Never having been to North Portugal, we thought this cruise on the Douro would cross a lot of boxes which it certainly did. A most comfortable ship though, splitting hairs, the Emerald Destiny which we sailed in last year on the Danube, was better as it had a small covered swimming pool not an open air jacuzzi!

The ship was very clean, the crew were caring and efficient - nothing seemed too much trouble - and the excursions were well managed and interesting. One problem though was that an excursion we wanted to go on, despite being advertised, was not possible since it was scheduled at the same time as another very interesting excursion.

Our cabin (NOT a stateroom) was slightly compact though its design was efficient. Arguably it had a little too much glass. Read more