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Best time of year for a Duoro cruise?

bubbulz

By bubbulz,
in River Cruising

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bubbulz

bubbulz

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We already have international travel plans for the remainder of this year through next May, so we'd be looking at late 2020 or sometime in 2021. Since we normally try to avoid traveling during the US hurricane season because we are in south FL, that would mean we'd likely be focusing on a trip for next fall or in the spring or fall of 2021. I'd appreciate any feedback on pros and cons.

 

Also, we're probably looking at sticking with Uniworld since we prefer all-inclusive (or nearly so) and we would be likely booking a suite. That said, we're open to booking with another line if there is an overriding reason to do so (primarily in terms of quality).

 

Thanks!

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LeRenardrouge

LeRenardrouge

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We did Viking’s River of Gold cruise the last week of May into first week of June 2018.  The weather was perfect in low to mid 70s and sunny every day.  We began with arrival day in Lisbon early in the morning and had two nights in a hotel.  Then drive to Porto where we boarded the ship. 

 

We booked a AA Suite (stateroom 312) which was very comfortable.  

 

All sailing is during the day.  We found this itinerary to be very relaxed and of our eight river cruises with Viking, it is among our favorites.

 

Another excellent time to do this cruise is during the last two weeks of September which is when grape harvesting season usually occurs.  The exact time will vary depending on how the weather has been.  

 

We do know couples who have sailed with Uniworld on their cruise on the Douro and had very favorable reviews.  I just find the decor on Uniworld a bit over-the-top.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by LeRenardrouge
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Got2Cruise "Live from...." Rare

Got2Cruise

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Uniworld is launching their brand new ship on the Duoro 2020 the photos are beautiful. There will be several suites on this ship. We went in early July and the vineyards were beautiful, the area near Spain was hot. But if you’re from Florida maybe heat doesn’t bother you. The warm days enabled many to enjoy the pool area. 

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Paulchili

Paulchili

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4 hours ago, LeRenardrouge said:

I just find the decor on Uniworld a bit over-the-top.  

That is an understatement 😀

We will be cruising on the Douro on the Viking later this month into early Oct. and will be happy to report our experience.

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beanpittsburgh

beanpittsburgh

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We did our Douro cruise with Viking in mid October of 2017.  The weather was good with only 1 day in Porto with rain and temps in the 60's.  We were able to wear summer clothes the rest of the week.  Remember, summer can get extremely hot (over 100) in this part of the world.  We were actually encouraged by a Portuguese gal who worked on our Viking cruise in Bordeaux to go in the fall.  She said the weather, fall foliage, and harvest season  would all be great reasons to go then.

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bubbulz

bubbulz

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12 hours ago, LeRenardrouge said:

We do know couples who have sailed with Uniworld on their cruise on the Douro and had very favorable reviews.  I just find the decor on Uniworld a bit over-the-top.  

 

Although the decor of the Uniworld ships doesn't fit how I would decorate my home, I love it for cruising. Oh, and their beds are to die for!! Would not trade them for anything. I've toured many other ships on our previous cruises and really didn't find anything else I preferred over Uniworld. That said, I've not been on Tauck or Crystal ships so they could be an option. 

 

11 hours ago, Got2Cruise said:

Uniworld is launching their brand new ship on the Duoro 2020 the photos are beautiful. There will be several suites on this ship. We went in early July and the vineyards were beautiful, the area near Spain was hot. But if you’re from Florida maybe heat doesn’t bother you. The warm days enabled many to enjoy the pool area. 

 

Yes, the new boat looks like it's going to be terrific. We're not really looking for a summertime cruise, so it would probably be October or November. (November is actually more likely as we will be closer to the end of hurricane season for us.)

 

21 minutes ago, beanpittsburgh said:

We did our Douro cruise with Viking in mid October of 2017.  The weather was good with only 1 day in Porto with rain and temps in the 60's.  We were able to wear summer clothes the rest of the week.  Remember, summer can get extremely hot (over 100) in this part of the world.  We were actually encouraged by a Portuguese gal who worked on our Viking cruise in Bordeaux to go in the fall.  She said the weather, fall foliage, and harvest season  would all be great reasons to go then.

 

Thanks! Yes, fall is sounding best for us.

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bubbulz

bubbulz

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16 minutes ago, SCHappilyRetired said:

We took AMA in the beginning of October 2019 and the weather was perfect! I think 1 rainy day.  AMA has a new ship sailing this year on the Duoro along with AMAVida which we took.  All our other river cruises were taken in September/October with beautiful weather.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

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bubbulz

bubbulz

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Update: Just booked on Uniworld's new Super Ship for November 2020. We're anxiously awaiting pictures of the new ship. It was booking up fast and got a great deal with some nice discounts so we went ahead and locked it in.

 

Thanks again for the feedback regarding the seasons. I think by November we'll be looking forward to a true taste of autumn, and it looks like the temperatures stay pretty moderate in Portugal in general.

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bubbulz

bubbulz

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7 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

I hope you’re doing the pre cruise in Lisbon too! Uniworld has a great program. 

 

We read up on it a lot, and we're very independent travelers so we're planning to do Lisbon on our own. We also may extend the trip to the Algarve since that has been on our short list for a number of years.

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Got2Cruise "Live from...." Rare

Got2Cruise

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1 hour ago, bubbulz said:

 

We read up on it a lot, and we're very independent travelers so we're planning to do Lisbon on our own. We also may extend the trip to the Algarve since that has been on our short list for a number of years.

I heard amazing things about the Agarve, enjoy

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philw1776

philw1776

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Uniworld has a great Douro cruise.  My favorite excursion was to the Côa Valley Archaeological Park  with its cliff carvings. Nice, new museum on site.  Portugal is a wonderful country and the river is gorgeous.  We went 2nd week of June.  Warm.


 

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bubbulz

bubbulz

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2 hours ago, philw1776 said:

Uniworld has a great Douro cruise.  My favorite excursion was to the Côa Valley Archaeological Park  with its cliff carvings. Nice, new museum on site.  Portugal is a wonderful country and the river is gorgeous.  We went 2nd week of June.  Warm.

 

 

Sounds terrific! Thank so much for the lovely pics as well!

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Senga

Senga

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We just completed Scenic Opal Budapest to Amsterdam and loved the experience except for the anxiety of water levels turning it into a glorified bus tour.  Thankfully we made it without incident but ships after us had issues.  Thinking of Siene or Douro next but will have to do research.  We love Portugal and suggest anyone staying extra days check out Sintra.

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