Cruise Line: Silversea Cruises Ship: Silver Cloud Region: South America Departs: Oct 29, 2009 From: Bridgetown, Barbados

14 Nights from 7206.00 USD

Itinerary

Description

14 Night Cruise sailing from Bridgetown to Manaus aboard Silver Cloud. 14 Night Cruise sailing from Bridgetown to Manaus aboard Silver Cloud.

Aboard Silver Cloud, the tangibles of ultra-luxury travel - Limoges china, Christofle silverware, Frette bed linens and soft down pillows - are subtly blended with an intangible at-your-service atmosphere that caters to satisfying a guests every desire, 24-hours a day.

Silversea’s service is simply the world’s best. It is a philosophy, an attitude – complemented by distinctive European style and inherent in all that we do. Achieving perfection is driven by our desire to please. To see you smile. It begins the moment you step aboard with a warm welcome and a flute of champagne, and follows throughout your voyage with an unspoken anticipation of your needs. Sailing on Silversea’s intimate ships is like visiting a friend’s home; you’re greeted by name and your personal preferences are always remembered.

Highlights of this cruise include:

BRIDGETOWN
The most easterly of the Caribbean Islands, Barbados stands as a welcoming sentinel at the gateway to the West Indies. The island has for centuries been the first landfall for any sailors venturing westward, beginning with Spanish and Portuguese adventurers who came to Barbados in the 1500s in search of gold and riches. Instead they found a densely vegetated island inhabited by a small population of Amerindians, some of whom were captured and taken to other islands as slaves. Although the Iberians opted not to settle on the island, they did give it a name, Los Barbados (the "bearded ones"), which is generally believed to have derived from the aerial roots of the Bearded Fig Tree.

Europeans did not begin settling on Barbados until the English arrived in 1625. The island presented an ideal opportunity to acquire a colony with considerable scope for agricultural development. The English landed at the site of today’s Holetown and claimed the island in the name of the Crown. They began cultivating the land with the first 80 settlers and a number of slaves they had captured from a trading vessel. With the planting of tropical crops, particularly sugar cane, they found a flourishing commodity that was in high demand in Europe and provided the base for English rule during the next 300 years.

A strong British atmosphere prevails to this day, despite independence achieved from Britain in 1966. Judges and barristers still wear robes and wigs, cricket remains a national passion and traffic operates on the left. Genuinely proud of their island, the quarter-million Bajans welcome visitors as privileged guests. Tourism and off-shore finance are major sources of income, providing a healthy existence for the island’s population.

Barbados draws scores of visitors thanks to its great natural beauty, varied terrain and historic monuments. There are 900 miles of pristine beaches, a rugged Atlantic coastline, fertile valleys, distinguished plantation houses, stalactite-studded caves, a wildlife preserve and attractive tropical gardens. The island’s capital, Bridgetown, is one of the Caribbean's major free ports, bustling with activity.

Visitors looking for outdoor activities such as golf, tennis, boating, fishing and swimming will find plenty of opportunities on Barbados. Fine dining is available around Bridgetown and in restaurants and hotels around the island.

BELEM
Belém, located some 90 miles from the open sea and slightly south of the equator, is the great port of the Amazon. The city was founded by the Portuguese in 1616 as the City of Our Lady of Bethlehem (Belém), and its original role was to protect the mouth of the river and establish Portugal’s claim to the region. However, Belém rapidly became established as an Indian slaving port and a source for cacao and spices from the Amazon region. Because of the export of slaves, the local population went into such decline that by the mid-18th century a royal decree was issued to encourage and reward every Portuguese who married an Indian woman.

Belém clings to the image of its heroic and mystic past, when, at the turn of the century, the rubber boom gave it extraordinary impetus, raising it to the level of the great European cities of the period. As the capital of Para, Belém is the most important city in northern Brazil.

Today, visitors enjoy an atmosphere of intriguing and exotic ambiance plus colonial architecture mixed with a surprisingly modern skyline. Cultural events take place in the splendid Teatro da Paz, and the Goeldi Museum and Zoological Gardens are well worth a visit. There are good restaurants to try some local cuisine, and shops and markets offer a wide variety of Amazonian arts and crafts.

MANAUS
Manaus is the capital of the State of Amazonas and the hub of the whole Amazon region. Located on the banks of the Rio Negro, the “Meeting of the Waters” takes place four miles from Manaus, where the Rio Solimões meets the Rio Negro to become the Amazon.

The city we see today is primarily a product of the rubber boom. When steam navigation in the mid-19th century opened up the jungle, it spurred the rubber industry and mass immigration. Under Governor Eduardo Ribeiro the famous Opera House and broad avenues were built. For the rich it was a place of sheer luxury. Palaces and grandiose mansions were erected, and time was passed with elaborate entertainment, dances and concerts. By the turn of the century it was an opulent metropolis run by elegant people who dressed and housed themselves as fashionably as their counterparts in any large European city. In fact, the year 1899 saw Manaus as the first Brazilian city to have trolley buses and the second one to have electric streetlights. But the splendor of the “Paris in the Jungle” lasted barely thirty years. When the rubber market began to collapse in 1914, the city’s fortune declined as well.

As a river port, Manaus presents an unforgettable spectacle. Although the real attractions lie in the surrounding forests and tributaries, the city’s most famous attraction is no doubt the opulent Teatro Amazonas. Completed in 1896 after 17 years of construction and at a cost of $3 million, the Manaus Opera House recently underwent a lengthy restoration program and now shines once more in its original splendor. There are also several interesting museums with exhibits geared to provide insight into the human life and ecology of the Amazon region.

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