New Ports of call

Been sailing with SB since 2000 love it.Cannot find any new ports of call to spend thousand's of dollar's on. Coming from Arizona we need to experience new places.

Looking into River Cruises, anyone have any experience with Scenic?

The sojourn is going to Japan April 2017 and there are many new ports on that cruise. Then if you stay on it is going to Alaska before ending in Seattle!

Been sailing with SB since 2000 love it.Cannot find any new ports of call to spend thousand's of dollar's on. Coming from Arizona we need to experience new places.

Looking into River Cruises, anyone have any experience with Scenic?

River cruises are a totally different animal from an ocean cruise. Read the Cruise critic forum on river cruising.

Haven't tried Scenic, but I can assure you that Tauck River Cruises will provide a river cruise experience that is closest to a Seabourn cruise. (Many of our fellow Tauck travelers also had sailed Seabourn.) First, it's all inclusive, providing all beverages all day, tipping is included as are airport transfers are included whether or not you use Tauck for air tickets. And finally, as has been said many times, Tauck tour directors even provide coins for pay toilets on shore excursions. There are no extra charges in a Tauck river cruise. All optional excursions are included. In addition to all included meals on board, we had several meals on our own at port stops (in order to sample local cuisine) and Tauck provided us with cash to pay for the meals. Excellent service provided by staff of Swiss owned riverboats (Tauck leases the boats). Tauck has the fewest passengers per riverboat.

Enjoyed the river cruise, but would probably not take another one, despite the excellent service. You should read the brochures very carefully regarding sailing; most cruises are not like the Viking ads on PBS. Most sailing is done at night; there are many many noisy locks to go through. And don't get me started on rafting where the boats tie up next to each other. You go to sleep with a wonderful river view and wake up with another boat blocking your light, and someone looking into your room. Also rivers have high water (ships cannot pass under bridges) and low water (ships don't have enough draft). Either of these conditions can turn your river cruise into a bus trip or be cancelled. And while the food is good, it's not special.

I sail Seabourn for the ship experience, not the ports. While I love going back to familiar ports, many times, I will stay on the ship and enjoy the solitude and the quiet.

Last week, there was a scenic river boat docked in Honfleur. It was the most interesting river boat we have seen to date. I was so intrigued I logged on to their website as soon as I was back on board (the crystal serenity). There are a few CC reviews on Scenic, apparantly the majority of the pax are Australian which can be a fun thing right off the bat. I can definately see myself sitting on one of their rather unusual balconies and watching the scenery go by.

Maybe Seabourn will "keep up with the Joneses" and add a couple river boats to their growing fleet.

Or better yet, innovate their itineraries. Mix it up a little with more overnights so we can take the time to explore more inland to places only river boats can reach.

On this past cruise mentioned above, we had 3 days to enjoy Bordeaux. It was such a stressless experience to not have to worry about the time gone by.

Was this a SB trip? 3 nights is wonderful.

I'd vote for more overnights rather than river cruises. There are already too many river boats, especially on the Amsterdam-Budapest trips. At some towns, there are so many boats it looks like St. Thomas with the megaships in port!

Several years ago on Seabourn, because of local strikes at some ports in France, we overnighted in Bordeaux unexpectedly. The port we were supposed to go to was closed so we stayed in Bordeaux another day.

Best time ever! And the crew especially enjoyed their unexpected night in town. The crew was really smiling the next day. I hadn't thought about where the crew spent their "down" time. When the ship is sailing, they're stuck in crew quarters. When the ship overnights at a port, they are out on the town. Win-Win for passengers and crew.

So here's a vote for more overnights.

More overnights? Why not go for a land-based holiday? (Tongue firmly in cheek).

Was this a SB trip? 3 nights is wonderful.

I only wish it was SB. If it was I would not have been infidel. It was Crystal. When I checked the SB itineraries for this summer, it was been there done that.

Sorry SB, it's now up to them to win me back. I'm confident that with the new builds, this will happen, but until then my vacations are all planned until 2017 and they are with the compétition. They still remain my number 1 choice.

I'd vote for more overnights rather than river cruises. There are already too many river boats, especially on the Amsterdam-Budapest trips. At some towns, there are so many boats it looks like St. Thomas with the megaships in port!

 

Several years ago on Seabourn, because of local strikes at some ports in France, we overnighted in Bordeaux unexpectedly. The port we were supposed to go to was closed so we stayed in Bordeaux another day.

 

Best time ever! And the crew especially enjoyed their unexpected night in town. The crew was really smiling the next day. I hadn't thought about where the crew spent their "down" time. When the ship is sailing, they're stuck in crew quarters. When the ship overnights at a port, they are out on the town. Win-Win for passengers and crew.

 

So here's a vote for more overnights.

Yay! More overnights! Perfect compromise between the sublime pleasure of being on board a ship versus the special experience of really getting to know a port town. My preference is land-based travel, and I generally use ships for crossings, but cruises that feature overnights are very attractive to me.

We are doing a river cruise this year with Uniworld, rather than our usual Seabourn. Alas, the Danube has very low water and some cruises are being cancelled, some have a boat change midway through the week, and some are using busses rather than your boat to get you to places. We have to wait and see what will happen to our sailing in early September but we are beginning to wish we had stuck with Seabourn. The oceans never run dry!!

More overnights? Why not go for a land-based holiday? (Tongue firmly in cheek).

Because there is no one to make sure my champagne glass is always full and tiny bottles of water cost 6€ in most hotels. I would die of thirst! LOL

Did you like Crystal? Not sure about the restaurants.Having to make reservations in advance does not appeal to us.

We did a Scenic cruise last year and enjoyed it. We want to do another through the wine country of France. If interested, here is my review.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=265145

I received an Email from Crystal a few days ago announcing their new Yacht and itineraries. As part of it they indicated they plan to get into the luxury river cruise business. I think the date is 2017.

2017 is the proposed date for the first of Crystal's new ocean cruise ships. I bet you won't see a Crystal river boat until 2020 or 2021.

Scenic is actually as close as you'll get to SB on a river cruise but it's still a river cruise. If that's what you want, fine.

Did you like Crystal? Not sure about the restaurants.Having to make reservations in advance does not appeal to us.

I would definately sail with them again only after having first ruled out SB and then Silversea. There is a thread on the Crystal board that goes into more detail, it's titled Like-dislike. The itinerary was what sold me.

2017 is the proposed date for the first of Crystal's new ocean cruise ships. I bet you won't see a Crystal river boat until 2020 or 2021.

 

Scenic is actually as close as you'll get to SB on a river cruise but it's still a river cruise. If that's what you want, fine.

I've heard the same about Tauck.

We are doing a river cruise this year with Uniworld, rather than our usual Seabourn. Alas, the Danube has very low water and some cruises are being cancelled, some have a boat change midway through the week, and some are using busses rather than your boat to get you to places. We have to wait and see what will happen to our sailing in early September but we are beginning to wish we had stuck with Seabourn. The oceans never run dry!!

Oh dear what a bad decision.

Mr L - agreed. But it could turn out to be brilliant!

Have only done 2 river cruises (as opposed to 25+ ocean cruises, mainly Seabourn). I agree that river cruising is a totally different experience - little cruising experience (except for the occasional 'scenic' part day). Lots of tours, or time off the boat, not much time on board (often quite rushed between return from tour and dinner). Almost zero entertainment.

Second the view that Tauck is the nearest to Seabourn. All inclusive, relatively spacious cabins, similar quality of food, not crowded as some river ships are. Crew excellent (although many fewer than on a cruise ship and often doubling up roles - room service team also acting as canape waiters between 5.30 and 7...)

River cruises are mainly about the destinations, not the means of getting there. Do a river cruise if there are stops that you really want to see (although you need several of these, given that things are much more unpredictable on a river cruise and there is a reasonable chance that something will need to be rearranged during your trip).

So I don't think river cruising is a substitute, but it is an alternative - especially to a bus tour or doing a lot of driving yourself.

I would definately sail with them again only after having first ruled out SB and then Silversea. There is a thread on the Crystal board that goes into more detail, it's titled Like-dislike. The itinerary was what sold me.

We are excited to be on our first SB cruise in February. Originally booked on Silversea Singapore to Hong Kong, but canceled after the ship we had booked again failed the CDC inspection. From what I have read, I think we are going to be very happy on SB.

Okay - off topic, but I don't know where else to slide this info in. Since the mention of Viking came up on this thread, here goes. I recently heard that Karl Eckl has moved over to Viking, supposedly to their new océan liner. I thought inquiring minds might like to know. Too bad for us, he was (is) the best hotel manager.

Yes, hes over on Viking putting out some massive fires caused by Viking uninviting passengers to the wee issues that the ships mechanical failure has caused.