We boarded the AmaVida in Vega de Terron, which isn't really a port, in Spain, across the river Douro from Portugal. It is really a drop off point for buses. We had started the day in Madrid, and arrived here, via Salamanca.

The ship, like the other AmaWaterways ships, is beautiful. Given the size of river ships, the cabins are quite spacious - we were on the top level of cabins. The room has a small balcony, which a couple can access, one at a time, by sliding the doors back, but both can sit there and watch Portugal go by, as we did, quite regularly. We were a group of 6, 3 couples.

Meals were fantastic, and the dining room is very noisy, although on the first night, extremely noisy as people seemed to be very excited about embarking on the cruise of the Douro River. One of the bonuses of the ship is that there is a coffee machine where one can make proper coffee at any time of the day. The top deck is marvellous, and lunch was served there twice on this 7 day cruise. Read more