Questions, Questions, Questions

[drcpa]

Sorry for one of these "boil the ocean" questions, but this board was most helpful when we planned our Med cruise with Celebrity.

For 2010 we're considering a Christmas/Holiday river cruise and have 2 questions.

1. As we stare at the brochures we wonder if there is any substantive differences between Viking, UniWorld, Avalon, and AMA...those operations described as First Class (as opposed to the deluxe Tauck, which frankly is outside our budget).

2. Rhine versus Danube. The obvious difference is cities to visit, but is there any other differences in a Rhine versus a Danube tour.

 

As always, much thanks for your consideration and input.

[bean42]

Hi drcpa

I can only speak for Uniworld.

I have done both the Rhine (2007) and Danube (2008) Christmas cruise. We could not fault Uniworld that is why we booked the second Christmas cruise with them. In fact my mom is going with my dad in Dec 2009 to do the Danube Cruise again as we so enjoyed it in Dec 2008. And this year they will be travelling on Uniworld's newest ship and it does look lovely. We have also booked a Uniworld Tulips and Windmills for 2010, so a you can see we are very happy with Uniworld.

 

As far as to which River to choose, it does come down to which countries you wish to visit. However I did love the Rhine Cruise (Basel to Cologne) as the towns were so beautifully decorated - I think more so than the towns on the Danube.

The Danube (Regensburg to Budapest) was also wonderful and we just loved Budapest - spent extra time there which was great.

How do you choose? I am sure which ever you decide on, you will love and I am sure you will return to do the other river at another time.

Let us know what you decide.

If I ever have the opportunity to go on another Christmas cruise, I would choose the Rhine again.....Uniworld offers a Christmas cruise which visits Nuremburg, Rothenburg etc and that is the one I would do the next time.

Regrds

Jean

[pacmom]

Christmas market cruises are wonderful. They last for such a short period of time and are becoming very popular. The markets go from the first Sunday of Advent til the day before Christmas Eve. The only one that stays open is Vienna. Nurnberg is the oldest and Cologne has seven throughout the city. The ambiance is so festive especially if you are able to be at one on a Sunday. The gifts, sausages, glugwein and jaegar tea are soooooo good. We went with Vantage because Uniworld was not offering Nurnberg-Cologne last year. It was very good. I would go again!!! Pat

[drcpa]

Jean, thanks so much.

Your comments are exactly what I was looking for and

interestingly enough it is that exact Uniworld Rhine River cruise (Basel to Cologne) that seems to be our front runner at the moment.

Again, much thanks

[bean42]

Hi drcpa

If you do the Basel-Cologne......spend some time before hand in Zurich. My biggest regret was only spending 1 night there before the cruise - should have stayed for 3 and we could have gone up Mt Pilatus and visited Lucernne on our own. The decorations in Zurich were also lovely. I am from South Africa, and we just don't have very many - if any street and outside decorations. The atmosphere was great. In the central station in Zurich the whole tree is deocrated with Sworoski (spelling?) crystals. And Basel is just great........mom and I did our own walk about tour as the you can get brochures from any hotel with the different routes to walk etc. It was great - we were able to see so much and all at our own pace. What ship is advertised for the trip you are interested in? The River Queen? if so - it is a lovely ship. Such a comfy cozy lounge. If you would like any other information just let me know.

Rgds

Jean

[drcpa]

Pat, thank you as well (I responded to Jean before seeing your thoughtful post).

Jean, indeed the cruise is on the River Queen.

Although we haven't booked yet, it's almost more fun to plan and aniticpate than to go (well, almost).

[franski]

The one that I am drawn to is the Main/Rhine with Uniworld... It travels between Nuremburg & Cologne... and I would love to spend another day or two in Nuremburg (we just got back from a Danube cruise with AMA... also wonderful).

 

Fran