PORTO, Portugal — This was supposed to be the Douro River’s big moment. Two river cruise ships were christened here last week, and all the stars came out. Sharon Stone presided as godmother over AmaWaterways’ 106-passenger AmaVida, and Andie MacDowell served as godmother of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection’s 118-passenger Queen Isabel.
But as of this writing, both ships, which are owned by the Portuguese company Douro Azul and leased by the respective river cruise operators, are still docked in Porto due to heavy rains that have increased water levels on the river, causing authorities to prohibit all sailings for now.
“We are in a very unique situation,” Rudi Schreiner, president of AmaWaterways, told passengers onboard the AmaVida on Tuesday, the first day of an “In Celebration of Wine” themed cruise through the Douro River Valley. “We really don’t know when we are going to cruise.”
Schreiner proceeded to tell guests that hopefully the ship would be able to sail by the weekend. He offered a full refund to those guests who might choose to return home given the change in itinerary, and a future cruise credit to the guests who would choose to remain onboard.
It appears that most passengers are going to wait it out. And while the unexpected inclement weather was not the best way to showcase what is a newly emerging river cruise destination in Europe, instead it showcased the ability to improvise.
AmaWaterways has quickly built an alternate itinerary: Passengers will be transported to some destinations by motorcoach, and assuming the ship will be able to sail by Saturday, they will still get to experience cruising through at least part of the Douro River Valley, a highlight of the Portugal cruise.
“We’re on a wine tour, we’ll drink a lot,” joked Schreiner, who informed passengers that wine and beer would also be included with lunch (it is normally only included with dinner). The guests clapped enthusiastically in response, already seemingly embracing Schreiner’s next statement: “We will try to make the best out of the situation.”
Indeed, there are worse places to be stuck than Porto.