DEC 11, 2025
CRUISING ONLY,
The equator is an essential component of our planet’s geography—even though it’s just an imaginary line drawn on a map. In addition to being the widest spot on the planet—a full 43 kilometers (27 miles) wider than at the poles—this is also the planetary dividing line for the Coriolis effect, which explains why cyclones rotate clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of it. It’s also the place best suited for launching spacecraft because the gravitational pull gives rocket ships an extra boost out of the stratosphere. And for a bit of light-hearted fun, if you’re onboard a craft where any of the crew are crossing this imaginary line for the first time, you’ll likely witness a King Neptune (or Crossing the Line) ceremony. This ancient naval tradition puts newbies, or “Pollywogs,” through a series of pranks and tests to prove themselves worthy of being a son or daughter of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea.
Cruising the Amazon River
DEC 11, 2025
CRUISING ONLY,
The Amazon is a river, and a region, of superlatives. It’s the world’s largest river when measured by volume. With 209,000 cubic meters (55 million gallons) of water flowing into the Pacific each second, it’s five times the size of the Congo, the next largest river. The basin it drains is some 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles), making it the largest drainage basin in the world. (By comparison, the contiguous United States is roughly 8 million square kilometers, or 3.1 million square miles.) What most impresses visitors to the Amazon, however, is rarely these numbers. Instead it’s the area’s cultural and natural riches and the experience of seeing the rain forest extend in every direction.
As you travel along the length of the Amazon, you’ll call at villages that are not just geographically remote, but are far from contemporary culture as well. Some 400 indigenous peoples live in the Amazon, as they have for centuries. On the same journey, you can visit the 19th-century opera house at Manaus and the colonial-era churches in Santarém, Macapá and other cities. Biologically the basin is home to some 10 percent of all the world’s known animal and plant species. From jaguars to macaws and pink dolphins to glass frogs, the Amazon is an area of astounding and unique biodiversity.
Barra Norte River, Brazil
DEC 11, 2025
ARRIVES 11:15 PM
DEPARTS 11:15 PM
CRUISING ONLY,
All ships entering the Amazon pass through what is called the Barra Norte, or North Bar, the final leg of the mighty river as it makes its way to the sea. This branch of the river sits to the north of Ilha de Marajó, an enormous island in the middle of the Amazon’s mouth with palm trees, a variety of birds and vast cattle and water buffalo ranches—its water buffalo outnumber residents by a ratio of three to one. In addition to livestock, a key part of the economy here is the processing of minerals from the Amazon, principally iron ore and bauxite. Those mounds of reddish rocks you are likely to see waiting to be loaded on ships are bauxite ore, the main source of aluminum. (Brazil is the world’s third-largest source of bauxite.) Among the cities you may see from your ship is Macapá, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amapá. It’s home to half a million people, and yet there are no connections by road to the rest of the country. The city sits on the equator, hence its unofficial nickname: the Capital of the Middle of the World.
Crossing the Amazon River Bar, Brazil
DEC 11, 2025
CRUISING ONLY,
After traveling some 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), the Amazon River finally arrives at the Atlantic Ocean. (The word some may sound unnecessarily imprecise, but geographers measure the length of the river from different points.) This section of the world’s largest river measured by volume is often referred to as its “bar,” a name used to describe the mouths of other rivers as well. The delta here is a maze of islands, formed by the sediment that accumulates when the Amazon enters the ocean. The largest island in this area is Ilha de Marajó, which measures 40,100 square kilometers (15,500 square miles). That’s roughly equivalent to three Connecticuts or one Switzerland. The region is fascinating to naturalists, though much of what is of interest is impossible to see from a ship, namely, the variety of aquatic life that can exist where freshwater and ocean water meet. What is visible, though, is the remarkable diversity of birds above the water’s surface—around 540 different species, including a profusion of egrets and herons—and the palm trees that cover many of the islands. You are also likely to see cattle and water buffalo, a cause of concern, as ranching has threatened the habitats of many native species, both plants and animals.