River cruise - is it worth paying extra $150 for middle ship than the back ship cabin?

If you were cruising to Antarctica yes but a river cruise no.

I have been on river cruises mid level and found no discomfort. But I found if I wanted views I would go to rear of ship for space , fresh air and libations. Yes I had a mini balcony but and rear I had a 180 deg view which really was better. I would forgo the supplement imo.
All the best on 6ourdecision.

I wouldn't waste the extra 150. You should be fine. I was on an Avalon River Cruise on the Danube in 2017. Never noticed any bumps what so ever.

Rivers are pretty smooth sailing. I wouldn't spend the extra money to be midship. In fact, the farther from the dining room the quieter. If there's access to a rear-facing outside deck, so much the better.

Rivers have bumps?

We had a rear-end cabin on one river cruise, & could rarely use the balcony or even open the sliding door because of the diesel fumes. YMMV, but caveat emptor. I'd have paid $150 then & there to change cabins.

Thanks everyone for the quick reply
Interesting answers I got here
If so, I wouldn't waste the $150 then
I don't mind the bumpy ride but rather the view that is important.
I forgot to also mention this is a panoramic balcony window, so there's no balcony but a large window

So in that case, which cabin number should I choose in:

Deck Plan

The very end? 232?
or 226 the very right??

We are departing from Amsterdam and it will actually cruise from Day 2, we prefer to have a view facing the river and NOT the street block, in that case which one would be ideal as well?

Doesn't the back always sink first?

It’s not the bumps. It’s the engines and anchor. Where are they?
If it’s in the back, you may want to be further away from the hum and vibration of the engines or the clanking as the anchor drops at 5 am.
Always check what’s on the decks above and below any potential cabin.
Aft-facing cabins are my preference but on large ships where the engines are six decks below me. I’d avoid being near any mechanicals on a small ship.

Bets,

Sorry I am not expert in looking at the deck plan
But however, this is the ship that we are going to be taking which has the photo and also the deck plan if you scroll down the middle

https://www.avalonwaterways.com.au/ships/avalon-vista

Please advise which is the ideal location to take the cabin

Thanks

I went to cruisemapper.com and saw the work Areas. https://www.cruisemapper.com/deckplans/Avalon-Vista-857/deck02-3126
Click around and you’ll see all the decks.
The engine is rear on deck 2. Some other rooms on deck 3 have lounge chairs and wooden decks above them. Some of the forward rooms on deck two are away from the engine and sandwiched between deck 1 and 3 staterooms. I always prefer to be sandwiched between cabines rather than public areas, while others will prefer to be a deck 3 and more forward, away from the engine. There are no aft-facing cabins on this ship, so they all have the same side view. Anyway, that’s why the difference in price. It cones down to $10 or $20 a day difference. You should enjoy some comfort. Bon voyage.

Chan,
We have taken 4 river cruises and always pick the cheapest cabin, always on the lowest deck and not in the middle of the boat.

The only issue we had was on our Russian River cruise, fog required our boat to drop anchor for a couple of hours, at 3am. The anchor was close to our cabin and it woke us up. Not a big deal.

I never understand why people spend tons of money for expensive cabins, when the only time we are in our cabin is to shower and sleep. We hang out in the bar or lounge enjoying the companionship of fellow passengers or viewing the scenic countryside.

Hi Bets

Thanks for the reply again
So you mean you recommend I should pay the extra $150 just for the quietness or?
But the view, comfort i guess they are the same?

George has given you a different point of view, and a good one. He goes with the cheapest, and he's a more experienced traveler than I am. Yes, the view is the same.
The choice is yours. Just consider if you are a good sleeper or a light sleeper who is easily awakened.

Thanks I got the answer now
I'll go for the cheaper option then
Im the kind who can be sleeping likr a pig when I'm sleeping very well and comfortably

Glad to be able to give you info. Have a great time.

Sorry Bets,

Now I am considering whether it is worth upgrading to the balcony suite!
Because currently it is on special for interior suite (no balcony but just 2 top bay window) like the one below for
https://www.avalonwaterways.com/River-Cruise-Ships/Avalon-Vista/

for $1700 PP

But if upgrade to balcony would be an additional $1500 PP, which is almost TWICE as much just for the upgrade

Now I am not sure if it is worth the extra given the days are short in Nov and I also heard that most cruising do during the night time and the day time you probably off to excursion anyways?

Correct me if I am wrong...

Let me know if you think its worth the extras or its better to go out to the top deck and lounge to enjoy the views is even better? But at the same time, I would love to wake up in the balcony with a view. Oh...what a price to pay eh?

Your thoughts?

One advantage of being near the rear is you won’t have as many people walking by your cabin door and talking. It should be quieter.

“Now I am not sure if it is worth the extra given the days are short in Nov and I also heard that most cruising do during the night time and the day time you probably off to excursion anyways?“

You’ve answered your own question. And—Remember what Vicki wrote about diesel fumes, but she had an aft-facing cabin. Finally- November really does make a difference for temperature and daylight, too.

Chan, without looking at your deck plan, I would suggest taking into account what the deck over your cabin is used for. If dining room or bar, etc., it might be noisy. Noting that on our Rhine cruise, with the exception of two days, all the cruising was at night, so the balcony wasn't much use to us. Sometimes we woke up to look and see just a big concrete wall (the locks) inches away from the balcony. Other rivers likely different.

One more piece of advice. Make sure you’re fully clothed before opening the drapes. River cruisers dock side-by-side and you can see inside the neighboring boat. Two people I work with wished they had been wearing a bit more when opening their curtains.

Just to clarify - I'm a detail nerd - our occasionally diesel-fumed balcony was not aft-facing, but the equiv. of Chan's deck plan's cabins 232 or 233, on the starboard or port side.

Chan's decision's probably been made by now, but I'm throwing this in for everyone else's info & future trips. Whenever we finally go anywhere again!

Thanks folks for the help
I have decided to take 2 cruise which seems to be cheaper

The 8 days river cruise (21st to 28th Nov) from Amsterdam to Basel rhine cruise, cat E is available which is the basic one which I plan and opt to take this given what Stan told me was very useful i.e. other than 2 days, the rest were night cruising and nothing much to see, so it makes me feel it does not justify paying twice to pay the upgrade balcony

But the other one from Budapest to Vienna 4 day cruise which I will start first (11 to 14th Nov), the basic Cat E is not available but only the panoramic balcony cat B, so i guess even I want to take ALL the basic option, its not possible, so I guess I will take 1 aquarium stateroom for the 8 days Rhine cruise and the other 4 days cruise for panoramic balcony, the price is still cheaper than if I took the 8 days balcony. After this teaser trip, will take train or bus to Amsterdam and tour for a few days before starting the next cruise.

I heard the Danube 4 days cruise, the view is worth balcony upgrade (even thought Cat E is sold out) especially in Melk, so I thought why not...
Unless I am wrong

Chan, we were on Viking. In addition to what I said earlier, when you are cruising somewhere scenic (the Middle Rhine Gorge - the place they always show in the commercial) - you'll probably want to be up on the top deck anyway.

Chan, we were on Viking. In addition to what I said earlier, when you are cruising somewhere scenic (the Middle Rhine Gorge - the place they always show in the commercial) - you'll probably want to be up on the top deck anyway.

I concur. Even though we had a balcony on our VRC ship, we spent very little time in the room looking out on the scenery. You really want to be on deck to have a 360 degree view.

Also, another thing river cruises neglect to point out is that when they are docked, most of the time they are tied up with another ship. This means the nice view you paid extra to have is often into the cabin of the other ship literally inches away from you. Unless you are into voyeurism, you might not be happy with the arrangement.

As far as money goes, you couldn't pay me to take another river cruise. I learned fast it's not my cup of tea. We only went because friends invited us to join them.

Remember that this pair of river trips will be at the beginning of winter in November.

You may find that there will be times that you would like to be on deck but the weather won’t really cooperate. Dawn will be late and sunset will be early, but you are likely to have quite a lot of cloud rather than sunshine.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

I love messing about on boats.

Thanks folks, I know what to do
And also thanks for letting me know that Nov the weather is likely to be cloudy and cold etc and no wonder it is the cheapest out of many months
I will surely get the interior (2 bay window) without the balcony for the 8 days Rhine cruise
For the next cruise for 4 days Danube, unfortunately, the cheapest cabin is sold out but only the balcony cabin is available next, so I guess I will take it and treat it like a snippet or tasting menu unless the Danube (4 days from Budapest, Bratislava, Melk, Vienna) is not worth the view. At least its better than forking out the 8 days balcony trip

PS: One more question, I noticed when I arrive on Vienna on 14th November, its actually the day when the Xmas Market starts (and is the only chance I have), so therefore, I would like to ask as I have never been to a Europe Xmas market, will the 1st day have alot of lights, and Xmas feel? Or since its the first day, most likely will be quiet and not many stalls around until at least early Dec?