Amazon River
Amazon River
4.5
About
The world’s largest river is filled with mystery and adventure: churning rapids, giant waterlilies large enough to fit a child, alligator-like caimans, narrow tributaries that stretch for miles through the dense rainforest and an incredible variety of wildlife.
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4.5
100 reviews
Excellent
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Very good
20
Average
6
Poor
1
Terrible
2
Cyn G
Bend, OR5 contributions
Nov 2022
Not for the young adventurers, but I am 75 and loved it. Some Caribbean islands then two weeks on the Amazon River. Get a balcony -sit and watch. Triciclo in Paritin and Santarem was nice. Manaus sadly is dangerous...told don't wear jewelry,etc.HAL needs more employees on the ship, dinner took way too long, but the ARiver was wonderful Nov to December. No mosquitoes, no rain.
Written 21 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
qu714
St. Louis46 contributions
June 2024 • Solo
The Tucano 7 days was/is the trip of a lifetime. If you have any desire to see the Amazon region - take this trip. The ship is very comfortable (private bath - A/C) combined the comfort with expert guides who grew up in the area and know the traditions of this region, a great attentive crew, delicious fresh cooked meals, extraordinary wildlife and spectacular scenery and that = 5! This area of the world is amazing! This is an active trip that includes hiking in the jungle - several launches (taking smaller boats down the river and into the coves) , piranha fishing (and the chef cooked our catches for a fabulous meal). If you want to take time to read, nap, or hang on the bigger boat that is an option.
Written 9 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,623 contributions
June 2019 • Friends
WOW, This is an awesome river. Unfortunately, lots of industry on its banks near Manaus. There is lots to see and do. Our cruise stopped to let us experience four adventures, the best two of which were seeing the lots of monkeys in trees and an indigenous peoples village. Highly recommended.
Written 12 June 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
anglerted
Wilmington, DE61 contributions
Aug 2011 • Friends
If your desire is to experience the Amazon (locals call it the Amazonas) River area of Brazil (local spelling is Brasil) I feel the Amazon Clipper Cruises offer the most comprehensive, informative and exciting tour available at a reasonable price. Specifically we chose the Clipper Premium which was quite comfortable with ample spaced rooms with two beds which could be pushed together as one large bed, spacious bathroom with stall shower and space for all your stuff. The food was excellent served buffet style; and the boat had ample deck space for viewing the flora and fauna. The 16-room ship accommodates a small group of 32 people while the excursion canoes holds 16 on comfortable bench seats with back supports – cushions are provided. The guides are local and extremely knowledgeable. While you can read about the daily activities on the Clipper internet site, much more is added during the trip and I will not go into details so as not to spoil the wonderful surprises in store for you during your adventure. Let me just say that this was a magical trip I will not soon forget.
Written 6 January 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lhotse21
Denver, Colorado47 contributions
Dec 2012 • Couples
We took the Amazon Cruise on Princess in Dec., 2012-13. I don't have much to say about it other than it was excruciatingly boring. One tends to think of the Amazon as thick jungle and all sorts of exotic animals. We didn't see ONE. The thick jungle, much of the time, is pasture land for grazing animals with small shacks where the farmers stay. This is because of the deforestation of the Amazon jungle that you read about. Since the deep water channel is so far into the huge river, you cannot go near the shore, unless you are making a stop. Other than that, you better have binoculars to even see the shore. Princess was lovely as always - fine service, good food and clean ships, although there had been an outbreak of Norovirus on this ship prior to us getting on. They called Hazmat teams in from Ft. Lauderdale and no one got sick on our cruise, so they must have gotten it. I have spent a lot of time in jungles, having been to 95 countries and while I have been on several ocean cruises and five river cruises, this was by far the most boring, They stopped at some towns along the way and although rather modern, which is alright, they did make one stop in a small village where supposedly Indians lived. Then we saw cable dishes on their homes and other modern things, so it isn't like the place you imagined. The stops were dangerous, I thought, and I was injured coming off the tender. There were two other people who were injured as well - one broken foot and one broken arm. The stops were generally packed with about two or three inches of red mud, and many people fell and slid in this stuff. I guess it would have been worth it if we had seen even one animal, but we didn't. For instance, we signed up to go on a jungle walk and it turned out it was this guy's rather large fenced in back yard. Our sum total of "animals" were large ants. That's it. Manaus, the largest city has a noteworthy opera house, in which Caruso once sang, but the rest of the city is pretty poor and run down. Princess is always lovely - the only criticism I have was that the buffet had way too many plainly cooked carbohydrates - a pan of rice, a pan of mashed potatoes, a pan of spatzle, etc. For those of us who are allergic to garlic, there is virtually nothing to eat. Almost everything is cooked in garlic, so I had almost nothing to eat but the carbs. Generally Princess has better buffets for lunch and this was disappointing. So, I would sum this up by saying, that in my opinion, this is an extremely boring trip with nothing to see and almost nothing to do. They only do it once a year and I see why. Prior to the Amazon, they went to three Caribbean islands, which I had been to several times and Devil's Island - the penal colony off French Guiana. I thought Devil's Island was the best thing on the trip. It was a beautiful area and the three islands are covered with beautiful foliage and flowers. Many of the old buildings are still there, although Devil's Island itself is something you actually cannot visit. You can only look across a channel at it from another of the other two islands. The whole thing was an expensive trip for what you see, which is almost nothing. The other excursions were to see lily pads and an area where the two rivers meet, etc. I think Princess does the best they can with what they have but there just isn't much there.
Written 19 March 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ProctorCharlier
Bozeman, MT197 contributions
May 2011
We spent three nights and 4 days on this tour (you pay by the day, not the night) and enjoyed it tremendously. Our guide went out of his way to spot animals that we were looking for, and worked tirelessly to make sure that we were comfortable. We saw pink dolphins, sloths, macaws, spiders, birds of many kinds, went piranha fishing, spear fishing at night, caiman spotting at night, swam in the river, and saw giant lilies and rubber trees. It would have been nice if he knew a little bit more history (we had one guide for one hour who told us history and local facts while he was with us and that was extremely helpful and enhanced our experience). The guide we were with 95% of the time knew enough English to communicate with us. He introduced us to his family which was an interesting experience. My husband and I are outgoing so we had a good time visiting them, but if you are not going to try to talk to the family and have a "locals" experience, this might be awkward for you and you might want to opt out of this activity.
If you are expecting an action-packed adventure from sunrise to sunset, your expectations may not be met. If you want some action and some resting time, you may be very pleased. We had a morning outing for about 3 hours after breakfast each day, then had 3 hours for a break & lunch, then an afternoon trip for 3-4 hours, then dinner at 7 and often did a short, one hour night trip to spot caiman or something like that. There is a pool table in the lodge for entertainment but that is all, so we often just went to bed early and got 9 hours of sleep.
We chose to spend our 3rd night in the jungle which was fascinating-we took a 90 minute boat trip deeper into the jungle and pitched hammocks and mosqito nets under a tarp and slept with the sounds of the jungle around us. Take mosquito spray and cover your whole body and you will be fine. If not, you will get bitten. We cooked a chicken and rice over a fire and had fruit for dessert. Take only one change of clothes, rain jacket, toilet paper, and a toothbrush and leave everything else at the lodge if you choose to do this. It was one of the highlights of our trip because of how cloes to nature we felt, and because it was a full moon and we took a boat ride at night which was amazing.
Overall, we were pleased. I would have liked to know that they only accepted cash. That wasted half an hour the morning of departure while we searched for an ATM that worked. I would give this tour a 5 star rating if it was more polished, such as having comfortable seating for more people at the lodge (there were 2 comfortable chairs, and the rest of the seating was plentiful but very hard benches, and you are on hard benches all day on the boat), or if there were music playing to give the lodge some atmosphere, or if the jungle lodge owners and employees had paid a little bit more attention to the guests. For example, they did not welcome us when we arrived at the jungle lodge (where you sleep at night, your home base while in the jungle). They could have said to us "your rooms are not quite ready so here is some juice while you wait, and here is a fishing pole so you can fish off the pier while you wait, or here is a towel so you can go swimming then dry off afterwards". The employees were hard to find sometimes, (and complacent) so it was often hard to buy a drink or ask for something, and they spoke zero English which would have made things very hard if I did not know a little bit of Portuguese. There was no itinerary to speak of, so we often did not know what we were about to do, or when to expect to be ready for something until 10-15 minutes before departure. We asked questions constantly so usually knew what was going on.
The director of the tour was prompt in giving us responses via email and in pick up at the airport and with all bus and boat transfers. Overall, our expectations were met, and with a little bit more effort and educating the employees at the jungle lodge about service in the hospitality industry, they could earn the 5th star.
If you are expecting an action-packed adventure from sunrise to sunset, your expectations may not be met. If you want some action and some resting time, you may be very pleased. We had a morning outing for about 3 hours after breakfast each day, then had 3 hours for a break & lunch, then an afternoon trip for 3-4 hours, then dinner at 7 and often did a short, one hour night trip to spot caiman or something like that. There is a pool table in the lodge for entertainment but that is all, so we often just went to bed early and got 9 hours of sleep.
We chose to spend our 3rd night in the jungle which was fascinating-we took a 90 minute boat trip deeper into the jungle and pitched hammocks and mosqito nets under a tarp and slept with the sounds of the jungle around us. Take mosquito spray and cover your whole body and you will be fine. If not, you will get bitten. We cooked a chicken and rice over a fire and had fruit for dessert. Take only one change of clothes, rain jacket, toilet paper, and a toothbrush and leave everything else at the lodge if you choose to do this. It was one of the highlights of our trip because of how cloes to nature we felt, and because it was a full moon and we took a boat ride at night which was amazing.
Overall, we were pleased. I would have liked to know that they only accepted cash. That wasted half an hour the morning of departure while we searched for an ATM that worked. I would give this tour a 5 star rating if it was more polished, such as having comfortable seating for more people at the lodge (there were 2 comfortable chairs, and the rest of the seating was plentiful but very hard benches, and you are on hard benches all day on the boat), or if there were music playing to give the lodge some atmosphere, or if the jungle lodge owners and employees had paid a little bit more attention to the guests. For example, they did not welcome us when we arrived at the jungle lodge (where you sleep at night, your home base while in the jungle). They could have said to us "your rooms are not quite ready so here is some juice while you wait, and here is a fishing pole so you can fish off the pier while you wait, or here is a towel so you can go swimming then dry off afterwards". The employees were hard to find sometimes, (and complacent) so it was often hard to buy a drink or ask for something, and they spoke zero English which would have made things very hard if I did not know a little bit of Portuguese. There was no itinerary to speak of, so we often did not know what we were about to do, or when to expect to be ready for something until 10-15 minutes before departure. We asked questions constantly so usually knew what was going on.
The director of the tour was prompt in giving us responses via email and in pick up at the airport and with all bus and boat transfers. Overall, our expectations were met, and with a little bit more effort and educating the employees at the jungle lodge about service in the hospitality industry, they could earn the 5th star.
Written 17 May 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WashDCtraveller58
Fairfax, VA8 contributions
Dec 2013 • Family
My family took a four-day boat tour of the Amazon in/near Manaus through Maia Expeditions and we had the most wonderful vacation of a lifetime. Our booking contact was Miles and we were met at the airport in Manaus in the evening by Daniel and taken to our hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn. In the morning, we were met by our guide Herman where we were taken to the main port and our private boat. The boat was better than we were expecting. After a quick tour of the fish market and also stopping to provision ourselves with cachaca and limes for caipirinhas, as well as a few other necessaries we were aboard and on our way. It is impossible to list all of the amazing things that we saw and did but some of the highlights were seeing monkeys, sloths, pink dolphins, caiman, tarantulas as well as sleeping one night in a hammock in the jungle.
What made the trip so special was our guide Herman and the three other staff members on our boat. Herman is truly amazing and we had never met anyone who knew so much about animals and plants nor who was so proficient at survival techniques. I think he would have given us an arm or a leg if he thought it would make us happy. The food was delicious and abundant. It was the perfect family vacation with tons of adventure and so much to see and do. We really hope to go back some day and go far enough to see the otters. If you are thinking about it don't hesitate to go ahead and do it. It seems relatively safe (my family was sure I would get eaten by an anaconda!) and we didn't get eaten by mosquitos or bugs.
What made the trip so special was our guide Herman and the three other staff members on our boat. Herman is truly amazing and we had never met anyone who knew so much about animals and plants nor who was so proficient at survival techniques. I think he would have given us an arm or a leg if he thought it would make us happy. The food was delicious and abundant. It was the perfect family vacation with tons of adventure and so much to see and do. We really hope to go back some day and go far enough to see the otters. If you are thinking about it don't hesitate to go ahead and do it. It seems relatively safe (my family was sure I would get eaten by an anaconda!) and we didn't get eaten by mosquitos or bugs.
Written 5 January 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bernadette L
Toronto, Canada61 contributions
Dec 2012 • Friends
In November I took a cruise with HAL that included cruising up the Amazon River to Manaus and back to Ft Lauderdale. It was indeed a trip of a lifetime! Visiting the small villages along the way was by far the most interesting part of the trip for me; Manaus is such a big city, that it seemed no different from other large Central American cities. All other small towns we stopped at during this cruise, offered local tours to see all the highlights available; e.g. fishing for piranahs, treck in the jungle etc. People were always helpful and gracious, even though we could not speak Portuguese. We never felt threatened anywhere we went, even in the chaotic bustle of Manaus at night. The Opera House in Manaus is a must see; it is incredible because of the time it was built (1800s), Manaus was nothing but a village in the middle of the Amazon jungle.
Written 27 December 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
bcariocab
chicago, illinois13 contributions
i was there last February (2007) on the Iberostar cruise ship. Beautiful ship, absolutely fabulous staff (multi-multi lingual) and extremely knowledgeable and considerate of guests. The trip is pricey, but it is not to be missed!!! we went piranha fishing and alligator hunting in the late evening. very exotic trip.
Written 15 October 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BobinOmaha
Omaha, NE69 contributions
Jan 2013 • Solo
Literally a once in a lifetime trip. Interesting once but would never repeat....basically a big long river with little else to recommend it except the outstanding trip to Devil's Island on the way back.
Written 7 May 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gordon W
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Does the Ibrostar Grand Amazon actually travel on the Amazon River, knowing that it travels on the Rio Negro.
Written 11 November 2022
We’re going in the Iberostar Grand Amazon in March. I was told that there is no WiFi and Verizon coverage is terrible. Anyone have experience with this?
Written 31 January 2019
That is correct...there is no WiFi or cell service. You're in the middle of the AMAZON! Unplug, make new friends, read a book (River of Doubt is excellent), bring playing cards, and/or rent a movie from the library. We downloaded some movies before we left. I was apprehensive about the lack of WiFi and cell service but I think the experience was more enjoyable without it. Have a great time.
Written 25 February 2019
Hello,
We have a trip on Amazon Grand Iberostar booked in March. Can someone give us the times when you board the boat and time when you must get off the boat. We are waiting to hear back from Iberostar, but in the meantime we don't want to call at $$ per minute from USA to Brazil.....and we want to book some flights around the river cruise.
What time did you board and what time must you leave the ship. Thanks so much.
Written 24 November 2018
Hi Patricia,
We went on the same boat March 2018. I don't remember specifically what time we got on the boat but think it was mid-afternoon. We flew in from Rio the morning we left, caught a transfer to the boat and seemed to be one of the last to get on. We had to debark at 8:00 a.m. which was a hassle because our flight didn't leave until 11:00 p.m that evening. We scheduled a tour of Manaus, which we shortened, and checked into a hotel near the airport (super reasonable $) for a shower and nap before our long flight home. Iberostar is a top notch company and the boat runs right on schedule for all of their scheduled events. It departed and arrived right on schedule. March is the rainy season so expect rain. We got lucky and had very little rain. However, the times it did rain it was a major downfall! It was a wonderful adventure. Enjoy!
Written 26 December 2018
Hola, acabo de hacer una reserva para realizar el amazon clipper tradicional para este año, pero a efectos de realizar el pago me han enviado, desde la empresa, un formulario para cargar todos los datos de mi tarjeta de credito (numero, ID code, fotocopias de tarjeta, vencimiento), quisiera conocer si esto es seguro y si no tengo riesgo. Gracias!!!!!!!
Written 15 June 2018
Would like to do a cruise on the Amazon but most trips seem to be on the Rio Negro. Are Amazon cruises possible? Can anyone recommend a cruise?
Written 25 April 2017
Katherine D
Fairfield, Illinois
is February a good time to visit the Amazon River
Written 29 August 2016
February is the start of the rainy season but I wouldn't let that deter me from visiting if February was my only option. It usually rains every day all year anyway and in February, you get to enjoy the Amazon Carnaval.
Written 30 August 2016
Gostaria de saber quais são os pontos de saídas dos passeios no Rio Amazonas, a faixa de preço e se consigo ir até o Peru, sem o passeio de volta pois quero ir fazer a trilha inca.
Written 23 April 2016
Oiee, posso perguntar de onde vc saiu para essa viagem pelo amazonas? Foi catamarã, foi? é seguro para ir com filha? brigada antecipadamente
Written 18 April 2016
Hi, I'm visiting Belem, Brazil September 2016 and I would like to book a river boat trip for 3 to 5 days.
who should I contact?
Written 30 October 2015
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