Wings55

35 minutes ago, kiapghff said:

Host and Wings, I appreciate all the info you are spewing, I am sincerely taking it all in. Another question I have is Im doing this as a retirement gift/trip. I will be 50 but my wife will be 40 when we go. Will we (more her) feel out of place with older passengers? Based on your vast info, of the 4 cruise lines you just posted, is there a better line for the younger crowd? I can mingle with anyone, I dont want my wife to feel out of place.

@kiapghff @Host Jazzbeau H.J. has provided some great advice and has a broader knowledge of the options out there. I think you'll be able to do some reasonable comparisons. As I believe we've both indicated, do your homework and go with what you think is best for you. 

As far as age is concerned, I wouldn't worry too much. We have meet fun engaging people on every river cruise. Although, the Aussies on our Scenic trip were the most fun bunch ever! 👍

Paul

6 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I have great respect for your effort on this, but one big question:  how does your spreadsheet deal with subjective factors?  When you say that Scenic was 'over-the-top' that fits my description of their 11-day Seine itinerary – the itinerary allowed for significantly more shore excursion choices, and the shore excursions were dramatically better (and the groups smaller); plus the cruise director was empowered to spend money to make things right.  How do you factor that into a spreadsheet?

 @Host JazzbeauI'm sorry if I made it sound like the answer just jumps off the page, it doesn't. But that's why I said you have to "factor which items are important to you", For me it was a tool I could use to help make choices and weed through the forest of options.  For example, someone who doesn't drink alcohol will want to think twice about a line that doesn't charge on the ship because we know the cost is rolled into the ticket price. It's one of the things I appreciate about Scenic. 😉

Paul

1 hour ago, kiapghff said:

Wings55, would you mind telling us who you went with? Like Mojito, I am also planning a 2025 retirement river cruise. Im checking with the usual suspects, AMA, Viking, Tauck; its just so hard choosing which line fits my style. Thanks.

@kiapghff That's a good plan, find the company that fits your style. For our Rhine/Moselle trips we sailed with Uniworld both times. Before we sailed, I was a little leery of the decor on the Uniworld ships but the service, the food and the almost all-inclusive nature won me over. We've sailed a few times with AMA too, but I wasn't as 'wowed' by those experiences. My all-time favorite is Scenic but like Tauk, you pay extra for the over-the-top nature of their offerings' 

I made a big spreadsheet comparing similar itineraries (date and number of days) with prices and all the various inclusions. Then factor which items are important to you and see what decide. 

I hope you have a great trip!!
Paul

14 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Notamermaid if you ever get the chance cruise with Scenic, every cruise we’ve been on Australians have been well in the majority. Super company wonderful sense of humour BH usually came up in conversation funny, funny man in all of his guises. A sad loss to comedy.

Jane and I have been on only one Scenic cruise, but I agree with @Canal archive that the Aussies were marvelous travel companions. Warm, engaging, entertaining.. just downright fun! Our fellow passengers were one of the big reasons we were so taken with Scenic. 

Paul

@mojitoman I agree with the others, AMS to Basil is a wonderful itinerary. If possible, I'd suggest a couple extra days so you can include the Moselle too. We loved our Rhine/Moselle itinerary so much we booked it a second time two years later and thought it was just as enjoyable.

I also think you should spend some time reviewing a variety of cruise lines. Before we booked our first river cruise, I fully expected we would choose Viking. After reviewing our options, we decided on a different line. I love the interior 'look' of the longships but 190 passengers seems too tight to me, but goodness knows Viking has its fans. You need to decide what's right for you. Take your time and have fun planning your cruise. I'm sure you'll love it.

Paul

On 4/16/2023 at 6:06 PM, Kristelle said:

Hi everyone.

 

I have never been on a cruise, ocean or river, before.

 

am booked to go on Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise with Scenic in early September.

 

3 days in London, 2 days in Paris beforehand.

 

I'll be back later with any (probably silly) questions........

@Kristelle It looks like the others have done a good job answering your initial questions. I will just add that our first river cruise in 2016 was the same as yours except we sailed east to west. We absolutely loved that trip and it still remains my favorite vacation ever. You choose wisely and I hope you enjoy your experience as much as we did ours! 

Paul

1 hour ago, CPT Trips said:

You call that scary?

Buy that engineer a new slide rule.  

.. and rescind his degree!

@Canal archive There was no way Jane was leaving without a gondola ride and I have to admit it was worth the price.

We enjoy trains too but have never been on a real train vacation (holiday??). We're hoping to book the Rocky Mountaineer for the fall of 2024.

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Your DH sounds like the guy in this cartoon 😅

 

I'm sad to say I can identify with Earl more often than I care to admit. (Jane would agree!) 😉

Paul

@notamermaid Yes, indeed there is a lot of German heritage here in Texas. We have some good German style beer and lots of great food too. Mmmmm....!!! ☺️

40 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Who can forget Dudley Doright!!!

i was always partial to his girlfriend, Nell. 😉

On 3/2/2023 at 7:56 AM, Lois R said:

 

 "I would like to find a private tour guide who knows the area. I will do my research. I know Tours by Locals is supposed to be quite good and I will check them out."

 

 

@Lois R I'm late to this party but as I was reading through I thought I should suggest a TbL guide and then I came across you comment. Jane and I booked two B2B cruises with Ama In August of '21 beginning it Paris. We had a couple of extra days and having never been to Paris we decided a private guide was the best idea. 

 We booked Eugenie P. and cannot recommend her highly enough! We spent the first day walking and taking the Metro all over Paris. It was a marvelous day. The next day we spent a half day visiting Versailles with her. It too was wonderful. She's fun, energetic, knowledgeable.... everything you want in a private guide. If you do happen to choose her, please tell her Paul & Jane from TX say hello.

Paul

 

 

 

I watched the webinar last week and found it to be very tempting. 🤔

Paul

1 hour ago, UDChE89 said:

Papa’s then?  They’ve all moved out of Chambersburg.  I’m right in Mill Hill in Trenton.  It’s not uncommon for us to actually go to Morrisville for a Trenton pie.

After commuting to and from north Jersey every day we didn't stray too far from our apartments. The only place I remember was in a little strip center nearby called Aljon's. I can't say I remember it being anything other than acceptable. 🤷‍♂️

Paul

On 2/26/2023 at 8:04 PM, UDChE89 said:

I usually go to the Delorenzo’s in Mercerville on Sloan Ave

On 2/27/2023 at 12:19 AM, CPT Trips said:

That’s my choice too. 

I guess I missed out. I lived in Plainsboro for three years, but I never heard about Delorenzo's. 😞

On 1/30/2023 at 10:25 AM, Daisi said:

..... We are expecting cold coming in later this week (-32), but then it should warm up again. Nothing not unusual, so we will be ok. 

 

Having lived in the upper Midwest states in my younger years I can sympathize with your weather. Texas winters are much easier to take but today we have sleet & freezing rain in the Dallas area. Very little movement outside today. Because TX drivers do NOT know how to navigate in these conditions I'm not going anywhere until things warm up. 🤷‍♂️

Paul 

13 hours ago, Hobar said:

Oops, looks like yuu posted on wrong thread as this not responsive to the OP.   

You originally posted, "Booked excursions on Venture for April-May 2023, and then all but two disappeared - kayaking in the Amazon, but lost Casablanca, Normandy and others.  Nothing else even listed." My first comment was that Seabourn had not offered any excursions for most of our port calls. I thought that sounded similar to your experience with a lack of options. 
I apologize if I misunderstood.

Paul

On 1/19/2023 at 3:39 PM, cruiseej said:

 

One might observe that there's a lot of ocean between Honolulu and Vancouver without ports and therefore without excursions! 🤣🤣

@cruiseejOne might also point out the ship visits six ports: Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului, Nawiliwili, Victoria and Vancouver. Seabourn offers seven shore excursions in Hilo and one in Nawiliwili.

Please tell me; are those the type of numbers you expect when you book a cruise?

• We are Seabourn newbies. We got a good offer for last leg of Odessey's transpacific voyage from Honolulu to Vancouver. So far there have been very few shore excursion options. We're covered in Hilo beyond that, there's not much. 🤷‍♂️

Paul & Jane

I too would vote for the Moselle. Cochem, Bernkastel, Trier, Strasbourg... It's all wonderful.  

On 12/30/2022 at 2:19 PM, Got2Cruise said:

Happy New Year 2023!! Who’s booked for 2023 and where are you going?  

Sadly no RC for us this year....(yet ) but we do have two ocean cruises booked. This spring we're trying Seabourn for the first time. Hawaii to Vancouver. Then in July my siblings & spouses will be taking a two-week round-trip HAL cruise from Copenhagen up the Norwegian coast and back. 

On 12/12/2022 at 3:11 PM, CJANDH said:

I've cleared my cache and tried on a different computer that has never visited the Scenic site. Same message comes up at the bottom of the home page saying they are having some technical difficulties with their web site and suggesting a phone call for more information on a cruise. Same on Chrome, Firefox and Bing.

I just pulled up the Scenic site and I see the same message at the bottom of the page.  🤷‍♂️

@bubbulz We have not done a polar cruise but would love to someday. What I can recommend is Viking Ocean's new polar ships, the Octantis and the Polaris. We just finished a nine-day cruise on the Octantis and it's a wonderful ship. 378 passengers filled with lots of science and research activities. The option to go for a dive on one of the ship's two submarines was the highlight of the trip!

Paul

13 minutes ago, Bob Ross said:

.......

Also - I am looking forward to dinning on board but fancy at least one night or lunch in a good restaurant ashore. Any/ all recommendations areme!

Thanks to all

We spent three days in Venice following a Celebrity Mediterranean cruise this past spring and I can assure you that you'll have NO trouble finding some wonderful restaurants scattered around Venice in the little alleys and side streets. 👍

Paul

On 11/3/2022 at 2:08 PM, TriMomma said:

I am an avid cyclist and was hoping to find a river cruise that would let me "loose" cycling.   Do you have to follow the guide?

@TriMommaWhen we sailed with Scenic, we were encouraged to take a bike out on our own if we wanted. Their little GPS devices even had pre planned routes to follow if needed. Very handy!

Paul