River Cruising Optional Tours

[Young at Heart1]

Hi Everyone,

 

My husband and I are venturing on our first River Cruise in October this year going from Budapest to Amsterdam. We have frequently cruised on large ships owned by P&O, Princess Cruises and MSC and more often than not I arrange our own shore tours prior to leaving home or wait and see what tours are available on the dock when we arrive in Ports. This is more economical than purchasing a shore tour through the Company's shipping line. We do the occasional tour through the Cruise Company if I can't find a tour comparable and cheaper online. It's a relatively easy exercise (although time consuming) because we know the times we arrive and depart.

 

With the River Cruising I've only researched one of their tours so far online and we can do it for approximately half the price of the River Cruise Company but on checking with them about arrival and departure times, they can only tell me that we'll arrive some time that morning or afternoon depending on where we're going. Their itinerary doesn't give times. The place we want to visit and I researched online is a tour that needs to be prebooked because they have various tours running throughout the day but I feel I'm unable to do this because I don't know our arrival and departure times.

 

Can anyone whom has done River Cruising before give us any tips.

 

Thanks in advance

[LHT28]

river cruising is not like Ocean cruises

There are not usually any vendors at the dock trying to get you to tour

Most river cruise lines offer a free walking tour & with some research you can find places to do & see on your own

arrival times can vary depending on river conditions & locks

there is a river cruise forum you may like read there

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191

 

most stops you can just walk into town from the ship & explore

[marco]

Can you call the river cruise company and get arrival time from them? Keep in mind that would be the "supposed to time" but there would be no guarantee. If where you want to go on that optional tour is a "must see", I'd just bite the bullet and do thier optional tour offered by the line. At least you'd have peace of mind knowing you will go there.

[Floridiana]

Head over to the river cruise forum. Lots of information there. Many excursions are included. Sometimes the ship moves during the excursions and you would have to make your own way to the new berth in a new town. All this information is discussed in the river cruise forum.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191

[paul929207]

One other possible problem, sometimes while you are off on a tour, the ship will be sailing down the river and meet at a different port from the one where you left the ship.

[foser22]

I had same questions prior to our Viking Romantic Danube Cruise. I ended up booking private tours pre-cruise in Prague (Caput Regni...they were wonderful) and post-cruise in Budapest (Travel Guide Hungary was also wonderful). I had planned a private tour in Nuremberg, but ended up cancelling after talking to someone who had just returned from this cruise. The boat wasn't in Nuremberg as long as I had thought and the boat did move to another location, while we were in town. Viking reps could not confirm anything prior to our trip and were not very helpful in planning. I opted to be safe and stick with the Viking tours during the cruise. That being said, the Viking tours were all very good and I would highly recommend doing the additional excursions.

[philw1776]

River cruising dock times and docking places are more variable than ocean cruises.

I would not risk a private tour on a river cruise day unless there was plenty of KNOWN margin. Unlikely.

However private tours are probably best for any pre or post cruise stays. The extensions by the cruise line (Viking for one) are pricey. You can do better.

[LHT28]

I agree to do pre & post city tours on your own also the hotels are usually cheaper to DIY than doing the cruise line offerings

We stayed at the Marriott Millenium Apts in Budapest .

 

Scenic took us on their shuttle to the Marriott they use & we walked about 10 mins to the other location

Great location

[Young at Heart1]

Thanks Everyone for your suggestions. Yes I've got/going to arrange pre and post Cruise tours. I've been in touch with Gate1 Travel and they can't give times not even approximate times so I guess we have no option but to do their tours.

[capriccio]

quote=Young at Heart1;53441913]Thanks Everyone for your suggestions. Yes I've got/going to arrange pre and post Cruise tours. I've been in touch with Gate1 Travel and they can't give times not even approximate times so I guess we have no option but to do their tours.

I can't speak to Gate 1 (our 3 river cruises have been on Uniworld) but I believe that most river cruise lines offer a variety of excursions and on some days multiple excursions (usually morning and afternoon) to chose from. We were extremely impressed with the local guides, small groups, and the quietvox (individual audio headsets so the guides don't need to shout and the passengers can 'wander' around - at least to a certain extent - and still hear the narrative) audio systems.

 

I will note that on one of our cruises, a fellow passenger was recovering from a serious accident and using a walker. She was traveling with her granddaughter. She arranged private tours in some of the major cities (Budapest, Vienna, etc.) in advance with the caveat that the timing would be last minute. The cruise director provided her timing information the evening before each port and she updated her private guide. Obviously these were not inexpensive excursions for her, especially considering that she had 'paid' for the included excursions, but it worked out very well for them.

[Lookingforfacts]

Thanks Everyone for your suggestions. Yes I've got/going to arrange pre and post Cruise tours. I've been in touch with Gate1 Travel and they can't give times not even approximate times so I guess we have no option but to do their tours.

The alternative is to book a different, more expensive, river cruise line. Different cruise lines include different tours.