River Cruising With A Friend

[Flatow]

I am thinking of going on a river cruise with a friend (not romantic). But we are concerned about room configuration options. We don’t want to sleep in the same bed or beds that are inches from each other. Is this possible? I know this may sound dumb but when we look at cabins it does not show any with two beds so we can’t tell what it will look like. Many rooms seem too compact to even accommodate a two bed configuration. 

Also, are their river cruises that have little to no single supplements so that maybe we could get different rooms? We travel well together and get along great, but sometimes even the best of friends need a little space. 

We are thinking of going in 2020 and cruising the Danube. Possibly the Christmas Markets cruise. But not sure.

Lastly, in case she cannot go, is it feasible to travel alone? Will it be too pricy or even awkward to be on your own?

 

Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

T

[TravelerThom]

Many, indeed most, river cabins (like ocean cabins) have two beds that can be configured separately or together (BUT confirm bed arrangements when booking). Generally when separated one or both bedside tables are placed between the beds. River cabins are as small as, or even smaller than, ocean cabins so it is close quarters if two people are attempting to dress at the same time. Other than sleeping and dressing, I spend most time on the boat in the lounges, on the sun deck or in the dining rooms (and a significant portion of the day is off the boat). As veterans of 25 river cruises we had no problem coordinating our dressing schedules to minimize conflicts. IMO the ability and flexibility to coordinate schedules is crucial to a pleasant trip. 

 

Most boats have open seating dining at predominately 4 to 8 person communal tables. Most river cruisers are pretty laid back and generally welcoming to having others, including solos, join them at meals or in the lounge. You will be with same ~150 people most of the day for a week or so, and will quickly be acquainted with most of them. 

 

The amount of space you need and the price you are willing to pay can only be determined by you. But river cruising can be a pleasant way to travel whether you go with a partner, a friend or by yourself. 

 

Thom

 

[amyr]

Hi, we often travel on Avalon Waterways when going with single friends because they reserve five (I think it's five) cabins on each sailing for booking with no single supplement.  We have a group of ladies traveling together next month, and we booked early because we needed 3 single cabins and got them with no supplement.  

 

They can be any cabins, not just the lower level, though my sister had one of those by herself last year and loved it.  This year all the singles took a panorama balcony cabin, which are quite large even for two people by river cruise standards.  

 

The only real way to check to see if there are still two on a particular sailing is do a dummy booking online for 2 cabins, 1 person each, or have your travel agent hunt one down.  We had to spend some time to find a sailing that still had three single cabins on it and worked with everybody's schedule, but we found a few, which was made easier because we didn't really care which river.

[Roz]

Flatow, glad you found your way over here to the River Cruising forum.  I responded to you in the Ask a Cruise Question forum.

 

Roz

[MagnoliaNC]

A quick fix is to bring a shower curtain and magnetic clips. You can create a screen between the beds for a bit of privacy. My only concern would be if your particulate boat doesnt have a metal ceiling or wall. Very useful things to have. I really dont think it will work on Avalon. I dont recall being able to put magnets on the walls. I have heard it works well on ocean voyage ships.

[Flatow]

On 4/22/2019 at 5:07 AM, amyr said:

Hi, we often travel on Avalon Waterways when going with single friends because they reserve five (I think it's five) cabins on each sailing for booking with no single supplement.  We have a group of ladies traveling together next month, and we booked early because we needed 3 single cabins and got them with no supplement.  

 

They can be any cabins, not just the lower level, though my sister had one of those by herself last year and loved it.  This year all the singles took a panorama balcony cabin, which are quite large even for two people by river cruise standards.  

 

The only real way to check to see if there are still two on a particular sailing is do a dummy booking online for 2 cabins, 1 person each, or have your travel agent hunt one down.  We had to spend some time to find a sailing that still had three single cabins on it and worked with everybody's schedule, but we found a few, which was made easier because we didn't really care which river.

Thank you so much! It is great to know that we could possibly get our own cabins and it does not necessarily have to be a lower level room. We will definitely look into this.

[Flatow]

On 4/22/2019 at 2:43 AM, TravelerThom said:

Many, indeed most, river cabins (like ocean cabins) have two beds that can be configured separately or together (BUT confirm bed arrangements when booking). Generally when separated one or both bedside tables are placed between the beds. River cabins are as small as, or even smaller than, ocean cabins so it is close quarters if two people are attempting to dress at the same time. Other than sleeping and dressing, I spend most time on the boat in the lounges, on the sun deck or in the dining rooms (and a significant portion of the day is off the boat). As veterans of 25 river cruises we had no problem coordinating our dressing schedules to minimize conflicts. IMO the ability and flexibility to coordinate schedules is crucial to a pleasant trip. 

 

Most boats have open seating dining at predominately 4 to 8 person communal tables. Most river cruisers are pretty laid back and generally welcoming to having others, including solos, join them at meals or in the lounge. You will be with same ~150 people most of the day for a week or so, and will quickly be acquainted with most of them. 

 

The amount of space you need and the price you are willing to pay can only be determined by you. But river cruising can be a pleasant way to travel whether you go with a partner, a friend or by yourself. 

 

Thom

 

Thank you Thom. I am glad to know that sailing alone is not too weird. I wanted to have options just in case she was unable to come with me.

[Flatow]

On 4/22/2019 at 9:56 PM, MagnoliaNC said:

A quick fix is to bring a shower curtain and magnetic clips. You can create a screen between the beds for a bit of privacy. My only concern would be if your particulate boat doesnt have a metal ceiling or wall. Very useful things to have. I really dont think it will work on Avalon. I dont recall being able to put magnets on the walls. I have heard it works well on ocean voyage ships.

Thanks for the idea! We will keep that in mind if we get a room together.

[AllisonJames]

Amyr — that is very useful info about Avalon reserving some cabins on each cruise without a single supplement — thank you!  Some time in the future I’d like to cruise with my daughter or sister but the sharing of a small cabin and 1 bathroom was putting me off! I hope Avalon keeps that up and thanks for the info!

[amyr]

29 minutes ago, AllisonJames said:

Amyr — that is very useful info about Avalon reserving some cabins on each cruise without a single supplement — thank you!  Some time in the future I’d like to cruise with my daughter or sister but the sharing of a small cabin and 1 bathroom was putting me off! I hope Avalon keeps that up and thanks for the info!

Yes, that's something great that they do.  They also frequently waive the supplement on select sailings across all their cruises, something I saw a lot of when checking last week for the upcoming 2020 cruises.  Here are two pictures I took on Impression last year of cabins done up in a twin configuration before the passengers boarded.  The first is the small 'aquarium style' cabins on Deck 1, I think there are 12 of those, and the second one is the larger (though it doesn't look it in the photo) Panorama cabin.  ETA:  My bad, that bottom one isn't the Panorama, it's the bedroom portion of one of the two big suites up on Deck 3.  I won't know what the Panorama looks like split into twins until next month when I share one with my sister.

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by amyr