River cruise ( alcohol not included in price)

Hubby and I are interested in doing one of the river cruises, there are several we like the look of, but all I have looked at seem to include alcohol in the overall price. As we are both non drinkers for us this seems a waste of money for us. Does anyone know if there are some where it isnt included pls.

Most only incl Beer and Wine at meals. Grand Circle may not incl even that much. But don't discount a wonderful opportunity with a great provider simply because of wine with dinner. Uniworld and Tauck the only ones completely All-Inclusive.

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There was a long thread about this recently. You should be able to find it with the search feature above. Sorry I don't know how to do links.

There was a long thread about this recently. You should be able to find it with the search feature above. Sorry I don't know how to do links.

I don't either Joanne, but I remember the discussion.

Leah: Most river cruises include beer and wine with dinner, some with lunch and some free and some not. I think that if you were to ask them to refund the cost of that included wine and beer it would come to less than $50! No one will be hounding you to buy drinks, like on some big ships, and there are no expensive drink packages like the big guys either. In my experience, most of the people on the river cruises (I've been on 6) drink beer or wine....they do offer mixed drinks in the lounge, but truthfully most of the ladies drink wine and the men are split between beer and wine. Are you afraid of being in a small crowd of "drunks"? because, while there's always an exception, I have very rarely seen anyone really drunk on any of my cruises, where I have seen plenty of people rarely sober on big ships!:D

I tried to post a link but the thread is closed & locked maybe that's why I could not do it...

Look on this board "AttilaTheFun" is the poster July 5, 2013 so it's an older thread and things have changed a bit.

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This is it I think! :)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=39025972

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Uniworld and Tauck the only ones completely All-Inclusive.

 

 

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Scenic is also completely all inclusive - including all gratuities.

Scenic is also completely all inclusive - including all gratuities.

Forgot about them :)

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Most only incl Beer and Wine at meals. Grand Circle may not incl even that much. But don't discount a wonderful opportunity with a great provider simply because of wine with dinner. Uniworld and Tauck the only ones completely All-Inclusive.

 

 

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Grand Circle does provide beer and wine with lunch and dinner. Until this year, it was just dinner but they now added lunch.

I suspect the difference in cost, for just that one item, isn't very much. I wouldn't use it as your main criterion for deciding.

Think of it this way--some cruise lines include things in their price that we don't use--does that mean we should try to find a different line? I've been on ships that include in their price specialty restaurants, fitness classes, dance classes, wine tastings, snorkel gear, excursions. These may seem high-end items, but what about things like high tea in the afternoons or the dance band in the lounge? If you don't like to dance or have tea, then you might feel like you were paying for something you didn't use.

If the bottom line is important, then pay attention to that. Do notice whether all excursions are included, or just most.

We have not heard back from the OP as to what has motivated their concerns??

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We have not heard back from the OP as to what has motivated their concerns??

 

 

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OP said "As we are both non drinkers for us this seems a waste of money for us." It seems their concern is the cost of their wine/alcohol drinks that they would be paying for but not actually drinking.

OP said "As we are both non drinkers for us this seems a waste of money for us." It seems their concern is the cost of their wine/alcohol drinks that they would be paying for but not actually drinking.

Yes that is what they posted. But after the replies to their post maybe they think all these river cruises do is drink drink drink.... I think the above posters have given them other things to consider. Hoping the OP stops back by, as posters have taken the time to respond???

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I suspect the difference in cost, for just that one item, isn't very much. I wouldn't use it as your main criterion for deciding.

 

Think of it this way--some cruise lines include things in their price that we don't use--does that mean we should try to find a different line? I've been on ships that include in their price specialty restaurants, fitness classes, dance classes, wine tastings, snorkel gear, excursions. These may seem high-end items, but what about things like high tea in the afternoons or the dance band in the lounge? If you don't like to dance or have tea, then you might feel like you were paying for something you didn't use.

 

If the bottom line is important, then pay attention to that. Do notice whether all excursions are included, or just most.

Well put Wendy! And if people could get money taken off their bill because they don't want to use the pool, or snorkel, or go to any of the games or classes, what a bookkeeping nightmare that would be.

I agree with everything that has been said, but, unlike Hydrokitty, I have been on around 6 prior river cruises, and have never been to a quiet dining room where there weren't at least a few unbecoming loud folks that had too much to drink. The dinners are 2+ hours long and the staff often come by and fill your glass without being asked so of course there will be some inebriated guests. And now that Uniworld is all-inclusive, I fear there will be excessive drinking during the day as well. I am not against drinking moderately to be sociable, to unwind, and relax, but I think with the all-inclusive, the "moderately" part may be eliminated for some. I have a trip coming up in April on Uniworld, and will more accurately be able report how it pans out. I hope I don't get blasted by this group! I am just offering an opinion on how it seems to me...

There are many reasons why people do not want to or do not care to drink alcohol so don't worry if a cruise is all inclusive what the cruise companies forget to say is that all drinks are free including soft drinks which can cost more than some hard drinks. With companies that are all inclusive I.e Scenic you can ask for your in cabin bar to be loaded with drinks of your choice in your case all soft drinks, winner. The bonus is that when you go to the bar or the server comes to you they know what your preference is. This of course is not the case where it is not all inclusive so you end up paying for your soft drinks unless that is you only drink water or coffee a and tea.

Hi Leah 68,

I am going on a River Cruise, in April.

Alcohol, is not in your cruise ticket.

We, fly to Gatwick, Then on the Saturday, We, fly to Berlin, Have a look around the city and then go to our Hotel.

Then, on the Sunday, we go to our Boat, to sail down the Elbe River, To Prague, The name of the Boat is Ms Princess. I booked with the River Cruise Line In London!

We, live in Melbourne, Australia.

I am still trying to find out how we get our Laundry done.

As, there is no washing machines on board!

I hope that helps you.

Good Night.

Kind regards,

Redfran1:)

I agree with everything that has been said, but, unlike Hydrokitty, I have been on around 6 prior river cruises, and have never been to a quiet dining room where there weren't at least a few unbecoming loud folks that had too much to drink. The dinners are 2+ hours long and the staff often come by and fill your glass without being asked so of course there will be some inebriated guests. And now that Uniworld is all-inclusive, I fear there will be excessive drinking during the day as well. I am not against drinking moderately to be sociable, to unwind, and relax, but I think with the all-inclusive, the "moderately" part may be eliminated for some. I have a trip coming up in April on Uniworld, and will more accurately be able report how it pans out. I hope I don't get blasted by this group! I am just offering an opinion on how it seems to me...

I've been on 3 Uniworld cruises prior to the "all-inclusive" announcement and on each cruise the dining room staff always has been generous in their wine and beer pours. I've never seen drunken behavior on any of the 3 cruises--the closest to loud behavior was a group of 8 traveling together and they were having fun--they were drinkers but not sloppy. On the Italy trip, one gentleman bought a bottle of limoncello in Venice and carried that around with him--he was buzzed but not over the top. I just don't think, given the general river cruise demographics, that just because a drink is "free" passengers will be swilling down alcohol into oblivion.

I was on Uniworld in July with the inclusive alcohol. I never saw any heavy drinking issues during the day or at dinner. There was one individual on the dance floor either the first or second evening of the cruise who obviously had too much. I'm guessing she realized it as well because the rest of the cruise I didn't even see her with a drink. We normally sat at tables of 6-8 every night as we quickly made friends on the cruise. It wasn't uncommon for about half the table not to drink any alcohol(including my wife who doesn't drink any alcohol). I guess the danger is that its possible on any cruise to have a few people who over indulge so maybe we were just lucky.

I was on Uniworld in July with the inclusive alcohol. I never saw any heavy drinking issues during the day or at dinner. There was one individual on the dance floor either the first or second evening of the cruise who obviously had too much. I'm guessing she realized it as well because the rest of the cruise I didn't even see her with a drink. We normally sat at tables of 6-8 every night as we quickly made friends on the cruise. It wasn't uncommon for about half the table not to drink any alcohol(including my wife who doesn't drink any alcohol). I guess the danger is that its possible on any cruise to have a few people who over indulge so maybe we were just lucky.

I don't think so PapaB....that's pretty much been our experience on 6 cruises with Vantage too. It's unfortunate when you run into someone who has a problem or just doesn't know how to behave, but given the cost of river cruises, you generally don't see too many people who go crazy because the wine and beer is free.

Since most of us are in bed by 10 how crazy can it get? Lol

Since most of us are in bed by 10 how crazy can it get? Lol

Well, if you start drinking with breakfast at 7.....(I think I had 2 glasses of sparkling wine at breakfast during our 9 day cruise;))

I've never been a night owl and have no problem with daytime drinking.....

Avalon does not include alcohol at lunch. That was fine with us because we always did more optional touring after lunch. We would rather sit in an authentic Biergarten in Germany or a sidewalk cafe in France if we choose an afternoon drink.

Hi Redfran1,

I don't know about your river boat Ms Princess, but on our Scenic cruise there was a laundry service that you had to pay for ( not if you have a suite )

We just washed our clothes in our bathroom, not a problem at all and we had a great balcony and just hung the clothes out there.

I would think most of these boats have a laundry service.

Cheers and happy cruising.

We have never seen any problems with anyone over indulging on any of our Scenic cruises. Okay unless you are in a higher end suite you do have to pay for any laundry you need. I must admit the only extra we had to pay for on our Rhine Moselle cruise was my Stieff Bear (I collect teddy bears) and last year we did not have to show the plastic the light of day for the whole trip. All inclusive is the way to go.

CA