How to choose a cabin on a River Cruise

Who are you booking with?

I can't speak to your specific trip, but I'll share what I found on our Viking cruise down the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam.

There were only two days where we sailed during the day; when we sailed through the middle Rhine and when we sailed 300km from Cologne to Kinderdiik. We arrived early afternoon after sailing through the night. During the rest of the cruise we were off the ship doing shore excursions during the day.

On several occasions there was another Viking ship tied up next to us, so the view was in the sister ship's stateroom anyway.

You might want to check out the forums at Cruise Critic. Lots of good info there.

Not being familiar with your specific river ship, generally at least mid-ship is a better placement. If you are too far toward the back of the ship, you can usually hear engine noise (and maybe a little more vibrating).

Sometimes (depending on the river ship) the lower level cabins (closest to the water) might not have full-length windows.

For our Viking cruises down the Rhine and the Danube we chose bottom deck accommodations. They are the best value for your $. We spent so little time in out staterooms - sleeping and dressing only. There was a large picture window but were rarely in our cabins during the daytime to look out of it.

Big caveat here based on the time of year. If you are cruising for the Christmas markets I would not book the lowest deck. You are living on the bottom of a steel ship floating in ice water. And parts of the Danube were partially frozen and there ice chunks floating in the river. Although the temp of the room was warm, the floor was icy. They gave us extra blankets that we spread on the floor and I bought warm slippers at our first stop.

Assuming you are not reclusive, you will spend most of your waking hours off the ship on excursions, or watching the view in the main lounge or sun deck. It's impossible not to make friends on a river cruise.

I'd agree about the bottom deck as the best value, assuming that you won't be spending much time there -- although the story of the icy floor gives me pause! We had such a cabin on the Danube (in June thankfully), with a little window high up on the wall. I could see out standing but my wife had to stand on the bed. And what we saw was basically the surface of the water sloshing a few inches from our faces. When at a dock, there was a 50% chance that our view would be the side of the bulkhead -- or maybe into a similar window on an adjoining ship. We had to go upstairs for anything, but it was quiet. The lower-deck cabins are usually smaller, but your question was about value, not desirability in the abstract.

I can't think of a reason to choose a right-side vs. left-side cabin. Generally boats keep to the right as cars do, but you'd have just as good or bad a view either way. Docks could be on either side of the river.

We have done four river cruises since 2011.
We always buy the cheapest cabin available. Most people don't spend much time in the cabins. The cabins are relatively small and may not have the best furniture to view the river scenery.

The top deck in good weather is great for viewing the scenery. The bar/lounge is usually nice and you can meet people there and socialize.

Choosing one side of the other depends on the itinerary, but it should be a wash either way.