By
Alex Smith |
Travel company Tauck has officially christened its new river cruise ship, Andorinha, in a ceremony on the Douro River in Portugal.
Guests were surprised by the ceremony before embarkation on the ship’s first scheduled cruise from the village of Barca d’Alva in Portugal. The guests were on day three of Tauck’s 12-day ‘Exploring the Douro, plus Lisbon & Madrid’ itinerary, after spending two nights in Madrid, Spain. Tauck’s president Jennifer Tombaugh and chief culture officer Sharyn Cannon served as godmothers for the ship, having worked for the company for over 20 years.
“In crafting our itineraries, we work extraordinarily hard to find fun and unexpected experiences for our guests and craft them into our journeys,” said Dan Mahar, CEO of Tauck. “It’s very gratifying to surprise our guests with a sense of wonder and delight, and for this lucky group of guests, we were able to provide an especially memorable experience.”
Andorinha’s décor and design was inspired by the Douro Valley’s culture and climate, with recurring themes including painted ceramic tiles called azulejos adorning areas throughout the ship and decorative metalwork suggestive of grapevines. Guests sailing on the ship will be accommodated in 42 cabins, including 12 suites on the upper deck, 20 staterooms on the middle deck and six smaller cabins on the lower deck.
The ship’s sun deck features canopied Balinese day beds, an infinity pool and an outdoor grill with a full-service bar. The pop-up restaurant Arthur’s can also rise from the stern of the ship on hydraulic lifts to offer views of the countryside and be lowered to improve the vessel’s clearance when approaching low bridges.
Tauck will offer two Douro River itineraries onboard Andorinha in 2021, the 12-day ‘Exploring the Douro, plus Lisbon & Madrid’ journey which bookends a seven-night Douro cruise with two-night hotel stays in Lisbon and Madrid, as well as an eight-day ‘Villages and Vintages: Cruising the Douro River Valley’ cruise-only itinerary along the river.