Douro River Cruise

[plimsol]

My DH and I, and friends, are contemplating an Uniworld Douro River (Portugal) cruise in May 2007. Would love to hear from anyone who has (have) cruised on this river. In past years, we have cruised from Rotterdam to Strasbourg, France, then rented a car to tour most of France. Also, we have cruised from Vienna to Amsterdam. Loved both itineraries.

[fluffyb]

My husband & I will be taking that cruise next week. Will let you know all about it when we return!

[kftw]

My husband & I will be taking that cruise next week. Will let you know all about it when we return!

 

I'd be interested in hearing about it when you return. We drove along the river in May. Beautiful scenery.

[plimsol]

My husband & I will be taking that cruise next week. Will let you know all about it when we return!

 

Most anxious to hear about your Douro Cruise. So that this site is not lost in the maze of all other river cruises, please e-mail us at dolcen@golden.net. (Grace & Don)

[jmlh]

We have booked the Uniworld Cruise on the Duoro in July 07. We are really looking forward to it. If anyone has any information or relevant tips on what we should do, we would appreciate the info.

[little britain]

My husband & I will be taking that cruise next week. Will let you know all about it when we return!

 

Hi - can you please let us know if the day trips are 'mandatory' or can you just stay on the ship and relax?!?! The itinerary looks a bit tour intensive...and is it true about the $15 corkage charge?!

[little britain]

My husband & I will be taking that cruise next week. Will let you know all about it when we return!

 

Are you back yet so you can answer our questions?!?!?

[fluffyb]

Hi all ~ we have returned from our cruise aboard the Duoro Queen. It was wonderful! Here are a few observations:

 

Cabin: We have only cruised ocean liners previous to this, so the cabin was fairly compact, but comfortable. We were in cat. 1, cabin 326. It was ideal for getting on & off the ship. It also had a small balcony, a must for me! Very relaxing afternoons reading and watching the vineyards go by. The scenery was amazing. The bathrooms were small with just a tube style hair dryer. I wore my hair up most days, so this didn't make for a problem.

 

Food: Breakfast & lunch were very good. But they were buffets and standing in line got a bit tedious at lunch. Though you could go later, often times there were not new places set as people left, and when they ran out of some things, they were not replaced. Dinners were so-so. But as long as they had wine & cheese, I was happy!

 

Service: Incredible. All of the staff went out of their way to make sure we were having a wonderful time. From the time we first walked aboard to making sure our cab was there when we left, they were exceptional. On our last day, we felt the most relaxed we ever have in disembarking a ship. A couple of staff members even stood with us until we were in the cab and sent us off with a wave.

 

Tours: The tours were optional. My husband and a few others stayed on board for some of them. You definitely get up and go early most days, and some of the bus rides are long. But that is the only way to see the valley. They take you from the river up through little tiny winding streets to get to the towns and villages. Once in a town, we often left the guided tour to explore on our own. The motorcoaches were extremely comfortable. They followed the ship on land and were waiting when we docked. The drivers were just amazing. Salamanca, Spain was a highlight for us. The energy of this ancient university town is amazing.

 

Wine: My favorite part! Wonderful wines all along the way. On board the ship, the corkage was just $6 in the dining room. You can bring a bottle and have them chill it for you ahead of time. But, their house wine, which was very good, was only 10.50 euro for white and 12.50 for the red. Our entire tab for the cruise was just 210 euro, and we bought drinks in the lounge and had wine at just about every meal. That is a record for us. Wine is also included on all of the excursions where there is a meal. We also bought wine along the way to have in the room. My husband had bought a bottle of Bourbon & one of vodka, but we barely touched those. No ice buckets in your room, but when we asked the bartender, he happily provided a small bucket filled with ice. Sandeman was another highlight, we bought a few bottles to bring home. Although over our allotment, we were never checked.

 

All in all, it was an unforgettable trip! My husband is 60 and I'm 45 and we fit in comfortably. The passengers, some of which we call friends now, were all ages and backgrounds. And all were very well traveled. We went the last week of Sept. and the weather was very comfortable and the harvest was going on.

 

Feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer. Sorry this is so long!

[3beauvid]

Hi all ~ we have returned from our cruise aboard the Duoro Queen. It was wonderful! Here are a few observations:

 

Cabin: We have only cruised ocean liners previous to this, so the cabin was fairly compact, but comfortable. We were in cat. 1, cabin 326. It was ideal for getting on & off the ship. It also had a small balcony, a must for me! Very relaxing afternoons reading and watching the vineyards go by. The scenery was amazing. The bathrooms were small with just a tube style hair dryer. I wore my hair up most days, so this didn't make for a problem.

 

Food: Breakfast & lunch were very good. But they were buffets and standing in line got a bit tedious at lunch. Though you could go later, often times there were not new places set as people left, and when they ran out of some things, they were not replaced. Dinners were so-so. But as long as they had wine & cheese, I was happy!

 

Service: Incredible. All of the staff went out of their way to make sure we were having a wonderful time. From the time we first walked aboard to making sure our cab was there when we left, they were exceptional. On our last day, we felt the most relaxed we ever have in disembarking a ship. A couple of staff members even stood with us until we were in the cab and sent us off with a wave.

 

Tours: The tours were optional. My husband and a few others stayed on board for some of them. You definitely get up and go early most days, and some of the bus rides are long. But that is the only way to see the valley. They take you from the river up through little tiny winding streets to get to the towns and villages. Once in a town, we often left the guided tour to explore on our own. The motorcoaches were extremely comfortable. They followed the ship on land and were waiting when we docked. The drivers were just amazing. Salamanca, Spain was a highlight for us. The energy of this ancient university town is amazing.

 

Wine: My favorite part! Wonderful wines all along the way. On board the ship, the corkage was just $6 in the dining room. You can bring a bottle and have them chill it for you ahead of time. But, their house wine, which was very good, was only 10.50 euro for white and 12.50 for the red. Our entire tab for the cruise was just 210 euro, and we bought drinks in the lounge and had wine at just about every meal. That is a record for us. Wine is also included on all of the excursions where there is a meal. We also bought wine along the way to have in the room. My husband had bought a bottle of Bourbon & one of vodka, but we barely touched those. No ice buckets in your room, but when we asked the bartender, he happily provided a small bucket filled with ice. Sandeman was another highlight, we bought a few bottles to bring home. Although over our allotment, we were never checked.

 

All in all, it was an unforgettable trip! My husband is 60 and I'm 45 and we fit in comfortably. The passengers, some of which we call friends now, were all ages and backgrounds. And all were very well traveled. We went the last week of Sept. and the weather was very comfortable and the harvest was going on.

 

Feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer. Sorry this is so long!

Did you have to make air reservations back to the US a day after the cruise ended?

Where did you stay?

How long did the bus ride take to return to LIsbon?

 

Lynn

[captgeo]

We're booked on the Douro Queen this coming October. After reading fluffyb's great review, we're REALLY looking forward to it. We fly back to the US on TAP (not the best, we're told) to Newark from Porto. We previously did Uniworld from Amsterdam to Vienna on the River Duchess (loved it); we know the cabins are small but workable -- only in the cabin to sleep anyway.

We plan to take the Uniworld pre-cruise tour through Spain. They need a minimum of 20 persons for the tour; so far they have 13, so we're a bit nervous. Our TA says she may be able to come up with an alternative "plan B." Any suggestions for touring Spain for a week if the Uniworld tour fizzles? We fly to Madrid on US Air. Their (and the TAP return) business class is by far the cheapest of any. We just can't do stuffed in the back of a plane anymore at our age (early 70's).

fluffyb -- what is the weather (temperatures) in October?

Best wishes,

captgeo

[WIT]

We too loved Salamanca when we toured Spain. Portugal, & Morocco last Spring. The huge Plaza Major with neat shops in every direction, stork nests, great food and of course, the university. Did you find the 'rana' (frog) on that huge wall? We are hoping to do this cruise in the future.

WIT

[3beauvid]

Hello Everyone: My DH and I are on the August 31st tour.

I have an itinerary by European River Vacations(Vacations to Go).

They mention that on day 5-Regua that we will fly high overhead in a helicopter. My DH says that is impossible with 130 people.

What have you heard?

[laughoutloud]

Hello Everyone: My DH and I are on the August 31st tour.

I have an itinerary by European River Vacations(Vacations to Go).

They mention that on day 5-Regua that we will fly high overhead in a helicopter. My DH says that is impossible with 130 people.

What have you heard?

 

Well, it's an optional (and possibly expensive) tour, so probably many folks won't be joining you, especially those afraid of heights.;)

[captgeo]

Anyone back yet this year (2007) from the Douro River with advice, tips, suggestions etc.?

We're not scheduled for this trip until October, but do lots of advance planning. Also, anyone do the pre-cruise tour through Spain?

Best wishes...

captgeo