new to cruising

[marycece]

Husband and I have never been on a cruise. Considering European river cruises and would like opinions on which line is best, and which cruises are better. Interested in Germany.

thanks

 

Marycece::confused:

[Host Jazzbeau]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! A good place to start is the Sticky for new cruisers at the top of this forum. After that, scroll through the threads here for more detailed information about the cruise lines and itineraries that strike your fancy, and look at the websites for the lines on your short list. Among the folks here you will find lots of information on each of the lines and itineraries, but you will get more usable information when you are able to ask more detailed questions. Have fun researching! River cruising is a great way to travel.

Edited June 4, 2015 by Host Jazzbeau

[4774Papa]

Husband and I have never been on a cruise. Considering European river cruises and would like opinions on which line is best, and which cruises are better. Interested in Germany.

thanks

 

Marycece::confused:

There are several excellent lines.

What you need to do is determine the cruise that you want to do, then go the the website for the cruise lines and compare prices, number of day of the cruise/tour, what is included in the cruise and get a sense of the quality of the line.

 

I routinely compare AMA, Viking, Uniworld and Vantage prior to making my decision.

Vantage has become our river cruise line of choice. We have the Portugal Douro River booked for next year.

 

All the lines that I mentions will provide you with an excellent cruise, but you want the best value.

 

Vantage will provide you with great value, five star hotels, excellent tours designed for the local culture and meeting people as well as great ships.

 

AMA is great, but generally more expensive than Vantage.

 

Viking is a major player in the river cruise world so it is good to consider them, it is just they have yet to make my cut. My Son did a cruise with them and enjoyed his cruise very much.

[CPT Trips]

Grand Circle Travel/Cruise Line, like all the lines, has a number of fans here. Take a look at their product too if you don't plan to book an all-inclusive or want to book a suite and butler.

Edited June 4, 2015 by CPT Trips

[JVilleGal]

Don't overlook Avalon!

[biker1972]

I will not tout a particular cruise line, but offer some opinions about what to consider. The more days that you can devote to any cruise, the more you will enjoy it. Seven nights go by so quickly and for a first cruise of any sort, you will just be getting your sea (river) legs when it is over. Lead in prices are for the smallest cabins. These cabins work well enough, and do save you money, but are less enjoyable than larger cabins that offer a side chair or sofa. Bigger windows or a full veranda make even riverboat cabins seem larger. Generally ocean liners have larger cabins at the lead in price than the riverboats. Take less stuff, not more, because in all likelihood you will not use everything in that big suitcase. Very few lines have truly formal nights and river cruises seem to not have them at all. Country club casual pretty much works every night.

[caviargal]

The more days that you can devote to any cruise, the more you will enjoy it.

 

I disagree.

 

My first was 5 nights combined with time in Europe. That was enough for my 1st cruise.

 

Even now, with 9 completed and 2 more planned, one week on the boat is enough for us. We would not take a longer cruise on the river.

 

River cruising is not for everyone. IMO, 7 nights is a good taste of what it is all about. To be stuck for longer should you not enjoy the experience would be a shame.

 

<These cabins work well enough, and do save you money, but are less enjoyable than larger cabins that offer a side chair or sofa. >

 

We have friends that only book Aquarium class cabins. They are very happy with their choice and much prefer to use the money they save on airfare, etc.

Edited June 4, 2015 by caviargal

[notamermaid]

Hello marycece,

 

welcome to cruisecritic. The main rivers for cruising in Germany are the Rhine, the Danube, the Elbe, the Moselle and the Main. The Elbe in the (slightly North) East has one feature that sets it apart from the others in that it had no Roman rule, meaning on such a cruise you will find basically no Roman history.

 

An "Elbe cruise" is a little misleading as the ships cruise on the Elbe, the Havel and through canals.

 

Likewise the typical Main cruise includes the Main-Danube-Canal (depending on itinerary and company). I am not saying this is a bad thing, just stating facts.

 

For a first time river cruiser most people agree that the 8-day-itinerary Amsterdam - Basel or vice versa on the Rhine is the preffered. Some say though that they enjoyed their Danube cruise more.

 

Think about weather or season you might prefer.

 

Would you like to see some of Germany or travel almost only in Germany? Almost all cruises geared at North-American customers will give you at least one foreign country. Germany is surrounded by so many...

 

And a little detail which might be important: seeing that there was a public holiday yesterday with the shops closed (Corpus Christi) you might look at an itinerary closely to check for any closures of specific sights, shops, etc. so as not to be disappointed.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

[papa B me]

Husband and I have never been on a cruise. Considering European river cruises and would like opinions on which line is best, and which cruises are better. Interested in Germany.

thanks

 

Marycece::confused:

 

We took our first river cruise last July. It can certainly be overwhelming when you first start your research choosing an itinerary and ship. As others have said the Sticky at the top of this forum is a great place to start. I thought I would outline some of the things I did for you that helped me decide. My journey began with seeing Vikings ads on PBS. As my interest grew below is the process I followed:

 

#1 I went to a local travel agent to get a Viking brochure. She provided one but recommended I look at several different cruise lines at the same time. So I gathered brochures on numerous companies besides Viking including Uniworld and Ama.

 

#2 Decided what itinerary. Initially I knew I wanted to see some Castles. So in my brochures I started looking at their itinearies. It helped that Uniworld called one of their trips "Castles on the Rhine". This is the Amsterdam to Basel route mentioned by notamermaid. By the way, it does spend much of the trip in Germany and it was our favorite country. But you do spend some time in Amsterdam, France, and Switzerland as well.

 

#3 Decide how long a trip. I agree with Caviargal that a 7 night trip to begin with is a good idea to make sure you enjoy river cruising. Most fall in love with it but not all.

 

#4 Decide whether you prefer a budget line, middle of the road, or what is considered a luxury line. Again the sticky above can help you get started on this point in getting a feel what each line is considered as.

 

#5 Decide what you want in a ship such as age of ship, decor of ship, amenities such as is it important if it has a gym, pool, balcony, more then one dining venue, etc...

 

#6 Decide whether you want all inclusive with all tips, alcohol any time, and all excursions with not even optionals offered, mostly inclusive where all is included with the exception of possibly a few extra excursions offered, or less inclusive where you pay your tips at the end, will have to buy some alchohol, with some but not all excursions included.

 

#7 Decide on type of cabin you want such as suite, room with true balcony, room with french balcony, room with no balcony but a window, butler service, room service, etc...

 

#8 After you create your check list of all the items above(and others you may have) see which line/ship from the brochures you have gathered fits the bill. I found this was easier with hard copy brochures then websites.

 

#9 Now you are ready to compare prices of the lines that fit your needs

 

#10 Then read reviews of both the company you are considering and the exact cruises you are considering here on CC and other sources. You can usually find ones with pictures and day to day itineraries outlined here on CC such as the one JP has posted on both the Castles on the Rhine and France.

 

#11 Then book your gut feeling and don't look back because it's likely to be wonderful regardless of which line and itinerary you choose.

 

I went through the above process over a few months and decided the "Castles on the Rhine" from Amsterdam to Basel was the best itinerary for us to start with. We decided we wanted luxury, all tips and alcohol and most excursions included, a true balcony, a newer ship with a workout room, bikes, pool, etc.. We also decided we liked a unique decor instead of the Scandinavian look. So in the end we chose Uniworld's "Castles on the Rhine" on the SS Antoinette.

 

You will find that many of us have our favorite line of choice and will build a case for you on our particular favorite. But I think most of us agree that River Cruising is such a wonderful experiece that if you do some due diligence to attempt to match your wants and desires and buget you are likely to get hooked and want to do more. I'm going on my second River Cruise in December and another next year in Italy. I'm sticking with Uniworld because it was such a great personal experience and I still went through the above process in making my decision but certainly started the process this time somewhat biased. Have fun planning and I encourage you to jump in and take a river cruise.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

As you can see from the above wonderful posting, the question "which line is best" can't really be answered in any simple fashion.

 

On the subject of cruise length, lots of folks suggest a 7-day trip as a starter for a first river cruise. I suspect they are right, but I would suggest adding a pre- and/or post-cruise stay in one of the cities of regions you are visiting. Especially from North America, 7-days is a very short time to make the big flight "across the pond".

 

In the end, we chose a 14-day itinerary for our first European river trip in 2016, Amsterdam to Budapest. We'll see if it's too much. Meanwhile we have a 7-day Nile cruise this fall, which should give us an idea of whether we like it.

[papa B me]

I do agree with Wendy that if your schedule allows to spend time on the front end and/or the backend of the cruise it is well worth it since you are spending so much time and money to get to Europe. We took a 2 day pre cruise package with Uniworld in Amsterdam(great experience) and 5 days on our own at the end in Switzerland. We found we like the package from Uniworld better even though we could have done it less expensive on our own. Truly a personal preference. That's why we tried it both ways this trip to see what we preferred

[Host Jazzbeau]

Most people do fall in love with river cruising, but there have been a few whose posts here made it clear that river cruising isn't for them -- that's why the suggestion of a 7-day rather than 14-day itinerary for your first river cruise. If you are like most of us and love it, you can do the 14-day for your second cruise!

 

Adding time at the beginning and end is also very good advice, because a river cruise only gives you a taste of each place it visits. For a small town like Rudesheim, even if you love the place one day is probably enough -- but for a big city like Amsterdam, you definitely need more than a day. And there are often interesting cities near the end of the cruise itinerary that have to be visited separately (like Lucerne and Zurich after Basel or Prague after Budapest). Again, a 7-day cruise let's you add these stops without exceeding your vacation allotment (or travel tolerance).

 

As to cruise-extension vs DIY, think about your comfort level in the particular area: Amsterdam is very easy to get around and English (and Euros) will get you anywhere; Switzerland is more complex, has 4 official languages so fewer people can manage a 5th (English), and uses its own currency -- that's why we decided to do Amsterdam DIY but Switzerland with the cruise line.

 

After much research we decided to start with a cruise on AMA from Amsterdam to Basel, with one extra day in Amsterdam pre-cruise (should have been two, but we'll be back) and the cruise line's post-cruise extension to Lucerne and Zurich. That turned out to be a perfect introduction to river cruising. It was also helpful that the AMA Cruise Director stays with the post-cruise group -- it was like the little community from the ship continued smoothly for the rest of the trip!

 

Finally, there's the question of cabin type. The cheapest cabins are just fine -- they have a window, are generally about the same size as the general cabins on a ship, and you spend very little time in your cabin on a river cruise; on the other hand the elevator on most river ships doesn't go down to the bottom level so you will have to manage some stairs every day. Cabins on the main deck cost more but are very quiet (except the ones at the back, which may have engine noise), generally have a French balcony which gives you a full-width window wall and the ability to get some fresh air and stick your head out for pictures -- we feel they are worth the extra charge. We haven't tried one of the newer ships with real balconies in regular cabins -- this is important to some cruisers but generally steals space from the already-tight cabin. Suites have it all (balcony plus lots of room and often extra amenities) but cost a lot more and sell out very quickly.

[4774Papa]

Regarding the type and cost of cabins.

The price difference between cabins is huge on a river cruise.

We always go for the very cheapest cabin, on the lowest level of the ship.

Most ships have three levels with cabins.

The price difference between the same size cabin on the lowest deck and one on the middle deck can run $1000-$1600 per couple. Upgrading to a suite will double your cost.

 

We find that we spend little time in our cabins. If you spend a lot of time in your cabin, then you probably don't want to socialize with people in the bar in the evening.

 

River cruise will generally have you on a tour every day, although if you have a long distance to travel to next port you may be cruising a bit in the day. Cruising in the day is great since you can sit on the deck and watch the landmarks go by.