On the Douro now with Tauck Andorinha

[Gourmet Gal]

Cruising with my husband and I may post a review later but a few observations:

 

Service is generally great.  The crew is so friendly and the cruise director and tour directors are great and are working hard to create a fun atmosphere.  The food is a little underwhelming but everything is well-prepared.  The wines are mostly good and it’s very interesting to drink Portuguese wines, especially the whites.  We’re not port fans so cannot comment.

 

The excursions are very short and not that interesting and so far we’ve been cruising the river more than touring.  So this cruise is very low-energy and relaxing.  The jury is still out on whether I would recommend this cruise or just exploring the area by land.

 

My big concern is the non-existence of any mask requirement.  There are already sick people onboard - in fact some had very congested sounding coughs and sniffles from day one, so they arrived sick.  In the first day’s welcome briefing there was only a quick reminder that it is possible some venues may require masks so just be sure to carry one with you and otherwise masking is voluntary.  Covid is on the rise in Europe but no one seems to care.  Almost no one is masking on the bus.  Today is a full day cruise day and the daily program actually says, quote: “no masks needed today, yeah”.  Yet it is very hard to maintain social distancing on the ship especially in the Panorama lounge where most of the activities are taking place today.  Disappointing.

[jpalbny]

Glad to see you posting about this region. We looked at a Douro cruise a few years ago but decided to visit the area by land instead, as there were too many great sites that we wanted to visit, but were not included on the river cruise. Plus we can't sit still long enough to enjoy a full week of scenic cruising down the river. Your post reinforces what we thought. The land trip turned out being one of the best we've done.

 

Agree about the Portuguese wines. They are an incredible value considering what you get. On the first day of our trip we sat down in a wine bar for a late lunch and I looked at their list, thinking that the prices were a little bit expensive for a glass of wine, but hey we're on vacation... Then I realized that the price was by the bottle!

 

Are they serving only Douro wines or are the wines from all regions of Portugal? I only remember one wine that we weren't crazy about, which wasn't surprising because it only cost E2.99 for the bottle... The only reason we bought it was because the winery was named "JP" and we couldn't resist.

 

We had some fantastic meals on our trip so if the food on the ship isn't representative of that, it's a shame, because there is great food to be had in Portugal. Have you tried one of their cod dishes yet? If so, do as the locals do; they pair it with a light red. Seems counterintuitive but it works.

 

I think that in general, most of the world has had it with masking. We have to wear them at work but in public, that genie is out of the bottle and I just don't see it coming back. Hope you don't get covid, but if you do, I hope it's mild. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

PS for some reason there are two threads with this same post by you. You might ask the host to combine them into one thread.

Edited October 10, 2022 by jpalbny

[Gourmet Gal]

Thanks.  I noticed something happened when I edited and somehow double posted but one post is unedited.

 

So far the ship seems to be serving only Portuguese wines and we’re finding them very interesting, especially the whites.  They are definitely serving some local cuisine.  I love bacalhao and have been eating it since landing in Lisbon last week.  I like to cook with salt cod at home so it’s nice to see it on menus here.  We had a dinner at a local Quinta last night that was all local cuisine and quite good.

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Forgot to mention what a gorgeous ship the Andorinha is.  Because of all the daytime cruising and stunning views the windows in the public spaces are floor to ceiling including the main dining room.  There is also a two-story atrium with large skylight in the center than spans the Panorama lounge and Compass Rose restaurant so there is a wonderful open-air spacious feeling.  The secondary dining venue, Arthur’s is two level and includes a great outdoor eating space and outdoor grill area on the sun deck.  It really is well-designed and the most beautiful river cruise ship I’ve seen.

 

Hoping the cruise doesn’t continue to feel so sleepy.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Threads merged.

[Gourmet Gal]

Just disembarked and have to say the service onboard was so excellent from the crew which by law is mostly Portuguese.  Just about everyone was so cheerful, friendly, efficient and professional.  Our favorite waiters were Sergio and Francisco and the hotel manager Walter was outstanding.  Food ended up being good to very good and everything was well prepared with lots of local cuisine on the menu.  Wines were mostly good with just a few times when we asked for something else.

 

Just a warning regarding WiFi, it was extremely spotty in the deep Douro valley and almost non-existent towards the end of the cruise.  If you need to be in touch with business or family at home this cruise could be difficult.  

 

The Douro river is absolutely stunning.  The natural terrain is is really beautiful and the terraced vineyards are a marvel.  We took this cruise because we were looking for another river similar to the Moselle which we had really enjoyed.  The Douro is even more gorgeous and much longer but it just doesn’t have many riverside towns of much interest.

 

In the final analysis we felt that Tauck was sort of scraping the barrel to find interesting stops along the Douro.  There really aren’t any interesting towns along the river with most wineries and medieval towns being bus rides away.  Many fellow cruisers complained of excessive cruising time which was unavoidable because ships can only sail during the day.  It was a very sleepy, relaxing cruise and we felt there was just too much down time to justify a full week to see a handful of worthy sites despite Tauck’s efforts to make it fun.  There’s plenty to do in the major cities of Porto and Lisbon, Portugal is a beautiful country and the people are so welcoming and warm.  The food culture is great and there are lovely wines to enjoy.  But now that we’ve sailed this river despite being with such a nice cruise line we now think all this is better experienced on a land based trip.

[need2travel1]

Thank you for your review.  We were starting to research a Douro cruise for next summer-either Tauck or AMA but I think we will skip it & find a new vacation destination.  It seems like while it's a relaxing trip it's just a little too relaxing.

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, need2travel1 said:

Thank you for your review.  We were starting to research a Douro cruise for next summer-either Tauck or AMA but I think we will skip it & find a new vacation destination.  It seems like while it's a relaxing trip it's just a little too relaxing.

Take a look at Scenic's Douro itineraries – especially the 10-night one.  Their shore excursion options struck me as much more interesting and varied than the other cruise lines I researched.

[Canal archive]

Jazz your right and need2travel1 the Douro was our eighth river cruise with Scenic absolutely  no boredom loads to see & do wonderful people. Portuguese law states that there is no night cruising and that the crew be predominantly Portuguese. Wonderfully friendly people and the best tour guide ever in Elizabeth who cruised with us. So that’s my advert compare with others as I would hate anyone to miss out on seeing part of what used to be one of the most influential countries in the world.

[Gourmet Gal]

Just perused the Scenic 8 day itinerary and it has 2 full days of cruising vs 1 full day on Tauck.  Several of the stops are similar with Salamanca being different on Scenic.  We were not interested in such a long bus ride.  So honestly - that itinerary doesn’t look any more interesting than Tauck’s but Tauck seems to at least have more choices each day.  

[Bill Y]

On 10/14/2022 at 6:36 PM, Gourmet Gal said:

The Douro river is absolutely stunning.  The natural terrain is is really beautiful and the terraced vineyards are a marvel.  We took this cruise because we were looking for another river similar to the Moselle which we had really enjoyed.  The Douro is even more gorgeous and much longer but it just doesn’t have many riverside towns of much interest.

 

In the final analysis we felt that Tauck was sort of scraping the barrel to find interesting stops along the Douro.  There really aren’t any interesting towns along the river with most wineries and medieval towns being bus rides away.  Many fellow cruisers complained of excessive cruising time which was unavoidable because ships can only sail during the day.  It was a very sleepy, relaxing cruise and we felt there was just too much down time to justify a full week to see a handful of worthy sites despite Tauck’s efforts to make it fun.  There’s plenty to do in the major cities of Porto and Lisbon, Portugal is a beautiful country and the people are so welcoming and warm.  The food culture is great and there are lovely wines to enjoy.  But now that we’ve sailed this river despite being with such a nice cruise line we now think all this is better experienced on a land based trip.

As we did a Douro cruise in July although not with Tauck I was interested to read your review and you summed it up well, however I found some of the comments by fellow cruisers interesting.

 

Apart from Porto one is in rural Portugal, the cruise lines try hard to provide excursions included by most lines a trip to Salamanca in Spain. If one would like further exploration and big towns maybe a pre/post extension to Lisbon, Madrid or both that are often offered is the answer?

 

It appears that people wish for different things, do a land holiday to see more of the country yet not wanting long bus rides.

 

One of the beauties of river cruising IMHO is the changing scenery gliding past, something that you rarely get on ocean cruises, very relaxing. So if one wishes to cruise at night and have a new destination most days where there is plenty wander around and explore then maybe try ocean cruises.

 

Most river cruise are comparatively short so maybe the answer is to do an intensive short land based holiday then relax on a river cruise where you do not have to live out of a suitcase?

There are cruises to appear to a wide range of tastes, research is recommended for max enjoyment.

[88keysteach]

On 10/14/2022 at 10:36 AM, Gourmet Gal said:

 

 

 Many fellow cruisers complained of excessive cruising time which was unavoidable because ships can only sail during the day.  It was a very sleepy, relaxing cruise and we felt there was just too much down time to justify a full week to see a handful of worthy sites despite Tauck’s efforts to make it fun.  There’s plenty to do in the major cities of Porto and Lisbon, Portugal is a beautiful country and the people are so welcoming and warm.  The food culture is great and there are lovely wines to enjoy.  But now that we’ve sailed this river despite being with such a nice cruise line we now think all this is better experienced on a land based trip.

Glad to read that this is a relaxing cruise with plenty of day cruise time.  I am traveling with my 87 yr old mother in 2 weeks and she (we) will definitely not be able to do all of the excursions.  I insisted we ride on a boat due to her age and mobility issues and I feel that we made the right choice with this Duoro River cruise.  She has traveled much of the world already and I think she just wanted to go to a new place as this may be her last trip overseas?

[ljandgb]

I like active vacations, but there is something to be said for just sitting on deck and watching the scenery and people living their lives gliding by.  Portugal is wonderful.  Your mom will have a great trip.

[jkadventures]

We are going on Avalon in May, it will be their inaugural season on a ship purpose built for the Douro River. We are really looking forward to this adventure, as Portugal looks amazing. We always love Avalon for river cruises, as they have activities for anyone to enjoy. Plus the Portuguese wine is delicious! Cheers!