steverhodes Posted May 22, 2017 #1 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Sometimes the land part of a river cruise can be a major highlight and big pleasant surprise as Lisbon was for us last September on our Viking trip to Portugal. We also did the preextension in Lisbon as well. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted May 22, 2017 #2 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Great photos! Thanks! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobalink Posted May 22, 2017 #3 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Wow! Amazing photos. We're heading to Lisbon in July. Did you happen to write a review? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montelco Posted May 22, 2017 #4 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Great pictures. What did you think of Sintra? Was there much to do in the small town below the palaces? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverhodes Posted May 22, 2017 Author #5 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Great pictures. What did you think of Sintra? Was there much to do in the small town below the palaces? We stayed over for a couple of days in Lisbon after the trip. We hired a car and a driver for less than $300 and he took us where we wanted including Sintra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverhodes Posted May 22, 2017 Author #6 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Wow! Amazing photos. We're heading to Lisbon in July.Did you happen to write a review? I always write reviews. Here are all 6: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/user/?userid=1142190 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted May 22, 2017 #7 Share Posted May 22, 2017 I tried to book a Lisbon cruise for this year back in December. Booked solid every cruise line. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverhodes Posted May 22, 2017 Author #8 Share Posted May 22, 2017 I tried to book a Lisbon cruise for this year back in December. Booked solid every cruise line. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Viking River Cruise, the cruise line we used, has LOTS of available dates this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDC1 Posted May 22, 2017 #9 Share Posted May 22, 2017 We stayed over for a couple of days in Lisbon after the trip. We hired a car and a driver for less than $300 and he took us where we wanted including Sintra Was there a particular company you used? If not how did you make arrangements for the driver? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverhodes Posted May 22, 2017 Author #10 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Was there a particular company you used? If not how did you make arrangements for the driver? Asked hotel conscierge. He gave a range of options with different car types and times. We chose a sedan for 8 hours for 275 euros. We told driver we wanted to go to Pina Palace but asked him to suggest other places for afterwards. We rode in a new Mercedes. At the palace he parked right by the door and waited for us as long as we wanted. 3 hours later after touring and lunch we came back. If we had rented a car we could never have parked anywhere nearly as closely as he did since he knew people. It was a great day out. Here are a few pictures from it. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuiteTraveler Posted May 22, 2017 #11 Share Posted May 22, 2017 I see they have painted the outside of the Pena Palace since we were last there. I remember our tour guide on our first trip there apologizing because the paint was weathered and it didn't look like the photos online. I told her "No need to apologize. People in the US pay thousands of dollars to get the paint on their houses to look like that!" At any rate, the Pena Palace is beautiful freshly painted or weathered! It really doesn't matter, it's just a magical place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twototravel Posted May 23, 2017 #12 Share Posted May 23, 2017 I read your review. Sounds like your only down side (maybe) was the ship. We will be on the Hemming, so our experience will be different. Counting down until Nov! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beanpittsburgh Posted May 23, 2017 #13 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Question about Porto. We are taking our Viking cruise in October and I am just starting to do some planning for what we want to do in Porto and Lisbon on our own. I would like to know approximately where the Viking Ship docks in Porto. Is it within easy walking distance to cafes and things to do? We were not planning on any extra excursions while in Porto and thought we would just look around and experience the afternoons on our own. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molymoo Posted May 23, 2017 #14 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Question about Porto. We are taking our Viking cruise in October and I am just starting to do some planning for what we want to do in Porto and Lisbon on our own. I would like to know approximately where the Viking Ship docks in Porto. Is it within easy walking distance to cafes and things to do? We were not planning on any extra excursions while in Porto and thought we would just look around and experience the afternoons on our own. Thanks in advance We took the Durou cruise a few years ago and loved Porto ... we were docked on the opposite side of the river from them main part of town. It was a bit of a hike but it not unreasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2Otstr Posted May 23, 2017 #15 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Question about Porto. We are taking our Viking cruise in October and I am just starting to do some planning for what we want to do in Porto and Lisbon on our own. I would like to know approximately where the Viking Ship docks in Porto. Is it within easy walking distance to cafes and things to do? We were not planning on any extra excursions while in Porto and thought we would just look around and experience the afternoons on our own. Thanks in advance We took the HoHo bus and saw a lot. We took the whole loop to see what was there and then took it again, jumping on and off to see the different sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverhodes Posted May 23, 2017 Author #16 Share Posted May 23, 2017 I read your review. Sounds like your only down side (maybe) was the ship. We will be on the Hemming, so our experience will be different. Counting down until Nov! My reviews are never the everything was wonderful types. My favorite trips ever had many things that could have been better in my opinion. The best food we ever got on Viking was last year (2016) in Russia. They announced our chef would be working on a Viking ship in Portugal this year (2017). You may get lucky. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky333 Posted May 24, 2017 #17 Share Posted May 24, 2017 steverhodes - we really loved the Viking Douro cruise also, a few years ago. I enjoyed reading your review of your trip. Also read your other reviews and liked them as well. I appreciate hearing the good and not so good rather than a rave review. It's nice that you've had great fellow travelers on your river cruises and that's been a high point for you guys. I'm of the more introverted variety that likes the 2-top tables when available (as they were on the Douro) but it's true that being "forced" to be social at bigger tables has led us to make friends on river cruises vs. just doing our own thing and never really connecting with our shipmates. Totally agree that Lisbon is an awesome city and spending extra time there should be seriously considered by any doing a Douro cruise. Porto was great also but Lisbon was extra special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDC1 Posted May 24, 2017 #18 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Did Viking do any pre-cruise tour of Lisbon? If so do you know what sites they included in the tour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverhodes Posted May 24, 2017 Author #19 Share Posted May 24, 2017 They had a great 3 hour walking tour of Lisbon on the pre-extension. We liked the combo bus and brief walking tour on the regular part of the cruise but the pure walking tour on the pre-extension was by far our favorite. Here are some of the pictures I took on the walking tour in on the pre-extension. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky333 Posted May 25, 2017 #20 Share Posted May 25, 2017 RDC1 -- if you mean did they do a tour in Lisbon if you weren't on the extension, yes they did. It was probably a few hours in the morning and then we had the afternoon free. They took us in a bus to the Belem Tower, Monument to the Discoveries - stopped to walk closer (and take pictures of course) then the tour went inside the Monastery of Jeronimos and in our free time there we went to a nearby bakery, Pasteis de Belem, to try the declicous pastries that Lisbon (or Portugal?) is known for. They're delish. The bus took us to the Alfama neighborhood for a short guided walk. I'm sad to say I don't remember more since it was only 2 years ago but those are at least some of the things we did on the Viking tour of Lisbon (not part of the pre-extension). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDC1 Posted May 25, 2017 #21 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Thank you. We are arriving a few days early and trying to avoid duplicate visits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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