rogerdawhip

Hopefully they will bring back the wrap around promenade deck.

I prefer June/July. It may be a little hot and crowded but I enjoy the longer hours of daylight. It is nice to go on deck or into town after dinner and still light.

. And some itineraries [e.g. the AMA cruise we took in 2013] take you on a sightseeing bus trip while the ship sails the dull canal part between Amsterdam and the Rhine itself, while others sail that stretch with the passengers on board. .

I love the cruising on the canal leaving Amsterdam. To me it is not dull and very scenic, much better than the two hours approaching Cologne. I have departed Amsterdam six times so far and have enjoyed everyone of the.

The Boston.com article is nine years old.

I agree with Thom and everone else regarding GCCLs small ships. The Adriatic, from Split to Athens is my favorite trip in my 30+ years of international travel.

I have been GCCLs small ships six time so far. I leave on May 1 for their Malta to Venice cruise. I have OATs new Egypt trip booked for September 2018.

Thom,

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. I remember traveling with the two of you in 2008 on GCCLs Great Rivers trip. I'm still traveling (mainly with OAT/GCCL) taking at least 3 trips a year. I leave in 3 weeks for GCCL Untamed Adriatic in the Artimis. Maybe we'll run into each other again.

I traveled on my first river cruise from Vienna to Amsterdam in 2001 with GCT. At the time Viking, Uniworld, and GCT were the only lines (that I know of) that catered to Americans. Each only had a few ship. There were more barges on the rivers than passenger ships. There was no rafting and we always dock in the center of town. My trip last July was terrible. We docked in industrial areas more than not and the rafting in Vienna was ridiculous. Vikings expansion is mostly to blame for this but AMA keeps adding ships also. I decided that the Danube is no longer in my future. The Rhine, Rhone, and Seine are better options for me.

I was on Overseas Adventure Travels Amazon cruise three years ago. I would highly recommend it. It included two nights in Lima, two nights in Iquitos and seven nights on a 24 passenger boat. Each day we ventured into the rain forest to view wildlife and fauna. My highlight was fishing for Piranha and then having the cook fry them for a snack (to few for dinner).

If you were bored in Carnival you will fall asleep on HAL. It's a walking funeral parlor.

Overseas Adventure Travel is returning to Nile river cruises in the fall of 2018. The trip includes 5 nights on a small 16 passenger river yacht and 9 hotel nights. The stays in Luxor and Aswan are at small historic hotels.

Besides HAL, I have sailed on NCL, Celebrity, Carnival, Costa, and Princess. Being elite, Princess is my favorite due to the perks but I like HALs ambiance better. I will never sail with NCL again....done it twice and they were the worst of my 25+ cruises. I travel solo and usually pick my cruises depending on price and itinerary.

Put me in the group that prefers live music by the pool. It is usually only an hour in the morning and/or afternoon. There are plenty of places to lie in the sun but only one where music can be played in the sun on most HAL ships.

OAT will be resuming it's Nile river cruise in September 2018. It will be using the Asiya river yacht for the five night river portion of the trip. The Asiya will have a maximum of 16 passengers, with a crew of 15.

On my first river cruise in 2001 we had local entertainment brought on board every night. Even then, only about 25% of passengers went into the lounge after dinner. On the same cruise this year we had local entertainment only once with the other nights filled in with 'liars club', horse racing, and bingo. The nights were warm, so I took my beer up on deck and watched the stars.

I would check out Grand Circle Travel. It has been my experience that they are the most affordable of the lines tailored for the American traveler. They have great food, fantastic service, and visit the same places as the more expensive lines. Many do no like the fold down Murphy beds. If you need a queen bed then GCT is not for you. Their ships do not have all the bells and whistles (like a pool or spa) and are older but you would not know it once you board. A great selling point for me is you deal directly with GCT since they do not use travel agents.

No more open seating?

The new seating policy seems kind of elitists. You will be seated with those in your own category. So suite passengers will not be seated with those in aquarium class.

I have found over the years that Grand Circle has the best rates for singles. Their single supplement is very low and still cheaper than the other lines rates for single cabins. GCT has a variety of Christmas market cruises. Check out their website.

It was great that Viking informed the other passengers of the situation.

I feel sorry for the people in the 4 cabins not in your group. The most likely will be left out. I have been on cruises that had groups of 15-20 and they ate together, sat together, and always stayed together ignoring everyone else. They also saved seats on in the restaurant and o buses which caused problems.

I have done both cruises with GCCL and prefer the Paris to Normandy trip. It included more interesting stops and the scenery during the cruise was better. With GCCL, the Paris to Normandy cruise was 10 nights on ship vs 7 nights for the Rhone cruise.

On one of my river trips our chef was from Ft Erie, Ontario, Canada. His food was the best I ever had. Where one learns to cook has more to do with quality than where one was born (this is not a knock on Ft Erie).

Thom....I agree that we need a place for these coastal cruises. I have been on four so far with three more booked. There currently is no place to discuss these trips. I used to be a river cruise addict (14 so far) but switched to the coastal ships a few years ago and like them much better,

The only time I go to the MDR is for lunch on embarkation day. I love the burger and fries they serve.

Be thankful they are suspending the cruises. Other companies are still going there with their cruises also turning into bus trips.

The Paris/Normandy River Cruises all begin and end in Paris. We loved that itinerary

 

 

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Not all begin and end in Paris. Several companies travel from Paris to Honfleur or vice versa.