Portugal. The Douro River. (The Ship: The Amalia Rodrigues) (September 2019)
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Dimensions of Portugal's five Douro River locks determine the maximum size of Douro River tour boats: beam 37 feet, length 272 feet. The MV Amalia Rodrigues is a maxi-size Douro River cruise ship, at roughly only one foot less beam and two feet less length than the maximum the locks physically allow. Vertical clearance on the Douro is trickier, since it depends on the river's height, which in turn depends on rainfall as well as upstream releases. At high water, the overhead superstructure of some locks comes close to vessels' highest fixtures. But more challenging are some relatively low bridges, and there are occasional high-water times when cruise boats can't navigate the full length of the part of the river within Portugal. Clearances were tight enough on the Amalia Rodrigues for one bridge that the crew lowered the canopy over the top deck and removed the swimming pool railings. Clearance was still limited, the crew was vigilant, and the passengers were impressed by the tight, but successful, passage.
CroisiEurope, a French company, operates the Amalia Rodrigues with a Portuguese crew. The company seems to run, as they say, a taut ship that provides great value, good food, good service, and an attentive staff. The ship is registered in Luxembourg. It is a handsome vessel, launched in 2018 and christened in 2019, and named for the Queen of Fado, the late Amalia Rodrigues. It has 66 staterooms and can carry 132 passengers. It has modern twin screw vectoring propulsion and can be operated by a single bridge officer seated behind a modern control panel for the ship's engineering and navigation systems.
Embarking, the first day:
Docked midway for a land excursion:
A Croisi sistership:
The purser's desk:
The captain has all controls and displays immediately at hand on the bridge. Passengers were invited onto the bridge in groups.
Canopy lowered for bridge clearance:
Tight quarters: passing beneath a bridge deck:
Reactions: relief, amazement:
Checking clearances as the Amalia Rodrigues transits locks:
Top deck swimming pool, while heading west:
Beverages were served in the salon during vessel festivities.
After a shore excursion, passengers re-board.
The deck crew waiting for a lock to fill reacts to the bridge, a deck above.
Above right: A sistership is moored alongside overnight.
Below: The Portuguese flag, on the foredeck.
The ship's bell:
Crew rig the gangway so passengers can re-board after a shore excursion.
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.