In May 2025, 12 friends from districts 22 and 28 traveled to Madrid for a once-in-a-lifetime cruise on Portugal’s Douro River.
After a three-day stay at the hotel NH Collection Madrid Paseo del Prado, we climbed aboard AmaWaterways’ motorcoach, which would bring us to the 260-foot AmaVida. We were to board at Vega de Terron, but river conditions forced the ship to be redirected to Pinhão two locks downstream. Boarding after 6 p.m., we enjoyed the renowned Sip & Sail cruise while the crew brought our luggage to our staterooms.
HERITAGE SITE.
The next morning, Capt. Fabio Noguiera motored the AmaVida upstream to Vega de Terron, where we overnighted on board. The following morning, the “official” cruise began from the mooring where it should have been 24 hours earlier. Then, it was catch-up time on the river.
We spent seven glorious days on the AmaVida, dining on exquisitely presented delicacies, with champagne breakfasts and free-flowing local wine at lunch and dinner. Local port wines were abundant.
District 28 brought a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle depicting Portugal’s wine and port regions. Cruise manager Gabriel Ramos gave up his desk so the group could work on the puzzle. With help from the crew, who pitched in while we were on excursions, we finished it four days later with one piece missing. After the final piece turned up in the vacuum cleaner bag, I presented the finished puzzle to the ship for mounting and framing. Ship hotel manager Ana Sousa and Gabriel were thrilled.
While on board the group participated in a “duck hunting” adventure. Each morning, one person would hide a rubber duck, and the member who found it would bring it to dinner to claim a prize. And then that lucky member would hide the duck the following day, and so the game continued.
On the last evening in Porto, Capt. Noguiera took us for an Illuminations Cruise, a one-hour evening cruise showcasing the city’s historic Ribeira district and Vila Nova de Gaia. The six bridges of Porto were
lit up, and the reflections were marvelous. We arrived in Lisbon on the eve of Portugal’s match for the soccer league crown: Sporting Lisbon vs. Vitória.
After the cruise, we stayed another three nights at Sofitel Lisbon Liberdade, a luxury hotel on an upscale shopping boulevard in Lisbon.
