Visa Question

[Blackrobe]

We received Brazilian visas for our completed South America cruise. The visas are good for five (5) years and are stamped in our passports. Our passports will have to be renewed prior to the expiration of our visas. How do we transfer our visas to our new passport?

[FredS]

We just had that issue come up. Two years ago we went from Rio to Santiago. We had Brazilian visas for that trip. Then this year we went from Manaus, Brazil to Rome on the Royal. My wife's passport had expired just before this trip. She got it renewed. I asked the Brazilian embassy what to do and they said to bring both the old and new passports. The old passport has the Brazil visa that is good and the new passport shows you have a current passport. We had no problem with this at Brazil immagration. In fact they hardly looked at the passports. However, we had flown Princess charter flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Manaus. Before we boarded in Ft. Lauderdale passports were gone over for visas and yellow fever documentation. They looked at the passports, at least ours, very closely. Everyone's visa/passport was checked in Ft. Lauderdale so this may be why the check in Manaus was so lax.

 

Upshot: bring both passports.

[Douglase]

I thought you had to turn in your old one when you got a new one.

[Crown Prince]

The Expired Passport is sent back with your New Passport. They punch a hole in the cover.

[Blackrobe]

Thanks FredS for the info! What you did is precisely what we are planning. We took the Rio to Santiago trip this year and we are planning the Manaus to Ft. Lauderdale trip next year or the year after. By the way what did you think of the Manaus to Ft. Lauderdale cruise?

[FredS]

Sorry if I confused you. We flew from FLL to Manaus then took the Royal Princess from Manaus to Rome, Italy. I would like to do the FLL to Manaus or the reverse. When we landed in Manaus it was about 6 PM and the charter flight was to take folks that had sail from FLL to Manaus back to FLL. I don't think they got out of the Manaus airport until after 10 PM. My thought was that it must have been a long day with dembarkation then catching a late charter flight to FLL then having to get settled in FLL for a few hours before flying to whereever they lived. I think I would rather fly into Manaus and take the ship to FLL.

[Blackrobe]

Nevertheless FredS what did you think of the cruise down the Amazon?

[FredS]

The Amazon is interesting but after you leave Manaus it is mostly jungle and very wide in some places 15-20 miles. There are no cities that you see. Manaus is 900 miles up the Amazon from the Atlantic (Amazon is about 4000 miles long) and it took 2 days to get to the ocean. The river is at flood stage so there is not much on the banks of the river. It was interesting from the point of just being on the Amazon, some place I never expected to be. Mostly you see river traffic. Would I do it again, yes. We just enjoy seeing places that are different and new for us. I have wondered why Princess is not replacing the Manaus, Brazil to Rome, Italy cruise. A real cross-section of lands, cultures and people.

[Blackrobe]

FredS, thanks for your posts. I decided to book the cruise for 2007. They are moving the Pacific Princess to that route and I thought the smaller ship would be great. Not to mention a great price on a balcony!

[Pam in CA]

Sorry if I confused you. We flew from FLL to Manaus then took the Royal Princess from Manaus to Rome, Italy. I would like to do the FLL to Manaus or the reverse. When we landed in Manaus it was about 6 PM and the charter flight was to take folks that had sail from FLL to Manaus back to FLL. I don't think they got out of the Manaus airport until after 10 PM. My thought was that it must have been a long day with dembarkation then catching a late charter flight to FLL then having to get settled in FLL for a few hours before flying to whereever they lived. I think I would rather fly into Manaus and take the ship to FLL.

Fred, I agree with you. They were still calling luggage color codes when we went into dinner (late traditional.) If their charter left after 10PM, they wouldn't have gotten into FLL until 2 - 3AM and then had to get to their hotel(s). Not only that, but I'm sure that they were calling colors for at least two hours for each charter flight. I wouldn't have wanted to be one of the first colors called and have to wait at the Manaus airport for the other colors. That's not the way I'd want to end a fabulous cruise.

 

Blackrobe -- I've done the Amazon cruise twice now and loved it both times. When we were there in April (same cruise as Fred), it was very different from when I was there the time before (January). The water level was quite different and even the water lilies in Lake January were very different -- they were almost 3x as big the first time I saw them. This time, they were merely large; when we went several years ago, they were HUGE.