Dad and I are thinking of doing a cruise using Shearings River cruise - which is based in the UK. Has anyone done a cruise with this company and what did you think?
We have done a river cruise and liked it and are looking for a second cruise. Love fireworks and so this seemd great. Just know nothing about the company
Thanks
Posted by
NM, USA
888 posts
Never heard of them although according to their website they are actually partnered with Arosa and Amadeus who I have heard of and seen on the rivers. Fireworks? Here's a piece I found from the daily mail. Rates them at the bottom.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6834649/The-best-worst-river-cruises-2019-revealed.html
We've done 4 River cruises all with Tauck - US family run business. Not the cheapest but outstanding customer service as we found this past summer after a Viking ship had damaged a lock putting it out of commission for weeks. Tauck made sure we saw all sights on our itinerary plus extra sights as we awaited the news on whether the lock would open. When we got home they gave us $1000 voucher for future travel for a problem they didn't cause or have control of.
For solo travelers Tauck's category 1 staterooms have no single supplement up-charge.
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2512 posts
Shearings are a long-established and well know British travel company so your fellow passengers will be mainly Brits.
Nothing to worry about as long as you can understand the accents and sense of humour 😊
Posted by
Missouri, USA and Essex, UK.
992 posts
Shearings is a fairly large British tour company - I know their bus tours - didn't realize they had cruises. It is a well established company and they are ABTA members. I have sometimes used British tour companies because I find them to be much more economical. I am not going to say cheap here because they are not "cheap" tours. It seems having the company out of the UK rather than the US - tours are much more reasonably priced. As someone else mentioned, your tour companions will be mostly from the UK. When booking, you will need to mention that you have a U.S. Passport and provide proof of your own travel insurance. (I use Travelguard). Other than that - it is usually a simple transaction and most welcome non-uk residence on their tours.
Margaret
Posted by
OP
New York, NY, USA
700 posts
Thanks everyone for the replies. I just heard back from Shearings that this particular cruise must include the transport to and from (flight/bus from UK to the port in Germany and then reverse) and cannot be purchased as just the cruise section.
So , decision made for us but will file away for future.