Aria Amazon

The 2011-built RV Aria Amazon cruises the Amazon River in Peru (South America), as well as the Yanalipa, Yarapa, and Ucayali rivers. Departures are from Callao-Lima (Peru), with embarkation and disembarkation in the homeport Iquitos (Peruvian Amazon).

Alongside Aria Amazon, the Aqua Expeditions fleet 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 the French company Ponant, which acquired a majority stake in Aqua Expeditions (founded in 2008 and based in Singapore) in January 2025.

Aria Amazon is also chartered by Avalon Waterways and Uniworld. Designed by Peruvian architect Jordi Puig, the vessel accommodates just 32 passengers in 16 suites, all featuring floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall windows for panoramic views.

RV Aria Amazon is a motorized premium "houseboat cruiser" launched in April 2011. Purpose-built for navigating the Amazon, the vessel offers a unique rainforest wildlife-watching experience, seamlessly combined with luxurious accommodations and spacious public areas.

Modern amenities include floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall windows, a stylish indoor/outdoor lounge, air-conditioned suites, a top-deck Jacuzzi, an indoor dining room, a fitness room, and a luxury boutique/gift shop. The ship is equipped with four aluminum skiffs (motorized speedboats), each accommodating 10 passengers plus one crew member.

• Observation Deck (Deck 3) – Observation lounge, deck chairs, bar (serving premium spirits), plunge pool, open-seating restaurant, fitness center, boutique shop.
• Second Deck and First Deck – Accommodations (8 suites on each deck, category SC, standard), each suite measuring 250 ft² / 23 m².

Additional amenities include a spacious teak-floored top-deck lounge with a shade system, complimentary coffee and soft drinks, English-speaking staff and crew, four certified multilingual naturalists providing onboard lectures, a stargazing enrichment program, onboard physician/paramedic, Cruise Director, gym with modern equipment, satellite phone, and safety equipment. Dining onboard features traditional Peruvian cuisine curated by Chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino.

Aria Amazon cruise fares include all onboard meals, excursions, beverages (non-alcoholic, house wine, beer), roundtrip transfers (with recommended flights), and entrance to Peru’s "Pacaya Samiria" National Reserve. The vessel is frequently chartered by Globus-Avalon Waterways and other luxury river cruise operators offering Amazon River travel packages in South America. Avalon Waterways offers USA flights-inclusive packages with discounted airfare (international USA–Callao–USA and domestic Lima–Iquitos–Lima), plus complimentary airport transfers.

Decks and Cabins

RV Aria Amazon staterooms (16 in total) are spread across 2 of the vessel’s 3 decks. All suites feature an elegant design, maximizing space and natural light, with modern furnishings and five-star hotel-style amenities.

Each suite measures 23 m² / 250 ft² and accommodates triple occupancy via a convertible lounge sofa bed suitable for one child.

Eight Design Suites (on decks 1 and 2) are configurable as "family cabins". These four pairs of interconnecting cabins (combined size 46 m² / 500 ft²) are connected via sliding doors and accommodate up to six guests. Each two-room suite features a living/lounge area and a master bedroom, along with his-and-hers bathrooms.

Standard in-room amenities include custom-made king-size beds (2.1 x 2 m, convertible to two twin beds, 1.05 x 2 m), premium bedding (Peruvian cotton sheets and duvets), bedside tables with lamps, panoramic windows with double curtains, a slide-opening mirrored wardrobe with drawers and electronic safe, intercom phone, round coffee table, lounge sofabed, docking station (MP3/Cellphone), tea/coffee making facilities, professional hairdryer, en-suite bathroom with walk-in rain shower, single-sink vanity with lighted mirror, organic bath products, individually controlled air-conditioning, complimentary bottled water (replenished daily), and 24-hour room service (complimentary).

Aria Amazon Peru Cruise Itinerary

In addition to the Amazon, Aria Amazon cruises the Yarapa, Yanalipa, and Ucayali rivers.

Highlights of Aria Amazon's tour program by Avalon Waterways include:

• 11-DAY “INCA EMPIRE TO PERUVIAN AMAZON” from Lima, including roundtrip cruising from Iquitos.
• 8-day tour from Callao, including Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, and a 3-night Amazon cruise beginning on Day 7 in Peru’s Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. Daily professionally guided sightseeing tours by English-speaking naturalists are included.
• Excursion highlights: In Lima – San Francisco Monastery, Larco Herrera Museum, and a welcome dinner at Casa Garcia Alvarado. In Cusco – visits to Sacsayhuaman, Kenko, Awanakancha, and Pisac; dinner with a Paso Horse Show. Machu Picchu – tour of Ollantaytambo, glass-dome train ride to Aguas Calientes, sightseeing at Machu Picchu, return to Cusco with visits to Santo Domingo Monastery and the Cathedral. Amazon cruise begins with embarkation and welcome dinner aboard the Aria Amazon on Day 7.

Aria Amazon cruisetours include rainforest walks, skiff excursions for wildlife watching, and nocturnal river cruises. On Day 10, passengers visit a native Peruvian village and the Manatee Rescue Center, followed by a flight from Iquitos to Lima. Onboard experiences also feature performances by local entertainers and artisans.

In November 2016, Aqua Expeditions announced two female-only themed cruises for 2017, aboard the Aqua Mekong and Aria Amazon. Aria Amazon's cruise (March 20–24, 2017) featured a 4-day itinerary from Iquitos, Peru. This "women-only cruising" experience included extensive wildlife viewing, visits to local villages, piranha fishing, a tour of the Amazonian Manatee Rescue Center in Iquitos, onboard enrichment programs (guided presentations, cooking classes), culinary activities ashore (chef-led visits to local food markets), and a complimentary 60-minute spa massage.

Like her sisterships Aqua Mekong (2014) and Aqua Nera (2020), Aria Amazon's design, limited passenger capacity, onboard amenities, and all-inclusive packages categorize her as a luxury "houseboat." A similarly designed vessel is the Chobe River cruise ship Zambezi Queen (Botswana/South Africa).

These houseboats were built 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 included a traditional Buddhist blessing and virtual participation by Francesco Galli Zugaro. Transported on a heavy-lift vessel, Aria Amazon completed a 35-day repositioning voyage (10,630 mi / 17,100 km) from Vietnam (Saigon) to Brazil (Belem).

The following YouTube video shows a time-lapse of the Aqua Mekong's construction:

Starting in September 2020, RV Aria Amazon began operating Uniworld-chartered cruises on the Peruvian Amazon River—Uniworld's first deployment in the region—with three itineraries. The program launches with the 15-day "Peruvian Amazon and Machu Picchu Exploration" (including a 5-star hotel overnight in Lima, Peru), followed by 7 days of Amazon Rainforest cruising (featuring visits to Cusco and Machu Picchu), and concludes with the 11-day "Peruvian Rivers and Rainforest Discovery" (roundtrip from Iquitos), which includes exploration of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve and the Amazonian jungle in northeastern Peru. Bookings opened on December 16, 2019, with fares starting from USD 12,000 per person (based on double occupancy in a houseboat suite).

Note: You can browse CruiseMapper’s complete list of river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub, where all companies and their fleets are featured.