River Cruises for Independent Traveler

I have been on five river cruises and about as many independent trips. As I get more confident about travel, I am getting impatient with some aspects of cruises. I am trying to find a cruise line than offers the best of both worlds.

What I like:

• Having a hotel that moves around with you.
  
• Traveling while sleeping.
  
• Waking up in the middle of cities, close to sites of interest.
  

What I don't like:

• Docking in uninteresting places that require a bus trip to get to the real destination.
  
• Large group tours. Well, group tours at all. Certainly any group that requires you to put something in your ear to hear the guide.
  

So. I'm looking for a river cruise line that takes me places and then gives me a good long period of time to go off on my own and have fun, returning to the ship for a trip to the next place. Support in the form of maps, audio guides, and a concierge to help with planning and tickets would be a good thing.

I am not interested in a suite, my own butler, free booze, or private balcony. If the food is reasonably good and the cabin is comfortable enough to return to at the end of the day, that's about all I need.

Is there any European river cruise line that works on this basis?

From my cruising experience you would not enjoy an all inclusive like Scenic although they would be happy to sort out your individual requirements but they have the fantastic ear thingy' which tell you what in view as you cruise along. Try looking at barge cruises much smaller and more I would have thought your thing. Good luck in your search. CA

Yes, I've looked at Scenic's literature. They specialize in luxuries and all-in-one prices. I like their phone app and bicycles, but there is too much in the package that I don't need.

The "long period of time to go off on my own" is the biggest challenge IMO and is totally itinerary dependent.

To avoid long bus rides, eliminate the Douro and Bordeaux from your list of options.

We loved our Rhone cruises for the overnight stays and longer port times. We are independent travelers and often forego the included excursions to explore on our own.

On our Tulip Time cruise, we left the boat as soon as we docked in Antwerp, walked to the train station and bought tickets to Brussels, coming back late in the day. On our Danube cruise, we left the boat in Vienna (been there several times before to stay), hopped a train to Salzburg (an all time favorite) and spent a full day on our own, returning in the evening. On our 2nd Rhone cruise, we did not want to spend another day in Avignon (an altered itinerary had us docked there for three overnights instead of one) so we looked at options and ended up in Marseilles for the day. We always let the cruise manager where we are going.

AMA is our line of choice and does not include drinks outside of beer and wine at lunch and dinner.

glmschlaglp,

welcome to cruisecritic. You might have already looked at the sticky by our hostjazzbeau for river cruise newbies, if not I recommned it.

I do not think there is an itinerary where you can walk of the boat and are right in town at every port. An eight day Rhine itinerary is pretty good as regards that and as you are happy to be independent I think you will find the ports where you are better off taking transport not a big hassle.

As it is not so much on the radar in North America yet, I would like to suggest you have a look at Arosa, a German company. In Germany, river cruises tend not to be all-inclusive. Sometimes a couple of excursions are included in the price but it is usual to buy these online, at a travel agents when you book your cruise or on the ship on the first evening. They might have amended that strategy for the cruises that they offer internationally. Of course, if you can book it, you can go on any of their cruises. They will be in German and not offer tours in English. The international sailings are bi-lingual. On some itineraries (selected dates) there is no single supplement.

This is their US-site: http://www.arosacruises.com/home.html

notamermaid

Thanks for the additional replies. As I noted above, I'm not a river cruise newbie. Most cruise lines are oriented towards providing group tours, and I think we've outgrown that. While we can certainly decide not to participate (and we have done that from time to time), the schedule and the docking location can make that less attractive. I started this thread because I was wondering if there were cruise lines that took a different approach.

I will look into that German line next time we're considering a cruise.

Have you checked out Tauck??

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This is not from first-hand experience, but I have read that Scenic offers more choices for touring ashore, with multiple excursion options in each port, plus the opportunity to explore independently using GPS devices loaded with touring routes and prerecorded commentary.

I was looking at an Arosa cruise from Passau to the delta of the Danube and back. They offered no excursions in Austria, assuming that their German speaking passengers would do their own thing. Organized excursions started in Hungary. It was the only cruise that really went to the delta and returned to the port of origin so that passengers could drive back home or take the train from Passau.

However, you might be ready for a completely independent vacation. Places where you could stay in one hotel and travel by public transportation: Berlin, Vienna, and Paris. They have an extensive public transportation network and Berlin has the added bonus of a lot of green space and river and lake day cruises.

Another more rural area is Lake Constance (Bodensee) at the Swiss, Austrian and German border. If you rent a vacation apartment or stay in a hotel in its main transportation hub, the town of Konstanz, you can travel by public bus, river and lake boats, ferry, and train around the entire area. The lake has a lot of history and several towns whose medieval centers were not destroyed in WW2. It's off the beaten path for American travelers but popular with Europeans.

We did the Arosa cruise of the Danube 3 years ago. For the most part it was great. They dropped you right in the middle of beautiful towns. Meals were all buffets but the food was good. Only 2 excursions were included in English.

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Have you tried Grand Circle? Small groups, free time, good food and good value. I have been on several of these, as well as CGT Cruise Ships. Love them and intend to keep going. Also OAT is the sister company. I like that many of the trips do not charge for single supplement. They do not advertise like Viking, to keep the cost down. Much less expensive that way!