Has river cruising lost its luster.

[philw1776]

4 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Great thread.  I have my first river cruise booked for May with Ama on the Rhine.  I have a few questions for anyone who wants to chime in.

1. After dinner each night on the ship; what do most people do? Read, Dance, Go to Bed, watch a movie?
We've done all.  Once a wonderful cello & piano concert, another young opera and pop singers, dancing, trivia games and yes, straight to bed.  Or watch a movie in bed.

2. I see most ships have breakfast and lunch buffets; Will the on board chefs work with you for the dinner menu?  I only eat a few items, like pasta/marinara sauce, some veggies, some chicken, no fish.
Chef will work with you.  For example, Viking each day offers 3 new different entre choices, only one fish, PLUS 3 more standard every day choices of "American" style staples. Talk to the restaurant manager after you board.

3. How many shore excursions do you take a day? One or Two?
Often take 2.  Morning & afternoon.  Then skip an afternoon relaxing onboard or better yet self touring the city where docked.

4. Like the OP mentioned above; worry a little that I will be bored.  Do they have an area on board where the staff has trivia games?
Not a special area.  Ships are small. Sometimes trivia after dinner.  I'm a reader & never bored.  With 2 tours/day and/or watching river scenery slide by as you cruise or best yet walking off the ship to do your own thing the problem is not enough hours.

5. What is the normal time in port?  6,8,10 hrs per stop.
Varies.  Viking tries to be destination oriented and maximizes time in port where possible. 

6. I have a weird goal that everywhere I travel I try the french fries in each country to see who makes the best. Any chance that there will be places located close to where we dock?
European rivers will provide lots of such opportunities.

 

thanks everyone and have a great day.

Done 6 river cruises.  My responses above.
I hope you enjoy your Rhine cruise on AMA.  One afternoon will be spent sailing by fantastic castles as your tour director provides a running commentary.  Get out on top deck and enjoy beer or wine as epic scenery glides by.

Edited October 7, 2019 by philw1776

[xpcdoojk]

My perception based on 1 river cruise in 2014 and one in 2015.  Is that river cruising is more popular than ever because if I booked either of those cruises now the price would be 50% higher.  I am an economist.  So, if there are more river cruise ships now, and the price is higher, then that implies that the demand is significantly greater than it was 4 years ago. 

 

Supply and demand rarely lies.🤣

 

jc

[G.M.T.]

AF-1 with regards to your question 6

 

The best places to eat pommes frites (quickly if on an excursions, are food stands called Imbis or Kiosk.

[JPH814]

4 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Great thread.  I have my first river cruise booked for May with Ama on the Rhine.  I have a few questions for anyone who wants to chime in.

I think it will be important for you to get feedback specifically regarding AMA and the ports you will visit.   It seems from reading other replies that the cruise lines vary quite a bit.  I will reply based on my Uniworld cruises.  But you really need to do some investigating on the cruise line and the itinerary so that your expectations are not too high. 

1. After dinner each night on the ship; what do most people do? Read, Dance, Go to Bed, watch a movie?

Over the course of 7 days, you might have outside entertainment 2 times - a small combo or a local cultural group.  The other days will be a piano player who may or may not sing.  Other than that, it is a quiet post dinner drink and conversation, then bed.  Or watch tv/movie in the room.

2. I see most ships have breakfast and lunch buffets; Will the on board chefs work with you for the dinner menu?  I only eat a few items, like pasta/marinara sauce, some veggies, some chicken, no fish.

Your requirements are quite limited.  If you are used to eating that menu 7 days in a row, you should be fine.   There is always certain items offered every dinner on Uniworld (usually chicken, steak and fish).  I imagine pasta with red sauce can be available. 

3. How many shore excursions do you take a day? One or Two?  Usually on Uniworld there is one organized excursion and then time to explore on your own.  Out of 7 days there might be 2 or 3 days with a morning excursion and a different afternoon excursion.  There may also be an evening excursion, depending on the itinerary.

4. Like the OP mentioned above; worry a little that I will be bored.  Do they have an area on board where the staff has trivia games? Here is where you need to manage your expectations.  I have never seen any kind of trivia contest or organized gaming on Uniworld.  If you are used to ocean cruise type of organized activities, you will be disappointed.

5. What is the normal time in port?  6,8,10 hrs per stop.  Again, this will vary by itinerary.  There are some ports you will stop in the morning for a couple of hours, then you re-board and have lunch while the ship sails to another port.  Then there is an afternoon excursion.  So these may be 2 or 3 hours each.  Some excursions (like our trip to the normandy beaches) were almost 12 hours.  And as I mentioned previously, you may have an 2 or 3 hour tour which ends with the opportunity to spend the rest of the day on your own exploring the city/town.

6. I have a weird goal that everywhere I travel I try the french fries in each country to see who makes the best. Any chance that there will be places located close to where we dock?

One port you might dock across the street from a bustling tourist or urban area.  You can walk off the boat and do your thing.  Another port might be in an industrial area requiring a shuttle bus or taxi. You need to check this out in advance.  Again, you need to manage your expectations.  

 

thanks everyone and have a great day.

 

[AF-1]

Thank you everyone who chimed in with tips, feedback, and answers.  I feel much better after reading all the great answers.  I am looking forward to this cruise and will post my blog as we sail up the Rhine River.  Cheers and have a great day

[ural guy]

19 hours ago, G.M.T. said:

AF-1 with regards to your question 6

 

The best places to eat pommes frites (quickly if on an excursions, are food stands called Imbis or Kiosk.

 

mit curry sauce, IMHO.

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by ural guy

[notamermaid]

54 minutes ago, ural guy said:

 

mit curry sauce, IMHO.

 

I prefer my chips au naturels (just a hint of salt) and put the curry sauce on the sausage. This makes the meal Currywurst mit Pommes (in that case one pronounces the e and s in Pommes). Pommes Frites are pronounced the French way.

 

Anyway, for an unusual treat @AF-1 you could go to the Wurstbraterei in Cologne. It is iconic for featuring in Germany's most popular crime series "Tatort": https://wurstbraterei.koeln/

 

notamermaid

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by notamermaid
Wrong word

[sumiandkage]

There are also a number of ports where you're docked near the city center, the ship does't push off until 10PM or later, and you can walk back into town for a beer or a wander around after dinner. Or in the case of our cruise being in Koblenz the night of the local beer festival, beer and wandering go hand in hand. (I will give props to Viking for the excellent soundproofing on their new ships- even though our stateroom was on the city side while docked, we didn't hear the beer festival bands at all unless we opened up the slider to the balcony)

[G.M.T.]

1 hour ago, ural guy said:

 

mit curry sauce, IMHO.

 

Malted vinegar (Sarsons) and salt.

[AF-1]

Again thanks all who replied.  You guys and gals are getting me excited;  I look forward to being able to walk off ship and right into town.

[jpalbny]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Pommes Frites are pronounced the French way.

 

Ha, I thought that...but had a different experience once.

 

We were at the Ganzhornfest in Neckarsulm a few years ago, and I saw a sign that said "pommes frites" at a food stand. They looked tasty, so I asked for an order, using the French pronunciation. They had no idea what I was asking for. So I pointed to the sign. "Oh, you want pomm-es frit-es!" was their reply. It just sounds wrong to say it that way!

 

I think they knew exactly what I wanted, but they were just playing with a tourist for fun. That's ok. I had fun there too. It was fun to eat sausage and drink beer in the main square, while listening to a German rock band cover American '80s hits.

[philw1776]

Just a nit.  I've been on Uniworld (excellent) and at least on one evening we had a trivia & dance contest after dinner.  I know because we won.  The other evenings I can't say because I never went to the lounge after dinner those nights.  
Also was at one Viking after dinner trivia contest. 
If there are local entertainers coming aboard (couple times per cruise) we do try to make the show as most are entertaining.