Two pages for a ship already out of the programme
This page duplicates the Queen Isabel page. Same hull, same name, two
addresses, and nothing anywhere explains why both exist. What sets it apart
from the other duplicates on this site: the ship it duplicates is not in the
programme either. Two pages therefore lead to the same ship, and that ship no
longer appears in the catalogue.
The Queen Isabel was chartered for the Portuguese Douro. The charter ended
and the hull went back to her owner, who keeps her in his own published fleet.
She never belonged to the brand that sold her: that is a different mechanism
from a sale, and it explains why no announcement was ever made.
The ship, for the record
Seventy-nine metres, 59 cabins, 118 travellers, in service since 2013. On
the Douro the length is dictated by the river's five locks, among them
Carrapatelo, one of the deepest in Europe. Every Douro hull looks alike for
that reason: the river fixes the dimension, not the builder.
One point we will not settle: the building yard is given as Dutch by a
specialist database and as Portuguese by the owner himself. Two serious
sources, two answers. We publish neither rather than pick one at random.
The Douro is booked elsewhere
The S.S. Sao Gabriel took over this programme under the brand's own colours, and that is
now the page to read for the Douro. The S.S. Bon Voyage covers Bordeaux, the S.S. La Venezia the Venice
lagoon, the S.S. Catherine the Rhone and the Saone.
Who owns the hull
The line runs a mixed ownership model. It owns part of its fleet and
charters the rest from third-party shipowners, often without saying so in its
sales material. The difference shows the day a charter ends: the hull stays,
the name leaves the catalogue, and nothing is announced.
That is exactly what separates an owned fleet from a rented one. In the
first case a withdrawn ship is a sold ship and the sale can be traced. In the
second the ship never moved: the contract ended.
What is included, and what is not
Included: gratuities to the onboard crew, drinks served at meals, and at
least one excursion per touring day, those listed in the itinerary. Wi-Fi is
provided with no committed bandwidth; on European rivers it drops in gorges and
at locks.
Not included: the international flight, and gratuities to coach drivers
ashore, which remain at your expense. Transfers between the airport and the
ship are included only if the air ticket was bought from the line; bought
elsewhere, the transfer is paid separately.
Accessibility: what the line publishes
Almost nothing. It publishes no number of adapted cabins, on any ship in its
fleet. Its accessibility statement, the one linked in the footer, covers its
website only: it says nothing about the ships.
What it does write is plain enough. Anyone needing help must travel with an
able companion. Only a folding wheelchair is admitted aboard. Mobility scooters
are refused. And if the crew judges mid-voyage that a traveller can no longer
continue, that traveller is put ashore with no refund.
Booking from Quebec: the frame
Three legal systems overlap here. The river transport contract falls under
Swiss law, before the district court of Rheinfelden. The Canadian entity
answers before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, under an
Ontario permit. The American contract points to California.
Nothing establishes a Quebec licence for this line. Your protection
therefore comes from here: Voyages AquaTerra holds a licence from Quebec's
Office de la protection du consommateur, your payments move through a trust
account, and the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents covers your
file as the law provides.
