Currently on the Andorinha

Now on board after starting in Madrid. Ask away, and I’ll try to answer your questions later today.

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Comments

  • Are the TDs good? What is the crew staffing like? Are both Arthur's and the Compass dining room open for normal operstions? Are you having fun?

  • We've been on a number of Tauck riverboats. Usually they sail in the evening. On the Douro I understand that is not the case. What time do you leave to sail down/up the river in the afternoon to get to the next port? I wanted to get a walk in during the afternoon. Many thanks, gafly for your answers. Have fun!!!!

  • Because of the constraints of the river, the Andorinha can only sail during daylight hours. The first excursion is normally shortly after breakfast, so there is ample time for a walk. The next excursion is after lunch. You will also have another opportunity to exerrcise once that second excursion returns. At least that was the typical schedule when I took this tour last fall.

  • Thanks, kfnknfzk! The afternoon sounds like the perfect time so my favorite wife can take a break from me! 😉

  • You are quite welcome, Thetriguy.

  • This is our first Tauck experience, so I will not be making any comparisons to prior trips.
    TDs - Knowledgeable and personable, and it seems they’ve been with Tauck for a long time. We started in Madrid with two (Lilly and Felipe) and just met Jeremy on board yesterday. Local guides have been delightful. It’s early in the trip, still, so I will have more to say at the end.
    Crew staffing - Not at full staff, short-handed and trying their best to not let it show. Covid staffing has been mentioned several times as the answer to limited services. Passenger count is reduced as well, there are 62 of us.
    Arthur’s is open for self-serve continental breakfast and has a self-serve coffee machine, water and ice and some cookies the rest of the day. No meals served on the sun deck, and the sun deck bar is not open. However, a runner brought drinks up from the bar this afternoon.
    Breakfast and lunch in the Compass dining room are self-serve buffet; dinner has been by menu-order.
    Having fun - Yes! But I recognize this enjoyment may come at the price of involuntary extension. Socializing is primarily in indoor spaces with food and drink and maskless guests. Staff, including our TDS, are wearing masks. I can only hope that it helps to reduce some of my exposure by wearing my mask on the bus rides and as much as I can indoors.

  • Thanx for taking the time to post this gafly.

  • We will only sail during the day, and that’s one reason we chose this itinerary because we enjoy that. Fantastic scenery! Narrow river, only passed two other boats today. Controlled timing is essential for the locks, and the ability to pass by another boat.
    First full day on the river, tour left at 0830 and returned for lunch to where the boat had sailed down river. Stayed docked for a few hours (short afternoon excursion option) and then sailed through the first lock and just a couple hours. Docked for dinner and overnight. Docks are remote (on this first full sail day), a lot of twisty turning loops on a bus up the hillside to reach a town.

  • Thank you so much for posting about your trip and hope you continue to enjoy it.
    Do they allow guests to take food from the Compass to their cabins or sundeck if they don't wish to eat in the dining room?

  • G_TL4: Certainly! Although, I seemed to be the only oddball who grabbed breakfast and a place setting from Arthur’s to take out on the sun deck to enjoy in absolute solitude. 😂 LOL, when finished, I bussed my own table and moved my dirty dishes back inside Arthur’s. Probably the ghost of some nagging voice in my head. It is your trip to enjoy as you wish, and I don’t doubt that if a passenger was insistent, a meal would be brought to their cabin. This boat is so small, and the distance from any room to either Arthur’s or the Compass so short, I’d rather go pick out what I want than have room service (even though it’s supposedly available to us). The camaraderie of fellow passengers beckons, our resolve to mask and isolate as much as possible lessens.

  • LOL. Thank you, gafly26482! Glad to know there's options. I'm sure breakfast on the sun deck was spectacular. I hear you about trying to strike the right balance between enjoying the camaraderie of the group and avoiding the dreaded unwanted "guest"/trip extension.
    Thanks again and hope you keep having a fantastic experience.

  • It's too bad that Arthurs isn't being more fully used. Tauck and Scylla made much about this redesigned sundeck. I so hope they get the staffing back before our trip as I was really looking forward to using it. So much safer than inside.

  • Thank you gafly for your posts. I’m looking forward to the Andorinha in June. Hoping for good weather to take our breakfast and lunch up to Arthur’s and the sun deck to dine al fresco in a safer environment with a view.

  • Thank you gaily for the daily updates. We are doing this same Westbound sail on June 1st. Is the reduced passenger count by design because of the limited crew or they just didn't have the booking interest? Just curious if you can find out. Thank you and have a great trip!

  • gafly, how are you posting from the ship? What device are you using, what internet connection? I tried to post last year in Europe and could not log on to the forum.

  • inlanikai: It looks like we will get on you boat right after you get off. We are going the other way. Save some Fanta for me...my favorite drink!

  • gafly or kfnknfzk: Any opportunity to fish when we dock? I did it on the Danube and the Seine when the riverboats docked in years past. The deck crew loved it...the TDs, not so much. Still, it's fun being a kid!

  • edited May 2022

    Thetriguy,

    Fish??? You are too funny! I didn't see anyone fishing, locals or otherwise. I did enjoy the fish stew we had one evening, as well as the oysters we had one afternoon after returning from an excursion.

    Did you catch that adorable troll when fishing in Norway? You made my day. Thank you, sir.

    Postscript - My husband just reminded me that he saw locals fishing in Porto. I was too busy admiring the beautiful city.

  • Claudia, I had your issue on the Holland-Belgium cruise last month. When I tried to login to Tauck, it took me to the U.K site and there was no link to the Forums.

  • Triguy, you have my support for fishing. Just please give us feedback on how the trip went. :)

  • Triguy, saw a person fishing across the river where our trip began, but no one since. I’m surprised we don’t see personal small boats on this calm river, perhaps because it’s not vacation season.
    Claudia, I discovered closing browser windows blocks you from accessing the US site anew, but I am able to access the forum from a tab I left open in Safari (or from History if it has not yet cleared). Don’t know if it would work from a bookmark. Using an iPad.

  • I’ve never had a problem accessing the forum, clearly! Sometimes depending on where you are in the world, I end up getting the UK one. I rarely use my phone to look at the forum, but when I do, the message posting times are all off, I don’t know how to fix that

  • Sorry guys and gals but fishing is, well...fishing! It's a part of life. Ask any angler and one of the reasons we travel is so we can embellish our stories about the one that got away! Don't believe me...just ask my grandkids about how big the fish are that Pop-Pop almost catches. 😇

  • Gafly, thanks for posting. I may be on this ship in the fall and can only hope staffing has improved by then. Still haven’t decided to cancel yet. I will offer a little advice since you seem to be concerned about Covid. On our Rhône cruise last month there was a mask requirement while moving around the ship (which makes no sense) and on the busses. While seated in the restaurant and lounge masks were not required. My husband contracted Covid and a lot of people were sick with the same symptoms but I know of only 4 who tested positive. Anyway, sitting in the lounge and restaurant maskless was the riskiest activity of all so I would advise you to try to stay masked as much as possible and continue to try to mitigate your risk by utilizing room service and sit at a 2-top whenever possible in the lounge and restaurant. You’ll feel anti-social for sure but being social with strangers is not worth the risk of Covid and risk of being stranded in Portugal after the cruise. Stay safe but have fun!

  • Gourmet Gal (and other recent travelers), thank you for your frequent posts and sharing experiences. I found current posts helpful to setting expectations and determining our risk tolerance. Now that we reached Porto the optional masking has changed to required on the touring buses, trams, boats due to an uptick in COVID cases in Portugal. Still optional on the Andorinha (and majority not masked). It’s still a bit cool at night, so those taking this trip in a few weeks may well find more evening activities held on the sun deck rather than the Panorama Lounge. We had a couple events up top earlier in the trip (warmer inland).

  • Gafly, it sounds like Portuguese mask requirements have changed and you mentioned they are now required on boats yet not on Andorinha? That’s confusing. Why wouldn’t the ship need to comply?

  • We were instructed in last night’s briefing that because COVID is on the rise in Portugal, we were to wear masks while on the tour transports today, which were bus, tram, gondola, and a boat. The implication was it is a Public transport rule.

  • That’s good that the country is being cautious.

  • How was your time is Lisbon?

  • BH59: Delightful! I would return there in a heartbeat. First day home, will organize my thoughts and then post a review. Briefly, though, we loved the trip and fully recognize the impact of TDs, ship staff, local guides, weather, and your own expectations. No two tour dates in the same year for the same packaged trip will elicit the same review.

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