Which direction?

[sippican]

For most river cruise itineraries they cruise one way, then reverse the itinerary for the next sailing date. What are the pros and cons (if any) regarding sailing with the direction in which the river flows, or against. Logic says, "go with the flow". In particular, we are looking at Prague to Budapes or Budapest to Prague.

[paul929207]

We were on the Grand Circle Essence of the Elbe last week, going up river. The Captain said that down stream is slightly better as the do not run the engines as much and therefore, have a better chance of clearing obstructions like sandbars.

[YoungDubFan]

Can't comment as much on the itinerary you are looking at but for anyone going Basel to Amsterdam or reverse direction, the longest sailing stretch we had was from Cologne to Amsterdam. Since we started in Basel, this was a nice opportunity to relax, start to pack, just have some down time since the beginning of the trip was fairly hectic. For anyone starting in Amsterdam, they would get the most leisurely portion of the trip at the beginning, before really doing much. They would then be on the go continuously afterwards. I don't think I would enjoy this.

 

You may want to check with the companies you are looking at to see if this may be a factor on your itinerary.

[pacmom]

We have done Budapest-Prague on a Christmas market cruise this past Dec. We really liked going that way, mainly because we had already been to Prague and could just concentrate on the markets. We also went early and were able to visit all the markets in Budapest--stayed at the Marriott Millenium apartments--shared a 2 bedroom with another couple. Either way would be good.

 

YoungDub, we sailed the Elbe in the opposite direction and in the lower water level, we managed to sail and the Deilmann ( now defunct) boats were moored. That was our very favorite Viking trip. Pat

[sippican]

Thank you. I will take a closer look at the itineraries (looking at 2 offered by AMA). It makes sense to decide if we would prefer to do them in a particular order.

[abredt]

We are doing Passau to Budapest on Uniworld in 2 weeks.

 

From my research, it seems that when going upstream the ship goes slower = less time in ports. For example, the itineraries show more time in Vienna for us going downstream.

 

cb

[newlondon]

IMO neither is "better". On the longer cruises ie: AMS-BUD or reverse you need to decide when do you want to have the high point in most cruiser's minds: Vienna! Especially because the Cruise Lines add special performances there. Some posters talk about the weather, because going w-e you might travel with the "bad" weather. If, however, you get "good" weather you could stay with it. Imo this is one of the most specious reasons for sugesting a direction. Vienna at the end is something to be anticipated!

[YoungDubFan]

Also - make sure you are aware of what direction is upstream. The Rhine flows from the Alps (Basel) to Amsterdam. Alot of people think that it would be the other direction.