There were only 2 couples doing the back to back Seine & Douro and it turned out that 2 other couples did Rhine & Douro. The B2B is a new product and ours was the first one. It wasn't well enough advertized because several people commented that they weren't aware of it. The package is well priced with both cruises costing less than each individually and our airfare from Paris to Lisbon and 4 nights in the hotel cost less than the 3 day pre cruise package. Since we were in Lisbon a day ahead of the pre cruise group, we had a private tour for 4 of us the first day and then joined with the other 25 for the next 3 days. There were included tours every day and optional ones to purchase. The Amavida is a new ship (this was its 3rd week) and the ship is owned by Douroazul, which also employs the crew and owns the buses. They seem to have a monopoly on the Douro cruises because all the other companies, such as Uniworld & Vantage also were run by Douroazul and the cruise companies charter or lease them. Because of this, gratuities must be paid in cash.
The ship is well laid out with larger cabins and all of decks 2 & 3 have real, but small, balconies. We liked the room layout and there was plenty of storage and space to move around. The bathrooms are great. The ship only holds 106 passengers and there isn't a rear "Pooch Lounge", but the regular lounge is spacious and there is plenty of seating. The restaurant can hold more than 106 so there were always open tables. The buses used for tours are new and have great legroom.
Ama offers 2 Douro cruise versions: the standard and the wine tasting. We did the wine tasting and you are tasting wine and / or port every day, often 2 or 3 different times. Wine at the meals flows freely and, even with doing 2 weeks worth of laundry we couldn't use up the shipboard credit because you get so much free wine with the tastings & meals you don't have much room for purchased drinks. The Douro trip is well worth it even if you don't do a B2B.
Rudi Schreiner, CEO and Co-Owner of Ama Waterways, was on board for the first 4 or 5 days and said that Ama is looking at many new places to run cruises. Myanmar is expected to start up in 2014 and they have even looked at the Amazon.
Jim