We have river cruised before with another company and went on a sea cruise with Viking last year which we loved. We thought we would give the river cruising arm a go! We really enjoyed the trip ( by the way we were on the same trip as Gina - see below) - we too were at the younger end of the passenger age range and we understood some of her concerns. Overall we had a very good time - the Douro is absolutely beautiful, the ship, buses and staff are excellent. I will get the negatives out of the way straight away....there were food problems on this cruise...staff turnover had left inexperienced chefs in charge and they struggled all week to keep on top of things. Lunches were very disappointing most days, and in the evening food service and quality was inconsistent. Waiting staff were also either inexperienced or suffering low morale as a result of the kitchen problems.

The advice I would give to anyone thinking about this trip is to read carefully and understand what trip you are going on. Viking are quite clear on the logistics of this cruise and if that combination of coach tour and river cruise is not for you then perhaps look elsewhere. We found the two days in Lisbon excellent - the recently refurbished Tivoli hotel was very good indeed and we were very happy there. We were amazed how much we saw on the half day tour - we have been to Lisbon before and saw less in a weekend than on our tour! We had plenty of time to explore on our own which we appreciated.

The trip to Porto via Coimbra was excellent with a great lunch with Fado music. Porto is a beautiful town and we were easily able to explore ourselves. We took the cable car from right by the ship , walked across the bridge , took the funicular down and the water taxi back....a lovely afternoon in the sun after the Viking morning tour. Read more