River Cruise with Family

We are considering a river cruise for next summer and would like it to be a family vacation. We have two DD who will be 22 and 17. Which line would be best suited for a family? I did see that Tauck offers some family cruises but it looked like the activities offered were geared toward young children.

As River Cruises tend to attract people in middle to older age bracket, any of them would have to work for you. You should probably pick the itinerary you want and then do some research on which lines go there, the cost, what is included, etc. and make your choice from that. Your daughters will have a great time learning about the history of any area you to go and also from meeting people from other countries (and ages) while onboard. Sounds like a great family trip to me.

I suggest you choose an itinerary with lots of port time (versus sailing time) and some overnights in port. This will give your daughters the chance to maximize the time they can spend in town, should that appeal to them. Even at my age I get bored with too much daytime sailing. And we really enjoy going out after dinner.

AMA's newer ships have pools that are very nice and their biking tours will appeal to the active traveler. That may be a consideration as well.

Uniworld has family cruises also. I think the Seine itinerary best for that age bracket. We had four families with teens sailing with us on Avalon Seine Normandy itinerary.

Thank you for the great suggestions and tips. I agree the Seine itinerary may be best. I love the idea of the bike tours that is something we would all enjoy.

We have not yet done the Seine but did the Rhone last fall and really enjoyed it. Lots of time in port, a nice mix of ports, and AmaDagio was wonderful! I wrote a detailed review here on CC if you are interested in the details.

We were on Viking for 2 river cruises and as far as them entertaining a 17 yo and 22yo......no.

By this age they can be entertained by the mere fact they are learning about other parts of the world. If they are the type to sit around moping and saying.....I'm bored....maybe a carnival cruise should be on the agends cause the chance of other kids being on board their age.

River cruises can be quite devoid of kids and teenagers but the very few we travelled with were quite intellectual and appreciated the up close and personal voyage that a river cruise offers. It is an expensive travel mode to have to listen to ....I'm Bored!;)

Adventures by Disney has a new Danube cruise that will be on an AMA ship starting next summer. We will be bringing our two 16 yo's. There are several activities in each port, some better for younger kids, some better for older. ABD is not super "Mickey-fied" more just a tour with Disney quality customer service.

They are often compared to Tauck Bridges programs, for comparison.

AMA has two new ships coming out next year that will be pretty unique to river cruising - they'll have some cabins that accommodate 3 and adjoining cabins as well. That might work for your family.

Yes, one of those will be used for the ABD trip. Disney has contracted to use the ship for 5 or 6 weeks next year. It is an exclusive ABD sailing, so no one will show up to unexpectedly find a larger than usually number of families.

With your daughters being 22 and 17, I would not recommend a Disney cruise. I know when I was at that age the idea being surrounded by a bunch of young kids would have not appealed to me, and it still does not.

You can book two regular cabins and I would focus on an itinerary that appeals and a line that offers active options.

JMO

I wouldn't both to look at the "family friendly" cruises on river cruises, these seem to be geared to grandparents bringing elementary-aged children. That opens up your universe of options to any cruise line and like others said, just pick an itinerary that appeals to you.

However, if you were looking for a ship where all four of you could stay in one cabin... I'm not aware of aware river cruises with that room configuration.

I wouldn't both to look at the "family friendly" cruises on river cruises, these seem to be geared to grandparents bringing elementary-aged children. That opens up your universe of options to any cruise line and like others said, just pick an itinerary that appeals to you.

However, if you were looking for a ship where all four of you could stay in one cabin... I'm not aware of aware river cruises with that room configuration.

That's what I was concerned about with the family cruise that it would be geared to elementary aged kids. Over the last couple years when we have cruised we always get two staterooms because having the second bathroom makes getting ready for the day/dinner so much easier.

We love the idea of being able to do a bike tour.

Thank you everyone for providing all this helpful information.

That's what I was concerned about with the family cruise that it would be geared to elementary aged kids. Over the last couple years when we have cruised we always get two staterooms because having the second bathroom makes getting ready for the day/dinner so much easier.

 

We love the idea of being able to do a bike tour.

 

Thank you everyone for providing all this helpful information.

AMA offers escorted bike tours (average 12-18 miles) as well as use of their bikes when not being used for the tours. Both are complimentary and have been well attended on our cruises with them. Their "Limited Edition Tours" are also included and often include a more unique experience. This is all in addition to the daily excursions offered.

Multigenerational families, with "kids" in that general age range have been on a couple of river cruises with us. The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves and we enjoyed having them along. I thought the kids brought out something extra in the PDs and the local guides.

It really depends on the "kids". We were in a uniworld danube cruise last winter. Clearly the average age was well above 50. But i would not have hesitated taking my kids when they were 18-20. They were intellegent and mature and knew how to act and enjoy an adult experience. If yours are into clubs and video games and fast food - maybe it would not work for them.

I was curious and called ABD today. There are up to 147 passengers allowed. There are 141 currently booked on our sailing.

105 adults

36 kids total:

20 kids ages 4 to 12 (only 3 are under 8)

16 kids ages 13-17 (three of those are mine)

Not pushing ABD, just curious how the breakdown of kids would be.

Back to the non-Disney discussion...

For more information about the design of the new AMA ships that will be used on the Disney cruises (but will also sail many non-Disney itineraries), see this Cruise Critic article:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2015/08/07/just-back-from-amawaterways-amaserena-hits-misses/?isalt=0&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CC%2FTheLidoDeck+%28The+Lido+Deck+-+Cruise+Critic+Blog%29

Note that the "connecting cabins" are way more than a communicating door (like I've seen on ocean ships). The description is "With the touch of a button, two cabins convert into one larger one, as adjoining walls recede like pocket doors." That sounds like a perfect answer to the question that keeps coming up about cabins rated for 3 or 4 people.