Quest, Amazon & Caribbean Isles ex Manaus to Miami

Details

15 Night cruise sailing from Manaus to Miami onboard Seabourn Quest.

15 Night cruise sailing from Manaus to Miami onboard Seabourn Quest.

Seabourn Quest is the third iteration of the vessel design that has been called “a game-changer for the luxury segment.” Built at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, she was named in Barcelona on June 20, 2011. True to her Seabourn bloodlines, wherever she sails around the world, Seabourn Quest carries with her a bevy of award-winning dining venues that are comparable to the finest restaurants to be found anywhere. Seabourn Quest offers a variety of dining options to suit every taste and every mood, with never an extra charge.

Highlights of this cruise:

Manaus
The largest city on the Amazon and the main port for export and import on the river. It is actually located on the Rio Negro a few miles from where it meets the Rio Solimoes to form the Amazon at the famous Meeting of the Waters. The Teatro Amazonas is an Italian Renaissance Opera House constructed of imported materials, which hosted world-famous artists at the height of the rubber boom.

Boca Dos Botos, Brazil
The name of this spot along the Amazon refers in Portuguese to Botos, the famous pink dolphins native to this river. Time-honored Caboclo legend has it that these graceful, intelligent creatures possess the ability to transform themselves at night into handsome young men, who court and seduce the unsuspecting maidens of the riverside villages. It is just one example of the ways all living things here are entwined with the river and its fluctuations. At Boca dos Botos, your Ventures by Seabourn expedition team provides opportunities to visit a “flooded forest,” resulting from the dramatic seasonal change from dry ground to river bottom. The flora and fauna of the region are perfectly adapted to, and in fact dependent on this cycle. As you explore the area, you are likely to see animals such as sloths, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys and colorful birds in activities they pursue during this sub-aquatic part of their invisible calendar.

Santarem, Brazil
Santarem is a busy port for the trade flowing up and down the Amazon between the Atlantic and the inland forests. The most famous site for visitors is the “Wedding of the Waters” where the clear, dark Tapajos River meets the muddy ochre Amazon. Due to their different densities, they flow alongside each other for quite some distance, between the same banks. Local boats specialize in taking visitors to the site. Local markets are fun to explore, and other excursions include visiting the smaller tributaries and forests, and fishing for the infamous piranha fish.

Devils Island, French Guiana
Before they were a notorious penal colony, the Iles de Salut (Islands of Salvation) provided French colonists with a welcome escape from the fever-ridden jungles of the Guiana mainland. Lying ten miles off the coastline, and swept by treacherous ocean currents, the trio of small islands provided a perfect isolated location for incarcerating criminals without danger or expense, since the shark-infested sea and the trackless jungles ashore precluded any possibility of escape. All three islands, popularly known as Devil's Island, were used as a prison from 1852 to 1953. Your day is free to explore the prison ruins or search for signs of the surprisingly abundant wildlife.

Bridgetown, Barbados
Barbados has retained many of the trappings of its British colonial heritage. Judges and barristers wear proper robes and wigs, police don helmets styled after London bobbies and cricket remains a national passion. Barbados also has all the sporting appeal of the rest of the Caribbean, with pristine beaches, powerful surf and crystal clear waters. Brightly colored homes and hibiscus flowers mingle with mahogany trees and English churches dating back to the 17th century.

Fort-De-France, Martinique
Fort-de-France, Martinique's capital, with its narrow streets and iron grill-worked balconies, brings to mind New Orleans or Nice. This distinctly French island is a full-fledged department of France, with members in parliament and the senate. Naturally, everyone speaks French, as well as a rapid-fire Creole. The island features a varied landscape, from quiet beaches to lush rain forest to imposing Mont Pelee. Not surprisingly, the shopping in Fort-de-France has a decidedly Gallic flair. Bienvenue to this bit of France in the Caribbean.

Road Town (Tortola), British Virgin Islands
Tortola is the business and touristic center of the BVI. The island has all the elements of an ideal Caribbean playground: dozens of soft sand beaches, clear water and hidden coves, a wealth of touristic infrastructure from rental cars and scooters to motor launches and sailing yachts. The islands’ history is inextricably tied to cash, from the days when freebooting buccaneers were the most frequent visitors to the present day when international financial institutions maintain important headquarters here. British sugarcane plantation, using enslaved African labor, was the impetus for the earliest permanent settlements. In the 18th Century, loyalists fleeing the American Revolution brought their fortunes and slaves as well. After England abolished slavery In the 19th Century, the economy slowed. The Kingstown area of Tortola was a place where freed slaves settled, and St. Phillip’s Church there is among the earliest Black churches in the Americas. Despite being under the British flag, Tortola uses U.S. dollars for its currency. Besides gorgeous beaches such as Smuggler’s Cove, Apple Bay and Cane Garden Bay, there are historical attractions on Tortola including the Lower Estate Sugar Works Museum, the Mount Healthy Windmill and Fort Burt. Many visitors also opt for attractions on nearby islands such as The Baths or the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda or famous laid-back bars like Foxy’s on Jost Van Dyke.

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has been voluntarily associated with the United States since it was ceded by Spain in 1898. In 1952, this island country became a self-governing commonwealth territory of the United States. The capital, San Juan, is a teeming city of over 1.5 million. Remnants of colonial architecture stand side by side with the most modern high rises in this city of contrasts. The 7-square-block area, which contains the historic zone of Old San Juan, was once completely encircled by city walls and is still guarded by the impressive forts of El Morro and San Cristobal, which loom over the harbor as reminders of the centuries of Spanish rule. El Yunque rainforest, on the northeastern side of the island, is just one of many distinctive geographical features found here. Mountain lakes, waterfalls, teak forests, and three magnificent phosphorescent bays offer the visitor a variety of diversions.

Miami, Florida
Miami is the busiest cruise port in the world, hosting a myriad of ships year-round from all over the globe. Although it is technically not on the Caribbean Sea, no other American city exudes more of the diverse tropical appeal of the Caribbean. The city is home to a large and vibrant immigrant population that blends snowbird refugees from more northern climes with emigres from all Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as sizable groups from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. From the hot-blooded Art Deco haunts of South Beach to the natural wonders of the UNESCO-inscribed Everglades and the laid-back charms of the Keys, South Florida offers a bounty of appealing attractions that make an extended stay in the region nearly mandatory for those either embarking or disembarking here.