Report on Douro River cruise with AMA (9-8-'15)

Our second river cruise with AMA (Danube in '14) and we loved it! Since all cruising is done during the day (which we really liked), we enjoyed sitting on our balcony and watching the interesting scenery. We were in cabin 204 (port side of ship) and were amazed at the ample amount of storage space, although the room at first seemed small. Interestingly, you had to step up to go from the bedroom to the bathroom (which I finally got accustomed to by the end of the cruise). Toilet was in separate area, shower was good. This ship does not have mini-fridge in the room, which was a big negative, but they replenished water bottles daily (think they gave us at least 6 a day).

Ports are all small towns/villages, and there's not much to see/do in most. All tours require a bus ride, ranging from 15 min. to 1hr., 45 min. for a full-day tour to Salamanca. We enjoyed all the tours we went on, but skipped one (a dinner away from the ship and four of us stayed aboard and after dinner enjoyed a stroll through the port of Pinhao.

FYI, in choosing which side of the ship you want your cabin to be on, the ship docked on our side (port side of ship) 4 nights in a row and part of a fifth day (often up against a high wall). The good part was that when docked in Porto (2 nights), our side faced the river and the city of Porto across the Douro.

Loved the big windows in the dining room at river level. The food was excellent at every meal, the staff were fantastic, and the cruise manager (Marianna) was super. The three tour guides were part of the staff and traveled on the ship with us. We especially liked one tour guide, one was irritating, and one was okay (at least you get to choose which guide you want to be with for each trip).

To keep this from being too long, I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks for the report! Were there bicycles available on this cruise, and if there were bicycles, were there any opportunities to use them? We're looking at possible river cruises for 2017, and the availability of bicycles on AMA's other European itineraries is one of the things that appeals to us.

Can you tell me about the dinner entrée choices? Were there just 3 (chicken, beef, fish and some always-available stuff) or were there more choices than that?

Thanks for the review - good to hear your point of view.

Damaris, there were no bicycles available on this cruise.

DrivesLikeMario--3 entree choices sounds about right, but I honestly don't recall if that was the number. The primary entrees changed daily and all were excellent. And there were the usual standby choices if you wanted them. I'm a picky eater, and I was very happy with the food.

Damaris, there were no bicycles available on this cruise.

 

DrivesLikeMario--3 entree choices sounds about right, but I honestly don't recall if that was the number. The primary entrees changed daily and all were excellent. And there were the usual standby choices if you wanted them. I'm a picky eater, and I was very happy with the food.

Thanks, moatenote, I suspected that was the case, but appreciate you confirming.

Thanks for the feedback on this cruise. We were with friends last week who did AmaVida in May and loved it. But, based on her comments and the detail you posted, I think there is just too much relaxing/enjoying the scenery for us. We are active and like to keep busy and spend as much possible in port. This sounds like something we will wait to do until more relaxing is appealing.

Now, to figure out what to do instead....

Damaris, there were no bicycles available on this cruise.

 

DrivesLikeMario--3 entree choices sounds about right, but I honestly don't recall if that was the number. The primary entrees changed daily and all were excellent. And there were the usual standby choices if you wanted them. I'm a picky eater, and I was very happy with the food.

Thank you - I appreciate it! ;)

We did this trip in May with a neighbor group of 16 and loved it. We did the pre in Madrid and post in Lisbon. Our tour manager was also Marianna and we all had such a blast with her. We were on the go all the time and looked forward to getting some rest on the airplane going home. We did a lot of walking in Madrid, Porto and Lisbon. Keep in mind that the Douro River is relatively short, you really aren't spending a great deal of time "cruising"