being in port at night

I'm thinking of booking our first river cruise in europe this summer as i'm pretty cruised out of med ocean cruises. Are there any hints to finding an itinerary where you can be in port at night to be able to go out in the town/city?

Thanks.

I'm thinking of booking our first river cruise in europe this summer as i'm pretty cruised out of med ocean cruises. Are there any hints to finding an itinerary where you can be in port at night to be able to go out in the town/city?

 

Thanks.

Usually when you find the itinerary description on their site, it will say whether you are overnighting, or staying late enough for dinner, or an event in the various ports. Most of the time, travel is at night.

Since there are no "sea days," you will find that the daily sightseeing excursions leave you pretty well pooped in the evening -- especially with the need to get up early the next day for another round of sights.

On the Douro River in Portugal, all sailing is in daylight so you are in port every night. But reports are that there is very little right "there."

In sum: river cruising is very different from ocean cruising. If you try to fit this square peg into that round hole, you will have a poor experience. OTOH if you go on the river with an open mind, you will probably find that river cruising is very enjoyable in its own right.

Crystal River cruises do both overnights in ports and "sea-days".

Boats tend to do overnight at major cities like Vienna and Budapest where there is night life. I once did a Uniworld cruise where we docked in Cologne at about midnight, just in time to go clubbing!

Crystal River itineraries also offer all-day sailings.

There are no itineraries on the Rhine or Danube where boats are docked at night every night of the cruise.

I'm thinking of booking our first river cruise in europe this summer as i'm pretty cruised out of med ocean cruises. Are there any hints to finding an itinerary where you can be in port at night to be able to go out in the town/city?

 

Thanks.

It's actually quite easy to figure this out. Go to a river cruise website and look at an itinerary that interests you. It is pretty obvious to see when there is an overnight stay. Note: If there is a river that interest you, look at the itineraries in each direction, as they might differ with regard to overnight stops even when the cities are the same.

I have taken nine European river cruises on five different lines (Tauck, Viking, Uniworld, Ama, and Avalon), and I believe I have had one or two overnights on each of them. Sometimes it is in the middle of a cruise. Other times it is at the end when you get to your final destination in the afternoon, but do not depart the boat until the next day. My overnight stays have been in Vienna (twice), Budapest, Dresden, Cologne, Rudesheim, Cochem, Amsterdam, Paris, Rouen, Lyon, and Avignon. In all cases other than Vienna, the boat has been docked in a very good location to easily walk around the city or town. But, even in Vienna, it is only a short Metro or taxi ride to the center of the city.

If you are looking at being in ports most nights, I think you are out of luck.

We very much enjoy going into town after dinner for a walk or to check out a local wine bar.

The Rhone and Tulip Time were the two itineraries that offered a good amount of overnight stays.

Jazz is correct that on the Douro you are docked at night but there was never anything nearby.

thanks all for the responses. very helpful

Viking's Chateaux, Rivers and Wine river cruise does very little cruising, every week the itinerary changes due to the tides. It is an estuary cruise more than a river cruise. We stayed in Bordeaux for 2 nights before sailing and also stayed in Bourg overnight too. If you enjoy wine this is a very nice river cruise.

Hey smk,

Assuming you don't find looking through brochures and planning as interesting as some of us do, find yourself a good travel agent.

You could google the name of the rivers you would like to cruise, as well.

Check out the river cruise in my signature.

Ira

I'm thinking of booking our first river cruise in europe this summer as i'm pretty cruised out of med ocean cruises. Are there any hints to finding an itinerary where you can be in port at night to be able to go out in the town/city?

 

 

 

Thanks.

Budapest at night is an amazingly glorious scene. All the massive public buildings are illuminated and most of the river cruise ships treat their passengers to a slow trip up and down the Danube past them.

Lots of camera cards get filled up.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Hi smk,

Check out Croisieurope.com for their Rhine/Moselle.

They have a couple that spend most nights in port.

Ira

If you check daily schedules, you can find some very late departures. For example, the Viking Rhine Getaway dailys at

http://s1252.photobucket.com/user/rjeffler/media/Viking%20Dailys/Viking7_zpsvdxvm3ls.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

show Cologne until 11 PM, Rudesheim until 12:30 AM, and Kehl/Strasbourg until 10:30 PM. Not true overnights, but certainly enough time to go out at night.

If you check daily schedules, you can find some very late departures. For example, the Viking Rhine Getaway dailys at

http://s1252.photobucket.com/user/rjeffler/media/Viking%20Dailys/Viking7_zpsvdxvm3ls.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

show Cologne until 11 PM, Rudesheim until 12:30 AM, and Kehl/Strasbourg until 10:30 PM. Not true overnights, but certainly enough time to go out at night.

The only thing I can add is that my experiece (Uniworld 2010 and 2011) they generally want you on board 30 minutes before departure.

On our Scenic trip, we docked overnight in Amsterdam, Vienna, Passau and Budapest. Apart from those stops, the boat is travelling through the night. The times it departs vary and you don't really know until the night before when the next day's itinerary appears on your bed.

I'm thinking of booking our first river cruise in europe this summer as i'm pretty cruised out of med ocean cruises. Are there any hints to finding an itinerary where you can be in port at night to be able to go out in the town/city?

 

Thanks.

We did the Blue Danube Discovery in July/16 with Avalon & we overnight in Vienna, Austria & Nuremberg, Germany. In Oct./16, we did Paris to Normandy, also with Avalon & we overnight in Caudebec & Paris.

Enjoy.

Try Scenic's South of France cruise there is no nightime cruising at all, when we went fellow cruisers often explored in the evenings. CA