Included Excursion Walking Tours

[sunluva7]

I’m looking over excursions for our October Rhine River cruise, and wonder if someone could share some thoughts on one labeled as moderate. Are guests divided into groups by ability, i.e. easy/slow, moderate walking, etc? We’ve got some people in good shape and others who are definitely slower and may have trouble with more than a few stairs. Are people generally able to hang back and wait for the group to return if they can’t make the whole tour?

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, sunluva7 said:

I’m looking over excursions for our October Rhine River cruise, and wonder if someone could share some thoughts on one labeled as moderate. Are guests divided into groups by ability, i.e. easy/slow, moderate walking, etc? We’ve got some people in good shape and others who are definitely slower and may have trouble with more than a few stairs. Are people generally able to hang back and wait for the group to return if they can’t make the whole tour?

On which cruise line are you sailing? On the river cruises I have taken, the groups were not divided by ability (Viking, Gate 1). 

On one of our cruise tours there was a couple who were struggling with the pace and distance of the walking tour. The guide was great with them - they simply sat and waited in an outside cafe until our return. Don't know if this is a possibility on all tours though. 

BTW: anyone having trouble managing more than a few stairs would not be a good candidate for a moderate tour - easy tours would suit these individuals much better.

I would advise contacting the company with which you booked.

Edited February 15, 2019 by dogs4fun

[cruisergrandma]

On our Viking tour there was a slow walker group for those not able to keep up the pace of some of the guides.  We traveled with 3 other couples and 2 couples went with the slower group. They said that pace was very manageable for them. However, in Strasbourg they saw nothing of old town. They simply went to the cathedral. They were happy with that but I felt like they really missed a lot. Not sure what they saw or what they missed in other towns.

[sunluva7]

7 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

On which cruise line are you sailing? On the river cruises I have taken, the groups were not divided by ability (Viking, Gate 1). 

On one of our cruise tours there was a couple who were struggling with the pace and distance of the walking tour. The guide was great with them - they simply sat and waited in an outside cafe until our return. Don't know if this is a possibility on all tours though. 

BTW: anyone having trouble managing more than a few stairs would not be a good candidate for a moderate tour - easy tours would suit these individuals much better.

I would advise contacting the company with which you booked.

Thanks, I forgot to mention - it's a Viking cruise. I think there is only one "easy" included tour; most are optional. 

[Marjan1]

Our Travelmarvel European river cruise had a separate group for slow walkers or those with mobility issues.  Sometimes they took a mini bus closer to the destination or had a modified walking tour.  But as our ship did not have an elevator, I guess everyone had to have a certain level of mobility to walk up/down at least one flight of stairs.  

 

[sunluva7]

2 hours ago, cruisergrandma said:

On our Viking tour there was a slow walker group for those not able to keep up the pace of some of the guides.  We traveled with 3 other couples and 2 couples went with the slower group. They said that pace was very manageable for them. However, in Strasbourg they saw nothing of old town. They simply went to the cathedral. They were happy with that but I felt like they really missed a lot. Not sure what they saw or what they missed in other towns.

Thanks, that's what I thought. 

[cruisergrandma]

The walking is not really bad on the Rhine Getaway. I was 64 and hubby 68 on our cruise and we had no problem keeping up. And we are in average shape. Most places are fairly level with some (but not a lot) of steps. We did not go to the castle at Koblenz because the cruise director talked about how rough it was. One of our couples went and said even it was not bad.

[sunluva7]

3 minutes ago, Marjan1 said:

Our Travelmarvel European river cruise had a separate group for slow walkers or those with mobility issues.  Sometimes they took a mini bus closer to the destination or had a modified walking tour.  But as our ship did not have an elevator, I guess everyone had to have a certain level of mobility to walk up/down at least one flight of stairs.  

 

Yes, some river lines like Uniworld and AmaWaterways do seem to have more options for "gentle" walkers, but Viking doesn't make it very clear. 

[Marjan1]

1 minute ago, sunluva7 said:

Yes, some river lines like Uniworld and AmaWaterways do seem to have more options for "gentle" walkers, but Viking doesn't make it very clear. 

 

Because we did not have mobility issues, we did not take much notice of slow groups or not before we booked.  

 

Perhaps it it depends on the number of affected people on the cruise?

 

Travelmarvel also had a “fast” group once or twice who covered much more ground than the average groups.  I know some who chose this option had trouble keeping up.   

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, sunluva7 said:

Yes, some river lines like Uniworld and AmaWaterways do seem to have more options for "gentle" walkers, but Viking doesn't make it very clear. 

 

AmaWaterways' 'gentle walkers' tours are structured so that they see ALL the sites on the regular tour.  They may have to give up some shopping time, but they have the option of the full sightseeing experience.

[knoxclone]

On both my Viking cruises, Rhine (2015) and Danube( 2017) I participated in the gentle walkers group. I was very pleased.  Although I did not cover as much ground, I still had the opportunity to visit the all the  "highlights" of each city on all daily included excursions  and on the optional excursions that were labeled easy/moderate. 

 

[knoxclone]

I will be again on Viking next month on Windmills and tulips and plan to avail myself of the gentle walkers group again.

 

[Kenster]

Avalon has a "gentle walkers" group as I'm sure most others do.  Just remember that the allotted time is the same, so the gentle walkers will see far less than the others.   On our first cruise, there was a lady traveling solo who could barely make it around the ship.  So she stayed on board all the time, just enjoying the cruising. She knew her limits and did not impose them on others.   She was a wonderful lady who held court in the lounge every afternoon, sipping G&Ts and regaling us with stories of her world travels and the many "boys" she left broken hearted along the way.

We all loved her.  One night, when we had live music, I pulled her chair onto the dance floor and "danced" with her.

Great memory. 

[luv2travel90266]

On a recent Uniworld trip we had one individual who used a wheel chair and arranged for a private guide in each port. Not optimum but it allowed them to tour. My experience is most river cruisers are actually pretty fit.