Revisiting the Douro

I cruised the Douro almost 6 years ago (November 2012) and enjoyed it very much. I’m returning next week with friends who have not been on the Douro before and am certainly looking forward to my return.

Last time the ship was the Douro Spirit, chartered with crew by Uniworld from Douro Azul, as are most cruise ships on the Douro. (At the end of that season it went to Viking and Uniworld chartered the Queen Isabel which it still uses).

Emerald and its parent Scenic, on the other hand, own their own ships. We’ll be on the Emerald Radiance, launched last year, which seems similar to Emerald ships on other European rivers except smaller to fit the many locks on the Douro. When I booked last year the price was significantly lower than a similar Uniworld cruise. Emerald is almost all-inclusive with main exception being bar charges and a couple of optional excursions. I have been a great fan of Uniworld in the past (5 cruises) so I’ll be very interested to compare the two.

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I cruised the Douro almost 6 years ago (November 2012) and enjoyed it very much. I’m returning next week with friends who have not been on the Douro before and am certainly looking forward to my return.

 

Last time the ship was the Douro Spirit, chartered with crew by Uniworld from Douro Azul, as are most cruise ships on the Douro. (At the end of that season it went to Viking and Uniworld chartered the Queen Isabel which it still uses).

 

Emerald and its parent Scenic, on the other hand, own their own ships. We’ll be on the Emerald Radiance, launched last year, which seems similar to Emerald ships on other European rivers except smaller to fit the many locks on the Douro. When I booked last year the price was significantly lower than a similar Uniworld cruise. Emerald is almost all-inclusive with main exception being bar charges and a couple of optional excursions. I have been a great fan of Uniworld in the past (5 cruises) so I’ll be very interested to compare the two.

 

 

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We are doing something similar. Sailed with Uniworld 2 years ago and with Vantage in October this year, due to the fact that they have a Wine Harvesting focus at that time. We begin in Madrid and depart from Lisbon. Please come back and give a review as to your experience. We are looking forward (as are you) sharing this with friends who have not sailed the Douro.

Cole

Eager to hear your experience. We are looking at Douro for 2019 and liked Uniworld but are not big drinkers.

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I'm doing the Douro with Viking June 2nd. Looking forward to this itinerary.

We have just returned from our Douro cruise with Scenic. The food was fantastic, the food is always good on Scenic but this was exceptional. If you go aim for Maris Helena as your tour guide you can’t go far wrong she is superb. I had never been to Portugal before, what a beautiful country and friendly people. In all a most enjoyable cruise. CA

Uniworld had a good price this June for Douro. Looking forward to Portugal.

I cruised the Douro almost 6 years ago (November 2012) and enjoyed it very much. I’m returning next week with friends who have not been on the Douro before and am certainly looking forward to my return.

 

Last time the ship was the Douro Spirit, chartered with crew by Uniworld from Douro Azul, as are most cruise ships on the Douro. (At the end of that season it went to Viking and Uniworld chartered the Queen Isabel which it still uses).

 

Emerald and its parent Scenic, on the other hand, own their own ships. We’ll be on the Emerald Radiance, launched last year, which seems similar to Emerald ships on other European rivers except smaller to fit the many locks on the Douro. When I booked last year the price was significantly lower than a similar Uniworld cruise. Emerald is almost all-inclusive with main exception being bar charges and a couple of optional excursions. I have been a great fan of Uniworld in the past (5 cruises) so I’ll be very interested to compare the two.

 

 

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Let us know who this trip goes and post lots of pix. We have only done Uniworld and actually booked Emerald Portugal for next year.