Regent Mariner Circumnavigation of South America January - March 2013
Rio De Janeiro to Miami
January 27th A thunderstorm moved into Rio about the time we departed on the evening of the 26th. The storm never moved off shore, so it made for some interesting photography with the ominous skies as a background for the city. I had hoped to catch a lightning bolt in the background - but no luck. The 27th was a day at sea with lots of sunshine and calm seas which has become the norm. Another excellent speaker joined the cruise as a lecturer on the history of politics, etc in the world with a concentration on Brazil as we move on to our trip on the Amazon River.
January 28th We arrived in Salvador at 1:00 PM and immediately set out on a four hour tour of the city which was very interesting. I need to mention that we have been impressed by the cleanliness and prosperity in Brazil as compared to the other South American Countries we have visited on this cruise, and Salvador was no exception.
Salvador founded in 1549 and is the third largest city in Brazil, after San Paulo and Rio De Janeiro. It was once the capital of the country. We visited several beautiful cathedrals as well as quaint shopping areas.
March 1st This was a sea day. Enjoyed a lecture on the history of Portugal including it presence and influence on Brazil, as well as a lecture on coffee.
March 2nd We were at sea most of the day and arrived in Fortaleza, Brazil at 7:00 PM. The morning lecture was on Ernest Shackelton and his life of exploration of Antarctica.
March 3rd A tour of Fortaleza highlighted our morning. This city is the fifth largest in Brazil and has been expanding rapidly as a very popular spot for a beach holiday as well as a retirement community for Brazilians. As has been the case at most of the places we have visited in Brazil the beaches are spectacular. The city is clean and seemingly not bothered by serious crime. The city is located about 3 degrees south of the equator and is warm throughout the year with primarily sunny weather with a nice sea breeze.
March 4th to 7th After a day at sea we entered the Amazon River on March 5th. The estuary where the river enters the Atlantic Ocean is about 150 miles wide, and by the time we reached it the silty water from the Amazon stretched out into the ocean. At maximum flow the plume of fresh silty water can extend out 400 miles into the Atlantic. After crossing shallow water covering an extensive sand bar we officially entered the Amazon which is about 50 miles wide at its mouth. It is hard to realize how wide the river is because it is dotted with islands. Depending upon which of the multitude of channels we were traveling the water was either clay colored silty water from the main river, or of varying clarity and color depending upon the flow of water from tributaries entering the river. I have included a map of the Amazon basin superimposed over an outline of the US to show the size and complexity of this river system in my gallery of Amazon photos. After entering the river we stopped to pick up two river pilots who remained on board for the duration of our time on the Amazon.
It is about 1000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to Manaus. We stopped at two small settlements - Alter Do Chao and Boca Da Valeria - located near major tributaries entering the river. These were primarily tourist stops set up by locals to sell handicrafts, etc. There are a myriad of small river boats operating on the river and its tributaries which the locals use for transportation to and from their small farms and villages. Larger fiver boats travel to Manaus and other larger cities such as Santarem.
March 8th to 9th The Mariner was docked in Manaus for two days. We participated in a highlights of the city tour on the 8th which included a trip to a zoo, a tour of the Opera House, and a visit to an "Indian" museum. The city was a bit of a disappointment after visits to Rio and the Brazilian beach cities we visited on our way to the Amazon River. The city is old and experienced a large population increase in the 1960's when it became a duty free zone and abolished taxes on business to stimulate the economy. It has become an electronics assembly center. It was not as clean as the other Brazilian cities we visited. It is undergoing urban renewal as are other cities in Brazil whereby people are forcefully moved out of the slums into government housing. The slums are then demolished and converted into parks.
On the 9th we enjoyed trip into the rain forest. We traveled by river boat to January Lake where we transferred to small motorized canoes (10 passengers each) to view plants and animals. We then continued on the river boat to the point where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon which is the so called "meeting of the waters" included as a highlight on most trips to Manaus.
March 10th For us, one of the downsides to the Regent Mariner is that it carries 700 passengers and all tours are included in the cruise cost, This means than unlike Seabourn or Silversea cruises where passengers pay for the tours they are interested in, most of the passengers take the tours and they are extremely crowded, On this day we anchored off the village of Parintins where the highlight was to be a folk lore show called Boi Bumba. We decided to avoid the crowded tenders and enjoyed the solitude of the ship for the day.
March 11th and 12th These were sea days as we departed the Amazon and continued along the coast to French Guiana.
March 13th We anchored off Devil's Island but the swell made use of the tenders impossible.
March 14th This was a Sea Day
March 15th The Mariner docked in Bridgetown, Barbados for the day. We had been in Bridgetown on a number of previous trips. We were signed up for a scenic tour, but when we saw the number of other ships in port we decided to stay on board.
March 16th We anchored in Gustavia's port and went ashore for a couple of hours, St Barts is one of our favorite spots. The town was surprisingly quiet. We expected it to be crowded in-season.
March 17th We enjoyed walking around Old Town San Juan, which was our last port before returning to Miami where we started out on January 7th. The internet connection on the ship is exptremly slow and limited, so we found a Starbucks where we could download past issues of magazines, etc.
March 18th to 20th After two sea days we arrived in Miami on the 20th for our trip back home to snow and cold weather!
POST CRUISE THOUGHTS: Our main reason for choosing this cruise was the itinerary which offered us an opportunity to revisit Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina which we toured extensively in the past. It is hard to believe the development that has occurred, some for the better, although we were a bit disappointed that places like Ushuaia and Punta Arenas had lost some of the small town charm we remembered. Coastal Brazil was much cleaner and modern than what we expected. We were especially excited about rounding Cape Horn and traveling on the Amazon River, and enjoyed returning to the Chilean Fjords.
The Mariner is a larger ship than we are accustomed to. We missed the individual spa pools in secluded quiet areas on the Seabourn ships. Our rooms on Seabourn and the Silversea Spirit were larger and more comfortable than on the Mariner. The main dining room on the Mariner is more comfortable than those on Seabourn, however the quality of the food on this cruise was not as consistent as we have had on Seabourn and Silversea. The main drawback of this cruise for us was the greater number of passengers and the fact that all of the excursions are included in the cruise fare. The tours were crowded and disembarkation was chaotic, especially when we needed to use the tenders.
One major problem we had on the Mariner was constant allergic reactions to something on the ship. About a third of the passengers were coughing and sneezing throughout the trip. We think it was caused by a high level of dust. When I would turn on the night light to read at night I could see the dust motes floating through the beam of light.
We certainly don't rule out another cruise with Regent, but it would have to offer an itinerary that is not available on Seabourn or Silversea.