Danube river cruise with kids and grandparents

Hi, I'm looking for advice on booking a cruise on the Danube river with 8 and 10 year old plus my parents who are 75. Any recommendation for a cruise line thats more family friendly? Best cities to visit on the itinerary?

I'm sure all are as "family friendly" as the rest. You are only sleeping and eating on the riverboat....most of your time is ashore. River cruising is NOT like ocean cruising.

I think you should also ask this on the River Cruising forum here. River cruises are quite different than ocean cruises. No kids programs. Some have age restrictions. Cabins generally only hold two, so how are you going to arrange it with your kids? And they are smaller than ocean cruise cabins. No sea days. EM

There is a Disney river cruising that sails on ama waterways and might suit your needs. They do sail the Danube and Rhine. If you want more kid friendly amenities on the ship, have you considered a Baltic cruise? They visit a ton of great historical sites, and the ships have many kids amenities (including kids clubs). My 3 year old loved St. Petersburg and Stockholm.

While a great idea, the river cruises tend not to attract kids. While they aren't not welcome, they probably won't be catered to either.

I just got off a Christmas Market cruise on the AmaCerto on the Danube. There were many family groups and ten younger children, and many teens.

There were no organized children's activities, but they all seemed to be having a great time. I noticed some of them were eating pizza, which was not on the regular menu.

The cruise manager went into town to purchase Christmas gingerbread cookies for them, and they had a visit from Santa, complete with gifts.

It was pretty casual, which is a plus.

Most of our time was NOT onshore. Cabins are small.

This is one that I would also be asking on the River Cruising Board as mentioned.

Many who frequent the Family Board sail on ocean cruise vessels.

Keith

If your parents are not totally mobile they may have difficulties getting on and off the boat. The boats also moor alongside each other which means having to walk across up to around 5 or 6 boats just to embark and disembark.

I would put your question on the river cruising forum.

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I don’t understand comments in post #8. There were never any steps to get on and off the ship; we just had easy ramps. The two times we were alongside another ship, we walked out our lobby, into the lobby of the other ship and off a ramp,

The ship had an elevator also.

This is on AMA, can’t speak for any other line.

I don’t understand comments in post #8. There were never any steps to get on and off the ship; we just had easy ramps. The two times we were alongside another ship, we walked out our lobby, into the lobby of the other ship and off a ramp,

 

The ship had an elevator also.

 

This is on AMA, can’t speak for any other line.

We definitely had to go upstairs to the Sun Deck to cross another ship we had rafted next to. It did not appear that the elevator went to the sun deck... on AmaStella a few weeks ago.

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We've done a river cruise on Viking (which actually recommends children be at least 8); in our 30s, we were by far the youngest people on board, which was actually kinda cool. BUT, we had SUCH a great time I've really researched river cruising for kids. Tauck gets a lot of good feedback/reviews. And, I will say Viking was WONDERFUL dealing with mobility issues, and I would assume other river lines are, as well. We had several people with walkers/canes, one even in a wheelchair. There was an included excursion in every city, and they put these individuals in a smaller group with a guide who knew how to travel the city with them. And, I must say, it was wonderful talking with everyone--far more than on my ocean cruises. It just seemed much more intimate, bc there are only a about 200 people on a riverboat. And I LOVED that you dock literally 5-10 steps away from some of the most charming European towns, rather than having to take a cab from a busy port to the city center. And exploring is so easy--you can't lost! As long as you find the river, you're good :)