Sailing at night our by day?

We've only done "proper" ocean cruises so far, but a river cruise may be in our future... however while reading through the various websites I haven't been able to determine when the majority of the sailing is done, I mean the past of the itinerary that actually moves you along the river... is it by day or by night?

I would love to just sit on deck and view the countryside pass by ☺

Hey C,

Depends on the itinerary.

In general, all of the operators make sure that you are on the most scenic parts in the daytime.

Ira

The Douro only sails during the day.

Except for the most scenic portions most other European river cruises cruise by night.

Just to add more detail to gnome12's reply: by night meaning the whole night for when covering a great distance from one port to another is required but in large towns overnight docking is also possible. In summertime you might sail late in the evening but can see the sunset due to longer daytime (sunlight). On some itineraries you do get daytime sailing during lunch or leave at dinnertime not just because the river stretch is scenic but also because you need to get to another port - which can also happen to pick up cruisers from an excursion. But as gnome12 said the majority in kilometres is done at night from what past cruisers have reported, at least in Europe, with the exception of the Douro, as mentioned.

notamermaid

Depends on which itinery and company. Depends on how much of the daytime you spend on included/optional trips.

All 6 cruises I've been on have had plenty of day time cruising, after all, it's a highlight of river cruising that you've always got scenic views close by either side of you.

Some trips where a lot of distance has to be covered the boat will travel by night and you wake up and see dawn as the boat glides past quiet countryside.

Some trips the boat cruises while guests on optional tours depart at one place and rejoin the boat further along the river, those that don't take the trip watch the passing scenery.

I don't think you need fear you'll miss plenty of opportunity of sitting outside watching the world slide past you on both banks.

Actually you sail both ways. Certainly you move along at night but many scenic parts of rivers, castles on the Rhine, the Wachau as examples are done in the daytime with commentary. Also as noted the ship may drop you off for a tour at one point and then it continues on and you meet up with it farther along the river.

There are differences with different lines and itineraries. We cruised the Rhone this year with Avalon. One factor that influenced us to pick Avalon was the fact that their cruise (northbound) ended in the little village of St. Jean de Losne, whereas most Rhone cruises don’t go that far north. They usually only go to Lyon or Chalon–Sur–Saone. The sailing from Lyon to St. Jean was a daytime sail where we could just sit back and enjoy the experience and the view. There were optional tours as well, but we opted for a relaxing day of sailing.

FuelScience,

you have given me a thought there. One can of course also opt out of doing an excursion and stay onboard when there is an excursion with a change of port. This often happens with the Heidelberg excursion on the Rhine for example. It depends on the company and itinerary.

notamermaid

Thank you everybody! Great insight 😉

We're European and thus fairly familiar with the sights, so skipping an excursion or two may happen just to enjoy cruising on the river and relaxing with a different perspective 😀

Just remember that frequently the ship just sits there while an excursion is on. It obviously depends on the itinerary.

Did the Danube. I only can remember 1 good day of daylight cruising. Mostly nighttime, with plenty of locks to rattle you. It's not like the Viking ads where you sit day by day, sipping wine, and watching the castles and mountains as you drift by.

It choosing the Rhine, the direction from Amsterdam to Basel has more time on the river passing the castles because you are going against the current.

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The Seine, if you port in Honfleur, might mean some daylight cruising to deal with the tidal flow.

This is what we have experienced

Mekong - mainly daytime , with maybe 1 or 2 late nights

Irrawaddy - daytime only

Yangtze - Day and Night

Chobe - day only

Thames - day only

Main - day and night

Rajang - day

depends a lot on the infrastructure on the river