tonight in the dining room it was Italian night that always has all my favorite appetizers. The old Sinatra movies were still on the television so I watched ‘Robin and Seven Hoods’.

 

APRIL 10TH AT SEA

 

TEMP 25C – 77F

HIGH 28C – 82F

19 KNOTS

 

I woke up today to see the blue water of the Atlantic – a more familiar sight. But already I missed being on the river.

 

My days at sea were beginning to shape into routine of going to a lecture in the morning, walking on the teak jogging track, then lying out on the balcony in the afternoon, again, walking on the jogging track at the sunset then leisurely getting ready for dinner.

 

I remembered reading in other reviews of amazon cruises where they mentioned seeing a lot of bugs and really huge bugs on the decks of the ship. We were careful not to keep the balcony door open at all just in case, but we never saw any bugs on the ship. Well tonight nature made up for all that! We came back from the show and I went to go out to see the stars. When I went to move the curtain back I felt something on my shoulder (do you sense where this is going?) I brushed my shoulder, and down fell a HUGE winged bug with big antennae. After the shear shock wore off, I yelled for Lisa to come look. She took action armed with a hiking sandal. After 4 huge whacks with the sandal it still hadn’t flinched! She whacked and whacked until it was in pieces, then I picked up the pieces and put it in the garbage. No joke we were scared it would plug up the (very sensitive) toilet because it was so big! This thing was Smithsonian material. As you can see I am still not over the trauma.

 

APRIL 11TH AT SEA (Easter Sunday)

 

TEMP 28C/84F

HIGH 28C/82F

19 KNOTS

POSITION: ATLANTIC OCEAN

 

When we went down for breakfast the chocolatiers (sp?) were working on a huge Easter display outside the dining room. They told us they worked all night on the huge chocolate eggs. They were very proud of their creations and were so excited to see the people’s reactions. Even Rui the Matre D was busy hanging streamers and balloons. I noticed that the head waiters and Rui were very hands on in the dining room.

 

There is something about spending the holidays on a cruise. I have spent a few Christmas’ on a cruise and it is fantastic – what’s not to like!?! Our first cruise in 1984 was at Christmas and people kept on saying how could you not be home for Christmas. To this day my response is, ‘try it you may like it’. I would take being on board a ship vs being at home any day. Especially when your family is with you.

 

After breakfast there was an exceptional lecture on the Olympics. Then of course, the balcony was beckoning on this sunny afternoon.

 

The dining room was even more decked out for Easter celebrations than the lobby. There were tons of pastel balloons and streamers. After dinner the children that were on board (there was probably less than 10) came out to break the eggs (wrapped in a table linen) and they served the chocolate to the tables along with dessert.

[stingraynz]

APRIL 12TH RECIFE BRAZIL 1PM TO 8PM (Easter Monday)

 

TEMP 28C/83F

HIGH 29C/85F

HOT & HUMID

19 KNOTS

 

Recife is known as the ‘Venice of Brazil’ because it is a city built on many waterways. It has sun- drenched beaches and emerald green waters. It is much bigger than I was expecting, it is very built up with wall to wall skyscrapers. Recife means ‘reef’ and it is the capital of the Pernambuco state. It has a population of over 1.5 million people and is Brazil’s 5th largest city. It would be a great vacation destination for travelers offering a mix of cosmopolitan metropolis, historic cities and great beaches.

 

Today definitely reached a temperature high. The ship docked in the early afternoon at the commercial pier. There was nothing in the surrounding pier vacinity as far as tourism infrastructure. It looked like a far walk to get anywhere nearby. They had pre-warned of lack of taxi’s and tours right off the ship. They even mentioned to book the tours early because transportation in general in Recife was a problem. We booked the Recife and Olinda tour with Princess.

There were many buses that did this tour, probably about 7 or 8. My guess is that when they saw how many people wanted the tour, Princess secured more buses. I guess this because our tour guide (and I use this term very loosely) had no idea what he was doing. It was apparent he was not used to this task. He was always fumbling, didn’t lead us to see specific items at the different stops and so on. We stopped at the beach for ½ hour then only had 10 min at the shopping stop. We were supposed to go shopping first and then pass by the beach very quickly. There was no time management. Others on the first groups of buses had perfectly fine tour guides. We just got stuck with a last minute stand in, however, Recife was beautiful and we just had to make the best of it. The good thing was that there really wasn’t a lot of historical info. We needed more time for shopping and we just banded together and made the bus wait until we had enough shopping. I find when the tour isn’t working for you, you have to make the best of it. Either ‘dial the tour guide in’ or just put up with it and enjoy it for what it is. I have learned nobody is going to care later that you didn’t like the tour! Especially the cruise line!

 

Both Recife and Olinda were beautiful and very different. Recife is very modern and filled with high rise buildings like Waikiki. Olinda was the complete opposite, up high on a hill and has barely changed since the 16th century.

 

However, let’s get down to it! The ‘Casa Cultura’ a former prison that’s now an artisan and handy craft market was excellent. What a great idea! Not only was it cool to be in an old prison but to have all the artisan shops in the cells, is purely ingenious. Friends of ours told me previously they had bought some good things there (Thanks Dorothy!). There was great shopping there. Things were so cheap I wasn’t even bargaining – I was just paying what they were asking for. Plus, because we had so little time I didn't have time to haggle. At the end of one of the halls was a small leather shop. He had great stuff; leather briefcases, shoes, boots, purses. I bought a fabulous suede cowboy hat (that I love) for R$30,00 (that’s $10 USD and that was the asking price). I also bought a few small paintings and some souvenirs. The small jewelry shops had nice things as well. There was not much as far as Amazon items to buy here except for the very obvious souvenirs. Get your Amazon purchases in Manaus.

 

This was our last stop in Brazil and I loved every part of my visit. It is definitely a place I would love to return. Brazil is very diverse offering the excitement and glamour of Rio, the beauty of the Amazon, beach destinations like Recife, beautiful people and fabulous music all over.

 

The ship sailed just before 8pm. I said goodbye to Recife, goodbye to Brazil (sniff,sniff) and GOODBYE TO LAND!!! As this was the beginning of my first transatlantic voyage.

 

OTHER SHIP TOURS: Here we only had a choice of two tours Intro to Recife $40 and Intro to Recife and Olinda $56 (we took the later one)

The tour of Olinda sells out fast so sign up early. There was a choice to take the ‘H.Stern’ (not Howard Stern to many passenger’s dismay) shuttle to their jewelry store in the Boa Viagem area of Recife. You could easily walk around to a lot of Recife sights from there.

Don’t rely on taking a cab they probably won’t speak English and many that did rely on cabs were disappointed in their choice.

 

DAY OF THE WEEK:

We knew we would be in Recife on Easter Monday and Brazil is a very Catholic country so this was another reason we made use of the ship’s tour. We had no idea what would be closed or how many cab drivers would be available on this holiday.

[stingraynz]

NOTES:

 

RULE : Bottle it, boil it, peel it, cook it - or forget it! This is the rule I follow regarding eating on shore this doesn’t really apply to Europe or North America. Unless I know of a water problem.

 

STICK TO: Good quality beer, carbonated water, bottled water (that you open), tea & coffee

 

AVOID: uncooked fruit & vegetables, ice cubes

 

MEDICATION: CIPRO for diarreah

MEFLOQUINE: for malaria

start taking one day before travel

take with lots of food & water avoid alcohol

Could have G.I. upset, dizziness, insomnia, vivid dreams, anxiety

 

JET LAG: don’t overeat, over drink & avoid alcohol. On the plane get up and stretch, walk around, drink lots of water. Try to adapt to local time immediately

 

WEATHER: I did not know what to expect in regards to weather in April. Spring weather can really be a ‘crap shoot’ in regards of temperature and precipitation. At the same time I never let weather get me down. The weather will not ruin my vacation. As it turns out; not only was it ‘shoulder season’ but it was a great time to be in the Med. The attractions were not busy yet, it was a great temp. for walking around and the air was very fresh. It was also fabulous weather for Senegal and Morocco. Not to hot but hot enough that you didn’t need a jacket.

 

Brazil of course, was very hot and humid and that was to be expected when it is right on the equator. But again we had very bright sunny days.

 

CLOTHING: I always prepare for the worst and dress appropriately. In fact I was expecting it to be cold and rainy in the med. Well we couldn’t have had better weather. I brought enough underwear for every day and a few extras, so 30 pair. I brought good rain gear and good running shoes (both made of ‘gore-ex’). I brought a pair of mitt and a hat in case any mornings were cold (these are made of a light breathable microfibre). I always keep them in my raincoat/windbreaker pocket.

 

For the amazon I brought a long sleeve t-shirt and pants that I could tuck into my socks to keep from being bitten by mosquitos on my night excursion. I brought and extra pair of runners for use in the amazon in case it was muddy I didn’t want to wreck my good runners. I didn’t need any of these clothes (but I was glad I had them) so I gave them away in Boca de Valeria.

 

I had a denim shirt that could have doubled as a jean jacket but would pack a lot smaller. I tried to bring clothes that could both be worn to some casual dinners or out on a shore excursion in Europe (a little more dressy than Brazil or Africa). I brought one pair of shoes for formal nights and wore the same shoes for each one. Then I had a second pair of shoes that I wore every non-formal night for dinner, so only two sandals for night time use. I brought two very good pairs of comfortable sandals for walking in port. So altogether I only had about six pairs of shoes. The Royal had self serve laundry rooms so we did wash about 3 times. If I had to I would have got the ship to wash some of my pants and a few shirts at least.

 

In the ports if it is cool in the morning when going to shore I always dress in layers. I have a light t-shirt underneath, then a long sleeve microfibre shirt that breathes, but can be very warm and my windbreaker on top. I strip off layers as the day wears on and it start to get hot. I just tie them around my waist or put my shirt in my knapsack.

 

I always leave bulky sweaters, sweatshirts & jean jackets at home. They are just too big to put in my luggage. I always have a hat for sun protection. I don’t bring a lot of t-shirts because I know I will end up buying a couple so I just wear the ones I buy.

 

 

SHOPPING:

1. Price out what you want at home first, know what things cost. This goes for housewares, electronics, food, toys and especially jewellry. Especially for the amber, They sell it everywhere there and I couldn't tell what was a good price or not so I didn't get it. But price it at home in the mall first you would be surprised what they offered at the neighbourhood TJ MAXX.

 

2. If you see something you like get it!!! Don't be dispointed later when you don't see it again. 'Strike while the iron's hot' then don't look for it again.

 

REGRETS:

 

I can’t say I didn’t do enough shopping because as it was I had to buy another suitcase on board. I love the stuff I picked up on my travels.

 

I knew going in that some of these places I would not have enough time to see them and I would want to return. I don’t at this as a regret, in fact, I think that is a positive in regards to cruising. You get a flavour of some great ports that will give you a feeling if you want to return and further explore. I know I will want to come back to Manaus (Amazon & Brazil in general), Marrakech, Costa Blanca Spain, French Riviera, and of course, Italy.

 

I felt we had busy days and time was well spent. I didn’t feel overwhelmed at all and we got some great overviews of most of the ports.

 

So I guess I can come away saying…’No Regrets’! And for me that is success.

 

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed….Thank you Princess!!!

 

Next up! Southeast Asia, Istanbul…the world!

 

Nancy

[franu]

Nancy,

All I can say is WOW! What an informative review. I was so ingrossed in your review that I started to read last night, that I found myself readng with only one eye open. The other one was already asleep as it was very late and I should have been in bed already. I had such difficulty tearing myself away and going to bed. Today, I couldn't wait to get back home and finish reading this amazing review.

 

I am sure that we will be using this your research in preparation for our 2005 trip to the same three Amazon ports. I and my three travel companions thank you for your observations and detailed reports.

 

Thank you to a fellow Torontonian.

Fran

[BCHappyGal]

Dear Nancy

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to write such a great review of your Amazon Trip. that is on my list!!!

In 2005 we are doing the West coast of South America and around the horn.

However your review has revived my interest in the Amazon River cruise.

 

Ann

[daryleann]

Just rereading your review before we leave for our cruise. I contacted Viverde as you requested, and the prices have really changed!!! I was quoted total of $225/person for the meeting of waters and the city tour. This is MUCH more than the cruise line is charging!!(a total of $141)

(Also, the transfer from the hotel is now $28/PER PERSON. Ouch. Hope the cabs are a bit less.)

Sure hope we can get some tours once there, as you mentioned, as we hate the 'herd method' of cruise tours.

Thanks for the review - enjoyed it immensly!!

[Aussie Gal]

Nancy,

 

What a wonderful review. I have printed it out as both my sister and I doing Amazon trips in 2006. She is going to be on the Prinsendam in April and I will be on the Veendam in September.

 

I will file it away and refer to it as the time gets nearer.

 

Jennie

[tanda]

Thank you for the informative and detailed report of the South American part of your cruise! We can't wait to go! We are scheduled to leave on the Royal Princess in less than 2 weeks!!

Do you have any advice or experiences to share for Dakar, Agidir, Casablanca and Gibraltar? Any information will be appreciated. Thanks

[shellbeachjim]

Tanda,

If you haven't found it yet, there is a roll call for this cruise:

 

Royal Princess April 21, 2005 Manaus to Rome

 

Less than 2 weeks to go!!!

[JLT]

I appreciate this review. So complete and informative. However, I, too, am disappointed by Viverde. I e-mailed them about tours on Oct 18 and 19 when the Veendam is in Manaus and they informed me that they do not do tours when cruise ships are in port. They advised me to book through the cruise company. I guess they have succumbed to the pressure. I am disappointed because I would rather do business directly with a local company and the tours described sounded so nice. Does anyone know of another company in Manaus?

[etsdas]

I am just starting research - does any one know of other local tour companies doing business now?