Legendary Amazon Explorer

Pricing is based on departure date: 25 November 2026

Trace Caribbean isles to Brazil. Call on charismatic cities along the banks of the mighty Amazon. Explore the spectacular Amazon rainforest on a Manaus overnight.

Itinerary Map

The Amazon is a river, and a region, of superlatives. It's the world's largest river when measured by volume. With 209,000 cubic meters (55 million gallons) of water flowing into the Pacific each second, it's five times the size of the Congo, the next largest river. The basin it drains is some 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles), making it the largest drainage basin in the world. (By comparison, the contiguous United States is roughly 8 million square kilometers, or 3.1 million square miles.) What most impresses visitors to the Amazon, however, is rarely these numbers. Instead it's the area's cultural and natural riches and the experience of seeing the rain forest extend in every direction. 

As you travel along the length of the Amazon, you'll call at villages that are not just geographically remote, but are far from contemporary culture as well. Some 400 indigenous peoples live in the Amazon, as they have for centuries. On the same journey, you can visit the 19th-century opera house at Manaus and the colonial-era churches in Santarém, Macapá and other cities. Biologically the basin is home to some 10 percent of all the world's known animal and plant species. From jaguars to macaws and pink dolphins to glass frogs, the Amazon is an area of astounding and unique biodiversity.

Itinerary Highlights

Fort Lauderdale
This vast array of wonderful beaches offers you opportunities to swim with the dolphins in a tropical lagoon and come face-to-face with alligators during an Everglades airboat tour. Or stroll through a tropical rainforest while hundreds of butterflies flutter above you.

Sint Maarten
The Dutch capital of St. Maarten is widely known for colonial architecture. Its pastel buildings, often embellished with gingerbread and fretwork trim, surround shaded courtyards and hug cobblestone streets. Philipsburg has a well-earned reputation as a shopper's paradise, and local crafts, exotic foods and elegant imports are available at duty-free prices.

Fort de France
The capital of Martinique (and the largest city in the French West Indies) possesses a flavor more reminiscent of Paris than the Caribbean. Turn-of-the-century buildings housing boutiques and cafes, a public market and narrow streets are proof of this.

Bridgetown
Barbados' capital and primary seaport was founded in 1628 by 64 British settlers. A significant amount of historical landmarks are located in Bridgetown including the Parliament Building, home to a 355-year-old Westminster style democratic tradition, and the Synagogue, the oldest Jewish building in the Western Hemisphere.

Cruising Amazon River
The Amazon River in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and by some definitions it is the longest.

Macapa
Macapa is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region. It is located on the northern channel of the Amazon River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean.

Santarem
Santarem is a small city in the Brazilian state of Para, where the Tapajos River meets the Amazon. This "meeting of the waters" phenomenon can be viewed from the hilltop Mirante do Tapajos Square.

Boca Da Valeria
Boca da Valeria, Brazil is an unusual stop but it is definitely worth the visit, giving everyone in its path an in-depth look into the Amazonian culture. You will not find luxury hotels, restaurants, or even paved roads; instead Boca de Valeria is surrounded by a spirit, beauty, and charm uplifted in the smiles of its brightly dressed natives.

Manaus
This threadbare Brazilian city on the shores of the Negro River is the largest (1.4 million people) state in the Amazon. Founded by the Portuguese in 1669, it was an important rubber boomtown from 1890 until 1920. Today its is an important gateway to the Amazon.

Parintins
Parintins is a municipality in the far east of the Amazonas state, Brazil. It is part of a microregion also named Parintins. The population for the entire municipality was 114,273 and its area is 5,952 km². The city is located on Tupinambarana island in the Amazon River.

Alter do chao
The jewel in Alter do Chaos crown is the stunning Ilha do Amor, a natural white sandy peninsula that stretches towards the town. As the most picturesque beach in the region, a number of basic restaurants have set up shop to sell fish, beer, and coconut water to beach-goers.

Devil's Island
This small island off the coast of French Guiana is notorious for its collection of atrocious prisons that constituted the toughest penal colony ever. For some 80,00 French convicts (50,000 who died), it was "an excursion into hell". Now, it is lovely tropical island resort.

Willemstad (Curacao)
The largest of the Netherlands Antilles has its fair share of Dutch colonial buildings, but its dry climate, barren soil and cacti are more akin to the U.S. Southwest. Its greatest beauty lies offshore?the island's coral reefs. Volcanic pebbles make up many of its rocky beaches.

Your Ship: Volendam

Elegant and spacious, Volendam takes her décor cues from the garden. Her grand public spaces are graced with floral fabrics and tapestries, as well as huge vases of fresh floral arrangements. Join friends in a friendly game of Pickleball at Sea with the ocean as your backdrop. Relax with a spa treatment at the Greenhouse Spa & Salon®. Or enjoy a sumptuous meal at one of our fine dining restaurants.

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All fares are displayed in AUD, and pricing is per person based on twin share occupancy unless stated otherwise. Although all due care is taken to keep information as up-to-date as possible, pricing and availability are subject to change without notice: due to varying timing schedules of supplier automated update processes; currency fluctuations; fuel surcharges or government tax & fee changes and may not be guaranteed until paid in full. Gratuities may be an additional onboard charge depending on particular cruise line selected. Please ask your cruise consultant for any clarification of Terms & Conditions.