European River Cruise?

[jhynesrockmtn]

My wife and I are not really travelers. I've been to parts of Europe (London, Paris, Ireland, Sweden) mostly for work years ago. She really has never been out of the country other than to Mexico. We are in our 60's. She really would like to do a European river cruise as a way to experience a little bit of Europe. I like the idea of something planned out for us.

Anyone done this? The current trip we are looking at is on AMAWaterways and is Amsterdam to Basel on the Rhine for 7 days and then some time in Lucerne and Basel after the trip before heading home. Their day excursions allow for more active folks with either cycling or hiking options each day.

Any feedback or tips on getting the most out of this are appreciated.

[masraum]

THere's a thread that talks about the Eu river cruises including some posts by at least one or two folks that have done it.

In one case, one person talked about getting off of the boat and cycling from town to town along the river to see more of the country, and then getting back on the boat in the evening.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Originally Posted by masraum

THere's a thread that talks about the Eu river cruises including some posts by at least one or two folks that have done it.

In one case, one person talked about getting off of the boat and cycling from town to town along the river to see more of the country, and then getting back on the boat in the evening.

Thanks, I'll search again using some different parameters. I tried and didn't find anything.

[Rtrorkt]

My wife and i just did a short river cruise with AMA. Started in Prague, then on the boat in Vienna ending in Budapest. Food was great, room was adequate, met great folks on the boat. The arranged tours were good. Christmas cruise so great markets, but cold. Had a good enough experience I am thinking of a French wine county cruise in the spring

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Best to check if a drought scenario will be impacting summer time river flows. They will change the itinerary and you get to make the best of it.

[PorscheGAL]

Husband and I did a Viking Danube cruise last year.

The Good:
-These river cruises do a great job of coordinating everything.
-There are great tour guides in every city you visit.
-Food on the boat was excellent.
-Great way to see some smaller towns
-We came away with the idea that we will hire a tour guide at least one day during each visit to future cities.
-We discovered several cities we would love to visit more thoroughly in the future and some we felt we got a good experience with the 1 or 2 days we were there.

Downsides:
-It is very structured. You eat when they have a meal planned. If you miss it, no room service. You get on and off the boat on their schedules.
-You are stuck with the same people. People who want to talk.
-You don't get to fully experience a city.

Would I do it again? My sister and I are talking about doing a Tulips and Windmills cruise but it will be her first overseas trip. She would like to ease into the experience of Europe. My husband and I would probably not do it again.

Good luck.

[Rick Lee]

I went to Basel and Lucerne in July. We drove from Germany. IMHO, there is way too much to see and do in Switzerland for two cruise ship stops to do it justice. You really need to see Zürich, Bern, Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch and on and on. The scenery in the countryside is just beyond and you won't see it just hitting those two cities from a boat.

[wdfifteen]

We used to do a Seine cruise every April to relax after the marathon. It was run by a German company and it was great. Unfortunately they went out of business. The next year we took a Viking cruise from Amsterdam to Brussels and back. It sucked. We tried Viking one more time and it, too sucked. The problem was the ports and the routes, once on the boat everything was fine until we docked. The cruise boats dock side by side when it's busy. If you are the first boat in, docked next to the shore, the passengers from the boats that dock next to you tramp thorough your boat to get to shore. If you are the last boat in, you have to walk across one or two other boats to get to shore. This never happened with the first company we cruised with. Now river cruising is more popular, and docks are crowded. Until the last Viking cruise we always docked in the city, near Parc Citroën, on the last cruse we docked at some little town outside the city with nothing to do and nothing to recommend it.
We aren't going to do any more river cruises, but if we did we would NOT use Viking.

[Cajundaddy]

We have friends who have done the Danube and the Rhine cruises. They are not highly active travelers and they felt it was the right mix of cruising and sightseeing. We tend to be more active but did a 5 day cruise on the Yangtze river from Wuhan to Chongqing through the Three Gorges Dam in 2007. An interesting variation in the middle of a 21 day tour of China but probably not our style. We saw a lot of barren countryside and a lot of coal barges.

There are different ways to see Europe with some being always on the go. The river cruises seem to be a more relaxed pace. For an organized tour, we like Gate 1 Classic Tours which are highly active, and you tend to walk 5-7 miles each day all with a local guide and see a lot.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My parents aren’t frequent travelers, especially overseas, they did a Viking cruise of Europe about 10 years ago and loved it. They were mid-60s at the time and really appreciated the very structured and scheduled agenda. If you like to roam it’s probably not the best option though.

[jhynesrockmtn]

My sister and I are talking about doing a Tulips and Windmills cruise but it will be her first overseas trip. She would like to ease into the experience of Europe.

I appreciate all of the feedback. This "easing into" idea is what this type of trip is about. I've done a lot of time in London on business for weeks at a time and loved it. That was all pre 9/11 though and I have not really traveled much internationally since. Our only experience together, and her only real international trip was to Japan in 2018 when one of our daughter's lived on the Misawa AFB with her then husband. I wouldn't consider either of us (at this point) to be adventurous travelers. To a certain extent, we are looking for something, particularly for my wife, that introduces us to European travel. If we get the bug, I'd be more into picking spots to land for a few weeks and explore from there. Both of us would like to see Ireland and Italy at some point.

[masraum]

Here are a couple of previous threads. I don't think these are the one that I remember reading.

Viking River Cruises - Anybody ever been on one?

Euro River Cruises

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/712967-viking-river-cruises-anybody-ever-been-one.html

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

Our only experience together, and her only real international trip was to Japan in 2018 when one of our daughter's lived on the Misawa AFB with her then husband.

Awesome! I lived in Misawa from '78-80 and again 83-85. I'd love to go back now as an adult. I think things have changed a ton (both on base and off).

[panelbilly]

Did the AMA two years ago in the spring. Great experience. Only 70 passengers were on board. God to know almost everyone. Great food. I often told the waiter what I was in the mood for and they fixed me a plate.

[LWJ]

I have two data points.

1. Neighbor. He went about a year ago. River was flooding and the boat couldn't pass under the bridges. He said he would have rather set the $15K on fire and stayed home. But he is sort of crusty at times.

2. Other data point is a buddy who owns a boat. Currently in Dijon area. Will move it to Belgium this Summer. He loves it and spends each Summer on the boat.

Enjoy!