Serious about a European River Cruise? Right here’s what it is advisable to know.

European River Cruise with Viking River Cruises

Discovering Europe on an intimate river cruise was on our journey want record for a few years. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that we jumped on the alternative to discover Portugal’s celebrated Douro Valley with Viking River Cruises.

The tour we did is known as Portugal’s River of Gold. It’s a ten day itinerary that begins in Lisbon and ends in Porto (extra concerning the itinerary right here).

Now we have cruised on the large ocean ships earlier than. Within the Caribbean (learn right here), Mexico (learn right here) and Alaska (learn right here). We knew this European river cruise can be a really totally different expertise, and that’s precisely what we hoped for.

In the event you’re desirous about taking a European river cruise for the primary time, you possible have lots of questions. We actually did. What are the rooms like? How is the meals? What’s included? Not included?

This weblog put up evaluations our Portugal river cruise aboard the Viking Osfrid.

We took this river cruise in Might of 2018. We up to date this weblog put up in Feb 2024.

The Viking Osfrid ship

European river cruise ships are fairly totally different from the mega-ships that cruise the ocean. River ships are designed to suit inside river locks, so the ships are lengthy, skinny and usually solely 3 tales tall.

We traveled on the Viking Osfrid, which was designed particularly for the Douro River. The locks on the Douro River are smaller than locks discovered on the larger European rivers, just like the Danube and Rhine. Subsequently, Viking has a small fleet of ships constructed particularly for these Portugal cruises.

The Viking Osfrid is only some years outdated. It’s properly maintained and has a clear, trendy decor. The ship, in our opinion, is corresponding to a luxurious resort. Solely smaller.

The Osfrid is sort of intimate, which was a spotlight for us. It’s straightforward to fulfill individuals but spacious sufficient to have quiet time alone. We want this sort of cruise ship over the large ocean ships. On a river cruise, you’re not competing with tons of of different passengers to eat, drink or discover seating on the sundeck. We discovered it to be far more calm and civilized.



Having hassle viewing the video above? Watch instantly on YouTube right here. 

Views of the Douro River from the lined sundeck. There are many chairs and tables out there.

The pool on the sundeck of the Viking Osfrid

No one used this pool throughout our journey. It was fairly cool within the evenings and it was too windy when the ship was crusing within the afternoon. If the ship had a sizzling tub it could have had extra guests, however I’m not so certain.

You need to nonetheless convey your bathing fits, simply in case.

Loads of tables and chairs on the sundeck. No must stand up early to save lots of your chair.

Espresso station. Staterooms on the Osfrid don’t have espresso machines contained in the room.

If you need espresso or tea, that is the place to get it. All through the day, this station is stocked with a wide range of pastries, like cookies, croissants, muffins and low cake.

The ship has one elevator for these with mobility points. It additionally has a small present store.

Viking Osfrid docked on the Douro River

The Viking Osfrid sailed by slim and rocky sections of the Douro River.

The foyer lounge on the Viking Osfrid

Each night, earlier than dinner is served, an orientation concerning the subsequent day’s journey is given by the Cruise Director on this foyer lounge.

On this explicit night, the bar employees ready a wide range of colourful cocktails for friends pattern. In the event you look carefully on the bar, you possibly can see numerous drinks out there on the desk in entrance of the bar.

Wine and beer is included throughout lunch and dinner.

Cocktails and specialty drinks are NOT included (further cost).

That is the Hallway resulting in our room.

Our room is situated on the third flooring (Higher Deck). There are 53 staterooms on Viking Osfrid.

The gangway, foyer lounge and reception are on the third flooring (this flooring). The restaurant is on the 2nd flooring (or Center Deck).

Beneath is the deck plan for the Viking Osfrid.

Stateroom on the Viking Osfrid

The rooms on a river cruise ship are compact however you’ve gotten loads of room for storage. We stayed in a Veranda Stateroom – Room 321 on the deck plan above. The room is 185 sq ft, with a resort fashion mattress (queen measurement) that will also be transformed to 2 singles. It has a flooring to ceiling sliding glass door that opens to a full measurement veranda that has two chairs and a desk.

Right here’s a video we produced that reveals you what the room appears to be like like.

The non-public rest room features a rain bathe with good water stress. We at all times had sizzling water out there, even throughout peak instances. The room was up to date day by day with shampoo, conditioner, lotion and cleaning soap.

Contained in the stateroom is a phone, secure, hair dryer, mini-refrigerator and 40 inch flat display screen TV that includes motion pictures on demand plus the most important TV networks like CNBC, CNN, Nationwide Geographic, and many others.

We like that every room has local weather management so you possibly can regulate the room temperature. Voltage within the room is suitable with 220V and 110V together with numerous totally different charging retailers, together with 4 x USB ports.

Wifi is free and available. Bottled water is replenished day by day.

Watch this video about our Portugal river cruise

We LOVED watching the landscapes move by from the consolation of our room.

When the ship was transferring, we might open the blinds and door and let the world move us by. The contemporary breeze and sound of water splashing gently towards the boat creates a magical ambiance.

View from our room whereas inside a river lock. Have a look at how shut the boat will get to the partitions contained in the river lock! You possibly can actually contact the wall because the ship slowly rises up or down.

Do you want a balcony on a European River Cruise?

One of many benefits to river cruising is that almost all rooms on a river cruise ship include a balcony. 

River ships are usually not very massive they usually have width limits, to allow them to squeeze by these tight river locks. Due to this, balconies on river vessels are fairly small. They’re broad sufficient to suit one chair dealing with sideways (see photograph above). It’s a decent area.

We like having a balcony. Nevertheless, we truly didn’t use it very a lot.

When in our room, we open the door to let the breeze come by. We did take pleasure in having a glass of wine on our balcony within the afternoon. However the actuality is that we solely sat on the balcony just a few instances in the course of the journey.

The sundeck is a brief stroll out of your stateroom and there are at all times chairs and loungers out there. We want to spend our time there. That means, we will stroll backward and forward and seize the transferring landscapes.

Generally the sights are on the reverse facet of the ship. You don’t wish to miss out and solely see what’s occurring on your facet of the river.

Associated – 30 Pictures of Porto that show it ought to be in your record

How is the meals on a Viking River Cruise?

We actually loved the eating expertise on the Viking Osfrid.

On daily basis there’s a new menu with a la carte choices. Lunch and dinner are 3 course meals, with an appetizer, entree and dessert.

There may be one native dish from Portugal. On daily basis is totally different, so there are many choices. Wine and beer are included at lunch and dinner.

There are just a few gadgets that stay customary each day, like hamburgers, sizzling canine and sandwiches. There may be usually a small buffet out there at lunch and dinner. This buffet has salads, appetizers and desserts.

Breakfast is a typical European buffet unfold. It’s also possible to order contemporary gadgets off the menu. Choices included eggs Benedict, fried eggs, sausages, French toast, and many others. There may be additionally an omelette station.

Viking caters to friends with allergy symptoms and dietary necessities.

Beneath are just a few photographs of our meals. I don’t keep in mind what every part is. Subsequently, I’ll let the photographs do the speaking.

One night was a buffet with a wide range of Portuguese delicacies. See above.

Each menu has a seafood choice. We loved many scrumptious fish dishes on the cruise.

The eating room on the river cruise ship

The eating room on the river ship will not be very massive. A lot of the tables are for 4 to eight individuals. On the Viking Osfrid, there was solely 3 tables that have been set for two individuals.

Don’t assume you’ll at all times dine by yourself. You’ll possible be seated at a desk with different friends.

Everybody dines on the identical time. There are not any assigned seats.

It’s not like an ocean cruise the place you possibly can go to the buffet when you’re hungry. Dinner begins at 7:00 PM. In the event you miss dinner, there aren’t lots of choices for you. Don’t be later for dinner.

We don’t thoughts eating with others. Nevertheless, our choice is to dine alone.

The aim of this journey is to spend some high quality time collectively, with out children. Happily, there was one desk that turned “our table”. It’s humorous how individuals are programmed. Most friends dined on the identical desk, with the identical individuals.

Generally the gamers would change, however typically the seating remained constant.

Watch this video about our Portugal river cruise

Are alcoholic drinks included?

Sure, for probably the most half. Soda, wine and beer can be found throughout lunch and dinner, and they’re included in your cruise bundle. In addition they have champagne and orange juice to take pleasure in breakfast mimosas.

In the event you want to must have limitless specialty drinks, you should purchase a further beverage bundle. It consists of an upgraded wine record and all cocktails. Service is offered more often than not.

You need to know – if you are going to buy wine or alcohol throughout your excursions, you might be allowed to convey it again on the ship and devour it on-board. This can be a good characteristic. We bought wine from the vineyards and loved it on the sundeck within the night.

Associated – Right here’s what we did on our Portugal River Cruise

How a lot time is spent cruising on the river?

This truly stunned us probably the most. Our cruise didn’t spend lots of time truly crusing up and down the river. You possibly can learn our detailed itinerary right here.

The ship acted extra like a cellular resort. It docked each night, so there was no journey at evening. Our first evening on the ship was spent docked in Porto and we additionally spend two nights docked at Barca d’Alva. The longest period of time spent crusing on the river was about 4 hours.

The explanation for the restricted crusing time is as a result of the navigable a part of the Douro River will not be very lengthy. It’s lower than  250 kilometers from Porto to Barca d’Alva.

Examine what we did on our Portugal river cruise right here.

River Locks on the Douro River

The Viking Osfrid went up and down 5 totally different river locks whereas on our Portugal river cruise. This was the primary time we handed by locks of this measurement. They’re large!

The lock at Carrapatelo Dam rises up 115 toes (35 meters) and the lock at Valeira Dam rises 109 toes (33 meters). We have been informed that these are a number of the tallest river locks in Europe.

In the event you watch this video you possibly can see a time lapse of us passing by one in every of these river lock.

It’s an fascinating expertise. We made certain to be on the sundeck each time we handed although the river locks on the Douro River.

Approaching the Valeira Dam

The river lock is situated on the best facet of Valeira Dam, in that massive concrete field with the black door that resembles a storage door.

The ship approaches the lock and the door opens. It then enters the lock compartment and the doorways shut. The lock fills with water and this lifts the ship. As soon as it reaches the highest, the other facet door opens and the ship departs on the larger degree (or decrease lever if the ship goes down).

View of the Douro River from the highest of Valeira Dam. It’s a great distance up (and down)!

How do River Cruise Ships dock?

In the event you’ve by no means been on a river cruise, or seen how they dock, it’s truly fairly fascinating. The ships typically dock proper subsequent to one another, basically connecting to one another. Chances are you’ll must stroll by the foyer of a number of ships earlier than attending to your ship (see photograph beneath).

It’s truly a enjoyable means to take a look at the structure and design of the opposite river cruise ships.

We requested the crew how the order of docking is decided. We’re informed the order relies on what ship is departing first. That ship parks on the skin, or furthest from the dock.

Sooner or later in the course of the river cruise you may dock subsequent to a different ship.

This will likely restrict your view or put the ship able the place one other window (from a distinct ship) is wanting instantly into your room. It’s short-term, however value mentioning. You need to shut your blinds when this occurs.

In contrast to the mega-ships that cruise the ocean, getting on and off the river cruise ship may be very straightforward.

The Viking Osfrid docks every night.

Subsequently, we have been capable of get off the ship within the evenings and wander across the port city. Sometimes the large ocean vessels sail at evening, so that you don’t have this selection.

Viking asks that every time you get off the ship you’re taking an data card with you. You get this card from reception whenever you depart the ship and return it to reception whenever you arrive on the ship. This helps the crew perceive who’s on (or off) the boat always.

Above – Viking Osfrid is parked beside one other ship. It’s on the skin.

Will you get sea sick on a river cruise?

In the event you’re vulnerable to seasickness you’ll take pleasure in river cruising. The ships not often rock backwards and forwards. In actual fact, it was troublesome to inform when the ship was transferring.

This Portugal river cruise on the Douro River was not uneven in any respect.

Fairly the other. In the event you have a look at the above picture, you possibly can see how calm the water is. It’s like glass. As a result of this river runs by a steep valley, it’s largely shielded from the wind.

One evening, when docked at Barca d’Alva, a thunderstorm handed by the area. Though we might see the lightning, and listen to the thunder, our ship remained calm and we didn’t really feel any rocking.

Is there leisure on a European river cruise?

Most European river cruises have leisure within the evenings, simply don’t anticipate elaborate reveals like those discovered on an enormous ocean cruise ship. The foyer lounge had a musician who carried out at cocktail hour and after dinner.

Throughout our Portugal river cruise, the leisure choices diverse every day. We have been capable of find out about olive oil manufacturing and the manufacturing of cork, there was a dwell cooking demonstration about Pastel de Nata, and a presentation about Portugal’s historical past and the Douro River and Area.

We spent most of our time both on an tour, exploring the city the place we have been docked, or on the sundeck having fun with a glass of wine.

At cocktail hour, the Cruise Director spends half-hour speaking concerning the subsequent day’s exercise. We attended these displays every night, however that was actually the one time we joined an on-board exercise.

Associated – Lisbon exceeded our expectations. Right here’s what we did.

What’s the demographic on a River Cruise?

Sure, it’s true. Most passengers on European river cruises are within the 55+ yr outdated demographic. This isn’t a younger viewers. We have been undoubtedly the youngest individuals on the cruise.

In the event you’re frightened concerning the age demographic, don’t be.

We didn’t really feel misplaced or uncomfortable. We had enjoyable with the opposite friends on our excursions and loved the conversations. The truth is that we spent most of our time doing our personal factor, so it actually didn’t matter.

One night, an older lady in her 70’s approached us at cocktail hour. “I wanted to come and say hello because I’m worried about you”.

“Why would you be worried about us?”, we replied.

“Well, you’re clearly hanging out with the old folks. I want to make sure you don’t feel isolated or uncomfortable”.

It was a candy gesture. She watched us eating alone every night – which was by selection – and thought we weren’t making mates. This frightened her significantly. We acquired a chuckle out of that.

We seen a lot of friends have been making mates on the ship.

Social interactions are an enormous a part of the cruising expertise for this older demographic.

We have been on a very totally different web page. We loved the transient interactions however our aim was to spend time collectively. 

The purpose I’m making, is that the river cruise expertise is constructed for everybody. Besides children. Depart the youngsters at house!

It might be an enormous miss in the event you determined towards a river cruise as a result of the demographic tends to be older. We had a good time and we stay up for doing one other European river cruise sooner or later.

Are excursions included on a Viking River Cruise?

Sure, day by day excursions are included on the Portugal’s River of Gold tour with Viking. Each night, the Program Director goes over the subsequent day’s choices for excursions. Company are additionally supplied the Viking Each day, a printed doc that particulars the subsequent day’s itinerary.

Each day excursions are included with the cruise worth. There are additionally optionally available excursions which have a further price. Company will both be a part of the included tour, buy an optionally available tour, discover the city by yourself, or spend the day aboard the ship.

We like that Viking makes use of native guides. The guides on our excursions had intensive data concerning the space and sights. One information is devoted to every coach, so that you’ll get to know your information properly over the course of the cruise. Every coach had about 25-30 individuals.

Company are present a QuietVox audio system (watch this video to see what they appear to be – quick ahead to five:08). Every evening, you might be anticipated to cost your QuietVox audio system.

Examine what we did on our Portugal river cruise right here.

Do it is advisable to tip on a river cruise?

Sure, and No. Gratuities are not included within the cruise worth.

In fact, tipping may be very a lot appreciated by the employees (and anticipated). Nevertheless, you don’t want tip after each meal or tour. You don’t want to tip after each room cleansing, both.

You don’t want to convey small money with you.

As a substitute, you merely add a day by day price to your room and pay along with your bank card whenever you take a look at. These gratuities are distributed among the many ship’s employees, together with the servers, kitchen, house-keeping and tour guides.

We gave the really useful tip, which is 15 Euros per visitor, per day.

We want to tip this manner as a result of it’s straightforward and honest. The service was excellent, so this day by day price was cheap.

Are transfers included on Viking River Cruises?

Sure, all transfers are included.

Once we arrived at Lisbon airport it was straightforward to identify the Viking consultant as soon as we cleared Immigration. She held a pink Viking signal and was carrying a pink Vikings shirt. We have been escorted to a driver who took us on to our resort, Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa.

Company are transported from Lisbon to Porto on a pleasant coach (see photograph above). Our group is separated into 3 totally different coaches. We use related coaches for day by day excursions.

On the finish of the cruise, Viking gives transportation from the ship the Porto airport. We determined to remain an additional evening in Porto. Viking helped set up the taxi to our subsequent resort. We lined the price of this.

Be aware – in the event you select to remain an additional day in Porto, you’ll disembark the cruise ship no later than 10:00 AM. We arrived at our resort early and the room was not prepared. We anticipated this. Plan to go away your baggage on the resort and preserve your self busy till at the very least 3:00 PM. It’s straightforward to seek out issues to do in Porto.

What did we consider this Portugal River Cruise?

We completely loved our Viking River Cruise. It exceeded our expectations. I consider everybody ought to expertise the luxurious and ease of a European river cruise. No less than as soon as of their life.

We stay up for discovering new locations with Viking River Cruises. Their service and a focus to element is high notch. We’d advocate the Portugal’s River of Gold cruise.

With that mentioned, we should disclose that we teamed up with Viking River Cruises as a way to make this journey doable. Our cruise was complimentary. We agreed to share our trustworthy, firsthand expertise on this weblog and social media channels. Learn our disclaimer right here.

Are you contemplating a European River Cruise?

Did you discover this put up useful?

Depart us a remark when you’ve got any questions on our European river cruise with Viking.