Europe river cruises

I strongly advise that you look at Cruise Critic, which has an enormous amount of material on questions like yours, including cruise forums, cruise reviews, and articles dedicated to comparing cruise lines against each other. For what it's worth, we're extremely satisfied with Uniworld, and will be going on our sixth cruise with them shortly. That being said, that are several quality cruise lines catering to different crowds, and Cruise Critic is best suited for your questions. Also, youtube has numerous videos about river cruising, both generally and about different cruise lines.

We have been on one tour (RS Rome in 7 days) on one river cruise (Viking Rhine) and one ocean cruise (Viking Istanbul to Venice). We have done at least 10 trips to Europe on our own. When we've done the tour and cruises, there was always independent travel before and after. We liked the RS tour and the cruises. Of the cruises, I liked the ocean a bit better because I love a pool and the variety. It felt like a nice mix of sightseeing and "resort time". We usually did our sightseeing until at least 2pm and then when come back to the ship to do our own thing. My husband liked the river cruise a bit better. He doesn't really care about a pool or lounging outdoors, he felt he could meet more people on the river cruise. My husband liked the food a bit better on the river cruise, there was less variety and options, but everything prepared was excellent. There were always plenty options at Breakfast and lunch, both menu and buffet. For dinner, my recollection was there was at least three choices for appetizer, main and dessert. You could order multiple of each course to "hedge" your bets. We also noted that as long as it wasn't too crazy, a person could just order random off menu items.

Typically on the river cruise the ship was docked close to city center making independent sightseeing easy. Ocean ships were often docked further away. One thing Viking did on the ocean cruise that we didn't anticipate, is there usually was a bus to shuttle folks into and out of city center. So, if you want to do independent sightseeing, it was easier to do. The staff on both cruises was exceptionally helpful and friendly. I asked about ice and our cabin steward set up times for ice delivery.

Do a search for recent posts on here, this topic comes up often.

A river cruise typically is a pretty fast paced tour, some 6 cities in 7 days, if you do not count the short days at the beginning and end. I looked into it, did a bunch of investigation on Cruise Critic, watched a ton of Youtube videos (pretty good resource actually), and decided it was not for me, but many really enjoy it.

Sounds like maybe you have been on an ocean cruise, river cruising is a different animal entirely. The tour is much more regimented, and since the boats are smaller, less selection in what you do, You basically need to get up at a certain time, eat breakfast at a certain time, then the tours leave at whatever o'clock, back to the boat for lunch, another excursion, then back to the boat for dinner. You can certainly opt out of some of the tours, and do some meals on your own, but you also paid for those things already. Nearly all responses I saw complemented the quality of the tours.

There are some days where a portion is cruising the river, but much cruising is done at night/after dinner.

Most everyone mentions that the food is very good, but the options are somewhat limited as you might expect on a smaller ship. There is usually only one dining room, and then maybe a more informal option. They try to feature "local cuisine", but I can't imagine it really compares to having the local dishes in local restaurants. You really do not have the buffets, multiple restaurants, or open bar that an ocean cruise does.

The other thing to investigate is water levels. Every year some cruises are affected by water levels, either too high or too low. Some times of the years are more affected, so look into that, and different lines handle the event differently. Sometimes there are last minute cancellations, sometimes your river cruise becomes a bus tour sleeping in docked boats. If your tour provider skims over water levels as an issue, maybe look elsewhere.

Thank you for the reply’s. That was helpful. Yes we just did our 6th ocean cruise. We did like those.

The other thing I failed to mention, but came up repeatedly, is that the average age on a river cruise is probably North of 65 and mostly couples.

Singles, and younger people, often comment that they feel out of place. That though is likely highly specific to the person, and of course if you are a couple and in the age range, then likely would never notice.

I can only speak to Viking cruises. We were under 60 when we took our Rhine cruise as were some friends when they took one. We didn't feel out of place and found many to socialize with. There were couples our age we spent some time with, but also there were older couples we found much in common with and enjoyed.

I think the longer the cruise, the higher the average age which makes sense because retirees do not have to save up vacation days.

There were breakfast and lunch buffets on the river cruise, but at both meals, people were able to order off a menu, as well.

There are several excellent river cruise companies. Before booking, research and compare.
Viking is an excellent cruise line, but every time I have book a cruise, Viking was never the best price for value.

We have done river cruises in Europe, Egypt and China. The most recent was a Danube cruise from Regensburg to Budapest. last July. We went with Gate 1 Travel and it was super. The boat was like new, the crew were great, itinerary was great and price beat them all.

We also did Gate 1 in Egypt and paid a little over half what Viking charged for their cruise.
Other lines to compare are Viking, AMA Waterways, Uniworld, Scenic, Emerald, Avalon, Tauck and Croisi.

Again, Would like to thank everyone with reply’s. Everyone was very helpful. Larry

I would urge you to check out other lines. Because of the tremendous amount Viking spends on advertising, they are the line that most people associate with river cruises. Cruise critic and River Cruise advisor are both a very good place to start. Go to the boards section on Cruise Critic and you can see comments from people that have cruised with different lines. Also, at the top of the boards, there are "stickeys" which have very good topics that will help you choose the line that it the best for you. I love river cruises because they are small, you can travel to the inner cities in a destination, and the other passengers are generally a delight. If you are wanting a lot of onboard entertainment, they are not for you. I have been on 5 river cruises, 4 on AmaWaterways and 1 on Scenic. I prefer AmaWaterways. The food and staff are outstanding. Most shore excursions are included, wine and beer are included at lunch and dinner, as well as a happy hour prior to dinner. There are fewer passengers than on Viking and the final payment it not due until 3 months prior to sailing.