Luciana,
Below is the review of the Iberostar Grand Amazon I posted on TripAdvisor.
Just got back from the 4 night trip on the Rio Negro, and I can’t say enough good things about this cruise. To really see the amazon you need to either stay at a jungle lodge away from the city, or take expensive day trips with trip operators. The Iberostar Grand Amazon was the best of both worlds! The 4 night trips on the Rio Negro leave on Sundays, and the 3 night trips on the Rio Solimoes leave on Thursdays, and the price includes all food drinks, excursions, etc.
Where to start… first, the boat is beautiful – it holds 150 people and has a gorgeous top deck with a large outdoor seating area, bar and pool. All rooms are nicely sized and have a private balcony. Our cruise only had 16 people – a whole boat all to ourselves!! Apparently its quite common that the boat isn’t full (it sounds like the most they fill up is about half), which I suspect is due to lack of advertising (I scoured the internet for reviews and only found 2!), but it makes the entire trip that much better.
Excursions – Every day, they had 2-4 excursions that you could sign up for, including jungle treks, boat trips, fishing for pirahna, night caiman viewing, swimming in the Rio Negro, visiting the pink dolphins, etc etc! Generally, there’s one trip in the morning and one in the late afternoon, leaving the middle of the day to relax in the pool and drink. The guides are fantastic and seem to really care about the rainforest and preserving it. On one early morning boat trip, we ran into a group of trusting squirrel monkeys who jumped all over our boat – absolutely a highlight of the trip for me.
Food / Drink – Food was great. For dinner every night they have a buffet, with the option to order off the a la carte menu. Everyone agreed food quality was great, and I love the local flavor to some of the dishes – I got to try at least 4 different kinds of amazon fish! The bar is fully loaded for great caiprihinas!
Service – I honestly can’t say enough about the service. The waiters, the bartenders, the guides, everyone was genuinely top notch. At one point we got stuck out on a skiff in the middle of a flash storm with pouring rain for an hour. When we (finally) made it back to the main boat, soaked but happy to be alive, the entire staff was waiting at the door applauding, with warm towels and waiters with brandy. It’s just one example of the top notch service that made the entire trip so enjoyable.
If I had only one complaint, it would be how early the morning excursions were. They usually started at 8:30am, with additional options two of the four mornings at 6am! I couldn’t pass up any of the excursions, but if you don’t want to get up early, you definitely don’t have to go!
All in all, an amazing experience.
Also, I’ve attached some pictures! Thanks again for all your help – it was truly a wonderful experience and we couldn’t have done it without you.
PS. Do you have contact with the local Iberostar Grand Amazon management or cruise director / other people? I have some pictures of the crew I’d like to send them, but I don’t have the email addresses of anyone, so if you have any contact info of the people you work with to book the cruise, that would be very much appreciated.
Thanks, Irene