Laid Back Cruise Line

[vperkins]

Looking to do the Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise in 2016. Looking for a cruise line that is laid back and not so fussy about dress. Don't want to feel like I have to wear dressy clothes every evening to dinner. Can anyone recommend a cruise line? Also is September or October the best time of the year to go for pretty fall colors?

[Hydrokitty]

Looking to do the Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise in 2016. Looking for a cruise line that is laid back and not so fussy about dress. Don't want to feel like I have to wear dressy clothes every evening to dinner. Can anyone recommend a cruise line? Also is September or October the best time of the year to go for pretty fall colors?

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of river cruising vperkins!! Laid back is pretty much all of them! I use Vantage and this is what I wear to dinner every night: black jeans, gauzy top, black ballet slippers. Some people will dress more than others. Nobody wears evening dress. DH wears khaki slacks and a button down shirt but many of the men wear polo shirts or golf shirts. Nobody wears shorts or tee shirts. Now that I have reached top customer level, we get invited to sit at the Captain's Table for the Captain's Dinner, so I had to pack a long skirt, which is black and can be worn with the gauzy tops and same black shoes.

 

I chose Vantage for this same cruise (don't think they go from Amsterdam any more, now it's Bonn) and it's a wonderful choice for your first one. Why did I choose them: they posted prices with and without airfare...and all shore excursions were included with very few exceptions. The ones that were "optional" usually involved a bus ride, meal and admission to something kind of pricey. NONE of them disappointed. I have kept using Vantage (I think I'm up to 6 done and 2 booked) because the service is just what I wanted, attentive but not over-powering. The food is excellent with a wide variety of choices for the vegetarian, meat lover, health conscious and sweet lover. Breakfast is buffet style with all kinds of fruit, cheese, deli meat, /rolls/breads and pastry. There is hot and cold cereal daily as well as hot choices and a cook to order station where they'll make eggs as you wish or omelets. Lunch is a huge salad bar and a hot or cold soup + hot entree and dessert. Dinner is set menu with usually 2 choice of appetizer, soup, salad and 3 choices for entree + vegetarian (they have the best vegetarian chef on the planet IMHO) and 2 choices for dessert + fruit and cheese. The tour guides all speak near perfect english and I haven't found one to complain about in 6 trips! Downside for some is that Vantage does NOT deal with travel agents....you book with them directly. I like that because I'm a control freak....but others like having a TA to advocate for them. Read the posts on CC pages, some trip reviews, etc. and ask questions....you'll find a wealth of information here.

 

We went late August into Sept. and weather was wonderful. Not an abundance of fall colors, but still wonderfully scenic and perfect for touring.

[aquilegia]

As far as I know, none of the river cruise lines have formal evenings. If you choose an itinerary you like on one of the mainstream lines, you can't go far wrong.

[joanne2]

I've only cruised with Viking but can say they are "laid back". i wore slacks and a nice blouse most nights, DH wore khakis and polos. I get the impression from reading this board that some lines are a little dressier, e.g. those that have butlers.

[Kathie859]

I have 3 Uniworld cruises under my belt and can honestly say that there was one couple on one cruise that brought their bling and dressy clothes. :). The rest of us were in nice tops and slacks for dinner--even dress jeans are quite appropriate (meaning no rips, holes, etc). DH travels with a sport coat and a tie which he prefers to wear for the captains dinner--but there are many men simply in nice collared shirts as well.