Interesting Amazon River Cruise

Veendam Cruise Review to South America

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Contributor Level: Second Mate

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Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 11

Helpful Votes: 221

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

Veendam

50 Night Amazon & Carnaval Explorer (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 04, 2019

Ship: Veendam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I had looked up ports ahead of time so knew what I wanted to see. The complimentary shuttles from the port to the town area in the .Brazilian ports were great. There was very little WiFi available in Brazil, but it was a nice vacation. The sea days were relaxing, and we made lots of friends in 50 days. Service on the ship was excellent.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Easy, no waiting in lines, only a short wait in the room before going onto the ship.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Good food for dinner in dining room and a variety for breakfast and lunch at Lido buffet and Grill. Thanks for having sushi every day for lunch!

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

We relaxed most of the time and didn’t participate in activities.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

I liked the “local talent” for our overnight ports. The flute player was good. Tge 8th floor was a bit warm in the evenings.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Friendly, cheerful, and hard workers. They were all great.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

A bit older ship but clean and functional.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Good window size, comfortable. Deck A. It was quiet—never heard a disturbance.

Ship tip

It’s a good size ship for a long cruise. Passengers were generally friendly.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Good places to eat. After disembarkation we took the Everglades Airboat and Airport Transfer and saw alligators. It was interesting.

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

I had been there before by car but this time wandered around and saw the major tourist sites plus found a yarn store. I enjoyed it.

Willemstad, Curacao

4 out of 5

Kralendijk, Bonaire

5 out of 5

Walked to church then around the port area. Enjoyed the day!

Oranjestad, Aruba

4 out of 5

Port of Spain

5 out of 5

Enjoyed wandering.

Scarborough, Tobago

5 out of 5

Kingstown, St. Vincent

4 out of 5

Bridgetown, Barbados

5 out of 5

“Complimentary shuttle” cost $2 each way. There was a nice walkway and historic area by the main town.

Devils Island, French Guiana

3 out of 5

Was actually not Devil’s Island but we could see it from our area. Peaceful area.

Cross The Equator

5 out of 5

Not a port, but the four times we crossed, I watched on my GPS.

Belem, Brazil

5 out of 5

Interesting for our first stop in Brazil, and one of the outlets for the Amazon River. Enjoyed seeing the Teatro and seeing the shops on the way.

Recife, Brazil

5 out of 5

Took a taxi to see a couple of things I had wanted to find (such as the bridges) and got a good feel for the city.

Maceio, Brazil

5 out of 5

The free shuttle didn’t stop at the end of the port like it was supposed to but went to the Mercado, so I had to take a taxi to church instead of walk, but it was fine. The Market was impressive.

Salvador De Bahia, Brazil

5 out of 5

Took the elevator to see the upper city and the lower city. Interesting port.

Ilheus, Brazil

5 out of 5

Free shuttle took us to the cathedral, and we could walk to all the other popular places

Vitoria, Brazil Did not visit port

Sad not to see the bridge, but we enjoyed a short visit to Armaçao dos Buzios instead.

Ilhabela, Brazil

4 out of 5

Interesting walk to Jesus Crucificado memorial and the nice Igreja Nassa Senhora D’ajada.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

5 out of 5

Good view of Bridge from the ship at port. First day taxi we saw a lot. The second day we had the excursion Corcovada and Rio Highlights—super, only short waits for tram, third day rode free tram and saw lots of .carnaval people and floats.

Fortaleza, Brazil

5 out of 5

Taxi to Fortaleza Temple then Cathedral and Mercado.

Cruise Amazon River

5 out of 5

Not a port. Very interesting.

Santarem, Brazil

5 out of 5

Liked it. Had piranha fishing excursion but no one on our boat caught a piranha. Saw meeting of the waters.

Boca Da Valeria, Brazil

3 out of 5

Saw pink dolphins from the shore!

Manaus, Brazil

5 out of 5

Liked it! Took a taxi to Manaus Temple and across Rio Negro Bridge-nice to see the bridge from the ship. Toured Teatro Amazonas and walked among the shops back toward the ship. Glad to have two days here. Saw the fish market the second day. Local talent show on the ship was great.

Parintins, Brazil

5 out of 5

Walked to church and to the cathedral.

Alter Do Chao, Brazil

5 out of 5

Nice walk but the ship map needed to be corrected. The church was placed incorrectly, but we had a nice walk looking for it in a more peaceful route.

Castries, St. Lucia

4 out of 5

Excursion, Scenic Byways, had good tour guide

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Had the Airboat Excursion so disembarkation was early. Customs took an hourcwaiting in line.

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