Is River Cruising still good 'value' or is the market saturated?

[remydiva]

I guess we have been fortunate. I think we have experienced good value on our river cruises. Our river cruises, about 50 stops in total, infrequently doubled up and usually docked within easy walking distance of town centers or close to trams into the town center.

 

Our first river cruise, ten years ago, berthed in an industrial area in Nuremberg. Our most recent river cruise also berthed in an industrial area in Basel, where we had a continuous shuttle between the ship and the tram stop. Other than those two, the only other non walkable city center was Trier, where we had an hourly shuttle.

 

CPT..you and others who did not experience less than ideal docking locations are fortunate.

... ours in Basel, like yours, was industrial by the park that marks the three country corner next to a container port and scrap metal yard. We did walk along the sidewalk but nothing much to see.

 

Of The two decently located docks we did visit in our most recent viking Rhine Rhapsody cruise, we were only in cochem for half a day and in Bernkastel for three hours! It would have been great to stay longer and leave later in evening to enjoy walking to and fro the cute towns.

 

Maybe this is mainly an issue with Viking and their vast numbers of ships?

 

Agree with poster who suggested the companies should better stagger their arrivals and departures so as to not overwhelm the towns and help stagger the crowds.

 

We too felt like we were cattle in a feedlot being herded and "MOOOOVED" along.:eek:

Edited May 24, 2015 by remydiva

[CPT Trips]

I'm knocking on wood and thanking the cruise fairy for the pixie dust.

 

Ironically, our GCT boat was tied up in Cochem at a dock with a Viking sign on it from before breakfast until 6 p.m. or so.

[notamermaid]

Hello CPT Trips,

 

I'm knocking on wood and thanking the cruise fairy for the pixie dust.

 

Ironically, our GCT boat was tied up in Cochem at a dock with a Viking sign on it from before breakfast until 6 p.m. or so.

 

The Moselle is still one of the quieter rivers, altough it is also getting more popular. The dock at Cochem could well be the "ancient" dock of KD Flusskreuzfahrten, one of the oldest cruise companies. The sold their cruise fleet to Viking Flusskreuzfahrten which has seized to exist. Viking river cruises have usually taken over those places in ports, the companies being "connected". I do not feel like explaining the company structures in detail.

 

The stops on the Moselle tend to be smaller towns, apart from Trier, of course. The small towns can be explored in a relatively short space of time, meaning ships will not stop as long as on the Rhine in general, unless the itinerary necessitates an overnight stop or base for exploring, or embarkation/disembarkation.

 

As for those 63 longships, well: they came in their longboats in the 9th century and raided Andernach and Koblenz turning into the Moselle valley towards Trier, causing terror among the locals! ;) In another raid when they got close to the town Mainz they were opposed by the archbishop and count and driven away.

 

notamermaid

Edited May 25, 2015 by notamermaid