Cruising the Bordeaux Region with AmaWaterways
Last time I told you about our pre-cruise portion of our recent trip to Europe, which was four days in the Basque region of Spain. Today I want to tell you about our one-week river cruise through the Bordeaux region of France on AmaWaterways.
I have to preface this post by saying that this was my fourth river cruise with AmaWaterways. Back in 2015(?) my mom took my sisters and me on our first river cruise along the Rhine River. We started in Amsterdam and finished up in Switzerland. It was amazing–the scenery, the ship, the food–everything about that cruise was perfection.
A few years later, Mom once again treated us to a river cruise–that one was a Christmas Markets cruise on the Danube. Again, we had so much fun! (One of these days I’m going to grab some girlfriends for a Christmas Markets cruise. I don’t think my husband would appreciate that one.)
Both of my experiences were so good that I wanted my husband to experience an AmaWaterways cruise, so we, along with two other couples, did the Rhine River itinerary that I had done with my mom and sisters. They all loved it too.
Finally, this year seemed to be a good time to get back out there and take another river cruise, so I asked several friends if they’d be interested in seeing the Bordeaux region. We’re all interested in wine, so it seemed a good fit. And amazingly, six couples wanted to go!
We boarded the AmaDolce in Bordeaux, France after four days in Spain. It was so nice to be escorted to our cabins and finally be able to unpack for a while. There is plenty of hanging closet space and shelf space, and, as we discovered after we had completely unpacked, there were even two large drawers underneath the bed that we didn’t use. Our suitcases fit neatly under the bed as well. So, while our cabin wasn’t large, it had plenty of room for everything we needed.
Everyone in our group got a complimentary bottle of wine in their room—a nice touch!
The Cruise Itinerary
This was an out-and-back cruise, meaning we went out from Bordeaux for a few days and back to Bordeaux at the end of the cruise. We spent the first night in Bordeaux, then traveled to Libourne where we got to visit the famous wine town of St. Emillion, a place we were really looking forward to seeing.
The wine tasting was fine, but one thing that really grabbed my imagination in St. Emillion was the monolithic church. This was a huge space, connected to the catacombs, that was carved from one piece of rock. It’s so hard to describe because it was HUGE! I kept wondering how they could make what is essentially a cathedral out of one piece of rock–it’s just mind boggling.
(If you’re interested, you can read about the monolithic church here. The church in St. Emillion is the largest one in Europe!)
Mostly it was kind of a “pinch me” moment to be in such a famous wine region tasting great Bordeaux wines.
That day happened to be Bastille Day in France (or la fete nationale, as they call it), so we capped off the day by watching fireworks from the upper deck of our ship and listening to the French National Anthem on Spotify.
The next day we docked in Blaye, a town I had never heard of, and toured the citadel there. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that excited about a citadel, but once again, the place captured my imagination. First of all, it was huge! It used to be an important site on the estuary between the Atlantic Ocean and the Dordogne River. Second, it has been well preserved in an interesting way–it’s part historical, part shops, and part restaurants. A few people even live within the citadel walls.
After that, we traveled to Bourg, and then Cadillac—both places were stops for the night. During the day, we enjoyed visits to beautiful wineries and chateaux in the region.
Near the end of the week, we were supposed to stay in a village that wasn’t even a village–it was a dock in the countryside. But there was a huge group of scouts camping nearby, so the captain decided to skip the overnight there (since there really wasn’t anything to do there) and head back to Bordeaux, giving us an extra night in the city. It was a good decision.
We all loved our couple of days in Bordeaux. It’s a beautiful city with a rich history. While we were there, Brian and I took a bike tour around the city, which was a great way to see a lot in a shorter amount of time.
In the evenings, we walked around, enjoying the vibrant city life and even taking a ride on their permanent ferris wheel!
All in all, I’d say the trip was a success. Our group had a lot of fun hanging out on the upper deck during the warm, sunny days and laughing together at dinner. The ship’s crew all did an incredible job of taking care of us from the moment we started our trip in Spain until we disembarked in Bordeaux. AmaWaterways does a fantastic job of training their crew, that’s for sure!
Full disclosure time
Because I want you to be fully informed, I’ll let you in on a couple of my final thoughts. There were a couple of things on this cruise that felt, to me, not up to par for this incredible cruise line.
First, the ship was one of their older ships and felt a little tired to me, compared to some of the others I had traveled on in the past. I don’t know what cruise companies do with ships that are older–sell them? Refurbish them? Remodel them?--but it might be time to give the AmaDolce some updates.
Second, I felt like the food service wasn’t up to Ama’s usual standard. Don’t get me wrong–the food was AMAZING! But compared to past cruises, it felt like they had cut back quite a bit on their breakfast buffet, which is usually quite elaborate. The lunch buffet that has, in the past, been served in the lounge for those who didn’t want a sit-down lunch, was not even an option on this cruise. Dinners, however, were amazing and delicious, as has been the case on every AmaWaterways cruise I’ve ever taken.
Finally, while we were glad to have gotten a taste of the Bordeaux region, I don’t think we’re in a hurry to go back. The area just isn’t as picturesque as the other cruises we’ve done. And, as one friend pointed out, the river was brown and murky, which only added to the lack of scenery. (I know none of this is a cruise line critique—I just thought I’d mention it in case beautiful scenery is what you’re after.)
Bottom line
If you’re really into wine and want to see Bordeaux, as we did, definitely do this cruise. But for gorgeous scenery, this isn’t your best bet.
AmaWaterways is still amazing–one of the best river cruise companies out there–and we will probably do another river cruise with them in the future. They really offer great itineraries and fabulous service.
