Four sources, four capacities, two pages of the same site
The MS Douro Splendour dates from 2018 according to the operator's sheet.
Eighty metres, 62 cabins, 124 travellers. The hull belongs to a Portuguese
shipowner.
Those figures need a caution. Four sources give four different capacities
for this ship, and two of them are two pages of the operator's own site. The
build year varies with the page as well. We keep the commercial sheet's
figures, which are the ones that bind, and we say so rather than silently
picking the most flattering number. If density aboard matters to your decision,
have it confirmed in writing before the deposit.
The river and the rhythm
Ninety-two dates with us, on the classic Porto to Barca d'Alva loop. Five
dams, including Carrapatelo with a chamber among the deepest in Europe, a
listed wine valley, and perched villages reached on foot.
The Douro has no freight traffic comparable to the Rhine: sailing is quiet,
quays are few, and side-by-side mooring stays common in high season, which
sometimes means crossing a neighbouring ship's deck to go ashore.
Neighbouring ships
The MS Douro Elegance is her near twin, with a busier calendar. The MS Riviera Rose is newer. The MS Jane Austen and
the MS Thomas Hardy sail French rivers with one-hundred-and-ten and
one-hundred-and-thirty-five-metre hulls.
The owner, the operator and you
Three roles that get confused, and that matter the day there is a problem.
The ship's owner is a third party: Swiss for most river hulls, Portuguese for
two of them, Dalmatian for the six coastal hulls. The commercial operator is
the British tour company, which owns no hull. And you buy through a Quebec
agency, which adds a protection discussed further down.
This arrangement explains something that often puzzles people: the
specifications published by the owner do not always match those published by
the operator. These are not typos; they are two separate businesses describing
the same ship.
When the doubt bears on a figure that changes your choice — density aboard,
for instance — have it confirmed in writing before you pay a deposit.
The fare in detail
Included are the cabin, full board, hot drinks throughout, wine and beer
served at dinner on the river ships, the announced excursions, port taxes and
guidance aboard.
Two structural exclusions for a client from here. First: air travel and
transfers are not part of the North American product, while they traditionally
are part of the same operator's British product. The British site redirects to
the North American one from Quebec, which makes online comparison misleading
through nobody's bad faith.
Second: crew gratuities are included on no ship in the fleet. They stay on
your account, for the ship as for local guides. We say so because the item
weighs on a seven- to fourteen-night trip and it distorts comparison with the
lines that build it in.
The ship, the valley and the cabins
The Douro imposes an eighty-metre hull: narrow locks, deep dams, an
enclosed valley. The ship therefore holds fewer travellers than a Rhine unit,
and you cross paths more often. A lounge, a dining room, a sun deck: the
geography aboard is learned in five minutes.
A real balcony stays rare on European river ships. What the brochure calls a
balcony is generally a French balcony: a sliding wall with a railing and no
outdoor floor. On the lower deck the window does not open. Have the exact
category confirmed before the deposit.
No wheelchair-accessible cabin is documented on this fleet, and the
excursions climb into hillside villages. On this river, mobility is measured
ashore rather than aboard.
What this trip asks of you from Quebec
A flight not included in the fare, transfers to arrange, and a hotel night
before embarkation that we recommend every time. Door-to-door travel often
exceeds what the brochure suggests, especially when the embarkation city needs
a connection.
The protection question comes up weekly with clients, so let us be clear.
Nothing establishes that this British operator holds a Quebec travel agent's
licence; its North American entity is a Florida corporation. That is not a
fault on its part, simply the structure of the market.
Protection comes from the agency that sells. Voyages AquaTerra holds a
licence from Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur, deposits your
payments in a trust account, and your file falls under the Compensation Fund
for Customers of Travel Agents. Write to us and we will look at what the
season allows.
