pelago

I will keep these posts going as long as possible - I wish that I had this information - I would have made the same decision as yourself.

Refer to the below link, just so you can see the gravity of the corruption....http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=7131

Thanks for feedback - I am just trying to provide people with as much information as possible, so that prospective guests make an informed decision. I don't think anything will change and will it happen again - I think so...just look at the research on the trends of these pirates.

It really doesn't matter how many armed guards you put on board? There will always be more of them. The information on the web stated 8 pirates but my discussions with the crew - there were 10. The crew also told me that they were all locked downstairs in the hold in a cage.

Also as stated in another reply - we were not flaunting our jewellery? Items such as cameras, phone, ipad and video player all mount up? What is the point of having a safe, when it has already been opened the night before, ready for the robbery?

Would I travel anywhere on the river, in the Amazon ie. Brazil, Ecuador - no! Unfortunately, you are a floating target in poverty stricken areas. The ironic thing was that my husband and I, the night before was talking about the film, Captain Philips (with Tom Hanks), with the Somali pirates - apart from a different country - it was EXACTLY like that!

Will not go back there again!

I consider myself a well traveled tourist and have worked and traveled around Africa (as high risk as you can get). I always try to do my research and feel bad that on this occasion, this extreme situation occurred. We were put in a situation that key stakeholders knew about the risk and did not put contingency measures in place.

In relation to expensive items - cameras, phone (for emergency), ipad (for scrabble), video camera (memories) - it all adds up...we were not wearing the crown jewels? Our safe had been already opened, ready for the hijacking?

No physical harm but psychological. No company should put profits before safety.

We were four of the Australians on the Amazon Discover during the 'hijacking' by the pirates.

DO NOT TRAVEL ON THE AMAZON RIVER - this is a KNOWN drug trafficking route, the pirates were KNOWN by the police and tour boat company. The river in the Amazon is over 6,000 km long, with only 26 local police to patrol the area (not that you would really depend on them. It took over 4 hours for any police to find us.

This was a planned inside job!!! We were woken up at 3.30am in the morning with a banging on the door - my husband went to answer the door, to have a gun put to his forehead to open the door. Our safe was already open (unknown to us). The night before, they had done a half attempt at a 'turn down service' - they must have checked everything out and also unlocked safes. They took everything. $20,000 is a joke - more like about $250,00 in total for all passengers - if you think about electronics, cash, jewellery etc. As my mother-in-law has bad arthritis, they even considered cutting or breaking her fingers to get the rings off - only due to time, they didn't. After the first entrance of the gunned robber (face covered with a mask and plasters on his finger tips), the cruise director came in with the robber, she was also on her phone. She was communicating openly (not under duress) with the robber - she did not see my husband and I huddled in the bed. After the incident, I told her what I saw - she threatened me, that if I said anything further, that I would be reported to the local police - trust me, they are not an authority, that you would like to spend time with.

The company is trying to play down the gravity of the situation so that you will still think it is safe to travel.

There was no security, no emergency preparedness, no response, no recovery procedures in place. No senior crew member no captain took control after the incident. There was no emergency flares, no UHF radios, no satellite phones, no communication, no co-ordination, NO NOTHING. We floated from about 4.30am - 9.30am with no assistance, no police - NOTHING????

Where you have poverty, corruption and drugs - there is NO tour company or cruise boat operator that can guarantee your safety/security 100%. There are lots of articles on this incident, some below. If you still with to continue and play Russian Roulette with your life - good luck!!!!

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2016/07/articles/fires-1/fire-bandits-plague-amazon-river-cruises-in-peru/

http://perureports.com/2016/07/15/armed-gang-robs-cruise-ship-perus-amazon/

We book direct - pros and cons. Unfortunately I have seen too many travelers not told of up-to-date information by Travel Agents. I have just instigated a 'Charge Back' with my credit card. I always use my credit card for overseas transactions. So will get my money back that way.

I would say this is just the beginning for alot of people....

Trying to get the word out there to as many people as possible, as I have just found out through web research that Haimark Travel/River Cruises have closed doors - facebook page gone, web page gone and emails do not work.

We are booked on an Amazon Cruise through Haimark next month. I now find that Delfin (ship builders) are taking over bookings. Haimark have not passed our money or booking over to them. I now have to rebook and pay again. I did pay on my credit card, so trying to get a 'Charge Back' but in between, I am out of pocket.

Good luck to everybody...

Haimark has now closed doors and run off with money. We were booked on an Amazon River Cruise next month ie. July. Just found out through research on web that Delfin (the ship builder) has taken company over. I contacted them - they nothing about our booking and need to pay again. Haimark have not passed money/bookings on - good luck to all....Website and Facebook pages have gone over night.