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Imagine exploring the Amazon, and you might picture traveling by canoe to a rugged jungle lodge where there's no running water and you sleep huddled under a mosquito net. But thanks to Aqua Expeditions, one of the first lines to bring luxury cruising to the Peruvian Amazon, there's a much more comfortable option for intrepid travellers looking to see monkeys, sloths and pink river dolphins in the wild.
The 32-passenger Aria Amazon, which explores Peru's Pacaya Samiria Reserve on three-, four- and seven-night itineraries, has the feel of a floating boutique hotel. Its 16 spacious, air-conditioned suites are a haven that you can retreat to between excursions, but you don't have to leave the Amazon behind; cabins have floor-to-ceiling windows offering constant views of the rainforest as it passes by outside.
Food and drink are other areas of indulgence, with unique Amazonian menus developed by a prominent Lima-based chef. But where Aria Amazon truly shines is its service. There are nearly as many crew members -- 24 -- as there are passengers, and they all seem eager to learn your name and make your cruise memorable. During excursions, four naturalist guides identify wildlife and make sure everyone on the skiff can see each animal. At dinner, waiters memorise food allergies on day one and let you know which dishes on the buffet to avoid. On our sailing, a passenger started coughing one night in the lounge, and a crew member brought her a glass of water without being asked.
Visiting the Amazon will always be a somewhat rugged experience -- the heat and humidity can be draining, and mosquito bites are almost inevitable no matter how much bug spray you use. But the Aria crew provides plenty of creature comforts to make up for it, like a cold towel to refresh yourself at the end of an excursion or a glass of fresh fruit juice when you step off the skiff. The excursions are also well timed, with explorations scheduled for mornings and late afternoons to avoid the midday heat.
A typical day aboard Aria Amazon starts with a 7 a.m. wake-up call from one of the guides. After a buffet breakfast, you'll hop into a skiff for your morning excursion, which might involve motoring along the tree line looking for wildlife or taking a hike through the jungle to learn about tropical plants. Back onboard you can get a massage, sit on the sun deck with a good book, chat with fellow passengers in the lounge or simply take a siesta. By 4 p.m. you'll be on the skiffs again, visiting a local village or fishing for piranha. The day ends with a leisurely dinner full of unfamiliar but delicious flavours -- like doncella and paiche fish, plantains, purple corn and star fruit.
The onboard ambience is friendly and laid-back, and because the ship is so small, it's easy to get to know other passengers. Most tables in the dining room sit four, not two, and there are so few other public spaces (just a lounge and a sun deck) that you're sure to run into someone interesting to talk to. That said, the ship never feels crowded, and the cabins are comfortable enough that you can always relax there if you need some time alone.
Aria Amazon won't be right for everyone; its focus on luxury and relaxation comes at the expense of enrichment. While many other expedition ships feature daily lectures about the animals, plants and landscapes passengers see each day, there are few such educational talks aboard Aria Amazon. Guides provide information during excursions and are happy to answer questions, but if you want in-depth educational experiences, this may not be the ship for you.
Aria Amazon is also light on entertainment options. Fine food, good conversation and Amazon scenery are the main diversions onboard; if you want casinos, theatre performances or dance clubs, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Finally, the ship has no elevator and is not accessible for passengers in wheelchairs. That said, as long as you can climb a few flights of stairs between decks and walk on level surfaces, you should be able to enjoy the Aria Amazon experience.
During the day, dress is very casual. For excursions, the expedition staff recommends lightweight, light-coloured clothing -- preferably long pants and long-sleeved shirts for protection against both mosquitoes and the tropical sun. (You may wish to buy clothing treated with permethrin, an insect repellent.) Sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats are also a must. Because the skiffs sometimes travel at high speeds during excursions, we suggest a hat with a strap to keep it from blowing off.
The ship supplies rain ponchos and rubber boots when necessary, as well as cans of Off bug spray that you can apply before boarding the skiffs for each excursion. You can rent binoculars ($25 USD for the duration of your cruise). You'll also find a couple of palm fans in your room that you can bring on excursions for cooling off or swatting mosquitoes.
In the evenings, many passengers dress up a bit for dinner (think khakis or casual dresses), though others wear jeans or even shorts.
Your cruise fare includes all excursions, non-alcoholic drinks, beer and house wine, and transfers at the beginning and end of your cruise. (Staff will pick you up at the airport if you arrive the day of your cruise, or at your hotel if you come in a day early.) Cocktails and other alcoholic drinks are additional.
You do not need to tip at the bar or in the spa. At the end of your cruise, you'll get the chance to put gratuities into a pool for the entire crew. Aqua Expeditions recommends $20 to $30 per passenger, per day for the crew and $7 to $10 per passenger, per day for the guides, but the amount is at your discretion, and you're free to designate an additional amount for a crew member who went above and beyond. You can settle your account with cash or a credit card.
The currency onboard is the U.S. dollar.
Aria Amazon is a small, quiet ship with relatively little in the way of entertainment options. You won't find a casino, a theatre or live musicians in the lounge, but passengers seem happy enough to provide their own entertainment in the form of reading, sorting through the day's photos on their laptops or chatting at the bar. After dinner most passengers had a drink in the lounge or simply went to bed.
Shore Excursions
Aria Amazon generally offers two shore excursions a day, one in the morning and one around 4 p.m. (The ship sails from one location to the next during the heat of the day.) All excursions are included and last from two to more than four hours. There's no need for advance reservations.
All passengers participate in the same excursions, though some activities are optional once you're out and about (such as kayaking or swimming in the river -- if you don't wish to join, you can stay on the skiff and take pictures).
During the high-water season (December to May) the river is flooded, so there are few chances to hike; instead you'll do mostly exploring in the skiffs, looking for monkeys and other wildlife in the trees. During the dry season (June to November) other activities become available such as power hikes or playing soccer on a riverfront beach. Kayaking, visiting local villages and fishing for piranha are available year-round.
The majority of excursions are low-impact and accessible to anyone who's mobile enough to climb from the ship into a skiff and to walk at a leisurely pace on flat ground.
Most passengers participated in all of the excursions, though those who were on for seven nights began opting out of some toward the end (because most passengers only cruise for three or four nights, there's some repetition in the type of activities offered over the course of a full week).
Some of the longer excursions felt a bit too long for some passengers, such as a piranha fishing activity in a marshy area at dusk when mosquitoes were feasting on us. Many excursions also involved lengthy motor rides on the skiffs (20 to 30 minutes) to get between the ship and the area we were exploring.
Note that your first wildlife-watching excursion may happen before you board the ship and get access to your bags, so you'll want to dress accordingly on your arrival day.
Wildlife Viewing
The wildlife checklist you'll find in your cabin offers hundreds of species to look out for during your time on the Amazon, including sloths, monkeys, pink river dolphins and dozens upon dozens of birds. The checklist helps you manage expectations by predicting the probability of seeing each type of animal. Your chances of seeing a long-nosed bat or a common squirrel monkey? Very high. But don't get your heart set on spotting a manatee or giant anteater.
The naturalist guides carry walkie-talkies and send out a heads-up to the other skiffs if their group stumbles upon a particularly interesting animal. ("Mono, mono!" -- or "monkey, monkey!" -- is a common cry.) The experienced guides have the uncanny ability to see a dark blob at the top of a tree and recognize it as a sloth, even when the skiffs are moving at high speeds. A couple of them carried laser pointers to help passengers find animals that are well camouflaged by branches or foliage.
The animals we saw most often on our sailing included monkeys, kingfishers, egrets and sloths. One night we stayed out after dark to look for caimans, which you can spot by the glow of red eyes when the skiff's spotlight passes over them. Our guide reached into the water and brought out a baby caiman, perhaps 2-feet long, and gave passengers a chance to touch or even hold it.
Wildlife viewing is generally easier in the rainy season because the river is about 30 feet higher -- meaning that you're 30 feet closer to the treetops where monkeys swing and birds perch. No matter when you come, binoculars are highly recommended.
Daytime and Evening Entertainment
On arrival day traditional Peruvian musicians and dancers performed for us at our welcome lunch, and on our last night a number of crew members gave a brief concert in the lounge (who knew our room stewards could sing and play guitar?!). Otherwise there's no organized entertainment aboard Aria Amazon.
The cruise director's office has tablets stocked with 250 movies to borrow at no charge. If you'd rather stream a film to your own device, the cruise director will give you login information to access the onboard entertainment stream.
Enrichment
Aqua Expeditions focuses less on enrichment than many other expedition lines. During our four-night stay there were only two organized educational activities onboard: a 30-minute lecture on Amazonian fish and a demonstration on making ceviche, mixing a pisco sour and folding linen napkins. The guides also offered a little bit of information about the region during our transfers to and from the airport, and there was a brief and rather oddly timed mini-talk on Amazonian fruits at the end of breakfast on our last morning, when many passengers were eager to return to their cabins and finish packing.
The ceviche and pisco sour demonstrations were particularly fun, with several passengers enlisted for hands-on help and everyone else welcome to try the results. But only having one in-depth lecture on the flora, fauna and climate of the Amazon felt like a missed opportunity, especially when there were siesta breaks of at least two hours just about every afternoon. The guides gave us plenty of information about the animals and plants we saw during our excursions, but having them do a few more lectures or even join us at the table for one meal a day would have offered interested passengers more access to their knowledge.
There's no charge for enrichment activities.
Aria Amazon's sole lounge is on Deck 3, between the sun deck and the central staircase. It's an inviting space with lots of comfy sofas and chairs, plus full-length windows on both sides. Coffee tables are stacked with books of local interest -- "The Art of Peruvian Cuisine," "Peruvian Silver and Silversmiths," "Paiche: The Giant of the Rivers" (paiche is a common fish in the region). There's a large telescope in one corner.
At the far end of the lounge is a bar, where you can help yourself to coffee, tea and cookies between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Beer and house wines are included in your cruise fare. Other drink options include cocktails -- including Peru's famous Pisco sour -- for $8, liquor ($7 to $12), Champagne ($170 to $600 per bottle) and a range of red and white wines, mostly from Chile ($40 to $302 per bottle). A $25 corkage fee applies.
The lounge is a popular gathering spot during the day between excursions, but it never gets raucous; every time we stopped by, passengers were reading, playing board games or chatting quietly. Many people stop by the lounge for a pre- or post-dinner drink.
The lounge is also the site of enrichment activities such as cooking demonstrations and lectures.
The only outdoor public area -- and the only place on the ship where passengers can smoke -- is the sun deck at the front of Deck 3. Under a shady canopy are six loungers and four chairs, along with a few tables for drinks. Beyond the canopy is a hot tub where you can soak up the views and the sun. (Note that the water in the hot tub is lukewarm, as the weather is generally hot enough already!) The sun deck drew passengers with books or tablets during the afternoon siesta period.
In the centre of Deck 2 is a small boutique where you'll find Peruvian handicrafts and jewellery, as well as a selection of Aqua-branded shirts, caps and bags. The boutique is also home to the cruise director's desk, where you can book a massage, ask for info about excursions or handle any service issues. In the atrium outside the boutique is a chalkboard where the daily schedule is posted each morning.
There are no guest laundry facilities on the ship, self-service or otherwise. That said, if you're in a pinch and you need something cleaned, the staff will do it for you at no charge. (This does not include dry-clean-only items or any other garments that couldn't safely go into an industrial-strength washing machine.)
There's no internet cafe or onboard Wi-Fi, although passengers occasionally get intermittent cell phone service when the ship passes by a local community. There's a satellite phone onboard for emergencies.
While the ship doesn't have a dedicated library, there's a cabinet in the corner of the lounge on Deck 3 with a couple of shelves of eclectic reading material (novels by James Baldwin and Patricia Cornwall, a Frommer's Peru guidebook, "Birds of Northern South America"). Beneath the books is a selection of board games including Pictionary and Scrabble. There's even a set of paints for aspiring artists who want to try to capture an Amazon vista.
A full-time paramedic is onboard and travels in one of the skiffs during excursions. Although the kitchen staff takes great care to source ingredients from reputable suppliers and wash produce with purified water, a few passengers did have some short-lived stomach issues during our cruise. The paramedic has over-the-counter remedies on hand and can acquire antibiotics if necessary. However, we recommend packing your own prescription antibiotic such as azithromycin, xifaxan or ciprofloxacin, as well as an antidiarrheal such as Imodium or Pepto-Bismol. Visit a travel clinic before your trip to get personalised advice on medications and vaccinations.
There's a small massage room on Deck 3 where you can enjoy any of a half-dozen treatments, ranging from a 40-minute reflexology session to the 70-minute "Signature Massage - The Meeting of the Three Rivers and the Wind," which combines Swedish massage, shiatsu, reflexology and therapeutic massage techniques. Treatments are reasonably priced, from $45 to $70.
Across from the massage room is a small fitness centre with a treadmill, a stationary bike and a basket of yoga mats. (There's barely enough space in the gym to actually roll out a yoga mat, but you can take one back to your cabin.) Floor-to-ceiling windows allow you to watch the jungle go by as you jog or cycle. There is no fee to use the fitness centre.
Mealtimes are when Aria Amazon shines. The menus, developed by chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino (who runs Lima's popular Malabar restaurant) put local Amazonian ingredients -- such as Brazil nuts, yucca and paiche, the river's largest fish -- on display in creative and delightful ways.
The majority of meals are served in the dining room on Deck 2. During breakfast and lunch, it's full of light from the long windows on three sides; at dinner the space feels more formal, dimly lit by small lamps on the tables. There's no assigned seating, and passengers mingle freely. Most tables sit four people, though there is one near the window set for two if you want a more intimate meal. Guides let passengers know what time the next meal will be at the end of each excursion (or, in the case of breakfast, at dinner the night before).
Breakfast is served buffet-style and features ham, turkey, cheese, cereal, yogurt, bread, muffins and a rotating variety of local dishes such as tapioca mingado (similar to rice pudding) or cecina (a dried meat) and fried chorizo with cocona sauce. There's also a daily special such as French toast or eggs Benedict. You can order eggs any style, and waiters come by the tables with tea, coffee and fresh fruit juices. Breakfast is typically served one hour before the start of the morning excursion.
The lunch buffet starts about an hour or 90 minutes after the end of the morning excursion. You can choose from eight or nine different options on the buffet each day. Sometimes there's a theme, such as an Asian-inspired lunch featuring egg drop soup, fried rice, spring rolls with shrimp and fried noodle salad. On other days it's simply an eclectic collection of dishes such as stuffed portobello mushrooms, coconut rice, baguettes with fresh tomatoes and dorado fish grilled with peppers and onions. Our favourite lunch featured a Peruvian menu, including ceviche, fried yucca, stewed beans and corn tamales.
You can choose from at least two different dessert options each day at lunch, including some local specialties such as mazamorra morada (a purple corn pudding with fruit) or suspiro de limeña (similar to dulce de leche). Beer and house wine are included, along with non-alcoholic drinks. The four house wines include a Corralillo sauvignon blanc and chardonnay from Chile's Matetic Vineyards, a Reserva pinot noir from Cono Sur (also in Chile) and a La Flor Malbec from Pulenta Estate in Argentina.
Eating dinner on the Aria feels like sampling a tasting menu at a fine restaurant each night. Although the kitchen seamlessly caters to food allergies or special diets, everyone otherwise eats the same fixed menu.
Evening mealtimes vary based on when the afternoon excursion ends. Passengers typically have about 90 minutes to shower and clean up, leaving most dinners to start between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Your guide will let you know as you get off the skiff.
You'll start with a different variety of bread each night (sun-dried tomato bread, tapioca fritters), continue with a couple of lighter courses (such as tomato risotto or crunchy avocado and fresh buffalo mozzarella salad) and follow that with a main course (such as grilled paiche with chorizo sauce and snake fruit puree, or lamb shoulder with refried yellow potato). While most of these drew rave reviews, the palate cleanser -- a shooter-sized glass with a frozen sorbet concoction that was almost always lip-pursingly sour -- went back to the kitchen nearly untouched night after night.
The meal finishes with a main dessert as well as a cookie or pastry option to be enjoyed with your post-dinner coffee. Desserts frequently showcase tropical fruits from the region -- like creamy soursop and banana yogurt with crunchy quinoa, or a passion flower and Brazil nut crumble.
As many of the local dishes are unfamiliar to passengers, the waiters usually explain what's in each item as they serve it. They are also attentive about keeping wine and water glasses full. As at lunch, non-alcoholic drinks, beer and house wines are included with dinner.
Between meals you can help yourself to coffee, tea and cookies at the bar in the lounge on Deck 3 between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. There are purified water stations for refilling bottles or carafes on Decks 1 and 3. There is no room service unless a passenger falls ill.
Occasionally you'll experience meals off the ship. For example, one morning we had breakfast "to go." Following a 6 a.m. wake-up call, we set out on the skiffs for some early-morning wildlife spotting. About 90 minutes later we settled into a shaded part of the river, and a couple of crew members pulled up with the makings of an impromptu feast. They handed us bowls of fresh fruit, jars of avocado with soft-boiled egg, pancakes with fruit syrup and sandwiches with ham, cheese and pineapple. Yogurt, cereal, juice, tea and coffee were also available.
On the day we arrived, we had a light lunch (salad, fruit) at Aqua's private dock before boarding the ship. On the last evening of our cruise, the staff surprised us during our second excursion with crispy yucca and plantain chips, local nuts wrapped in a palm leaf and mimosas to toast to the end of our time in the Amazon.
Aria Amazon's spacious, attractive cabins set it apart from many other expedition ships. With natural wood floors, crisp white duvets, glassed-in shower stalls and a modern black and white colour scheme, Aria Amazon's accommodations feel more like rooms at a boutique hotel than typical cruise ship cabins.
All 16 cabins aboard Aria Amazon are largely identical, with the exception of four that have interconnecting doors for families. Cabins measure a generous 250 square feet; half are on Deck 1, the other half on Deck 2. Their most striking feature: floor-to-ceiling windows that span nearly the full length of the cabin, offering a larger-than-life view of the ever-changing Amazon landscape. The cabins don't have TV, but you won't miss it given the live-action show going on outside your window.
Beds can be split into two twins or combined into a king. The bedding is all white with a few black and white pillows for accents. Black night tables flank the bed; on one is a clock radio and a phone (which you'll likely only use for answering wakeup calls each morning), while the other has two glasses and a carafe of purified water (topped off each day by the housekeeping staff).
On the wall above the night tables are lamps and adjustable reading lights. While the latter are a nice touch, we found that they didn't seem to hold their position very well and don't reach quite high or far enough over the bed for comfortable reading.
Storage space is relatively ample, though the bed is a little too low to fit large suitcases underneath it. (We kept ours on the sofa.) There are two tall wooden wardrobes, one with four wide shelves, a rail for hanging clothes and a safe large enough for most laptops. The other wardrobe has a full-length mirror on the inside of one door as well as a couple of bathrobes and two pairs of slippers. There are about half a dozen more shelves in this wardrobe, another hanging bar for clothes and a top shelf where emergency lifejackets are stored. (Note that you'll also be given lighter excursion lifejackets that you bring each day on the skiffs; these can also be stowed in the wardrobe.) About half a dozen hangers are provided.
Beside the wardrobes is a comfy black sofa where you can relax and look out at the water. (Note: In the family cabins there are two chairs in place of the sofa.)
There's a thermostat on the wall where you can adjust the cabin temperature. You'll give thanks for the air conditioning every time you come in sweating after an excursion, but keep in mind that your camera and binocular lenses may fog up when you bring them outside in the morning after a night in cooler temperatures. To prevent this, the staff recommends leaving camera equipment in the hallway outside your door or at the muster station in the centre of Deck 1.
A wide sink and mirror are in the main part of the cabin, with two drawers and four lower compartments for storage. There's also plenty of space on either side of the basin for shaving cream, hairbrushes or other toiletry items.
On the sink are two reusable water bottles with carabiners -- yours to take home -- which are refilled daily by the housekeeping staff for use during excursions. You'll also find a pump bottle of Aqua-branded body lotion, a soap dish with soap, a tall cup for toothbrushes and toothpaste, and a smaller jar with cotton swabs, round pads for removing makeup and two sets of earplugs. A makeup mirror is on the right-hand side, and there's a hair dryer in a bag under the sink. Also under the sink are two shower caps, a spare bar of soap, a box of tissues and extra rolls of toilet paper.
Through a sliding-glass door is a separate room for the toilet and the shower. Unlike many cruise ships that leave you fighting with a clingy shower curtain or trying not to spray water all over the toilet seat, Aria offers a generously sized, glassed-in shower stall with a rainfall showerhead. Three large pump bottles dispense Aqua-branded shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. A clothesline runs across the top of the shower stall for drying damp clothes, and there are multiple hooks and rails for hanging towels.
There are several places in the cabin to charge your devices, including a USB port and a 220-volt outlet that fits American plugs on either side of the bed. Next to the sink are an American outlet and a Peruvian one (both 220 volts); you'll find another set on the wall beside the sofa.
Our housekeeper visited the cabin three times a day, not only tidying our things and refilling our water containers but also leaving us little gifts (such as locally made bracelets and tea) as well as fanciful towel animals. Our favourite? A towel monkey dangling from a hanger in front of our picture window.
While you can lock your cabin from the inside, you won't receive a key to your cabin unless you request one. Given the large safe for valuables and the friendly atmosphere onboard, we didn't feel concerned about leaving our cabin unlocked while we were out, but since some boats in the Amazon have had issues with robberies, we recommend locking all your valuables in the safe. The ship has five armed plainclothes police officers onboard who rotate shifts to provide 24/7 protection; there's also a video surveillance system.
