European river cruises

Based on one taken on the Danube, and reports from friends: fun, expensive, all-inclusive, good introduction to Europe, too-brief stays at major destinations (like Vienna, Budapest), too little interaction with Europeans (unless you're on one of the lines they frequent as opposed to, say, Viking). Differences from ocean-type cruising (which we like): Less to do on board, but no "sea days," city tours generally free, wine/beer included with meals, smaller cabins (but less time spent in them).

We enjoyed ours but doubt if we'll do another, at least as long as we're mobile enough to travel on our own. Land-based travel gets you a lot more bang for the buck (to use a technical term). ;-)

Dick hit the highlights and I agree with him. The good part about a river cruise is that everything is included and you don't have to plan anything. It can be pricey depending on the cruise line and the time of year. The downside is that you don't get to spend a lot of time in any one place. That's not necessarily a terrible thing but you don't have the option of staying in a city for an extra day during the middle of the cruise. If you are looking to hit the highlights of a region, then a cruise may be the right option for you. We were worn out after our cruise because we started the day at 8 A' and didn't end until after 10 PM every day. It was still fun, though!

Ditto what Dick says. I was bored in the evening, but I'm not one to mingle very well and I have ADD, and like to be doing something constantly. It was a great easy way to get our feet wet in Europe as my daughter and I did our cruise first then were on our own for 3 weeks. I will do it again with my hubby as he has anxiety about going to Europe for his first time and they handle it all for you. My choice? I prefer on my own. We used Viking.

There can be a problem with water levels being too high or too low. In that case they simply bus you to the cities on the itinerary or drop some altogether. Happened to neighbors and others we know and none of them were pleased, but nothing could be (or was) done about it. For that reason we have shied away from them and will do RS Tours or travel independently.

There are a lot of budget travelers here, so maybe less use of river cruises. Independent land travel is much cheaper, but requires much more effort and planning. Our river cruises were kind of specialties (Russia and China), but I'll comment that sometimes we weren't moored directly in the center of town. You have to get up early to eat, shower, and toilet to be on the prepaid excursion bus. The clientele is mature, maybe. As noted, they can change or omit any stop, or bus you around low water, which happens every summer.

I don't particularly like to drive in Europe, but we do it maybe every other year, to facilitate seeing as many places as a river cruise. When we younger and starting out, we mostly hit big cities, which was easier and cheaper and faster by train. In many countries, like Belgium and Germany, there is superb train coverage of smaller cities. Have you read either a Rick Steves book or his free pages on the main website here?

I had been wanting to do a river cruise for a long time but just couldn't justify the expense. Finally discovered Gate 1 Danube River Cruises and the prices were much more affordable. We ended up doing a cruise from Nuremburg to Budapest with 3 extra nts pre-cruise in Prague and a couple of extra post cruise nts in Budapest. We had a great experience. Our ship probably wasn't as luxurious as those of Viking or Uniworld but it was comfortable, the food was very good and we enjoyed meeting the other passengers. Also, the staff took good care of us.

While we didn't get to spend unlimited amounts of time at each port, we felt we got to see enough to know if we would want to return. We have been to Vienna many times so that wasn't an issue for us. The extra days in Prague and Budapest gave us a chance to see more of each of those places.

We didn't feel exhausted at the end of the trip because we could always come back to the ship in the afternoon for a rest if we wanted. The pace suited us and we didn't have to worry about packing and unpacking numerous times.

The entire cruise including the extra days in Prague and Budapest and 2 optional excursions cost us less than $7000 not including airfare. We felt it was well worth the money and would love to do another one some day.

I have two problems with European river cruises.

They're pretty slow moving boats, I like to move a little faster and see more sights.
River cruises are very expensive--with Viking advertising "starting at $1,800 per week."
For the price of a river cruise, you could take two separate cruises on ocean cruise lines. And the cruises in the Mediterranean and the Baltics are really great trips.
I'm fortunate to have seen most of the larger cities that river cruises stop at.

I have always felt it was for older people and while we are getting older (closing in on 50) I still think it's not for us. As someone said above, I'd be bored in the evening and when I am on Europe I want to immerse myself - I like staying and eating at local places - I enjoy oddball inns which are quirky and not frequented by Americans. I am sure I could figure a way to afford staying at the Four Seasons or take a cruise - but blech - not for me. So - that is my feeling of the vibe of a river cruise - too fancy and contrived. And I don't want to be the jerk getting if the cruise ship. That's my unedited response. It's like when I see tourists in NYC eating at Applebee's or Ruby Tuesdays. BUT you can see lots of places without packing bags and schlepping - so it's what YOU like - just think about the way you want to travel. My aunt and uncle live river cruises - and I maybe I would too (someday). I just know we would not be happy.

I'm in David's camp: it's the price and lack of flexibility I have problems with. We can go to Europe for longer periods of time on our own than for the cost of a cruise, stay longer in the locations which interest us, and spend our days exactly as we please. We also don't want to feel that we have to return to the ship for meals which are part of the price.

But whether you will do well with them or not may depend on the sort of traveler you are? Some people we know just took one with another couple and enjoyed it very much but they wouldn't ever consider going solo, or putting in the work it takes to do that, either. For them, having the details/itinerary taken care of was worth the $$$$. Honestly, I don't think they even opened a guidebook but it was THEIR trip and they had fun so that's just fine. It's just not something that works with our style at this point on our life.

You can find detailed reviews of river cruises on cruisecritic.com You do have to look around for the right links to find the river cruise section. We've looked into them and may do one someday. We have friends whose cruise (don't know which one) was completely cancelled this summer due to low water.

We jokingly refer to European River Cruises as "Seeing Europe from the privacy of your own bed and blankie". All Inclusive is not always good. A lot of the fun of seeing Europe is being "out and about" not confined to a floating bed.

We lived in Vienna for 2 years and near London for 1 year in the 1980's. We have traveled almost yearly to Germany and/or Austria since 1999, always renting a car and visiting mostly small towns and villages so we have no problem with traveling independently.

We have also taken 3 organized tours to Europe over the past 38 years that we enjoyed as well. The river cruise was a new experience and we were able to visit towns that we had not seen on our other trips, except for Vienna. My husband loved the idea of not driving for a change and not having to pack and unpack so much.

On our river cruise, there were 127 passengers not the thousands that you sometimes have on an ocean cruise. We were able to meet and visit with a large number of those passengers over the week we were cruising in a more intimate setting.

There are many different ways to travel depending on what you want to experience at that point in time of your life. I’d have no problem taking another tour or river cruise if I found one that appealed to me. And I’m sure we will travel on our own again as well. To me, the key is that you actually GET OUT and do it, whichever way you are comfortable with.

That is an option which I have not ruled out in traveling in Europe. Depends... It depends on a number of factors with price and level of luxury among the top ones. The one river cruise most interesting is that going on the Oder River, have already looked into what's offered. I would consider that experience based on price, itinerary, ie, which cities covered, duration, geographic length of cruise, accommodations, meals, etc.

I observed that most of the people, if not all, who were positive about river cruises have actually been on river cruises. The most negative comments comes for those who have never been on a river boat. So I don't how much of this has been helpful. A river cruise is on our bucket list but just haven't worked it into our schedule. We have done seven European ocean cruises ranging from 10 days to 22 days. Whether you enjoy a cruise or not, depends on your attitude. We simply view a cruise ship as a combination floating hotel and overnight train with much better beds. We have found that a cruises can be a very economical way to see a lot of Europe especially when the boys were younger. A cruise solves lots of logistics problems. We would expect a river cruise to provide similar experience.

The main problems I have with cruises is that they

1) Don't stay in any port long enough to actually get to leisurely enjoy the city and take in all of the vast sightseeing and experiences that a city may offer. Tough to see Rome in 6 hours when 2 of those hours is wasted in transport from/to cruise port to actual city.

2) They somewhat sanitize the whole European experience by insulating (separating) you from the local people, from the local restaurants/hotels. Rush rush rush to see a few sites in the limited available hours then plop you back down to your steak/lobster dinner when you could be enjoying the specialties of the local city.

But I know that buying airfare, deciding on a route, booking train tickets, booking hotels is just too overwhelming for some people. A cruise is probably the best thing if you fall into that category.