Don't need "First Class Luxury" - what else is there, please?

[PetraGlyph]

Hello - hubby and I are retired, and avid travellers - mostly through Home Exchange which we have enjoyed since 1987 (LONG before the Internet!); and more recently with various Small Group tour companies. We would love to try river cruising but to be brutally honest, the pricing is out of our league!

 

Apart from the financial aspect, while we do like to be clean and comfortable, we do not eat or drink as much as we used to (Hubby due to diabetes and me because of expanding waistline!) and our main objective when travelling is to see as much as we can of the local environment. We never stay in 5 Star hotels, because we are seldom in them, and all the fancy "extras" that add to the costs are not required by us.

 

When we have been in various port cities around the world, we have seen what appear to be local ships, and I found this site while browsing for alternatives to the major cruise companies. Any input or information would be most welcome. Many thanks.

[CaroleSS]

As with everything else.....your preferences will dictate what you like and everyone's opinion is subjective.

 

We prefer "middle of the road", we are not formal people and would feel "out classed" with some lines. We picked Avalon for our next cruise based upon the itinerary. We did a Grand Circle Cruise through the Greek islands and found it to be wonderful. We sail "aquarium class" as we find that we spend sooo little time in our room. Just not worth the expense of a balcony, but might do it just once for comparison purposes.

 

It might help us if you had some specific questions. Everyone has their favorite line, so your results will be all over the place. You might do some reading of these boards.....bearing in mind that Viking tends to monopolize. Ask each cruise line to send you brochures and pick the one that "tat rimes your fancy".

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.....we aim to please and will help any way we can!!!!

[threetowner14]

as said above opinions are subjective, one mans meat is another mans poison.Like you I travelled a lot well before the days of the internet, was sort of an adventure,the net has taken a lot of the mystery out of travel, but it has opened up more possibilities.

Pick an area where you would like to visit,be it by river or ocean cruise ,then search the web,its amazing what you will find

[Talisker92]

We feel the same as Carole-We have taken a number of cruises with Vantage. IMO they have the best "bang for the buck".I would love to sail with Tauck, but their cost is 2X that of Vantage. Again, IMO, their perks are not enough to make up the price difference.

[Got2Cruise]

There are several moderate river cruise lines. Choose your itinerary and then look at the day to day itinerary of each line. Each is slightly different. Then make a cost comparison. Don't hesitate to ask questions. Which ever line you cruise you can't go wrong. They all offer something unique

[jiminyC_fan]

We are exactly what you described in yourselves. We chose Viking and were absolutely happy with them.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

One company you will not see mentioned very often is Gate 1. They do European river cruises and I think their prices are usually better than some of the more well known river cruise companies. As for the better known - I THINK Grand Circle comes in as the least expensive, Vantage may be slightly more and prices go on UP from there.

 

These are my impressions and I may be corrected by those who have been looking at river cruising longer than I have.

 

We will be trying our first river cruise later this year and decided on Viking. Our glass is always at least half full so we expect to be happy with our choice.

 

Here's an interesting article that will help with a quick price comparison: http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/6-best-river-cruise-lines,8012/

Edited May 12, 2014 by SeaTheWorldBySea

[nana541]

Try Grand Circle and Gate One, Viking also has some dynamite deals for their lower categories (think Aqua Class).

Good luck with your research!

 

 

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