rhine river cruise

Ahh to young again. We did our first river boat cruise 5 years ago, (in our 60’s) from Amsterdam to Vienna and after 2 other river cruises, (Antwerp to Basil on some of the same rivers, and St Petersburg to Moscow) the first one remains the best. They were all with the same cruise company so I can not give you any comparisons. For the name of the company email me, geb1@sbcglobal .net and put riverboat on the subject line. We have used them for 5 trips. What we like is the freedom. The boat ties up at some river town or city and you can walk into town on your own and do what ever your heart desires. Or you can join one of the organized tours led by a local guide. Or you can just stay on the boat and watch the river traffic. There are about 160 passengers and yes most of them are retired but not all in their 70’s. I exchanged pictures with a couple of teaches in Fresno who have a ways to go before retirement. When under way, take your favorite libation up on the top deck, sit back and marvel as Europe floats by. You will see vineyards that are greater than 45 degree of the horizon. There are beautiful neat little villages with all their church spires. Nuff said. Bill

I would urge you to consider Steve's advice. The Rhine is a wonderful place between Koblenz and Bingen, the part of the river that K-D cruises focuses on with several boats per day, but otherwise makes for relatively uneventful sightseeing to the north and south.

The other problem with a cruise is cultural. You're much more likely to experience and appreciate the culture in a local inn or private B&B (there are many of these in the Rhine villages) than you are if you're among cruisers, no matter what their age is, for the duration of your visit, and you'll likely feel more free to explore places on your own without your cruise companions.

If you go in March, expect it to look like winter on the Rhine. You generally won't see blossoms or greenery until April. And the village shops will generally be sparsely patronized and locked up early, with no outdoor cafes or events going on. In summer, you may be able to catch a festival or one of the Rhine-in-Flames events. That said, I like the Rhine at any time of year.

A river cruise is like renting an apartment that changes its city/country location every night. You unpack and repack only once, and you can day trip every day. A river cruise is not like a Carnival cruise! We cruised with two families with teenaged children, a 27 y/o cellist from the Tel Aviv orchestra, and a range of 40s to 80s from Canada, US, England. Scotland, Wales, Australia and Israel. A river cruise with several independent travel days added on before and after makes a great holiday.

Ron,

Two types of things are being discussed here and you might not realize it.

KD runs essentially up and down the Rhine gorge (75 miles max ?)and is more of a hop on/off waterbus. It has no accomodations of which I'm aware. It's been so long, I can't even remember if they serve any kind of grub -- maybe snacks and drinks.

Viking, Gate 1, Grand Circle, and others offer true cruises. Using them, you could probably make it from Amsterdam to the Black Sea somehow. I've only done one of these (eastern europe with extensions) and really had to dig deep into my pocket to do it. The cost per day was far beyond what I would have spent going to the same places on my own and the land tours didn't cover the kinds of things that really interested me. Take this with a grain of salt: I'm not really a fan of cruises, but try one every few years just to stay mad.

Ed,

"I can't even remember if they serve any kind of grub -- maybe snacks and drinks."

I was on two of the KD Cruises boats last Sunday (Goethe & Lorely) and the Goethe especially had a large formal dining room on the rear lower deck (I could provide a photo but unfortunately not allowed to post that here). The day I travelled, there were signs on the tables stating "Reserved for xx Tours" but the diners must have boarded after I disembarked in St. Goar.

The waiters were wearing tuxedo-like uniforms, so I'm sure it's not cheap. There was a less formal dining room on the deck above that. The Lorely also had dining areas. The dining rooms on both ships didn't seem to be overly busy, possibly because it was a quiet Sunday afternoon. I imagine that will change in July and August.

Cheers!

It depends on what you want. You can take the KD line and tour as you please, decide on your hotels and villages or towns you want to see more of, or you can take a river cruise and have everything laid out for you. We have done the latter on the Rhine and really enjoyed it. Most of the time in Europe we do the former. One is not better than the other, but are very different experiences.

We used Jerry Van Dyke - google it - they are a Canadian company and everything is in English and absolutely everything is included. Be aware that 99% of the passengers will be Canadian, but they do allow US citizens!

I've been on a Viking cruise along the Seine and other family members have done other trips also with Viking. We have all thoroughly enjoyed the trips. Just remember that the boats are much smaller than ocean cruise ships. Some passengers on our boat were upset because there was only a single seating for meals and not much going on after about 10 pm when the pianist in the lounge stopped playing. However, some nights we were docked and you could go out in the town if you wanted to. There were included guided excursions at every stop, but my husband and I did our own thing whenever we wanted to. I highly recommend Viking and would certainly travel with them again.