Whilst on board the Celebrity Infinity last month we stopped at Porto (O’Porto as the English call it ‘the Port’). I knew nothing about this destination which is quite unlike me as I normally research ports of call before I arrive to ensure not to miss anything. As this was a working vacation I was not sure we would have had the chance to visit so I did not want to get excited about a port I would not get chance to see.
As we were invited on-board by Celebrity to immerse ourselves into modern luxury, they arranged for a complementary tour to take us around the port, how nice, thanks Celebrity.
To say I was pleasantly surprised was an understatement ‘Porto’ is exquisite. Located along the Duoro river estuary in northern Portugal it is one of the oldest European centres and was registered as a ‘World Heritage Site’ by Unesco in 1996. Porto is one of Portugal’s internationally famous exports of Port wine so we were very pleased to have the opportunity to visit a fortified wine distillery whilst there.
The half day tour would have cost $40 per person which I thought was quite reasonable, I would definitely have taken up this opportunity as a paying guest. I am known to advise guests to do as much as they can independently in Ports as shore excursions can be extremely expensive with some lines.
After a guided tour of Porto with its beautiful architecture, historic buildings, chapels and churches we stopped at a spectacular view point to take in Porto from afar, great photo opportunitiy.
We then made our way from the centre over the Duoro River to a fortified wine distillery, where we learnt the process of fortified wine from the grape to the bottle and also got the chance to do a bit of tasting too. Bit sweet for me, I’ll be sticking to my glass of Hock, classy girl!!!!!
Porto is definitely a destination I would return back to which proves that cruising is a great way to see a little snippet of beautiful destinations which you can then return back to for a longer vacation. With so many lines such as Celebrity and Azamara offering longer durations and stay overs in ports this certainly gives passengers plenty of time to really taste what a destination has to offer.
