Riverboat cruise for late 30's?

Hi all. My friend and I are looking at river cruises. We are experienced ocean cruisers who are thinking about trying a river cruise. We are also both just about 40. We are certainly not party animals, though we do like to stay up a little late and explore cities, etc.

Not knowing much about river cruises except the demographic tends to be older than us, which lines would you recommend? Particularly interested in ones that stay in port late or overnight and might have a few people closer to our age (though I realize that can vary on ANY cruise). This would be for a European cruise.

Many thanks and happy cruising!

Take a look at AMA. when we did a wine cruise with them there were 40 somethings on the cruise. Not a lot but I have read that wine cruises can have a little younger demographic. As for staying late in ports, that can vary by itinerary. The question to ask yourself is ....will you and your partner feel comfortable interacting with an older crowd-50+? if you are looking for more active tours, many lines offer those and AMA has bikes onboard that are used not only for organized tours but can be used on an individual basis. You are never required to go on the included tours and are certainly free to go off on your own if you desire. I believe Cavisrgal and her husband do that on a regular basis. She may weigh in on this or you can search for her past posts. They have taken several river cruises and prefer AMA.

Finding cruises that overnight or leave late is probably getting to be even more difficult than it used to be, because of the popularity of river cruising. River cruises generally sail at night (except for particularly scenic parts of the river) and depending on how far they have to go, and particularly how many locks they have to go through, they often depart at dinner time.

Avalon is promoting "Active Discovery" cruises for 2017. These might attract a younger demographic.

FuelScience

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2016/04/12/more-active-river-cruise-s-plan-avalon/82925112/

http://www.avalonwaterways.com/river-cruise/active-discovery-on-the-danube-eastbound/wlb/

Take a look at the expanded itinerary to get a sense of whether there are overnights or late nights in port on the trips you are considering. We had a few overnights on each of out GCT cruises. Those were all longer than a week, and most were two week so the duration of the cruise may have something to do with overnights.

You will likely be off the curve age wise on just about any European river cruise ;) . . . definitely on GCT

We did the Melodies of Danube with AMA. You overnight in Budapest and Vienna. Every day there was option of hike and/or bike tour. You then have the option of post cruise in either Munich or Prague both cities popular with young people

Corpkid,

Are there particular cities, countries or rivers you want to see / explore / experience? Start there. Then sit down with as many of the cruise company books you can get and narrow down the itinerary that appeals to you.( Much easier to fold down pages for cross referencing than searching the websites :)).

Don't worry about who else is going to be on board or how old they are.

Not all cruise lines spend the same amount of time docked in any city / town / village. Once you've started to narrow down an area, check with a good TA or the cruise company for more specific info about overnights or late evening departures. Even if departure time is 11pm, you still have time to pop into a local pub to get to know the locals.

And chances are the overnighters will be at larger cities.

On our most recent cruise we found the direction you are sailing may also influence the departure times. Cruise down river and you may leave later because the ship will travel easier going with the flow.

Clear as mud? RB

Thank you all for the fantastic advice! I'm typically the youngest adult passenger when we (my partner and I) sail on our preferred ocean line, Oceania. Never been a problem and I have a great time and meet plenty of interesting people from all over.

This will be a trip with my best friend - he's never been to Europe and I have a feeling he will love the tours and history that a river cruise offers he's a huge history buff and likes structure. Plus I will love not having to plan out a super detailed itinerary (already working on one for the Cyclades islands next spring). :)

We're both big time into food so we'd ideally like to at least have dinner in port most nights but then you face the dreaded "well I already paid for a nice dinner on the boat" connundrum. If the boat is even still docked... and that makes me wonder if maybe a land tour wouldn't be a better introduction to Europe, day AND night? We can get by on 6 or 7 hours of sleep.

 

We're both big time into food so we'd ideally like to at least have dinner in port most nights but then you face the dreaded "well I already paid for a nice dinner on the boat" connundrum. If the boat is even still docked... and that makes me wonder if maybe a land tour wouldn't be a better introduction to Europe, day AND night? We can get by on 6 or 7 hours of sleep.

Based on all of your comments I would definitely advise an independent land trip. When we are on a river cruise, we at least have lunches in town whenever in port and the occasional dinner as well. This is especially true if we are disappointed in the food aboard, as we have been on some cruises (specifically Avalon where the food and wine were disappointing).

For us, an independent land trip is our normal preference as we like to spend as much time as possible in port and immerse ourselves in the local culture and food. We average 10-12 miles a day walking and love the flexibility of spending as much or little times as we choose in any one place. Our normal schedule is to base in 3 locations over a 10-12 day trip and make day trips from there to areas of interest.

A river cruise gives you an introduction to a city/town. Sometimes the actual time spent in one place is quite short. The tours are generally short (90 minutes - 2 hours) unless there is transportation involved, and there is often free time at the end, which can also be limited based on sailing time.

Although some lines include a broad choice of tours for different interests and activity levels, some do not. AMA for us has the widest choice of options, and the Limited Edition Tours are often unique and occasionally quirky.

From what you describe as your interests and ideal experiences, I would definitely recommend a land trip. Save a river cruise for when you are looking for a more structured, less independent experience or I suspect the boat will become more of an expensive hotel room.

Thank you - I think my partner and I would enjoy the River Cruise whereas my friend might not as much so I'll save that for another day. I'm starting to get a little tired of ocean cruising as I've already been most places that make sense to visit via ocean ship that I care to visit at this time, so who knows - maybe next year?

Thanks again and happing cruising! :)