How Did You Get Started in River Cruising?

[CPT Trips]

Reading the numerous posts from "noobs" made me wonder about this. I don't know whether our experience was atypical, but here goes.

 

Several years back we started to get curious about river cruising and took to looking on cruise critic. We were not too serious, but wanted to learn more.

 

One Monday (in July, 2008?) DW was up early web surfing and saw a post on CC about last minute fares for river cruises with a mention of a specific cruise. So, she called. Then, although I slept through the conversation, I "agreed" that she should book it. Eight days later we were in the air on our way for a 15 day trip from Vienna to Amsterdam.

 

No stressing over which line, what kind of cabin, what air arrangements to make, what to see on our own, etc. Just call the credit card company and the travel bank, arrange with the dog watcher and pack the bags.

 

Obviously, we got hooked. What's your experience.

[jacksonnh]

Back in 2008 we were looking at various small ship cruises and our TA suggested we look at the Rhine and Danube. We did some research and decided to do a trip on the Elbe.

 

Eight cruises later, it's still my favorite trip. and yes, "hooked" is what happens to you

[moesmrs]

We are on our 2nd trip next month so we are far from "regulars" but our catalyst to book came from friends who all raved about their trips. Our first trip we did Nuremburg to Budapest on AMA with a pre cruise stay in Prague on our own. We liked the cruise enough to book another but we also like to do any pre or post trips on our own. We feel like it's the best of both independent & guided travel along with being a fair value.

[rjscott]

We had done numerous ocean cruises and my husbabd was about 'cruised-out', or so he thought. He had been spending a great deal of time in Holland on business, and had time on the weekends to do some exploring on his own. He decided he wanted me to see the areas he'd enjoyed and, when we rec'd a Viking brochure, we called our TA to discuss the 'Tulips & Windmills' cruise. She wholeheartedly recommended this cruise for us as river cruise first-timers, so we booked and had a great time despite unseasonably cold weather. We've will soon be on our 4 th river cruise with Viking.

 

Becki

[4774Papa]

I received a brochure from Viking, which caught my interest.

 

We really wanted to do the Russian River cruise and after much research picked Vantage.

 

 

Have yet to do a Viking cruise.

[Suzanne123]

Actually, I won my first river cruise by entering a contest with Peter Dielmann. I had a week's cruise through southern France on the Princess De Provence. I don't think they do river cruises any longer, but that was one wonderful cruise. :)

[sammiedawg]

Viking spent so much money over four or five years marketing to us with glossy brochures, they wore us down. We finally did one and overall enjoyed the experience. But our preference is ocean cruising.

[hiccups]

I saw one too many Viking commercials while watching Downton Abbey :D

 

When I looked into Viking I was shocked at how expensive river cruising was compared to ocean cruising. And then we ended up booking Uniworld, ha!

[pully8]

our 1st was a short 1. Basel to Amsterdam in the spring part of a 6 week trip that included the Chelsea flower show and uk. loved the gardens and have returned many times always finding different places to enjoy.

 

we found a charming garden in Vienna after our 8th river cruise a few weeks ago. its a long way to Europe for us and we have found river cruising a nice way to enjoy the trip. we also like train travel in Europe particularly in Switzerland scenic and so well run.

[pacmom]

We started in 2000. Went to a wine festival and saw a TA offering a chance to win a river cruise in the US with Cruise West to the wine country. Took a chance, but didn't win. Booked the cruise anyway--loved it and our 21st river cruise is in Oct. in Spain with Road Scholar. We love the pace of river cruising. Our first European river cruise was Honfleur-Paris in 2002. It sealed our addiction--touring in the morning, sailing in the afternoon, tied up at nite. DH learned to relax with a book and some wine on the sundeck as France passed by. We are running out of rivers and trying to determine which to travel again--such a problem:D We are truly blessed to have to health and the money to see the world in a very unique way. Pat

Edited June 6, 2015 by pacmom

[rogerdawhip]

In the fall of 1999 I read a news item about Russian River cruises. I called the number in the article and booked a Russia Cruise for the following summer. This start my 16 year love affair (15 trips and counting) with river cruising.

Edited June 6, 2015 by rogerdawhip

[steamboats]

Back in 1994 DH was in university and wanted to do a ship model. But his interest was in a paddlewheel steamboat. That led to the idea that there must be still steamboats around in the US and we found the Delta Queen which we cruised in 1995. Many more cruises followd.

 

In 2005 we decided that we should try out traveling by car to a river cruise :D - Passau is only 1.5 hours from Munich.

 

In 2007 we thought we can try out an ocean going cruise. But how to combine that with the steamboats... Do a cruise out of New Orleans and cover the part of the Mississippi river we haven´t traveled yet :D.

 

steamboats

[njhoo]

We did our first River on the Columbia in 2007 joining another couple. Had been on numerous ocean cruises starting in 1988. Our first European was France three years ago and absolutely fell in love with the concept. So far have done tulip time, France, Christmas Markets on the Danube, and just recently the Douro River in Portugal. Not to skip the Mississippi, have also enjoyed the upper (St Paul to St Louis) and lower (NOLA to Memphis).

 

Was reading the prior post without looking at the signature and just knew it had to be "Steamboats". How are you?

 

NJHOO

[treasure4two]

I have been cruising since 1972 and always heard how wonderful river cruises are. I, as everyone else in US(I think) gets those Viking River cruise brochures and I noticed that I could get a 8 day river cruise and the best veranda(A) and airfare for $3000 pp and could not pass up the deal. Then, another brochure a month later and also, I got an e-mail from a travel agency that they would give me a $500 gift card, if I booked Viking with them, which I did for a second river cruise plus once I take the first Viking river cruise, we will get another $200 off our cruise. Could not pass up the deals-hope the river cruises are all people say they are.

[Kathie859]

ive always been interested in river cruises but it wasn't until I retired 5 years ago that I seriously investigated the options. My daughter's in-laws had been on several lines and I found a knowledgeable local TA who walked me thru the experience. She was a fan of Uniworld and since they were on my radar that's what I chose. I'd been on several ocean cruises and had been to Europe a few times--some independent travel and some escorted--and decided river cruising may be best of both worlds. So far I've taken 4 with Uniworld (they do such a good job!!!) and am in the process of deciding on a destination for next year. It's a wonderful way to travel.

[acwmom]

My 40th birthday gift to myself was a cruise to Alaska. I decided that for my 50th, I would do a river cruise, likely the Rhine. In the fall of 2012, Uniworld had a Facebook contest to caption a picture for their upcoming inaugural season for Venice and the Po River. I won! My husband was convinced it was a scam. I'll never forget receiving the email- I was at work, and had someone visiting. It was very difficult not screaming at the top of my lungs before she left:D

 

As a past guest, we were able to do the Paris-Normandy cruise in March, at a true 2 for 1 (lowest cabin fare). We enjoyed it as much, if not more, than Venice. Mainly for the places we saw, definitely not the weather, though it wasn't bad-only one 1/2 day of rain.

 

So, now we have paid once for 4 cruise fares. Not bad at all!

 

And, I'm still not to that 50th birthday:)

 

Robin

[WarEagle76]

Fourteen years ago we decided to knock Egypt off our "list" and booked an Insight tour that included a four day river cruise as a part of the tour and we enjoyed it. Four years later we wanted to get China off the list and through research decided to go with Viking and had a great experience using their tour which includes both a land as well as a river cruise portion. Russia was removed from the list the following year (also Viking) and three additional European river cruises followed. We found river cruising laid back with smaller numbers of passengers and often docking near the city center really appealed to us. So we now try and alternate land vacations, ocean and river cruising and keep working on that list.

[No Spin]

As others have stated, all that Viking advertising got us thinking about it over many years. The funny thing is until a year ago I didn't even know there were any river cruise lines other than Viking.

 

Last April when we were returning from Italy we met a woman in the Admirals Club and she was returning from a UniWorld cruise. She had taken Viking cruises, but just raved about the UniWorld experience.

 

So yada, yada, yada, were booked for European Jewels this Sunday! :)

[hiccups]

As others have stated, all that Viking advertising got us thinking about it over many years. The funny thing is until a year ago I didn't even know there were any river cruise lines other than Viking.

 

Last April when we were returning from Italy we met a woman in the Admirals Club and she was returning from a UniWorld cruise. She had taken Viking cruises, but just raved about the UniWorld experience.

 

So yada, yada, yada, were booked for European Jewels this Sunday! :)

 

Same here about not knowing about any other river cruise lines! When I posted on my FB page about our trip, most of my friends just assumed Viking because that's all they know as well. If nothing else, the other lines probably have to appreciate Viking's advertising because it gets people to think about river cruises, and in our case, led us to exploring all the lines.

 

Have a great time on your trip! I was bummed that a few weeks after we booked our Legendary Rhine and Moselle cruise with Uniworld, they offered a great deal on European Jewels. I wanted to see if we could switch bookings to save some money, but DH didn't want to (he hates the thought of being difficult!). But now I know to keep an eye out for specials next year!

[No Spin]

So yada, yada, yada, were booked for European Jewels this Sunday! :)

 

we're :o

 

Have a great time on your trip! I was bummed that a few weeks after we booked our Legendary Rhine and Moselle cruise with Uniworld, they offered a great deal on European Jewels. I wanted to see if we could switch bookings to save some money, but DH didn't want to (he hates the thought of being difficult!). But now I know to keep an eye out for specials next year!

 

Thanks! We booked well in advance, so we got an early booking discount, plus a discount from our travel agent. I saw those deals for specific dates. We wanted to go in June and we wanted to make sure we got the cabin we wanted, so hence the early booking.

 

If we like the cruise and decide to do another one, I would definitely wait and look for last minute deals since we can go anytime.

[Magnum60]

I've sailed since I was a kid and visited quite a few ports aboard all manor of ship. My wife and I still cruise and enjoy the smaller ships because they usually offer more of the out of the way ports then the mega ships can. The smaller ships also don't need a fleet of launches to get their passengers ashore ;). But even the premium small ships can't match the relaxed pace one experiences aboard a river boat after a day of touring. Believe me you'll be active on a river cruise but not sedentary [river cruises don't offer Geritol or prune juice nor do they need to ;)].

There are a number of excellent river cruise company's. They all seem to be beckoning the seasoned ocean cruise passengers to give river cruising a try. These passengers don't want to zip line to get to their cabins :D. River cruises aren't inexpensive when compared to what one pays for space on a big cruise ship because you're not sharing the cost of your cruise with 3,000 other passengers. I find that there is something kind of sad about a seasoned traveler that hasn't tried a river cruise. I'd recommend giving it a try ;).

[ANSalberg]

We have 1000 day on HAL -and have cruised sporadically since we retired 17 years ago [shorter-more coastal cruising until then] And I'm ESPECIALLY fond of cruising Asia and/or Australia -and Europe. LOVE cruises of more than 70 days......that said we are doing our first river cruise in September from Bucharest to Amsterdam.

Reasons; my adult granddaughter went to S Europe LAST summer -including our favorite areas of Italy but by LAND. They flew into Prague, Czech. -When I heard that I was stunned; MY Mother's family came from there BEFORE she was born; some time between 1906 [picture of my Grandfather in an Austro-Hungarian uniform] and my mother was BORN in Nebraska 1910.......There was a LOT of mystery about it/ Mom wouldn't talk about it and I left home for college [1958] and only visited back and forth after that; MY folks/ that generation =has been gone for over 20 years.........FINALLY my curiosity peaked and I'm ready to see 100+ year old history that touched MY family.

AND I waited until I was 75 BEFORE that happened!

Anne [ and Dick] on Viking THIS September/October

[hiccups]

we're :o

 

Thanks! We booked well in advance, so we got an early booking discount, plus a discount from our travel agent. I saw those deals for specific dates. We wanted to go in June and we wanted to make sure we got the cabin we wanted, so hence the early booking.

 

If we like the cruise and decide to do another one, I would definitely wait and look for last minute deals since we can go anytime.

 

When Uniworld did the first round of special pricing the dates wouldn't have worked because I had some work/grad school commitments, but because I had to know to the special we missed, I emailed anyway for the price. Turns out they were honoring that price for other dates we could make, darn it! But by that time, I had asked them to book our airline tickets so we could select our seats so it would have been an ordeal to change things around, even if my DH had been onboard (no pun intended!) with switching the trip. And we did get a deal--originally we looked at a Rhine cruise and couldn't afford Uniworld, but with the offer on the Rhine/Moselle, it was worth booking since we got an extra week for not much more than a Rhine cruise on other lines.

 

We both still work so we can't book a year plus in advance. Next year, since we'll have our passports in hand, we'll be better able to nab a last-minute deal. Like I said in another post, with Viking offering a week-long Seine cruise, including air, for $1999 PP, I'd be all over that! Right now my loyalty is more to my bank account than sticking with one particular line.

[painter55]

We will be on Avalon Affinity I September. We have been on a number of ocean cruises and this will be our first river cruise. Last year I was in Germany on a land trip to see relatives and did a short KD line day cruise. Loved it. Now we are back to Europe on the highlights of Germany. Can't wait. Even though I've been to Europe several times there is still so much to see.

[squarevanman]

I had never thought of any type of cruising when in 2007 a friend saw easycruise2 advertised. 7 nights Brussels to Amsterdam return no frills room only for £13 a night. We enjoyed it so much that we booked to go back again a few months later. However Boonstra River Line who operated the ship folded. easycruise were fantastic and return my money, paid our airfare and offered a free (room only) upto 10 day cruise on easycruise1 the following year. This gave me the bug and I have since been on 3 Hurigruten Norwegian coastal cruuises. 2 Greek Island cruises, the Nile, Russian Waterways and 3 croisiEurope cruises with one booked for August. Wish I could book for next year but am awaiting a knee replacement and will not be able to fly for a while. Still I could always take the train to Paris and pick up a croisiEurope cruise on the Seine:)