If you happen to had requested me 10 years in the past if I loved a river cruise, my reply would have been a tough no. However a decade later, river cruises have come a great distance, child! We just lately boarded the Avalon Alegria in Porto, Portugal, for a cruise into the Douro Valley. This European River cruise felt extra just like the small ship expeditions we’ve taken prior to now than the outdated commonplace river cruises that stopped at packed ports and spent extra time on the bus than exploring the vacation spot.
What’s it Like on a Douro Valley River Cruise
We boarded our all-suites ship in Porto, the place we started our journey into the beautiful hills of the Douro Valley. The Avalon Alegria was designed to make the most of probably the most area whereas creating the last word stress-free and opulent expertise.
The Ship – Avalon Alegria
The Avalon Alegria is the most recent of Avalon’s ships. It’s an all-suites ship with 14 deluxe staterooms or 37 Panorama Suites. We toured all the rooms, and regardless of which room you select, you may be comfortable. All Panorama Suites characteristic floor-to-ceiling home windows that open to show your room into one enormous balcony, and all beds face the water.
Onboard facilities embody a bar and dance flooring, nightly leisure, a eating room, a membership lounge, and a gymnasium. The Sky Deck has a swimming pool, out of doors grill and bar, and loads of lounge chairs and tables. If the climate is nice, that is the place to be to soak up the beautiful vistas of the Douro Valley.
Avalon Alegria Suites
Let’s start with the suites. With a most capability of 102 folks, each room is spacious and opulent. We stayed in one of many fourteen 200-square-foot panorama suites, which was good for our journey.
Whereas different cruise traces we’ve taken line their beds up in opposition to a wall with a view of the opposite wall, the Avalon Alegria ship units every mattress going through the floor-to-ceiling home windows for views of the river. We loved afternoon siestas in our room whereas watching the Douro River views go by.
However that’s not all. Most individuals desire a balcony when river cruising, nevertheless it’s troublesome to provide everybody one because of the measurement limitations of the river and the locks. Avalon has fastened this drawback by creating floor-to-ceiling home windows that open huge, remodeling your suite into an open-air balcony. By taking away the out of doors balcony, they’ve created 30% extra residing area.
We loved breakfast in our room every morning with our home windows open to see the hills of the Douro River. With plush robes, slippers, and beautiful views, we by no means wished to go away our room! Oh and did I let you know that they not solely have a pillow menu, but additionally a mattress menu? There are 4 totally different settings for the mattress. Simply let the crew know the way you want your mattress, and so they’ll set it up for you.
Membership Lounge
Subsequent to our room, the Membership Lounge was our second favourite area on the Avalon Alegria. Earlier than breakfast, we walked to the lounge in our robes and slippers to seize a cappuccino, freshly baked cookies, and vitamin water.
I liked filling my refillable water bottle with my alternative of water for the day. Wouldn’t it be Vitamin B water? Glowing grapefruit or ginger. The alternatives had been superior.
Usually, cruise ships reserve this area for upgraded suites, however Avalon makes this coveted area on the stern of the boat open for everybody. You possibly can sit again and loosen up, have tea, or ship an electronic mail on the quick Star Hyperlink Wi-Fi that’s included within the journey.
Avalon, the Greenest Ship on the Douro
We all know the rap cruise ships get, however Avalon works laborious to journey sustainably. Avalon has partnered with locations to generate sustainable electrical energy whereas docked. They use shore energy at any time when they’ll and have put in LED lighting all through their ships.
You’ll discover that I discussed a water station above and Avalon has zero plastic onboard. There are glasses you could refill, however we suggest packing your personal water bottle to tackle excursions. We weren’t provided bottled water on our excursions (which I used to be grateful for), so we crammed up our bottles earlier than leaving the ship.
They’ve diminished paper by 80%. In contrast to different cruise ships, you gained’t see your every day schedule and a great deal of paper in your beds. Avalon has an app for friends to make use of with schedules on the TVs.
They’ve additionally partnered with The Ocean Cleanup to assist of their mission of eradicating 90% of ocean plastic. This can be a daunting job, and I do not know the way it will occur, however with corporations investing and partnering, good issues can occur.
Actually, in right now’s world, we’re all contributing to the destruction of the planet, so the one factor corporations can do is give again. Avalon crops two bushes for each passenger on a cruise, has state-of-the-art oil filters to maintain oil adjustments to a minimal, and is trying to swap to electrical ships within the close to future.
What’s Included – Avalon is About Selection
Since we talked about premium coffees and free web, I assumed we’d contact on what’s included in your Douro River Cruise with Avalon Waterways. The phrase we stored listening to was the Avalon is about alternative. Passengers have flexibility relating to eating, excursions, and issues to do onboard.
Meals
All meals, together with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, are included. Breakfast could be loved in your stateroom or within the eating room. Lunch is a buffet within the eating room or gentle snacks within the bar. It’s also possible to all the time order sure meals, like burgers and sandwiches, off the menu.
Dinner is a scrumptious multicourse meal of native and worldwide dishes paired with wonderful native wine. Portugal has improbable wines, and I like that Avalon serves solely native wines. When I’m in Portugal, I don’t need to be ingesting a California Chardonnay; I desire a wealthy Douro Valley pink, and that’s precisely what they delivered.
In contrast to different cruises, passengers are provided flex eating and might eat anytime throughout the eating window. Seating is versatile, with tables for 2, or you possibly can be a part of giant teams.
Drinks
Talking of wine, beer and wine are included at lunch and dinner. All specialty coffees, gentle drinks, and water are additionally included. And, in contrast to different cruises, the Douro Valley River cruise provides free cocktail hour drinks. And let me let you know, they make scrumptious cocktails.
Excursions
Avalon Waterways actually stands out with its excursions and shore excursions. They’ve damaged down excursions to swimsuit totally different wants. You possibly can select from Basic, Discovery, or Lively Tour choices. Every day you are able to do one thing totally different from lively adventures that embody kayaking and mountain climbing to cultural experiences that take you to historic districts and meals and wine excursions to benefit from the Douro Valley Wines and Ports of Porto.
There’s something for everybody, relying in your mobility and exercise stage. Plus, there’s an onboard journey host that leads yoga within the mornings.
Leisure
Every night after dinner, there’s native leisure. We loved a Fado Present of proficient native guitarists sharing their tradition, tales and music.
The subsequent night time was an excellent quartet of strings placing their very own spin on fashionable rock and pop music.
We additionally loved being serenaded by a finalist from The Voice and had nightly dancing. That is a kind of journeys that brings the native tradition to you.
The Crew
One thing that basically stands out on the Avalon Alegria cruise by means of the Douro Valley is the workers. Your hosts could make or break a visit and the Alegria workers goes above and past. Inside the second we stepped onboard, they felt like outdated buddies.
At cocktail hour, they knew precisely what sort of cocktail I’d be within the temper for and even created specialties not on the menu.
Dave has a Gluten allergy, and the waitstaff paid cautious consideration to providing him options and informing him of what we might eat and should keep away from.
They had been all the time smiling, and you may inform that they actually loved their jobs. It wasn’t an act; the crew liked what they had been doing. From the fellows grinning from ear to ear as they tied the traces to the entrance desk, answering our each want.
Ports of Name
Don’t fear, you’re inspired to get off the ship and benefit from the native ports of name. Avalon docks downtown or near the city facilities the place a brief (and low-cost) Uber trip can take you to the place you need to be.
8-Day Itinerary – Vineyards & Villages Alongside the Douro
The cruise begins within the UNESCO World Heritage Metropolis of Porto. We propose arriving early to essentially soak on this stunning vacation spot. Avalon provides a guided tour of Braga and Guimaraes, which we extremely suggest seeing. However you also needs to spend at the very least two days in Porto to benefit from the Historic Middle, the Gaia District, and the beautiful waterfront.
The cruise then leaves within the night to cease at totally different places alongside the Douro Valley. The 8-day itinerary contains these stops after which returns to Porto for an additional day of touring. We selected the choice of wine tasting in Gaia with a tour of the Cork Museum, which was fascinating and scrumptious!
Porto Embarkation
Porto day tour to Braga and Guimaraes.
Peso da Regua – a go to to one of many oldest farms within the Douro Valley
Poncinho – Douro Valley Vineyards
Barca d’Alva – Salamanca, Spain – That is the place you possibly can add one other nation to your itinerary.
Ferradosa-Leverhino – Day tour of Amarante
Can Solo Vacationers Be part of Avalon?
We all the time journey as a pair, however I do know many individuals marvel about solo journey on cruises. Avalon waives the solo complement. On Avalon, you by no means really feel alone. From my observations, a river cruise is a superb possibility for solo vacationers.
Avalon is About Selection
Most individuals select the Danube or Rhine Rivers for his or her first river cruise. We did 10 years in the past, and it turned us off river cruising for a decade. When Avalon invited us to pattern their Douro Valley route, we had been intrigued to provide it one other strive. I’m glad we did. This river cruise was precisely the kind of journey we love—small ships with fewer passengers and loads of choices for shore excursions.
Fewer ships are on the river, and the stops really feel intimate and untouched. With solely 102 passengers on the Avalon selecting from totally different excursions, we had small group excursions that felt tailor-made to our wants.
The Douro Valley is among the most stunning locations to cruise in Europe, with rolling hills and terraced vineyards. It’s really a bucket listing cruise the place immersing in tradition and experiencing the native delicacies is on the coronary heart of the itinerary.
These are the most well-liked routes full of different river cruises and crowds at ports of name. I’m not saying to by no means do one, however I believe the Douro Valley is the proper introduction to river cruising.
So there you may have it—our Douror Valley River Cruise—the primary European River Cruise we’ve taken in 10 years. Will we do one other one? You guess! As we age, we love the concept of unpacking as soon as and crusing by means of Europe’s most stunning countryside.
While you get to ports, you don’t should comply with the guides; everyone seems to be free to do as they please. Keep in mind, Avalon is about alternative, and our alternative is to return quickly.