Cruising the Amazon River
on the Pacific Princess
December, 2011
Pre-cruise: After training to become a “Commodore” with Princess Cruises. So, I was invited to take a cruise with them. I would use the word ‘free’, but there is no such thing. The cruise I chose was a 14 trip to the Amazon River, with 9 ports-of-call, which left from Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 16th. My mate was a friend from 1955, when we taught together at a USAF school in Chateauroux, France. Barbara Levinson proved to be a good choice of mates, as she was willing to jump thru all the hoops required for such a cruise.
The two things required by Princess, and Brazil, are a yellow fever shot and a Visa. Barbara found out from her doctor that when you pass 60 (ahem!), you don’t need the yellow fever shot, as it’s a live virus and would not attack us. However, the Visa was a challenge to get. I sent for mine in October, and was starting to sweat it out as it only arrived days before we left. However, I met some fellow onboard, who arrived in Fort Lauderdale without the visa, as they were sending it to the ship to pick up. Fortunately, he did get it, but I wondered if others arrived without it, as they would not let you board the ship without it (and a letter from doctor regarding the yellow fever shot). We also took out travel insurance with Travelguard.com, because you never know, and were glad to not have to use it.
Check-in: I arrived in Miami a day early, and took the SuperShuttle to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale, where I met up with Barbara, who flew in with Virgin Airlines later in the day. In the morning, we taxi-ed to the Port for check-in. This is never easy on any cruise, but it did go rather smoothly, as we whizzed past the photographer, and anyone else we could. The garage atmosphere prevailed, as were herded into several lines, whereas all they really wanted was a copy of our credit card, and they kept our passport – a thing that always makes me ‘uncomfortable’. They didn’t give it back until the last day . .. perhaps to be sure we wouldn’t jump ship.
The ship: We found our cabin quite easily, as the Pacific Princess is considered a ‘little ship’ and we were in the center. This was my first time on a ship with under 700 passengers, and it proved to be very convenient to have meals in the aft section, and shows/casino/library/spa in fore section. The swimming pool was in the mid section together with a small running track, and snack bar. The library had a decent collection of books, plus they put out crossword puzzles, Sudoku, trivia questions each morning. The spa and internet section was just a deck below, and I was given 240 minutes (complimentary) online, since I have “elite” status, with Princess. We found this enough time for both of us to check our email. . . and home town paper.
A daily newsletter was left each evening at our door, and this “Princess Patter” listed all the activities for the next day. So we got into the routine quickly, covering the bridge play, trivia games, Zumba Dance Classes, Ping Pong, afternoon tea, and showtime. Each evening, the shows were introduced by a delightful Australian gal, Susan Rawlings, and every show was excellent. The lead duo was a great fellow from San Francisco and girl from Oklahoma, who were backed by 3 guys and 3 gals who were excellent dancers. The advantage of a small ship is that they all mingled with us throughout the day and even offered to dance with us at the sock hop one night. I suspect they were forced into this by their contract, but it was really welcomed. The two comedian/magicians on two other nights were also great, and there was music onboard in the Casino Lounge by Manda Vincent, a Scottish/Irish gal, and the Pete Nilson Duo, in the Pacific Lounge.
I had difficulty understanding our Captain, Andrea Poggi, as he was from from Rigoroso, Italy, but he was aimable at two formal parties, and introduced all the staff. The Senior Doctor, James Pape was well received, altho’ neither of us had to use him. One day, we viewed the galley, and met the executive Chef, Remo Bolis, another handsome Italian, and the kitchen crew, who were unbelieveably great and the meals and presentations were first class.
St. Maarten: We reached this beautiful island on the 19th, and were glad to see land again. . . the temperature was 27° C (81°F). We took a short tour by van around the island, and did some shopping at one of their many markets.
St. Lucia – The temperature was 29° C (84°F). The Caribbean Princess beat us to the dock, so we had further to walk for our 8 hour visit. This was also their opportunity for trading entertainers, ie. the magician, etc. I’ve been here before and it is not unlike the other Caribbean islands.
Tobago (Scarborough): The temperature was the same, ie. 29° C (84°F). This is the ‘sister’ island of Trinidad and had the usual scenery, shops, beaches, etc. At 5 p.m., we set sail for Devil’s Island.
Devil’s Island: after another 2 days at sea, we arrived here, but the sea was rough, so rough in fact that we didn’t dock here, so skipped this island . .. The temperature was 30° C (86°F), we learned later that it happens more than half the time. . .we were getting used to walking with a swagger by now. We took pictures from the ship, but it’ll look like any old jungle, I think.
At Sea: We sailed east of Barra Norte, and the coast of French Guiana to the northern entrance of the Amazon. The water is shallow here, so we went slower than usual. The temperature was 29° C (82°F).
At Sea: Christmas at Santana Clearance: the delayed arrival of the Amazon Pilots, caused us to be late at the next port. Perhaps because of the holiday, but we did reach Santarem on the 26th a bit late.
Santarem: The sky was cloudy here and the temperature was cooler. It is actually built along the south shore of the Rio Tapajos, which flows into the Amazon about 2 miles from town. The river differs from the Amazon, because it is a so-called ‘clear’ or ‘black’ river, and you can clearly see the line of division from the brown water of the Amazon. The brown and black river waters flow side-by-side for many miles downstream before eventually mixing. “the meeting of the waters” are best observed here, but also can be seen in Manaus, where the Rio Negro enters the brown Rio Solimoes. Mosquitoes and other biting insects are prevalent in unbelievable hores along the brown stream, while the black rivera are almost insect-free. Fish vendors in small boats are everywhere, and the sell everything from armored catfish to piranhas to pirarucu (the codfish of the Amazon). There are more than 2 million people in the Amazon Basin, including Indians (mixed with European blood), prospectors (garimpeiros), rubber tappers, river dwellers (ribeirnhos), nut gatherers, and herb collectors. I also noted some butterflies, and saw a Blue Morpho Butterly, which is a good-luck sign for me. Here we find also the hammock. . .the campbed of choice. . . manufactured here and more popular than mattresses, which will mildew and are uncomfortably hot.
Boca De Valeria: The temperature was 26° C (79°F). We stayed in Boca from 7 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. which gave us enough time for a side-trip in a smaller river boat. We were close up to some pink dolphins and other sea-life, but the highlight of our ride, was stopping to throw a fishing line in the water, and 3 of our 25 or so passengers caught some piranhas ranging from 6″ to 12″ but they all had big sharp teeth. We took pictures of this, and threw them back into the river….
Perintins: The temperature was 29° C (84°F). We arrived the evening before our 1/2 day on Perintins, and were tendered to shore. Since the Amazon is the principal means of access, it was not surprising to see the dock cluttered with boats of all sizes. It has become known for its flamboyant expression of music, dance, and drama, as we witnessed the Boi Burmá show put on for us, exclusively. It is usually part of the June Festival Folchórico, which tells the good-natured competition between the red Garantido team and blue Caprichoso team. The larger floats go up to 40′ high, and are decorated with local flower, tree barks and feathers, and our performance was sold out.
Manaus: Our final port-of-call, and we arrived in the evening in time to spend 1 1/2 days there. This is a huge city, next to Rio de Janiero in size (I think?) and we started out by taking a shuttle to a large hotel on the edge of town, which was on the banks of the Amazon, and was a complex for shops, restaurants, condos, rooms. The half hour drive on the bus gave us an opportunity to see a lot of the city, and after a non-buying spree at the hotel, we took the bus back to the famous Opera House. This was a beautiful building that seemed out of place with the luxury of gold and fancy trim next to what was close to a slum area. We took a tour and were impressed the opulance of this beautiful building.
We had lunch in a very attractive restaurant, which seemed out of place in this part of town. Then, walking back to the ship in 100° heat was a disaster, and a big rainstorm started out of nowhere, so we gave up and took a taxi back.
Disembarking: A motorcoach took us to the airport in Manaus, where we boarded a charter flight on a Boeing 737 for the flight on Air Miami, to Miami. It was a pleasure to be served hot meal, and have no baggage fee. We didn’t even knowingly go thru customs. The best part tho’ was that both Barbara and I had 3 seats to ourselves to spread out on the 4 1/2 hour flight back to US. We took the hotel shuttle to our room, and were glad to get a good night’s rest, and a free day before flying back to our respective homes.
Uneven rocks form streets-Manaus
I would highly recommend this cruise. While this is an annual cruise, Princess publishes attrative brochures for all their cruises, and of course, you can always peruse http://www.princesscruises.com. I am always happy to do your bookings to anywhere, as I specialize in knowing ALASKA best, having lived here for 46 years.
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