We booked this cruise for 2021 and it was cancelled, so we rebooked for 2022. A couple of weeks before sailing I found a review on this site from a couple who sailed in July in the very same cabin we had reserved (8023). I must admit I was rather concerned when I read their litany of complaints:- Dirty, wear and tear, aged, A/C not good, shower not good etc. However the cabin was a total contrast to their review, light and airy, clean and pristine, good A/C (in the Amazon a necessity!), a wonderful butler who was always around and helpful.

All the crew were good, although understandably a few were relatively new and not as polished in their performance as in the pre-Covid days. This was my fifth Oceania cruise and I am afraid it will probably be my last - I am cancelling a future Oceania booking and will try Viking for my next cruise. The company really fell down in the planning and execution of shore excursions. There are two distinct seasons in the Amazon, dry and wet, low water levels and high water levels. With a difference of 40-50 feet in the water level between seasons it is obvious that a waterway that is navigable and worthwhile with high water levels is dry and impassable in the dry season.I suspect whoever wrote the tour descriptions took the best of both seasons and combined them into misleading and over-hyped prose. The company made no effort to understand the reason for their shortcomings, and no apparent effort to correct their mistakes. The on-board tour staff were unable to act without contacting head office, who simply ignored the problems and made little effort to address the very valid complaints of the passengers.

I believe that successful companies under-promise and over-deliver, and thereby build a happy and repeat clientele. Oceania seem to have taken the opposite approach with their tours, and consequently offset the pleasure of experiencing their ships and crew.