MS Fernão de Magalhães: 75 metres, because the Douro allows no more
The MS Fernão de Magalhães is 75 metres long and 11.40 metres wide, and she carries 136 passengers in 70 cabins across 3 decks, with 25 crew. Compare that with the MS Michelangelo, 110 metres for 150 passengers: same cruise line, same rating, 35 metres apart. The reason is not commercial, it is geographic. The Douro sets the dimensions, and none of the five ships CroisiEurope operates there exceeds 80 metres.
The ship is named after the Portuguese navigator the world knows as Magellan, the first to complete a circumnavigation. She was built in 2003 and refurbished in 2015, which puts the last refit 11 years back. That is the oldest figure in the Douro fleet, and it has to be set against the MS Vasco de Gama, refurbished in 2025, or the MS Gil Eanes, built in 2015. Three ships from the same line on the same river, eleven years apart in the state of their fit-out. We say so because the brochure does not.
Three decks, therefore a lift, and a pool
A pool sits on the sun deck, with a large shaded area. All 5 Douro ships have one, which makes that river an exception: of the 60 vessels CroisiEurope publishes, only 12 have a pool, and 5 of those sail here. The 3 decks also change daily life on board. CroisiEurope fits a lift to its 3-deck ships, which makes every level reachable without stairs. On the Douro, where days alternate slow sailing with excursions into terraced vineyards, that matters more than elsewhere: you come back aboard tired, and the staircase makes itself felt by the third day.
What the Douro does to an itinerary
The Douro is climbed from Porto to the Spanish border, and the river is barred by locks that are part of the journey rather than an interruption to it. The ship sinks between concrete walls, the light goes, then comes back. Passengers all go up on deck for it. It is one of the rare moments when a river ship produces a spectacle without scheduling one.
The landscape is World Heritage terraced vineyards, cut into hillsides on slopes nobody would have farmed without stubbornness. Calls are made at quintas where port is still produced. The useful season runs April to October; in July and August the valley regularly passes 35 degrees, and shade is scarce on the sun deck.
Getting to Porto from Montreal
Porto is not served non-stop from Montreal-Trudeau. A connection is required, usually through Lisbon, Paris or Frankfurt. Allow a full day of travel outbound. We always build in arrival the day before embarkation, and many of our clients add two nights in Porto before boarding: the city deserves better than a transit.
What is included and what is not
The CroisiEurope formula covers full board, drinks with meals and at the bar, and entertainment. Excursions depend on the departure: package, individual, or included depending on the itinerary. Gratuities are not covered. Travel insurance never is, and on a connecting itinerary it makes more sense than on a non-stop routing. We itemise every line and explain the protection offered by Quebec's FICAV fund before you sign.
Who she suits
She suits travellers who come for the valley rather than the ship: wine lovers, walkers, and anyone willing to accept a fit-out refreshed 11 years ago in exchange for an itinerary nobody does better. Those who want new should look at the MS Infante Don Henrique, refurbished in 2026. The full fleet is on our CroisiEurope cruises page.
