Grand Amazon Expedition

While it looks expensive, everything -- food, drinks, alcohol, and all the shore excursions-- are ALL included in your price. You only pay a small port tax and any staff gratuity you choose on the last day, at check out. Food was good, not amazing; rooms are good, not amazing; but staff was excellent; shore excursions (yes, included in your price) were awesome! Totally recommend this. I did a review a couple years ago but TripAdvisor deleted everything, hundreds of positive reviews-- saying that because it's a ship it needs to have reviews on CruiseCritic, which it was trying to make into a successful website; as of today this Iberostar ship does NOT exist on that website, which looks to be more about selling cruises than actual reviews. Anyway, just wanted to add that this was really one of my favorite experiences EVER. Oh-- and our late July/early August 4 day trip had NO mosquitoes; good to know. Finally, after the trip, we flew to Santarem, which has a great little beach on the Amazon about 30-45 min away, called Alter Do Chao. We spent 3 nights there after the Amazon trip, and it paired nicely!

We had an amazing time on the Iberostar Grand Amazon Expedition. This is an absolute wonderful way to experience the Amazonas. The service staff at the ship is outstanding. There was always a smile on their face and they work really hard and long hours. On day two they knew our favorite drinks. The tour guides are professionals on the highest level. Most of them are from the Amazon and their knowledge about flora and fauna and indigenous people as well as history and current challenges is unparalleled and outstanding. The food was delicious every single day. And the head chef created a special vegetarian meal for me at the captain’s dinners. It was hard to leave the boat after seven days. We gave everyone big hugs. I could go on and on how amazing this experience was. I highly recommend to chose Iberostar to explore the Amazonas. You’ll never forget this luxurious adventure.

Great Experience! Everything on board was wonderful and our every need was taken care of. There were lots of excursions and things to do on board but we mostly enjoyed our suite and balcony. Food was delicious. The whole team on board was excellent, friendly and professional. Thank you to everyone! The one complaint I have is that there are no transfers included, each guest has to make their own way to the boat before boarding. A pick up and ride to the ship would be very nice.

It's all been said, but I want to add to the great reviews. The staff and crew are warm, helpful, knowledgeable and take safety very seriously. I cannot say enough about how great they are. They truly care about each and every passenger having a good experience. The food is good, but got a bit repetitive on the 7 day cruise. Was pleasantly surprised to find very good internet 95% of the trip; whatever system they have put in place works very well. It was an eye-opener to learn about the people who live on the river (also very welcoming) and of course the flora and fauna. It's a great way to see a part of the world that would be challenging to access otherwise. Hughly recommended.

We picked this ship to experience the Amazon and we were so glad we did. The ship looks to be the biggest working out of Manaus but it’s small compared to ocean going cruise ships.We did the all-inclusive 3 day cruise picking the ship up in Manaus. Our cabin was equal to any that we have had in our previous 14 or so ocean cruises and felt quite roomy. The restaurant is fully buffet style with excellent choices and the bar on the upper deck is great. As all the drinks are included, the bar staff were excellent , particularly Winston who was English speaking. My only gripe was that the white wine served with the meals and the bar -and my wife also thought that of the red- were not good for our tastes. The dry sparkling wine made up for it though! The activities were great with multiple small boats rides and visits to local villages but they were hampered by low Amazon water levels. My tip would be to go with the high water levels and you will experience more but it was fantastic and a great experience of the Amazon.

The Iberostar Grand Amazon is a resort in the form of a river cruise ship. It has two swimming pools, a bar on the upper deck and in the theater, balcony cabins which include hotel type walk-in showers, a small gym, front desk, library and a large dining room where the cruise staff serve a variety of traditional meals in a very elegant buffet format. They also have 8 - 20 person speed boats to transport passengers to jungle hikes, visits to local farms, tribal villages and other attractions. It’s totally all-inclusive, just as their land resorts are. The guides are very competent and speak English and other languages. All -in-all it was a great experience visiting the heart of the Amazon.