The cruises compared here
Porto has one dinner cruise in the Civitatis catalogue, and it is a long one. It leaves the Ribeira dock at 8 pm and comes back around 11 pm.
Whether that is good value depends on what you would otherwise spend the evening doing. So it helps to price it as dinner plus entertainment, not as a boat ticket.
1What is on the table
The listing publishes the menu, which is more than many dinner cruises do. Appetisers are a platter of Portuguese fried snacks, vegetable samosas and vegetable crêpes with white port, tawny, orange juice or tonic. Then pumpkin soup with almonds, a main course, and a chocolate dessert with coffee foam and berry jelly.
The main course is a choice of two: flaked cod with cornbread, spinach and potatoes, or loin medallions with spinach and potatoes. White or red Douro wine, water and coffee or tea are included throughout.
There is a children's menu of fish sticks or steak with fries. No vegetarian main course is listed, so ask before booking if you need one.
2The price in context
From €58 you are paying for a multi-course meal with wine, three hours afloat and live traditional music. Taken as a package, that is a fair price, and reviewers seem to agree: 8.6 is the best score of the three boats that leave from Ribeira.
Compare it with the alternatives on the same river. The daytime six bridges cruise is €20 and leaves you free to choose any restaurant. The sunset cruise with aperitif is €39 for 90 minutes with a generous spread of snacks and wine, though with weaker reviews.
3What you will not get
This is a night sailing. The listing talks about the city lights, and with an 8 pm start that is what you should expect to see for much of the year, not the detail of the bridges. No commentary is listed, and the listing does not even claim the six bridges as its route.
The boat is not described. The listing says nothing about window seats, an open deck or how tables are shared, so do not count on a private table by the glass. If that matters, contact the operator after booking.
Three hours is also a commitment. You cannot leave early if the music is not to your taste.
4Who should book it, and who should not
Book it for a birthday, a group that wants everything arranged, or a last night in Porto when you would like the decisions made for you. It is also the one cruise in our comparison listed as wheelchair accessible, as long as you state it in the reservation.
Do not book it as your only boat trip if you care about seeing the city from the water. Take the six bridges cruise in daylight for that. And if you want an evening on the river with more air and fewer people, the sunset catamaran from €60 holds 18 passengers at most, though it gives you a glass of port and no dinner.