7/21 Home to Porto, Portugal
As close to a 'sea day' as you can come
07/21/2019 - 07/21/2019 85 °F
View RussRaff to Portugal on paulej4's travel map.
The final day of holiday, for me, is bittersweet. I savor the crumbs of that just devoured. But then, my mind leaps ahead to tomorrow, to bill-paying and packing, to the details and rigors of travel, and ultimately, a return to routine.
It frustrates B4 but I add to that a need to fill the vacuum on my calendar which needs to be filled with my/our next adventure. The most significant thing in our mutual calendar is a board meeting in November. That’s fine for her but too wide a gap for me.
In that spirit, we discussed at lunch the possibility of another river cruise. B4 has another board meeting in Switzerland in the spring of 2020. That offers up the chance to again sail a river.
As we ponder that possibility, it is a good time to pause and compare and contrast river cruises to ocean cruises. Most people choose ocean cruises for the ports to be visited; river cruises are chosen for the cities along the river they choose. Departure and arrival cities—particularly as they relate to ease and affordability of airline access—are the other prime consideration. And, of course, one must determine whether to book a super-premium all-inclusive company or something on one of the other companies which, like hotels, span the wide range of cost based upon the facilities and services offered. But, beyond that, there is more to ponder.
1. On the ocean, having been to just about every port you can name, we are at a place where we enjoy sea days or staying aboard the ship when it is in port. We enjoy life onboard. On the river, we quickly came to embrace the same on-board experience. Therefore, the ship, the cabin, amenities offered, food served, entertainment provided and the like are all as important—or more important—than the itinerary. If you enjoy the on board experience, choose an itinerary that covers a very long distance. If you want to enjoy destinations, choose an itinerary that covers a shorter distance and goes to places you want to visit.
2. Very small ships mean limited onboard experience options. If you want more things to do, choose a larger vessel on either an ocean or a river.
3. Smaller ships mean you will see the same people over and over and over again. The larger the vessel the greater the likelihood that you will be exposed to a much wider variety of fellow passengers.
4. If you travel with friends or family, you are less likely to make friends outside your group.
5. The demographic of the people who make up the roster of fellow passengers is directly related to the price of the trip. Rich people spend a lot more money, those on a budget find bargains. If you’re on a bargain voyage, expect to find budget-conscious fellow passengers.
6. Very large ships with wide experience options are limited to itineraries calling on only larger ports that can accommodate larger than normal vessels. Smaller vessels can sneak into smaller spots.
7. Because, in many cases, river navigation after dark is illegal and/or unsafe, river cruises are tied up overnight in a city or a town and are underway for a part of the daytime hours. Ocean cruises, on the other hand, primarily sail overnight so they are tied up, or anchored, at a destination during the day. (The exception to this rule is the true “sea day” where the ship is moving a great distance and the overnight hours, even from early afternoon one day until mid-morning the next day are inadequate to cover the distance involved)
8. On a river cruise, you might disembark at one spot, board a coach to visit a destination that is not alongside the river and then return to the ship which, while you were ashore, sailed to a different spot. That would never occur on an ocean voyage—the only way your ship moves without you is if you miss the boat.
9. Guests can seldom have dinner ashore during an ocean voyage as they have already left port before dinnertime. Most people don’t mind this as they have a wonderful free dinner awaiting them on the ship. River cruises do allow guests to have dinner ashore if they choose to forego their included meal on board because they have tied up prior to or shortly after the dinner hour. If local restaurants are your thing, take a river cruise.
10. The enjoyment of a balcony cabin is in spending time on the balcony; or, at the very least gazing out the window. That view is not often blocked by another ship when aboard an ocean cruise. It is, by our first experience at least, often blocked by another ship when a river cruise ship is tied up. You will be forced to pull your blackout curtains shut and not sit on your balcony because the balcony of your neighbor will be about one foot away from your balcony. Why? Due to limited pier space, river ships tie up to each other and guests on the ship nearest the land will find guests from the ship tied up next to them passing through their ship to get to the gangway to make their way ashore. And, on a river cruise ship, the balcony itself is half the size of the smallest balcony one would experience on an ocean cruise ship.
11. On an ocean cruise you will use your balcony a lot. To get outside requires a long walk. On a river cruise you might never use your balcony because it is tiny and because the sun deck—which is a gigantic 360 degree balcony, is only steps and a staircase away.
12. Under way on a river cruise ship, the place to be is on the sun deck at the top of the ship. In second place, depending upon the angle of the sun and your tolerance for it, is the outside lounge space. Since the ship seldom travels faster than 15 mph, if there is no wind, you have a nice breeze. On an ocean cruise ship, there are countless outdoor places to be. Some may be, depending upon the weather, too windy to enjoy unless you are behind one of the glass shields which are ubiquitous on cruise ships.
Think of the theme song from the classic television show, “Cheers,” (sing it with me):
“Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name.”
If that’s you, take a river cruise—or an ocean cruise on the smallest vessel you can afford.
If it is anonymity you crave—like Garbo in “Grand Hotel” you “want to be alone,” choose a mega ship. The easiest way to be alone is to be in a crowd.
For us, I think we’ll do all of the above.
Back to Helgrim, this final day is sublime. We spend a lot of time cruising, going under low bridges and through locks, past beautiful terraced hillsides, through narrow rocky canyons and, as we get closer to Porto, past increasing crowds taking their Sunday day off to enjoy the river on boats, aboard wav-runners or just on the beach. It is hot but not too hot.
When we tie up in Porto we are the lucky ones: our balcony is on the river for this final night. The unlucky side of this final night is that it will be exceedingly short. Our taxi to the airport calls for us at 4:45am.
For that reason, our final cocktail hour—enriched by a class on how to open an aged bottle of port wine—you cut the glass—and our final dinner aboard with our happy group (a delightful chateaubriand) is abbreviated. The others don’t have to leave as early as we do so we are the ones to break the mood and begin the obligatory hugs goodbye. The good news is that our six traveling companions all live within a stone's throw; something tells me we will meet again soon. We hope so.
