French River Cruise

[Amolin]

DH, DD (16) and I have done many cruises and are big fans. Since we discovered HAL a few years ago we have done 4 cruises with them and not looked back. This is the perfect line for us.

 

We are now considering a French river cruise ( DD will be graduating and has 7 years of french which she is dying to use). I am hoping that some of you HAL fans could give us advice on choosing a river cruise - since you know what we like!

 

We would like the boat to be fairly luxurious and food to be good.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[CruiserBruce]

Have you looked over on the River Cruises board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191

[3rdGenCunarder]

We did Tulips and Windmills with Uniworld and loved it. Food was great. What sort of luxury are you looking for? Riverboats don't usually have a spa. Some boats have suites, if you're looking for a really big room.

 

A river cruise will have less entertainment, fewer daytime activities (many are port-intensive, so that doesn't matter). Many include the tours in the price of the cruise, so if you don't like to take organized tours, you should look for a line that is mroe ala carte.

 

I agree with CruiserBruce. Look at the board for river cruises.

[Nigella]

Hi amolin. I'd recommend you take a look at Uniworld river cruises, especially the Burgundy and Provence one, although they have several in France. I guess it depends what region you're interested in visiting. I live in Burgundy so am perhaps a little biased ;)

 

Cruise Critic review

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=69&kw=34883&eng=CCSEM&content=&eagid=1001764365&gclid=CIHUyIWNwq8CFQITfAodhDmhZg

[travelnnana]

All the major river cruise lines are very good - we have done Great Rivers - Viking - France and Holland & Belgium in the Spring time Grand Circle - they are a very different but excelent experience - most excrsions are built into the cost

[Amolin]

Thanks for all of your input. For the past couple of days I have been doing lots of research. From what I can see a cabin for the 3 of us seems to be a problem as these seem to be much smaller than on a cruise ship. Several I have looked at said we could not do 3. I'll do more research or maybe we'll switch to a regular cruise.

[gisnered]

<snip>We are now considering a French river cruise ( DD will be graduating and has 7 years of french which she is dying to use). I am hoping that some of you HAL fans could give us advice on choosing a river cruise - since you know what we like!

 

We would like the boat to be fairly luxurious and food to be good.

 

<snip>From what I can see a cabin for the 3 of us seems to be a problem as these seem to be much smaller than on a cruise ship. Several I have looked at said we could not do 3. I'll do more research or maybe we'll switch to a regular cruise.

 

Your thinking is pretty much on the mark. Three adults sized people in the average riverboat cabin would be very tight, even if the operator would allow it.

 

Most of the operators offering river cruises in France offer a reasonably pleasant ambiance that is comparable to HAL, but since each boat only carries a hundred and fifty passengers (plus or minus), some of the things you take for granted are necessarily limited by the size of the boat.

 

You can expect the food to be high quality, though limited in variety, one meat, one fish, one vegetarian main dish. Again, this is dictated by the number of passengers, size of the boat. More than likely, you will be served many dishes from the region you're traveling in - if you like French food you'll be very pleased. If you don't, you may go hungry. ;)

 

Your time in the smaller towns or villages will be limited. However, you generally dock in the central part of the site and can walk to the most important sites. All of the lines include excursions in your cruise price - check carefully when comparing lines to maximize the value based on your interests.

 

Sometimes you'll have a morning in one place, return to the boat for lunch, and visit another in the afternoon. I'm not sure that will give your daughter much time to use her French, aside from asking directions to an ATM machine or the price of a souvenir and such. However, if she is also intrigued by the culture of the nation, it's a great way to get your feet wet - wetter than you can get on a Med. cruise. And, there are times, in the larger towns and cities, when you will have some free time to explore on your own.

 

If you think of a river cruise as an escorted land tour without a bus and changing hotels daily you'll have a clearer picture of the difference between river and ocean cruising.

 

Tauck, Viking, Avalon and AMA waterways seem to be the lines that provide an experience equivalent to HAL. We've pretty much settled on the AMAwaterways Spain & Provence combo for this summer.