River Cruises for a Silversea Regular...

We receive a lot of different river cruise brochures in the mail. I've often been intrigued and wondered how they compare and what the "best" river cruise line is. Tauck, Uniworld, AMA or another? How would you compare and contrast them, and what are the important things to keep in mind when booking a river cruise, selecting the cruise line, the itinerary, the boat and the cabin? And will it be a high-end experience similar to Silversea, Seabourn, hotels like the Four Seasons, etc.? What are the best and worst things about river cruises? We would be most interested in a river cruise in Europe.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions, comments and thoughts! :)

We have cruised with AMA twice in Europe, once on one of their older boats and once on the new long boat. The new long boats are very very nice. The cabins are roomy with reasonable bathrooms and they have a real balcony (which we never used since it was November, but had it been warmer, it would have been nice). The bathroom on the older boat was tiny, but functional, and the cabin was so small that we didn't really enjoy spending time in it.

Food was quite good, though you won't have as many choices as you would on Silversea or Regent. Wine with dinner was included as was beer.

We saw some Uniworld and Viking boats. I thought ours looked better by far.

We, too, were looking for a comparable product. We chose Scenic. It is hard to compare ocean and river cruise products. They are both good....but different. Scenic is an Australian company, now marketing in North America. Rooms are small, but well appointed, and like Silversea, include a butler. A "real" balcony is included on the majority of rooms. Our main complaint was dining. The food was good, but everyone on board dines at the same time. No tables for 2, and the noise level is very high. Scenic is "all inclusive". The included shore excursions were excellent, and the crew went above and beyond. I would highly recommend Scenic, but it is just not the same as an ocean cruise.

We have done one river cruise on AMA Prima ( November 2013) on the Danube, with a prior few days in Prague before. We primarily enjoyed the historic scenic itinerary, and casual dress code. The cabins, though smaller than on SS, were modern and lovely. However, even though we made an effort to get the largest available at booking with French balconies, it is definitely more confining than on SS veranda suites. With fewer pax, if there is one large group traveling together, the dynamic will be different ( we had a large pack of animated Puerto Ricans, and another large group which was mostly sedate travel agents) . People seemed to be less affluent and earthier than pax on SS cruises. At dinners and on excursions we had conversations with people about everything from what it was like to flee Communist Cuba when Castro took over, to what firearm one uses to shoot an armadillo, to how to revitalize Detroit. I was disappointed in the food, which was usually mediocre, and dining service, but as we were off the ship every day we had opportunity to sample authentic regional cuisine and shop for treats to bring back on board. It was so nice to just dock in the old towns and walk right off without fuss. We are considering doing another wine-themed cruise in Europe but might try Viking or Uniworld for comparison. My CC review of our cruise is below.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=245500

I asked exactly the same question a few years ago and was directed to Tauck. The river experience is very different but I can highly recommend Tauck. As all ships are approximately the same size Tauck has fewer passengers and consequently more space. I described our experience as idiot proof travel as they really thought of everything - including providing coins when pay toilets were required. Where busses were used for tours they were never more than half full to ensure lots of space. The big difference is the fewer choices of food but what was served was very good though perhaps more conservative. Do remember that the boats are all the same width to fit into the locks therefore a balcony eats into suite space, our particular boat had floor to ceiling windows that opened fully with a railing, allowing maximum space in the room at all times.

Our only experience was with Uniworld; Ship was very classic and a group of rooms included butlers, requested alcohol in your room and laundry. You could order diner in your room and very much reminded us of Silversea with all inclusive. But like others have said; it's nothing like the ocean cruising experience but if you don't like rough seas, you will live river cruising....

Catlover, my husband can advise you in what firearm to use to shoot an armadillo. No need to pay for a cruise to learn that.

The AMA passengers were very similar to those on regent or silversea. In fact, a lot of them had been on one or the other.

Dining is very noisy on a river cruise on any of these boats. It is because of the low ceilings and less space. But there are many 2 tops on AMA. But because everyone dines at exactly the same time (7:00) , you need to get there right on time to nab one.

I have only recently started looking at the Silverseas forum as I have booked a cruise with them. It will be the most upscale ocean cruise line on which I have traveled. I have taken many river cruises on the lines that cater to Americans. Tauck is far and away the best in terms of food and service. The travelers on a Tauck river cruise, if mine was indicative, are people who travel almost exclusively on ocean cruise lines like Siverseas, Cunard, Regent, Seaborne, and Paul Gaugin. I did not find this demographic on other river cruise lines.

One blogger mentioned the crowded dining rooms and set dinner times. This is an area where Tauck differs. With a smaller number of passengers, the dining room is not crowded, and it is easy to have a conversation with fellow tablemates. Tauck also allows you to come to dinner when you want within a time frame of about 7 to 9.

I also like Uniworld and AMA, which are a step below Tauck in my opinion. Avalon and Viking I would rate another notch below. But, all my river cruises have been enjoyable for the most part.

I didn't know Tauck actually has boats of their own. I don't recall ever seeing one on the Rhone or Danube. And when I look at their pics, I don't see Tauck anywhere, maybe why I have never seen one. On these rivers ne does see lots of boats without compnay names on them, just the name of the vessel only.

We have cruised plenty with SS and we find Uniworld to be a reasonable comparison. We just returned from our second cruise with them on Sunday. Caveat - both of our cruises were on the new Super Ships, not their older ships.

@bohaiboy, we saw the Swiss Emerald on the Rhône last week, and the Tauck logo was very prominently displayed on the side of the vessel. Have not seen that before.

We have cruised plenty with SS and we find Uniworld to be a reasonable comparison. We just returned from our second cruise with them on Sunday. Caveat - both of our cruises were on the new Super Ships, not their older ships.

Lots of interesting comments and insights on this thread. Great sharing!! Look forward to more details and specifics from JP on how things matched up for the style, character, flow, etc., on river cruises versus ocean liners such as Silversea.

My fear on river cruises is that being on so much smaller of a ship, that things can get too "boring" and/or limited. I like mental stimulation, variety of choices in food/settings and options. Some river boats seem, maybe for me, too small and narrow in their potentials, audience mix, etc. Also for JP, how do the new Super Ships compare to their older craft?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 20,820 views for these postings.

You don't get bored on a river cruise because there is a lot to see as far as scenery when you are motoring along, unlike an ocean cruise where it may be nothing except ocean. And the ports are close together and mostly very accessable to getting off and wandering on your own if you are not on tour. So you spend less time on the boat itself vs on an ocean cruise in general.

Evenings can have little to do at times, but we have never been bored. They do usually bring on board a local entertainer when possible, and often we have had off the boat evening excursions.

Thank you to Herman The Cat for creating this topic and to all of responders who shared their point-of-view. We recently posed this exact same question to our TA, and it's nice too see the responses here line-up well with her feedback.

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surprised that Scenic not inc. Loved ALL the other cruises ,but have to admit the last Scenic was top of the line. Do look at website and get brochure for all details.But you DO GET what you pay for. Leave ship owing NADA and get first class accommodation,food, excursions,etc.....Booked my next one with them for May.

Similar(as much as possible for small riverboat)to premium or luxury ocean cruise.Loved the room service,bulter,tub, free drinks all day,all tips on and off ship,free airport pick up,,,EVEn if book own air.Tauck is fantastic,but LOVE the full balcony on Scenic with cover,makes room feel bigger.But would go on some like AMA,Tauck,etc if itinerary right.After 11 river cruises, remember all ships don t go to all areas.

We have been looking at river cruising though probably not until 2017.Looking at doing it through an Australian company.They charter the AMA boats so pleased to hear them mentioned here.

Terry: it is really hard to compare river to ocean cruises.

The first thing to note is that you are sharing the town docks with many river boats so you may have to walk across them to get to your boat. Not an issue until you arrive back at the dock in a rainstorm and your boat is in the river, waiting for the boat next to the pier to leave so it can tie up again.

Secondly, you can choose your cabin position with care, but if you are tied up next to another boat, its bulge vent could be outside your cabin and your cabin smells like sewage. Or worse, on an overnight the boat next to you has its generator roaring next to you. Try sleeping (after 12 hours of touring) when the generator is next to your cabin. (Thankfully in that case, I found the Tauck rep and vented to her, thinking she obviously could do nothing but I needed to vent. What she did was go and confirm when that boat was leaving so I knew at midnight the noise would stop. Just knowing the noise wouldn't last all night helped me relax, even if I didn't sleep until midnight came. This is an example of how good the Tauck reps are.)

If you like sea days (as I do) then a river cruise may not be for you. It is all about a port-a-day and all tours are included. I hated my cruise for that reason - I'm too cheap to pass up a tour I've already paid for (besides the tours were unbelievably fantastic) and I was exhausted because my cruise had morning, afternoon and evening activities. There was no time to just veg (except on our overnight in Vienna.)

I used Tauck (based on recommendations from this board) and the tours blew away anything I've taken on SS. I may not ever take another river cruise but I will use Tauck when I need to tour overland in the future.

The downside was our cruise the ship was leased to Tauck and the crew were all belonging to that firm. Service was below SS standards as was the food (not a big deal to me, though, since I don't usually dine.) Some alcohol was included but not all the time. And things like soda (which I do drink) were charged, which I found unfair if I went to get a soda during Happy Hour when others were drinking alcohol for free. I complained and that was rectified.

As Torst said in his/her post, Tauck was amazing. Reread it for a good sense of how thorough Tauck is. We had major things go wrong and Tauck handled it beautifully.

As well, we took the Tauck Music tour along the Danube and loved that aspect of it fully (I'm not one for art galleries or churches, nor do I drink alcohol so the emphasis on music was what I needed in order to be interested in each town.)

In summary, as much as it was an amazing holiday and as much as I'm hard-pressed to say anything against Tauck, I won't river cruise again because it doesn't suit my personality. But I will use Tauck in the future because as a tour company they are amazing.

Sorry to have not replied...but thanks everyone. This is exactly the info I was looking for. One other question: age demographic? Is it skewed older on a river cruise? A few months ago, someone said to me, "I'm not old enough for a river cruise!"

and have been doing it for 20 yrs.(starting in our 40s).Tends to attract active,educated seniors,but have also had teens on some. Give it a try, if not for you,you ve learned something and can stick with SS.

I'd say the age demographic was younger than the SS I choose (long crossings.)

Probably because you have to be active. There are stairs to board quite often and of course, if you are touring in Europe, there isn't much that is handicap accessible (including getting down to the docks at water's edge in town.)

Age demographic was definitely younger than on our Silversea spirit cruises, but older than on our explorer cruises.

surprised that Scenic not inc. Loved ALL the other cruises ,but have to admit the last Scenic was top of the line. Do look at website and get brochure for all details.But you DO GET what you pay for. Leave ship owing NADA and get first class accommodation,food, excursions,etc.....Booked my next one with them for May.

Similar(as much as possible for small riverboat)to premium or luxury ocean cruise.Loved the room service,bulter,tub, free drinks all day,all tips on and off ship,free airport pick up,,,EVEn if book own air.Tauck is fantastic,but LOVE the full balcony on Scenic with cover,makes room feel bigger.But would go on some like AMA,Tauck,etc if itinerary right.After 11 river cruises, remember all ships don t go to all areas.

I concur. We loved our Scenic 2 week cruise last year. We had cruised Uniworld before and enjoyed it, but we loved Scenic for the same reasons you did. Also liked the mix of passengers, with few Americans and more Australians, Canadians and some from UK and other locations. Found the crew very helpful and extremely friendly.

I concur. We loved our Scenic 2 week cruise last year.

Not everyone loves Scenic. Class Action Lawsuit details here :

http://www.somervillelegal.com.au/page16858/Scenic-Tours-Class-Action.aspx