I flew from Houston to Porto Portugal on AirFrance to traverse the Duoro River on the AMA Vida. This is a medium size river boat built especially for the Duoro. It is shorter than many of the boats on the European Rivers in order to fit through the locks on the river. There were 5 locks that we engaged on our 7 day cruise. The tallest being 130 feet. It takes about 20 min to enter, adjust the water level and then depart the other side. As we go inland toward the Spanish border we are climbing each level.
Speaking of the 7 days, we sailed for 3 days usually in the morning as there is no cruising at night on the Douro. So the mornings were relaxing with lots of food and coffee and using the free internet which was spotty at best. When it worked I could upload photos. And logon to my trading platform
Meals were served in the dining room on the mid level with tables ranging from 2- 8. The wait staff was quite good and the food quality was the best I have experienced on a cruise. Now I'm not going to pretend that I enjoyed all the Portuguese cuisine but there were usually alternatives available. Several dinners were part of the off ship excursions and they were private dinners at wineries or in the case of the day trip to Salmanac, at a 4 star hotel with Flamingo Dancers.
Speaking of wine, there was plenty of white and red at each meal with a different Portuguese vintage at each meal. Then there were the wineries, so I probably sampled a dozen different vintages on my trip. Each evening for an hour before dinner, the cocktail hour was complimentary.
There was an upper deck with plenty of lounges and a decent size pool. But we never used it because of the weather. I would probably be really nice in the summer. The capacity of this ship was right at 100 guests but we only had 80. They were all english speaking as our Cruise Director was from the UK. Slightly more than half were from the US traveling in pairs or foursomes. I found two couples from Texas and we hung out the entire trip. Many retirees and not that old.
Day 2 of the trip found us traveling to the Mateus Palace and grounds. This is a 16th century structure that is half museum and half a private residence of the descendents of the family. Also a working vineyard with production of the first wines I bought in college. We had dinner at another winery on the way back to the ship.This was the region where Muscotel grapes are grown. These grapes, if from a certain area, are used in the production of Port.
Day 3 We drove about an hour and half up the top of the hills to a historic village of Castelo Rodrigo. Famous but pretty deserted, now just open for tourists. Interesting structures. This area is home to almonds and olive groves. We had plenty of tasing in the village and then back to the ship.
So each day the same three buses were waiting for us at our port. Having been divided on the first evening, we had the same bus and group each day. They put all the Texans together with the New Yorkers. That was like oil and water. Anyway we had a lovely young Portuguese gall who our specific guide and we used theses radio boxes with different channels so we were kept separate from the other 2 groups It was very organized and efficient
On the fourth day , we took a 2 hour each way bus ride across the Spanish border to the major city of Salamanca. Claim to fame here is the historic university, one of the largest in Spain.
A one hour walking tour through the old city and fabulous lunch of Paella and Flamenco Dancers in a lovely hotel.
I returned the ship after that long and cold day, had a steak and went to bed
The next morning was the longest segment of cruising and fortunately the sun shone through for the first time and it was a pretty cruise. That afternoon we bussed to the Pacheca estates where the owner who met us had just returned from receiving the Presidents award for the best Port for 2024. We sampled it and it was fantastic.
The following morning it was off to the beautiful village of Lamego and the infamous 686 steps from the city center to the opening of the Cathedral. I did the steps; of course in 17 minutes…,
Lamego is the mountain village that is the most popular for international retirees.
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And finally the last full day of our cruise was at our departure port of Gaia. This area is directly across the Douro River from Porto and its claim to fame is the storage and aging area for the port wines that are produced and shipped from the Douro Valley. We were bused to the city center of Porto and a walking tour of the market and the train station. The train station is adorned with multiple ceramics which depict the ancient story of Porto.
After lunch on the ship, a few of us ventured across the street for another port wine tasting.
I can honestly say that this AMA WATERWAYS CREW of 25 really took care of the 80 of us. I have been on many cruises but the personal attention that we all received from this crew was really special. This won’t be my last AMA river cruise.
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