Amazon explorer

Item: Volendam
Rating: 4.6
Author: thomasobermeyer

Volendam Cruise Review

thomasobermeyer

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 7

Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5

30 Night Amazon Explorer (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 20, 2019

Ship: Volendam

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Very educational especially the Amazon River and Devils Island. Our main reason for taking this cruise was to experience the a-for mentioned places the entire “Amazon Explorer” cruise was a little long but was very enjoyable

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Too many pianos. The two bars that had live music were both basically piano bars both had excellent musicians but not having anything but pianos was a bit much. Just my opinion I am sure many of my fellow passengers enjoyed the “ too many pianos”

Entertainment

3 out of 5

About 50% of the stage shows were excellent but the other half were so so

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The crew and staff were top rate excellent

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Cruise Amazon River

5 out of 5

We ran aground at about 4:30AM and were awakened by the emergency alarms. Luckily the river bottom was soft mud and our hull was not damaged. The ship was lightened by transferring fluids aft and draining some tanks and the main swimming pool. After many hours of roaring the engines full blast we at last freed ourselves without need of a tug

Thumbs Up 1

Belem, Brazil

3 out of 5

Very poorly planned tender port. Local river traffic at the single dock meant our tenders were delayed big time and at times passengers had to jump/hop from boat to boat when our tenders were lashed up side by side due to the single boat docking. I witnessed one poor soul fall because of this

Thumbs Up 1

Manaus, Brazil

5 out of 5

Alter Do Chao, Brazil

5 out of 5

Bridgetown, Barbados

5 out of 5

Very educated and polite local population

Thumbs Up 0

Falmouth, Jamaica

4 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman