kisaltydog Posted August 1, 2014 #1 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Hi, Thinking hard about a river cruise in 2015. Would love to hear members thoughts on which cruise line they prefer. There are many to choose from and not sure which one to pick. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmoo here Posted August 1, 2014 #2 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Hi,Thinking hard about a river cruise in 2015. Would love to hear members thoughts on which cruise line they prefer. There are many to choose from and not sure which one to pick. Thanks I suggest you head over to the River Cruising forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=191 There's a great STICKY there for beginning cruisers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco Posted August 1, 2014 #3 Share Posted August 1, 2014 We have done several, more then one each with GCT, Vantage and Viking. I would recommend any of those 3 in a heartbeat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisaltydog Posted August 1, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Thanks, I have looked at Viking. Will check the other two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacBraces Posted August 1, 2014 #5 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Hi, My husband & I did a Viking Cruise up the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam. Very nice but very different than Holland America, Princess etc.. If you have ever been on the big ones be ready for a whole different experience. On our Viking cruise the whole ship, ours was about 200 passengers I think, goes on the excursions all at the same time. Hop on buses and off you go. This is all planned out for you although they did have a few extras you could pay for. Excursions were usually in the mornings and you were back by lunch time. After lunch if the ship was still in port you could go back into town or do whatever you wanted to do. Most ports are right next to the towns your visiting. When you're floating down the river our ship was so narrow that you could just go from side to side to take your pictures on the top deck. No elevators because the ship is just a few decks. Breakfast and lunch are served buffet style and dinner is sit down. Our cruise there was no assigned dining room sitting. Also no eating all day long like on the big ships. The only extra I noticed was a fruit bowl and a fancy type coffee machine. If you have any other question I might be able to answer please ask. MacBraces Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare puppycanducruise Posted August 1, 2014 #6 Share Posted August 1, 2014 We have only done 1 river cruise - Amsterdam to Basel on Avalon. I would recommend them. Our boat had about 140 passengers. Meals were tasty with lots of wine and beer (and I didn't see any drunks). The boat docked right in town and shore excursions were well organized. Plus there was lots of free time to explore on our own. We met some very nice people to share meals and conversation. Someday, we may do another river cruise, it's very different from a big ship cruise, but wonderful too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisaltydog Posted August 1, 2014 Author #7 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Well thank you for the info on Viking. I am kind of leaning that way. We especially like the Amsterdam/Basel trip. We have sailed many times on the big ships so I will be expecting something very different. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisaltydog Posted August 1, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Wow. So many nice responses. Will check out Avalon also. It sounds like a 'must do' trip. It is certainly on my wife's bucket list. So I better get going and lock something in. Happy wife, happy life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted August 1, 2014 #9 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Check out the River Cruising forum: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted August 1, 2014 #10 Share Posted August 1, 2014 We first cruised on Viking (a 14 day Amsterdam to Budapest cruise) many years ago when it was a relatively small company. Although we thought that we were a bit too young for European river cruises at the time, we thought that Viking was an exceptionally high quality product. Since that time, Viking has grown in a very big way to become the largest (by far) of all the River cruise companies...and is now entering the Cruise Ship industry. We feel comfortable giving them a strong recommendation. That being said, once they get your name and address you should be prepared to get flooded by brochures. Sometimes we get several pounds of their stuff every week :). If they stopped mailing all that stuff they could reduce their prices. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco Posted August 2, 2014 #11 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Amen to what Hlitner mentioned about getting brochures!!!!! We get several a WEEK!!!!!!! from all of the lines we've sailed with. Apparently, they do share mailing lists as we've gotten some from a new outfit called "Ted". I once said they could offer these trips for $100 if they didn't spend what they do on brochures and mailing costs! (Well.....maybe not $100, at least not including the airfare) LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superoma Posted August 2, 2014 #12 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I can finally say all the brochures have stopped coming. I sent emails to customer service to stop mailings, unsubscribed from emails, sent letters, etc and my mailbox, virtual and physical, has been empty of cruise literature. Viking was one of the worst offenders but princess was not far behind. HAL and rccl stopped fairly quickly when asked. At one time even carnival was sending info (probably from the HAL mailing list) even though we have never sailed with them. Persistence paid off. Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted August 2, 2014 #13 Share Posted August 2, 2014 The problem we have with Viking is that they send us 3 of everything! I get two mailings (one with my middle initial and one without) and DW gets another. When we go away for our long trips (usually about 2 months) we come home to bins of mail. The stuff from Viking can darn near fill half of a bin. We have tried to unsubscribe without success and are afraid that if we push the issue they will start to mail us 4 or 5 copies of everything! What a waste of money on their part. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lahlah57 Posted August 2, 2014 #14 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Loooooooved viking for grand european as well as a 2 week china cruise. The best ever!!! Our trips were recent within the last few years. Do not expect river cruising to be like the ocean liners. Dining is set time and that is it......no room service! Endless wine and beer for lunch and dinner but all other drinks at bar is extra! We had no children and no drunks! The most exciting thing that happened was the much younger woman with the much older man who did nothing but fight and tear up their room......oh dear!:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorisis Posted August 2, 2014 #15 Share Posted August 2, 2014 We have enjoyed several European River Cruises. All with Grand Circle. They do a very good job and I would recommend them highly. You dock right in the heart of the city and most excursions are included. The food was excellent and a lot of the entertanment was brought on board from the local area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jan can Posted August 3, 2014 #16 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Did Viking last year. Went from Budapest to Amsterdam. Thoroughly enjoyable. Funny about the comments of trying to stop Viking and HAL from sending so many promotions. Online I can deal with it, though still a nuisance. Feel guilty recycling the paper brochures immediately. If I'm not in the market for a cruise, I don't even look at them. As said, our fares would be lower if they cut out this wasteful advertising. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinman66 Posted August 3, 2014 #17 Share Posted August 3, 2014 I personally prefer Viking for service and quality Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne123 Posted August 3, 2014 #18 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Just got back from Avalon's Paris to Normandy and did Uniworld's Provence cruise a couple years ago. Both were excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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