Rhine River Cruise

You best bet is spend some time with cruisecritic.com. There are a few cruisers here but not many.

I took a Viking River Cruise in May 2012 from Amsterdam to Budapest. I loved the river cruising, but Viking was not a good fit for me. I agree you should check out cruisecritic website plus websites of the major cruise lines like Viking, Tauck, Grand Circle, etc. They all have videos which will give you a good idea of life on the boat and their daily excursions. If you want to know what I did and did not like about Viking, send me a PM.

We did an 8 day Uniworld Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel in April this year. First class experience in every respect. We wouldn't look past Uniworld if we decided to do another river cruise.

We took a Grand Circle Travel cruise of the Rhine/Mosel Rivers and loved it. It was our second trip with GCT-the other was Scandanavia/St. Petersburg. The company is excellent.

We did an Amsterdam to Basel river cruise with Uniworld. I still prefer a big ship cruise. It was ok, loved being right in each city. Not crazy about the food and the group on the ship was bottom of the barrel. I am sure that is one reason why we didn't love it. Happy Travels!

We have cruised in Viking and the cruise was excellent. I know of at least half a dozen people who cruised on Viking and Grand Circle and not had a bad word to say.

Have not cruised the Rhine...yet, but did a Budapest to Amsterdam cruise in October of 2007 with Uniworld. Loved the small ship feel (and I have cruised in some very big ships as well), the "sightseeing" as the ship travels the river, the tour of each town where we stop and getting to know nearly everyone on the ship with the smaller passenger compliment. I have to admit that the food was somewhat disappointing but certainly not awful and they chefs did use local foods as we traveled so the dishes served reflected the areas through which we floated. I liked that Uniworld included a tour in every stop whereas some of the other cruise lines have multiple land tours that are all extra charges. I can take the big cruise lines for that kind of treatment. Hope you have a great time.

Have cruised both the Rhine and Danube on Viking. Enjoyed both, the Rhine was a little better overall. BOth times the group we cruised with were lovely people, varying age groups but mostly over 40, thank goodness, and only about 50% American citizens. I have No idea what a "group that is the bottom of the barrel" is, but it's a pretty negative comment. I think many people are disappointed with the food because European river cruises are not a 24 hour pig fest like the big ship cruises. No midnight buffets, no chocolate extravangas, no pizza and fries at 3am. River crusing is like a different lifestyle, and quite honestly, it's more suited to a more mature cruiser. I've done both and really enjoyed both. You just have to set your expectations accordingly.