A River Cruise, Why Not!

/ 3sistersabroad

Have you ever thought of going on a river cruise?  If not why not?  You may very well change your mind once you read this.

This cruise would be our fourth river cruise and our first with Scenic.

From the moment we stepped on board we knew this cruise was going to be amazing.

This 5 star hotel would be our home for the next 11 days.

On arrival to the ship,  Scenic Azure, docked at Porto we were met by the crew and the staff.  Our very own Butler Alexandra would escort us to our cabin.

Yes you read that right, a butler!

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Two of the three butlers on board, Alexandra and Fillipe

Scenic call their ships – Spaceships a very fitting name and we were going to find out why!

There was space everywhere!….Our twin beds had drawers at the end which easily fitted our Scenic backpacks in.  Then to our surprise our butler Alexandria showed us the storage under the bed.  Both our suitcases fitted under Muriel’s bed.  Paula our middle sister could quite easily have fitted under mine!  Unfortunately Paula was at home recovering from a knee operation.

 

The beds were amazing! With a touch of a button you could raise the head of the bed or the foot of the bed or both, like a hospital bed but 150% better.  This feature certainly helped me when I came down with a chest infection.

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Muriel showing how comfy the beds are

There was even a pillow menu.  Yes, you heard that right you could request a pillow to suit your needs.  Muriel and I were happy with the two we had.  Can I just add that it was like sleeping on a cloud.

Our wardrobes were huge and had space saving doors.  A sliding door but you pulled it our then it slid onto the other wardrobe door.

We had a balcony!   A privacy screen that opened by a touch of a button and the window with another touch of a button opened so you could feel the breeze.  We also had a mosquito screen again by the touch of a button.  Alexandria explained that further up the Douro would be bad for mosquitoes.  Unfortunately due to the extremely cold and wet weather we never had to use it.

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Bree (me) hamming it up on our balcony – our first day onboard the ship in Porto.

 

 

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Enjoying morning cuppa with the Scenic comfy dressing gown on – with My kitchen rules on the TV 🙂 how funny.

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Part of our room looking into bathroom and deck

Another feature is the bar fridge.  With snacks, beer, wine -red and white, spirits and juices and soft drinks.  Our butler Alexandra opened a bottle of chilled white wine for us to savor while we were shown all the features of our cabin.

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Our bar fridge before I drank the Gin and the white wine on our first day

The bar fridge would be replenished every day.  You can also request your favorites to be stocked in the fridge.

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Red Wine from the Douro River

Alexandra went through all the finer details such as laundry.  We were allowed one bag for cabin free.  Same day delivery.  We only requested our clothes to be washed and dried.  However you can have them pressed as well as washed or just pressed.

The one thing I have always disliked about cruises is that to get a cuppa when you wake up, you must dress and go upstairs to the lounge.  Who does that?  Not on this cruise.  We were able to put in an order for tea for 2 at 6.30 every morning.  Sitting on the balcony in our generous robes, enjoying a cup of tea before you head up to breakfast, is one of life pleasures.

 

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Our morning pot of tea along with beautiful white roses.

It doesn’t stop there.  There is a turn down service at night and of course chocolate is left on the pillow.  An itinerary  of the next days excursions is also left in the room.

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Turn down service…our pajamas neatly laid out.

 

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Our chocolate left with the next days Itinerary – our trip Porto to Porto

Now the food!  As most of you know I am gluten free, fish free and peanut free.  Even here in Australia chefs seem to find this hard.  Im not sure why?  Whats so hard about this?  Some people also think Im fussy.  No, I just don’t like the after affects of eating gluten etc.

I certainly didn’t go without.  Beautiful flakey croissants at breakfast, tasty lunches and delectable dinners.

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Gluten free Croissants at breakfast

 

There are several places you can get a bite to eat on the Scenic Azure.  The River Cafe where you can have an early bird breakfast or a cake or two during the day.  Portobellos for a light lunch.  Portobellos also serves an amazing intimate dinner.  Crystal Dining for lunch and dinner.  One night when I wasn’t feeling too good I requested to have my meal in my room.

 

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One of the many courses at dinner all gluten free fish free and peanut free for me.

 

On the sun deck there is a walking track and a pool. Unfortunately early April can still have some rain and it was cold. Freezing would be more like it, however not once were we cold on the ship. Portugal needed the rain.  Did we let it dampen our mood.  Not at all.

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The Sun deck and the sun was shinning for a short time

 

 

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The pool on the sun deck

Each night after dinner there would be music in the lounge.  Two nights we had quiz nights and yes both times Muriel and I were on the winning team!

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And The Top Answer is  quiz – Mateus Original is the prize – Bree, Brenda, John and Muriel

 

Each night there would be local musicians and we had 3 quiz nights of which we won two of them.  Not sure how must have been a team effort!

 

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Winners are grinners…Music Quiz and a bottle of wine which the four of us won

 

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Some of our wonderful staff in the bar

 

On board you will find a gym, a hairdresser and you can even indulge in a massage.  The bar would have a Cocktail of the day every day.   The Port Tonic was delicious and I would recommend  this when you do this cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next:  Our first day in Porto Portugal.

 

 

**This post is linked on #Senior Salon #20**

54 thoughts on “A River Cruise, Why Not!”

  1. Pingback: Goodby 2019 and Hello 2020 – 3 Sisters Abroad

  5. You must have enjoyed some interesting ports of call during your eleven days on the ship. I can’t wait to read all about it as it is something we are considering. We visited Porto and Lisbon just a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time in Porto, but rainy weather in Lisbon kept us from a full experience. I also read your post about the HOHO experience you had in Porto. You just never know if it will be the best ever or a complete bust. Thanks for stopping by Picture Retirement. I would not have found you otherwise.

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    • Oh its time alright. We are in the planning stages right now for our next holiday. Yes the kitchen on the cruises are quite accommodating to all food requests. When booking always let them know…thanks for stopping by

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  12. Wow… butlers and adjustable beds, too! I could do with one of those, the bed (wouldn’t say no to a personal butler though). It’s a shame Paula had to miss out on this. Shame too about the cold weather given the month but it’s good it didn’t dampen the mood & there was plenty to make the most of on the cruise no matter the weather. xx

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    • Me too. However a river cruise is the one to do. You can watch the world go by as you sail. The thought of not having to lift a finger from the minute you get on board. Actually once you land you are picked up from the airport and taken either to your hotel or the cruise ship.

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  16. This looks lovely! We cruise a lot and keep talking about doing a river cruise but haven’t taken one yet. This ship and the service look amazing!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Portugal 🇵🇹 is a beautiful country. Remember to take a hat sunglasses and sunscreen. It’s very hot in summer. Portuguese are very friendly. So much to see. Enjoy. Oh the cork handbags are amazing and I now wish I had purchased one.

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  21. Wow, talk about luxury, I’d like to get used to that. I look forward to hearing more about your trip to Portugal and sorry we missed each other. Next time perhaps?

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  23. A river cruise is on our list. We usually do larger cruises and have one booked for Alaska in September. However, next year we were looking at a River Cruise through Russia. Your cruise looks great and I think it would be nice to have a smaller number of people. We went on a cruise a couple of years ago and there were 3,500 people – far too many especially at the buffet LOL:)

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    • Omgoodness thats scary, that would be like going to the food court at the football…I would rather starve. If you do the Russia Cruise..look at Scenic, they are the most amazing cruise to be on. Our friends we met on the cruise they are doing a 15 day cruise in Russia next year. Alaska sounds amazing.

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