european cruise

Stops? The river cruise itinerary will be pretty set on where it stops. I'm guessing you mean where you depart from? Thats really about which itinerary most appeals to you. You dont spend much time in the departure city anyway. You can actually fly into anywhere and spend time before the cruise, as long as you are at the cruise port for departure. But if you do take a Viking river cruise starting in Amsterdam, you should book a couple of days early on your own, as you wont really have much time there (maybe half a day) if you arrive the day of the cruise departure. It is much less expensive to book that on your own, rather than the extra day packages that Viking offers, but some people like to have it all pre-arranged.

As far as time of year, I think the standard answer for just about any travel in Europe by any mode, is Spring or Fall. May-June or Sept-Oct. The thing about a river cruise that is somewhat unpredictable, is the river level. You need high enough to float the boat, but not too high.

Agree with the previous post. I'm also curious with the comment about what stops to plan. The itinerary and cruise stops are planned by the cruise company. Or did you mean planning what to do at each stop? All river cruises will have port excursions ( included or extra, depending on the line). Or, once you've selected the cruise and itinerary, look at guidebooks and online travel sites to see what interests you that you could do independently.

Any cruise that includes Amsterdam will either begin or end there, and will be a Rhine cruise. There are MANY to choose from, depending on the length of cruise you want. Some only go as far as Basel. Others as far as Bucharest. If you want more time in A' dam to explore, then build that into your vacation as a pre or post cruise stay. Like most European travel, the shoulder seasons will likely be more enjoyable. But do note the prior caveat about river water levels. Sometimes that expensive river cruise can end up on a bus instead.

For more information about river cruising, I'd recommend looking at cruise critic.com. They have a forum devoted solely to it.

Do a search for this as it is discussed often.
We go every other year. We LOVE the Christmas Market Cruises for the cost and the super-specialness of that time of year in Europe - plus the food and the decorations are spectacular!

We also like the Danube better than the Rhine as we LOVE Vienna, Salzburg, Nuremburg. The ones thru France and Portugal are also great.
Feel Free to PM me with questions.

We also like Tauck the best as it's all inclusive w/top shelf alcohol 24/7, all tips, all excursions, port fees, the service is amazing.

AMA is also good, but not all inclusive.

Viking was 'just ok' for us, but we had done Tauck and Uniworld before Viking and it's tough to step down to Viking after Tauck.

You are on a cruise in Europe, so it's hard to go wrong - just know that there are major differences in the lines and be sure you are comparing apples to apples when you start looking at prices - there is a reason Tauck and Uniworld "LOOK" like they cost more. They don't advertise like Viking because they don't need to and they won't bombard you with 'specials and catalogues' that aren't always accurate. And once you start with Tauck or Uniworld (both totally all inclusive) - you get discounts and free pre/post hotel nights.

We've done Viking 3 times, Gate1 once, AMA twice, Uniworld 3 times, and Tauck 5 times - none beat Tauck for quality, food, service, tours, all inclusiveness. Uniworld is our 2nd pick. Again, there was nothing wrong with Viking, it is considered 3 star - but Tauck is the one we always go back to and their Xmas Market River Cruises are the best price point.

We loved Viking! The Danube is wonderful like mentioned prior. Loved their Waltz! Did very end of Sept early Oct. Great weather! Cooler at night but so pleasant! No rain. Nothing negative to say. Food great! Glass of Wine/beer included with lunch and dinner. We need nothing else. Flight deals offered with them made it reasonable. Would do another. Have not tried any other river cruise.

I started planning a European river cruise - but was completely put off when I realized that there is no guarantee that the cruise can actually happen because of water levels and you may just end up on a VERY expensive bus tour

You clearly need to research the nature of river cruising as well as the ports of call. A useful source is this prolific poster who has a great deal of experience with rivers and canals as well as the more familiar ocean trips.
https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/
His advice appears relatively independent, when compared to the many cruise blogs who post to encourage favours from the cruise lines.
As well, Cruise Critic is often suggested as a good tool for research:
https://www.cruisecritic.com/

We did the Rhine Getaway cruise with Viking in October 2017. We spent a week on our own in Switzerland prior to boarding the cruise in Basel. We enjoyed the cruise very much and had no problems with water levels in the river. Great service, food, accommodations, and an interesting itinerary. We jumped off the ship as soon as it docked each day and saw a lot. We also spent a few additional days on our own in Amsterdam.

Since then we’ve done three Viking Ocean cruises. The line is a good fit for us. Please send me a private message if you need any other info.

We love river cruises, but they tend to be expensive.
Viking is a good river cruise company (also does ocean cruises).
However, don't limit your research to Viking. They advertise a lot and are usually worth of comparing with others, but we have never used them, since they never seem to be the best value.

We have done three river cruises with Vantage World Travel, however their prices have gone up lately. Still, compare them.

Several friends have recommended Gate 1. They all rave about how good this company is and how much cheaper they are than Viking, etc. We are looking to book with them for 2022.

There are many other lines, Avalon, Uniworld, AMA Waterways (we did one great cruise with them).

We have only done one cruise, a Viking ocean cruise. For us, it remains the singular best business model. No kids, no casinos, no restaurant upcharge with included beer and wine, food and snacks available basically 24/7, included room service for anything you want. Rooms that are pristine, and thoughtfully designed. Free self laundry with soap included. No smoking.

We have researched their river cruises. The included excursions look much more comprehensive than the ocean cruises. Everything else is lacking. Others may have more experiences to share but my research suggests that other brands do a better job at river cruising than Viking. Check out Tauck for example.
Until Covid we figured our Viking ocean cruise was a “ one and done”. The staff gave 100% every moment of every day. We were put off by the patronizing ( and often bigoted) attitude of some passengers. The Peruvian, Indonesian, and Guatemalan personnel who helped us were extraordinary people with compelling personal stories. Hearing them called “ boy” or chastised with “ why don’t you speak better English” enraged us.
Post- Covid we think ( ironically) that a Viking ship is among the safest travel choices. They require ALL guests to be vaccinated, there are daily Covid tests done, continual temperature checks, and on ocean ships they have installed testing labs and added medical personnel. A business model we applaud.
Good luck to you! May each of us find the best travel choice.

Traveling Mom, I have not seen any of the abuse of cruise workers that you mentioned.

There are many river cruise companies, but their fares vary significantly.

Viking is in a group that I would call main line, not luxury, but all main lines are excellent.

The more research you do the better. Make a spread sheet, for number of days of the cruise as well as pre or post cruise tour days. Also, basic fare, add on fare for air, other cost options not included. Further, carefully read each itinerary to determine the activities and daily tours, what is included for alcohol. Most lines provide wine with Dinner, some lunch as well. Check what is recommended for tips, etc.

You can find fantastic cruises that are double what other cruise lines may charge for a similar cruise and the difference may be modest.

Another factor that determined what line we picked for our first river cruise was lodging. We picked Vantage World Travel for our Russian River cruise for two main reasons, Vantage was cheaper, as well as it included staying in 5 star hotels in Moscow, instead of the river boat while touring Moscow. Those that did the river boat stay had to commute into the city every day through heavy traffic, losing several hours of touring.

The more I compare, the more I am impressed with Gate 1 for value, but we still haven't do a cruise or tour with them yet. Egypt looks like a great choice.

For having been on only one ocean cruise by Viking you should can make some sweeping conclusions about river cruising. We have completed about 200 days of ocean cruising and another 25 or so days on two Viking river cruises. Since we have not taken other river cruises we cannot compare but our experience with Viking was excellent and we are eager to return.

You can get all types of people on any cruises. There is no screening for jerks. We have never encountered any routine abuse of staff with one exception. Our table mates on one ocean cruise were very abusive to everyone including themselves. A grandmother, a daughter, and a high school aged grandson. The mother and daughter were the crudest, rudest, most un-disciplined adults we have every encountered. The staff offered us another table but we had one of the three or four premier tables for a view in the dining room and, besides, it provided a good education for our high school sons on how not to act in public. And someone needed to protect the grandson who was visibly embarrassed by his grandmother and aunt. He knew better but they didn't.

River cruising does encounter water level problems but it is fairly infrequent as the cruise companies are prepared. However, I would avoid early spring cruises and late fall when the potential for those problems in the greatest. August is a good month for river cruises.

"Everything else is lacking" is an odd phrase. What specifically is lacking? There really is little comparison between a river cruise boat and an ocean cruises. The river cruise boat is very limited in space (for obvious reasons) so every sq inch is used for several different purposes. We personally like the intimacy of a river cruise. You do get to know your fellow passengers whether you want to or not. For a river cruises it is the ports and not the activity on the ship that is critical.