AMA Douro - part 2

Day 3: Bus trip from 9 to 5

Today we took 3 coaches to Sintra and Cascais.

We had to have 3 smaller coaches because the streets are narrow and the larger coaches cannot get up the windy, narrow streets.

In Sintra we visited the Pena Palace. We had plenty of time here to enjoy the palace.

Then we were bused along the coast to Cascais. We were on our own for lunch here, then we had a couple of hours to walk around and shop. This is a very delightful town. On the trip back we drove through Estoril, past the Casino, and then back to Lisbon. Again, the rest of the evening was on your own.

Day 4: Saturday, September 6th

This is the day that we headed for the boat. We had to have our luggage outside our room by 7 am and then we went to breakfast. The coaches left at 9:00 am for the several hour long trip to Porto.

We stopped for several hours in the town of Coimbra. We had lunch there and some free time to shop. Then the bus took us up to the University. We had about 35 to 40 minutes to walk around there.

Then back on the bus for the rest of the trip to Porto. Our boat was not docked in the normal docking area in Porto because the Red Bull Air races were taking place. It was a real mess with all the people and the parked cars. We finally got on our boat, got assigned our rooms about 30 minutes later and then we were able to move to our normal docking area which is in Vila Nova de Gaia.

At 6:30 we had a safety briefing, followed by a Welcome Cocktail. 7:00 pm was dinner.

The Boat

There are 3 levels on this boat, and we were in the middle. The top level had very small balconies, the middle level had picture windows, and I don’t know any details about the lower level. The boat was not full, so several people from the lower level were offered rooms on the 2nd level at no extra cost.

The beds were twin size. There was a top sheet and a bedspread on each bed. The blanket was in the closet; no duvets. The bathroom was small, but adequate. The shower head was great, very strong pressure and VERY HOT water. My only complaint was with the hair dryer. It was one of those pull-the-hose type to get it blowing air and never got real hot. No head, just a tube that came to a point. It hung on the wall over the toilet in the bathroom. This is my 4th river cruise and this is the first time I have encountered this type of hair dryer.

The shampoo was the same as the body wash. There was also NO way to dry wet clothes if one wanted to hang anything wet to dry.

The dining room was very nice. Seating was mostly tables of 8 with a few round tables for 4; no tables for 2. We sat at the same table every night because we had a waiter that was great (Pedro). There were no female servers. The dining area was very well laid out, a very large area for the buffet foods, one area for breads and one area for juices in the morning and deserts at lunch.

The food was so so. I don’t eat seafood, and there was plenty of that offered. The meat that was served was dry. Everyone kept salting their food complaining that it had no taste. The omelet lady made one of the best omelets I have ever eaten. She was the pasta lady at lunch. The breads were excellent; all very tasty and very fresh. I did not gain any weight, but my husband lost 3 pounds; he didn’t care for the food at all.

The wine that was served with dinner was excellent. We had to put our hands over our glasses to keep Pedro from filling our glasses. Each evening’s dinner was topped off with a glass of Port.

The lounge had a small bar and like all other cruises, there was a man playing soft music on the keyboard. The entertainment was almost nonexistent. What was offered was not very good. Very few people went to the lounge after dinner. Cocktails were from about 6 to 8 dollars. Beer was 3 Euros.

More to follow.

Can't wait to read about the rest of this trip. We're doing this itinerary with Uniworld next May and are really looking forward to it.

Hi Betty Lu. I stopped writing because there were no responses and I didn't want to bore anyone. If there are any specific questions you would like for me to answer, please send the questions to my email address

h2otstr@aol.com. If you would like to view my pictures I will also forward them to you.

Sharon

Hi Betty Lu. I stopped writing becaue there were no responses to my post and I didn't want to bore everyone. If there are specific questions you would to have answers to please send them to my email address h2otstr@aol.com.

Please don't stop writing. My wife and I are interested in this type of tour next year. Thanks

Yes, please continue. We went last year & it's still exciting to hear about everyone else's experiences...:)

Ditto. Please continue writing.

K

Same here--want to hear more!!

I guess you can see that there are many of us interested. Please give us more.

AMA Douro – Part 3

Some facts about the boat and the tour in general.

Breakfast – The coffee machine was almost always on – not quite 24/7.

Coffee & Pastries were by the coffee machine every morning at 6:30 am. Usually there was some kind of leftover donuts or Danish cookies by the coffee/tea area. Breakfast was from 7:30 to 9:30 every morning except for one morning when we had to be on the buses at 8:15 and breakfast was then served from 6:30 to 8:30. Breakfast was offered on the last day of the trip, in a limited seating area. The staff was busy preparing the boat for the new trip that afternoon.

Most of the cities on this tour are VEY small in population. For most tours we were bused to get to the cities for the tours. The bus trips took from 45 minutes to two hours (getting to Salamanca, Spain.). Most of the cities on the tour, and the sites that we visited, were new and unknown to me. There was very limited opportunity to go back to the towns after dinner, and, there was nothing there anyhow (lol). We were NEVER rushed to get out of the dining room after dinner, so most dinners took at least 2 to 2.5 hours. Dinner was served between 7 and 7:30 each evening.

We had three meals, paid for by AMA, off the boat. Two were dinners and one was lunch. The first dinner off the boat was at the Vintage House Hotel in Pinhao. We walked over the pedestrian bridge to the very old, beautiful hotel and had a very nice dinner. For those that were unable to walk that far, the hotel sent a mini bus to drive those diners. The second dinner was at the Alpendurada Monastery. We were bussed (about 20 minutes) to this restaurant. The third meal was lunch at the Monterrey Hotel in Salamanca.

There were NO optional tours on this cruise. EVERYTHING was included. If one didn’t want to take the longer excursions, or any of the day trips, they could stay on the boat.

Times that we cruised and associated locks:

Day 1. Cruised from 7 am until 1:30 pm 3 Locks

Day 2 Cruised from 12:30 pm until 6:30 pm 2 locks - Lots of time to enjoy the sundeck

Day 3 Bus trip to Salamanca from 8:15 am until 6:30 pm.

Day 4 Cruised from 12:30 pm until 5:30 pm 2 Locks – Bar-b-que on the sundeck for

lunch 2 Locks

Day 5 Cruised 7:15 am until 9:30 and then again 1:15 pm until 5:45 pm 2 Locks

Day 6 Cruised from 6:45 am until 9:45 am 1 Lock - Arrived back in Porto.

We were able to stay on the sundeck unless we were going under very low bridges. There were plenty of chairs and lounges. The shaded area was very limited. It was very relaxing to sit in the sun, drink a cup of coffee (or liquid beveridge of choice), and watch the breathtaking scenery.

There was also a small pool and 2 hot tubs on the sundeck. This was the first time I have seen this.

On the last day of the cruise the boat was docked in Porto. We had a tour of the Ferreira Wine Cellars here and then we had a coach tour of Porto's city center. Several people wanted to shop in Porto, so Pili made arrangements for the bus to take them to the shopping area and then came back later to pick them up.

This was a nice trip, but very different than the other three river boat cruises we took. I definately would recommend it.

If anyone has any specific questions I will try to answer them.

I guess the option is the fly to the "states" from Porto or return to the Lisbon airport? How did most people handle their air arrangements?

Do you have a recommendation?

CincyAl, I made my own air arrangements; routes were a little better.

There were a couple of people who left Porto on Friday after lunch, took the train to Lisbon, and flew from there. Not sure what the difference in price would have been if we had gone back to Lisbon in lieu of flying out of Porto.

There were a bunch of people who must have taken AMA air beause they all left via AMA transport at 4 am.

There were 2 couples that rented a car and headed to Algarve. One couple went back to Lisbon for an extended stay.

No problem going out of Porto. It was 25 Euros (with tip) from our hotel to the airport. I asked the hotel personnel to have a taxi ready for us at 4:30 am and the taxi was very promt. It took about 20 to 25 minutes to get there and about 20-30 minutes to check in.

Thank you for the report. We fly in and out of Newark, and TAP has non-stop flights both to Lisbon and return from Porto. Our TA is checking prices for us as we plan to stay in Porto two extra days and arrive in Lisbon a day early. We're also looking into a hotel for our stay in Porto - any recommendations? Also, were you on the Douro Queen? I really appreciate the information, thanks, Betty

Betty, no we were not on the Douro Queen (I think that is Uniworld's boat ???) we were supposed to be on the Amadouro, but I never did see that name anywhere on the boat. Someone on our trip said we were not on the boat that we were supposed to be on. All the other boats that we were on had their names on the side, but this one didn't.

The Pestana Hotel is right on the Douro River, a flat area. Great location for people watching and waterfront restaurants/cafes. It is one block from the HoHo bus stop. We stayed at the Hotel da Bolsa, and it was up a steep hill. If you like to shop you may want to stay near City Center. The Hotel Mercure looked like a good location.

Hi Sharon: Thanks for the reply. I have seen the Pestano Hotel mentioned in a travel book I have and it does look like it's a good location. We still have some time, but I like doing all the research before hand. And, yes, the Douro Queen is with Uniworld and it's a Uniworld trip we're taking. It is the first time with them and really only our second river boat trip - we did Holland and Belgium this past May with Tauck and we did enjoy that. Thanks again, Betty

Betty, check Trip Advisor for reviews of the hotels. They also have pictures. The Uniworld boat was one day behind us. We left on a Saturday and they left on a Sunday.

"Hi Betty Lu. I stopped writing because there were no responses and I didn't want to bore anyone. "

Hi H20tstr. I too intended to post a reply saying to please keep writing - but I see many others have done it before me! Once you have posted a review then it is out there for anyone to use as a planniing resource, even a year or more later. I have been very grateful for reviews that had been posted quite a while before the trips I've taken. I was a "lurker" here and also on Trip Advisor for a couple of years before posting any comments. There are quite a few of us. So many thanks for your interesting review. :)

Pat, Here is part 2 & 3

H2Otstr,

Thanks so much for reprinting your reviews. Sometimes I get very frustrated with the search engine or should I say lack of same. We are thinking of spending an extra day on Oporto--hope to use FFmiles in to and out of Lisbon. We are on the 2 level of rooms--decided a sliding glass door was not worth an extra $1000 for the two of us. Would rather be up on the sun deck and be able to see both sides of the river. Again, many thanks. Pat

Pat, have you booked? When are you going? If you send your email address to me I will forward my pictures to you. Porto is definately worth an extra day.

Sharon

I will send you our e-mail address--would love to see your pics. We are booked on the 29Sept. cruise. We chose AMA over Uniworld this time because if the time in Lisbon and the surrounding area. Both river portions sound the same, the boats look like clones. Time to try something different. Pat

I will send you our e-mail address--would love to see your pics. We are booked on the 29Sept. cruise. We chose AMA over Uniworld this time because if the time in Lisbon and the surrounding area. Both river portions sound the same, the boats look like clones. Time to try something different. Pat

PacMom.. If this is the cruise you are on, so are we.. You are the first post I've seen for this cruisetour.. Have you found any others?

Goinjo

Goinjo,

Haven't started a roll call yet. Will do so or you can do it. We arrive a day early because of flights. Looking forward to meeting you. Pat