This is our second river cruise with Croisieurope and it was excellent. The ship - the Amalia Rodrigues, is a new ship, only 4 months old when we went on it in July 2019. It is tastefully decorated throughout. We were luckily enough to be upgraded from the main deck to the middle deck, which gave us a floor to ceiling view and an opening patio type door (without a balcony). This was really good as you could just watch the banks of the Douro go by as you lay on your bed. Shampoo and body wash are provided in the bathroom and a hairdryer. Electrical points are situated in the bedroom (take a European adapter). A free safe was provided in the stateroom. Information - was available in the reception and also on the drop down television in the staterooms. There is free WiFi on board. Croisieurope operate a set menu ( you need to inform them when booking if you have an allergy or are vegetarian) at lunch and dinner. The breakfast is buffet style with a whole range of continental style food, with the occasional hot item being offered. There was the facility to boil your own eggs. An omelette station was set up for breakfast one morning. The wine served with lunch and dinner was of good quality. The bar is open for house wines, beer and cocktails from mid morning until midnight. But it is closed during meal times. There was a help yourself soft drinks provided in the lounge daily, often with some biscuits or a cake. You could get a coffee from the bar. The evening entertainment was a mixture of folk dancing and music. There were occasional quizzes in the afternoon. Which were just a bit of fun and not taken too seriously. Excursions are added on at an additional cost. We didn’t do all of them. Some times the ship moves whilst you are on an excursion (where you depart the ship is not necessarily where you rejoin it) so you will need to be on board for the departure time if you go for a walk around and are not doing the excursion. All the staff on board were very friendly, polite, hard working and most are multi lingual. All announcements and information was given in different languages, including English. The cruise up and down the river has stunning scenery. Grape plantations each side of the valley, small towns and villages, 5 or 6 huge locks which we navigated through. Where the river narrows at certain points a long the river, the scenery in my opinion is like the fjords, just not quite such high mountains. Read Less

I was on a University Alumni cruise that was organized by AHI on the Douro river in Portugal.. All the passengers were Alumni of different universities, about 85 or so. Many were seasoned travelers. Having been on 3 other river cruises I am familiar with the format. The Amalia Rodrigues was very new, clean and immaculate. And very comfortable. The rooms are small but there was a place for everything. You don't spend that much time in them. The bathroom was nice. The food was quite good. The crew was fabulous and bent over backward to accommodate various requests. All were very kind and helpful. The CD Ricardo was a master in his job - energetic, always informative and funny. He is a real asset to CroisiEurope. Having never before sailed with CroisiEurope I would now consider sailing with them. I understand that we were on a somewhat "special" sailing but if the crew and CD are indicative of the caliber of people at CroisiEurope I would sail with them again. Read Less

Just returned from the holiday. This is our fourth river cruise and second with Croisieurope. In short, excellent. The ship - the Amalia Rodrigues, is 4 months old (as at July 2019) and as new as you can get. Very well appointed and tastefully decorated, likewise the staterooms. As a bonus we actually got upgraded from the main deck to the middle deck, which gave us a floor to ceiling view and an opening patio type door (without the balcony). This was really good as you could take a bit of time out of socialising and just watch the banks of the Douro go by. Consumables - such as soap, shampoo, etc were all provided. Also a hairdryer and electrical points in the room and bathroom (take a European adapter). A free to use safe was provided in the stateroom. Information - was well presented and available in the reception and also on the drop down television in the staterooms. Food - the main difference with Croisieurope and other lines is the set menu (except if you have an allergy or are vegetarian). If you really don’t like something then let them know and they will do their best to find a good and wholesome alternative but this is not the norm. I treated this as a learning experience as I found myself eating food that I would never normally try. The menu’s on this cruise were, as expected, biased towards Portuguese and Spanish cuisine. As for the cooking and presentation - to ship is French, so need I say more. Wine - again, the ship is French, so the wine was of good quality, although mainly of Portuguese origin. Bar open from mid morning until midnight. Evening entertainment - was a mixture of local culture (Fado music, folk dancing and Flamenco) and music with an open dance floor. There was a few games in the afternoon as well, most of which were cleverly done so as to be non-language specific. Excursions - this is another departure from the usual. Croisieurope add their excursions on at an additional cost. We didn’t do all of them, just the ones we really wanted. Occasionally, the ship may move moorings during some excursions (where you depart the ship is not necessarily where you rejoin it) so you will need to be on board if you are not doing the excursion. We quite enjoyed this as the ship was quiet during these times and the repositioning was not generally more than about 30 minutes so you could get off once you had got to your new moorings. Staff - excellent. Nothing was too much trouble. Friendly, polite, hard working and multi lingual. Clientele - we had 12 different nationalities on board. We were the only English and were sat at meal times with two Australians. There were also three Americans. We thought this was great (a bit embarrassing, of course, as all of the other nationalities spoke English). All announcements and information was given in four different languages, including English. The cruise itself - in a word, stunning. Vine plantations rising up each side of the valley, small towns and villages, huge locks (which we navigated through). What a pleasure it was to just watch this go by during our sailing time. Value for money - is where the cruise scores heavily, full board with drinks and all of the amenities you need on board. In summary, this is the second Croisieurope cruise we’ve done, along with river cruises with other companies. The combination of the Croisieurope cruise line and the Douro cruise route nailed it for me and I would thoroughly recommend this to any potential river cruiser wishing to see the sights of the Douro. Don’t worry about the set menu or the nationalities of the other passengers, it just adds to the experience. Read Less

We wanted to go on the Douro river and explore the Portuguese countryside. It was an amazing experience. Amalia Rodrigues is a new ship. Very modern and welcoming. We loved the crew. The staff was very hardworking, friendly, humorous and caring. They worked as a perfect team. Special thanks to the cruise director Sonya and the entertainer Diogo. The evening entertainment, shows and different kinds of trivia contests were a lot of fun. Comfortable cabins and common areas. This cruise is for foodies and wine experts. The French cuisine was elaborate and the wines and drinks on the ship were very good and wine tasting on tours was great. We loved shore tours and the tour guides that were contracted by Croisi. Those people were passionate about their country and history. The natural beauty of the Portuguese country side is breathtaking. We liked all tours, but the best ones were in Salamanca (Spain) and Lamego. It was not our first river cruise, but the most successful thanks the detailed planning and perfect organization of all activities by the crew and the cruise company especially the staff in New York office Ms. Manipon and Mr. Erickson. The atmosphere on the ship was very pleasant. The staff was Portuguese, but spoke French and English. We were with the group of English speaking tourists from New Zealand and Denmark. We highly recommend this cruise to American tourists. Thanks to CroisiEurope we had an unforgettable vacation. Read Less