Aria Amazon

The 2011-built RV Aria Amazon ship cruises on Amazon River in Peru (South America), and also on the rivers Yanalipa, Yarapa and Ucayali. Departures are from Callao-Lima (Peru), but the embarkations/debarkations are in homeport Iquitos (Peruvian Amazon).

Besides Aria Amazon, Aqua Expeditions fleet also includes Aqua Nera (2020/Peruvian Amazon), Aqua Blu (2019/East Indonesia) and Aqua Mekong (2014/Mekong River).

The luxury houseboat Aria Amazon is owned by Aqua Expeditions (2008-founded, Singapore-based travel company) and also chartered by Avalon Waterways and Uniworld. This magnificent vessel was designed by Jordi Puig (Peruvian architect) and provides extraordinary comfort for just 32 passengers in 16 suites - all with floor-ceiling and wall-to-wall windows.

RV Aria Amason is a motorized premium "houseboat cruiser" launched in April 2011. The vessel was built with the right size to sail the mighty river, offering the unique rainforest wildlife-watching experience perfectly combined with the luxurious comfort of its most spacious accommodations and public areas.

Aria also has the industry's new trendy features - floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall windows throughout, classy indoor/outdoor lounge, air-conditioned rooms, top-deck Jacuzzi, indoor dining room, Gym/exercise room, luxury Boutique/gift shop. The ship has a fleet of 4 aluminum skiffs (motorized speedboats, each with capacity 10 passengers plus 1 crew).

• Observation Deck (3) - Observation lounge, deck chairs, Bar (premium spirits), Plunge Pool, Restaurant (open seating), Fitness, Boutique shop, Fitness room.
• Second Deck and First Deck - accommodations (x8 Suites on each deck, category SC, standard), room size 250 ft2 / 23 m2.

The ship's amenities include a large top-deck lounge (teak floored, with a shade system), complimentary coffee and soft beverages, English-speaking staff/crew, four certified multilingual naturalists for onboard natural history lectures, a stargazing enrichment program, paramedic/physician, Cruise Director, Gym (with modern fitness equipment), satellite phone, safety equipment. Dining - traditional Peruvian cuisine (Aqua Expeditions menu was designed by Chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino).

Aqua Expeditions Aria Amazon cruise prices are inclusive of all meals onboard, all excursions, beverages (non-alcoholic, house wine, beer), transfers to/from the boat (with the recommended flights), Peru's "Pacaya Samiria" National Reserve entrance fee. The boat is often chartered by the Globus-Avalon Waterways line, but also from other river cruise lines offering luxury Amazon River travel deals in South America. On its Amazon River cruise ship charters, Avalon Waterways offers USA flights-inclusive deals with discount airfare (international USA-Callao-USA and domestic Lima-Iquitos-Lima) and complimentary airport transfers.

Decks and cabins

RV Aria Amazon staterooms (16 total) spread on 2 out of 3 floors/decks. All passenger cabins feature elegant design (to maximize the interior space and enhance the natural light), modern furniture and 5-star hotel amenities.

All Suites are equally sized (23 m2 / 250 ft2) and with triple occupancy, as their interior sofas are convertible (form a sofabed for 1 child).

Of all staterooms, 8 Design Suites (on decks 1 and 2) can be booked as "family cabins". These 4 pairs of interconnecting cabins (combo-sized 46 m2 / 500 ft2) are connected via sliding doors. Accommodating up to 6 passengers, these "2-room suites" are configured as lounge/living room plus the master bedroom, and with his-and-hers bathrooms.

As standard amenities, all staterooms provide custom-made, King-size beds (sized 2,1x2m, convertible to two twin beds / 1,05m x 2m), premium bedding (Peruvian cotton sheets, duvets), bedside cabinets with lamps, floor-ceiling and wall-to-wall windows with double curtains, slide-opening double wardrobe (mirrored closet with drawers and electronic safe box), phone (intercom system), round coffee table, lounge sofabed, music docking station (MP3-Player and Cell-Phone Audio Docks), coffee/tea making facility, professional hairdryer, en-suite bathrooms (walk-in shower, overhead rain shower, single-sink vanities, lighted mirror, natural organic bath- and hair products), individually controlled air-conditioning, complimentary bottled water (replenished daily), 24-hour room service (complimentary).

Aria Amazon Peru cruise itinerary

Besides on Amazon, Aria Amazon cruises also on the rivers Yarapa, Yanalipa and Ucayali.

Follows the concise review Aria Amazon's cruise tour offered by Avalon Waterways:

• 11-DAY "INCA EMPIRE TO PERUVIAN AMAZON" from Lima (roundtrip cruising from Iquitos Peru).
• 8-day from Callao, roundtrip to Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peruvian Amazon cruising. This is a 3-night Amazon cruise (starting on the itinerary's Day 7) in Peru's Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. A sightseeing tour is included in the fares - provided each day and professionally guided by a local English-speaking naturalist.
• Excursions and tour highlights. Lima tours - San Francisco Monastery, Larco Herrara Museum, welcome dinner party (Casa Garcia Alvarado). Follows a flight to Cusco (archaeological sites Sacsayhuaman, Kenko, Awanakancha, Pisac), with dinner and attending a Paso Horse Show. Machu Picchu (tour to Ollantaytambo, glass-dome train travel to Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu sightseeing tour, then return by the same train to Cusco for touring Santo Domingo Monastery and the town's Cathedral. On day 7 starts the Amazon cruising part of your Peruvian vacation, with boarding and welcome dinner on the Aria boat.

Aria Amazon cruisetours (all guided) also include rainforest walks, skiff rides (for wildlife watching), and nocturnal cruising. On the itinerary's Day 10 is visited a Peruvian native village and Manatee Rescue Center, then follows the flight Iquitos-Lima. The onboard experience features local entertainers and artisans.

In November 2016, Aqua Expeditions announced two female-only themed cruises for 2017 - on the ships Aqua Mekong and Aria Amazon. Aria Amazon's cruise (March 20-24, 2017) was a 4-day itinerary from Iquitos Peru. The "women-only cruising" experience featured extensive wildlife viewing program, visits to local villages, fishing for piranhas, a visit to the Amazonian Manatee Rescue Center in Iquitos, onboard enrichment (guide presentations, cooking classes), culinary activities ashore (chef-guided visits to local food markets), a 60-min complimentary spa massage.

Like the sisterships Aqua Mekong (2014) and Aqua Nera (2020), Aria Amazon's design, a small number of passenger accommodations, amenities and all-inclusive deals classified the vessel as "houseboat". Similarly designed is the Chobe River cruise ship Zambezi Queen (Botswana, South Africa).

These houseboats were constructed at Hai Minh Shipyard in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Vietnam. Aqua Nera was launched (floated out from drydock) on June 29, 2020. The inauguration ceremony featured a traditional Buddhist blessing and the virtual/online participation of Francesco Galli Zugaro. Loaded onto a heavy-lift ship, the cruise ship Aria Amazon departed Vietnam for a 35-day (10630 mi / 17100 km long) repositioning voyage from Vietnam (Saigon) to Brazil (Belem).

Next YouTube video shows the Aqua Mekong ship construction (time-lapse).

Starting September 2020, RV Aria Amazon operates Uniworld-charter cruises in the Peruvian Amazon River (for the first time for the company) with 3 itineraries. The program starts with 15-day "Peruvian Amazon and Machu Picchu Exploration" (inclusive of 5-star hotel overnight in Lima Peru), follows .7-day cruising through the Amazon Rainforest (with visits to Cusco and Machu Picchu) and ends with 11-day "Peruvian Rivers and Rainforest Discovery" (roundtrip from Iquitos and includes cruising through Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve / Amazonian jungle in northeastern Peru). Bookings were opened on December 16, 2019, with prices from USD 12,000 pp (double-occupancy houseboat cabin rates).

Note: You can see the CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.