Germany/France Rhine River

Hi!! Can you recommend what ships/time of year would be the best for the ports I have listed? I have done some research, but it is a bit overwhelming. We are sending our parents (80's) and would like to do a nice ship!! Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much! :)

I did it on Avalon Felicity a few years ago and we found that end of September/early October was a great time to cruise down the Rhine. I'm sure others will chime in who have taken it within the past year and give their input. Generally there is a lot of walking on these land based tours so if they have a mobility problem, see if their line has what AMAWaterways call Gentle Walkers where they drive them in a minivan as close as they can to attractions.

Jane

Just off the Rhine and currently on the Moselle heading back to Rhine...no problem with water le else. Amsterdam, Cologne and Cochem were in the 80's. Luxembourg poured rain but not cold, currently in Berkastel...absolutely gorgeous day in 70's. Late Aug. - Oct is best time for Danube, Rhine....IMHO.

You don't mention the mobility level of your parents. If there are any mobility limitations at all, you will want to consider a ship with an elevator. Not all will have these. Realize they will need to walk on a gang-plank to get on & off the ship -- which could be at different slants depending on water levels.

I realize there's a wide range of activity levels for people in their 80's. On our last cruise an 80-year-old did the 20 mile bike ride and was on the dance floor every night.

Thank you all for your reply's. They defiantly have limitations with walking long distances, so I do need to take that into consideration? Any recommendations of which ship you think would fit the bill and do the ports they would like to visit? Thanks for the tip on AMAwaterways, does anyone else have any input on this?

You don't mention the mobility level of your parents. If there are any mobility limitations at all, you will want to consider a ship with an elevator. Not all will have these. Realize they will need to walk on a gang-plank to get on & off the ship -- which could be at different slants depending on water levels.

I realize there's a wide range of activity levels for people in their 80's. On our last cruise an 80-year-old did the 20 mile bike ride and was on the dance floor every night.

Absolutely beeskate...I do have walking issues and many of the ports and tours have cobblestone streets and walks...and gangways can be slippery....if your can, visit some of the stops with google earth or similar to get an idea of what walking could be like for them...quite a few people on our tour use canes(me included) and I've seen several with wheeled walkers/seats.

Uniworld ships have elevators and on our last cruise (Budapest to Amsterdam last month) one passenger used a walker. She was a real trooper and participated in most of the gentle walking tours in each town. And, of course, there is no requirement to participate in a tour in every port.

Our cruise this year with Scenic through the South of France, Saone and Rhone we had several people who had challenges with mobility. One gentleman had a mobility scooter and due to my ever decreasing arthritis mobility I have to be very careful. Scenic were absolutely wonderful with all of us to my mind they went above and beyond, still no one was incomodiated there are normal walking groups, medium and slow, even I was happy with the medium, may be I'm not so bad as I thought. If you have a slippery gangplank just ask a handy captain or crew member for his arm to walk down, a super excuse. Try a shooting stick - walking stick that the top opens to a small seat. Just go for it what an adventure!

CA

We did the Rhine and Moselle with Uniworld at the beginning of August, and as has been mentioned, there was a "gentle walkers" tour at every port. The ship also had an elevator which several passengers used on a daily basis.

Thank you all so much! :)

One thing to consider is that if (when;)) your boat is rafted with another boat, the boats are NOT always at the same level. You might have to go up and down stairs to disembark in port (once we couldn't go through the lobby of a boat - had to go over the top deck).

We were on Avalon Vista and they do have an elevator. But it doesn't go to the Top Deck (I think it goes to the bottom deck though - deck plans for ANY ship you're considering should be able to show you this information)