Your favorite river cruise itinerary

[lovevacadays]

I would love to read about your favorite itinerary and why it's your favorite.

[paintlady]

So far my favorite has been Paris to Nice! Just loved it!

 

 

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[Solent Richard]

Good morning Lovevacadays.

 

Without any doubt mine was the Irrawaddy...

 

 

Fourteen nights of pure adventure, the full review is here...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/03/10/princess-panhwar-on-the-road-to-mandalay/

[Solent Richard]

I would love to read about your favorite itinerary and why it's your favorite.

 

Hi again.

 

I noted you didn't specify any area of the globe and I just had an afterthought that Europe may have been in your mind.

 

With just Europe in mind then I would without hesitation nominate Portugal's River of Gold, the Douro...

 

Once again, I have written a full review with many photographs. Here's the link...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/08/06/viking-hemming-and-portugals-river-of-gold/

 

By the way, what was yours?

[Lois R]

I have only been on 1 River Cruise, Amsterdam roundtrip.....TULIP TIME:D.......it was FANTASTIC but I have nothing to compare it to.......;)

[FuelScience]

I think that our favorite (6 river cruises--all in Europe) is a Rhine/Moselle cruise. The Moselle is our favorite river with absolutely spectacular scenery. If you like big cities, then the Moselle probably isn't for you. But if you like small little wine towns, then the Moselle is a great fit. Most Moselle cruises include Trier with lots of Roman history including Constantine's basilica, built around 300 AD, and still used as a church.

 

The Rhine/Moselle trips are typically Amsterdam-Basel, but run longer than the normal 7 day Rhine cruises. Other itineraries that include the Moselle are Paris to Prague, Paris to Amsterdam, Paris to Basel, and Paris to Budapest. Many of the lines will allow you to book cruise only and skip Paris, flying into Luxembourg and catching the boat at Remich.

[acwmom]

I've been on four, all in Europe. There was something about each that I really liked.

 

First, was Italy/Venetian Lagoon/Po River. We never were able to sail the Po, so, technically, it wasn't a river cruise in the end, but we did enjoy all of the pampering while in Venice (water taxi rides down the Main Canal, private tour of St. Mark's Cathedral at night) that Uniworld provided. We also liked the alternative dining option on the sun deck for dinner. The weather was perfect, and eating dinner while watching the sunset on the lagoon was spectacular.

 

Next, was the Seine, roundtrip from Paris to Normandy and back, also on Uniworld. This is a fantastic tour for art and history lovers. The day to the Normandy beaches, though long, was very moving. We chose the excursion which included Bayeaux. We also enjoyed the visit to Etretat, lunch at a Calvados farm, the town of Honfleur, we hiked to Chateau Gaillard in Les Andeles, saw Versailles, learned a LOT about Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise, and of course, there was Paris! The river scenery, itself, wasn't great, but we were docked within walking distance of towns/villages at each stop.

 

Third, the Danube. This is my favorite from a natural, scenic cruising standpoint. We did just a short cruise of 5 nights, from Vienna to Passau, so missed Budapest and Bratislava. The Vienna docking location is outside of town, but the subway is easily accessible. Our other ports, like the Seine, were walking distance into town. We stopped in Durnstein, and hiked to the ruins there, then cruised the Wachau valley to Melk. The next day, we traveled to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, and overnighted in Linz, Austria. Some cruise lines have an option to Salzburg, but we had done that, on our own, prior to the cruise starting. From Linz to Passau was another morning of very scenic cruises, with some castles here and there. We really enjoyed Passau, and actually did two hikes there.

 

Fourth, the Rhine. We just returned about a month ago. This is my favorite, from a port standpoint. These included Freiburg, Kaysersburg and Riquewihr (or Colmar, for some), Strasbourg, Mannheim (with trips to Speyer and Heidelberg), Rudesheim, Boppard, Koblenz, and Cologne. While the ports were great, the distance to get into town, in most cases, required a shuttle. We were able to walk directly from the ship into Rudesheim, Boppard, Koblenz, and Cologne, but the rest took as long as 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic. In addition, the Rhine is a much more industrial river, and is much more heavily traveled. However, there is the "castle stretch" of scenic cruising, which lasts a half day.

 

If I had to recommend a good first time river cruise, I would say the Danube, Budapest to Passau, or a little beyond.

 

Robin

[lovevacadays]

Thank you all. I'll take a look at them all. How exciting learning about a new type of cruising adventure.

[steverhodes]

I would love to read about your favorite itinerary and why it's your favorite.

 

In order:

Viking China

Viking Russia/Viking Portugal (tied)

Viking Grand European

Viking Southern France

 

Or maybe swap 4 with 2/3. I don't know. I love them all. I could see lots of different orderings. The only thing I am sure of is that our Viking River Cruise in China in May 2015 was the best trip we've ever taken in our entire life. Great guide and passengers. Since then we have taken 4 other trips with people we met on the China trip and have another one booked this December (Viking Christmas in Germany) with couples from New Zealand and England that we met on the China trip.

 

You can see mypictures of all of the trips here:

 

http://www.RhodesVacations.com

[steverhodes]

I would love to read about your favorite itinerary and why it's your favorite.

 

Here is my review on CruiseCritic of the best trip we ever took. Viking River in China:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=516124

[Got2Cruise]

My favorite was the Seine Paris/Normandy Landing Beaches. It was my first time to Paris. I immediately fell in love with Paris. I'm also an art lover so visiting the homes of both Monet and Van Gough was very interesting to me. Finally, the Normandy landing beaches excursion was had excellent well informed guides who made history come alive. Both our Dads were WWII vets and DHs uncle was one of the first to land at Normandy. Basically, the trip encompassed many interests.

 

 

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[SuiteTraveler]

So far, we've only done Uniworld Castles of the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel on the SS Antoinette. We had the taupe and cream colored suite with the leopard chairs that you can see on their website. It was probably one of the best trips I've ever been on. From accommodations, to service to food to wine and the various tours, it was just a fantastic experience in every single way. We flew into Amsterdam 2 days before the cruise and stayed at our favorite hotel: Hotel Okura - yes, a Japanese hotel. LOL! But the rooms are fantastic and they have the best sushi restaurant - Yamazato - with the best Omakase - thank goodness that restaurant is NOT in my home town as I would be there all the time and it's expensive - but well worth it! The only restaurant in the US that I have found that is similar is Kenzo in Napa, CA. (And I was actually lucky enough to get to meet Kenzo, his wife and son and later went to Kenzo's winery - which was an amazing experience in and of itself...but I digress.) So, We flew into Amsterdam early so that we could go to the Keukenhoff which I arranged through the Hotel Okura. They brought around a vehicle and took us there and it was just magical and overwhelming with all of the gorgeous spring flowers. In one pavilion, we witnessed a Bollywood music video being made with a gorgeous singer/actress amongst huge white lilies the size of a human head. We stopped and had some wine and laughed while a guest's dog was howling at the calliope. I really couldn't blame the dog. That night we had our Omakase dinner (DIVINE!) and then the next morning, we had a leisurely morning and then took a taxi to the SS Antoinette. The SS Antoinette was rafted with another river ship that had seen better days. Interestingly enough this was the ONLY time during our trip that we were rafted but crossing from one ship to another was no big deal, only interesting to see the difference. We had a lovely lunch onboard and unpacked in our beautiful suite. I remember the butlers coming with a tray of Claus Porto soaps (one for each of us for the duration of the cruise) and the L'Occitaine amenities in the lovely and large bathroom with a heated tile floor. Our suite had 3 tv's - the one on the balcony didn't work as the ship was quite new and they had not fixed all of the technical issues quite yet, but then, who wants to watch TV when in such an amazing place?

 

We had the requisite safety briefing and the Captain explained that if we should be going down, all we needed to do was jump off the ship and walk to shore as the river is not very deep. LOL! Then there was the meeting where they explained how the days would go and what to expect and offered the 3 optional tours that you could buy if you wanted. These optional tours were things that would not be of interest to everyone onboard - a castle that required climbing 180 steps, a winery and a tour to the Black Forest. We bought all of these optional tours. Everything was absolutely wonderful.

 

This cruise was in port every single day and each port was better than the last. In between these amazing places, we had delicious food from the region and wines that changed every night and were also from the region - all really good. And we met the nicest people onboard our ship including the crew - who without exception were all wonderful. Unlike ocean cruises, since there were so few of us, we looked out for each other. I remember one morning an older lady ahead of me was having trouble boarding the bus and her muscles just failed her and she began to fall backwards, so I immediately placed my hand firmly on the middle of her back and pressed forward to help her to regain her footing and she thanked me so sweetly.

 

Perhaps the most magical day of all was the morning we cruised the Castles along the Rhine. It was overcast and rainy that morning which made for the most atmospheric photos of the castles and the chef put on an Oktoberfest type lunch on the top deck with wonderful German foods.

 

Then in Rudesheim which feels like being in a fairytale and then, later that afternoon we went to Schloss Vollrads. It is hard to explain how great that day was, just so unforgettable in every way. But the tour to Schloss Vollrads (the winery) was amazing as I had read all about this many years before in Vanity Fair Magazine and how Count Matushka-Greiffenclau had single handedly saved Rhine wines and essentially invented wine pairing dinners as a means to sell wines. What a privilege to see his home and taste the amazing Rheingau wines.

 

There are so many great memories from that cruise - drinking beer and actually liking it for the first time ever in Cologne, the storks and their babies in the nest platforms on French homes, it was just a wonderful experience that I would recommend to anyone.

 

At any rate, it was an amazing vacation and nothing like an ocean cruise, but I highly recommend the Rhine. I have a feeling that I would pretty much love any river cruise, though.

[caviargal]

My hands down favorite so far is the Rhone. We have done it twice, once with AMA and once with Uniworld, and would happily do it again. We are wine lovers and very much enjoy the wines in this region. The overnight stays, easily accessible towns and cities (most did not require a bus or taxi) and the wonderful food markets were all big pluses for us. AMA included a wide choice of excellent excursions and it was one of our best ever river cruise experiences with a tremendous staff and crew and great entertainment. We added time in Lyon (love it) to our Uniworld cruise and time in Paris (not fans) to our AMA cruise.

 

I also enjoyed the Rhine, with it's sampling of four countries. The diversity of small towns and larger cities was very appealing and it is especially beautiful at the holidays.

 

We are recently back from Paris and Normandy and hope to revisit Normandy and spend time in the area. We are not fans of Paris but very much appreciated and will always remember the experience of visiting the landing beaches.

 

The Douro had the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen on a river cruise but we did not like docking in remote places with no access to the towns, except in Porto. It was too slow for my taste.

 

Tulip Time was another favorite itinerary. It was busy, diverse and we were almost always docked at night so we could go out and explore after dinner.