First timer - short or long river cruise ?

[crashdox]

We are probably very late to the booking process for the time we want, but that is how that goes.

 

What we are wondering:  for a first-time river cruise, should we pick a short one or a long one ?  I can see pros & cons both ways, so we are wondering what other first-timers have done, why, and did they "regret" their choice of length.

[Coral]

My first one was 14 nights, second one was 10 nights. I won't fly to Europe with less than 10 nights. I think long as it is not worth my effort to unpack and fly for a short cruise.

 

With everything going on right now - it is sort of difficult to plan a pre and post cruise with testing that is required on either ends.

[Wings55]

@crashdox I agree with Coral, a trip to Europe needs to be at least 10 days to make the flights and time differences worthwhile. We took our first river cruise in 2016 and like Coral, we booked a 2-week cruise and loved it. When it came time to fly home, I was ready to stow away on the ship and sail back the other direction for another two weeks. 

Since then, we've taken two different10-night cruises and recently we booked two 7-night cruises back-to-back to make one 2-week vacation. Good luck with your search and have a great trip no matter what you decide. 

Paul

 

[sharkster77]

Conventional wisdom on these boards is to try a shorter cruise first, as some ocean cruisers do not adapt well to river cruising---all they have in common is floating on water.  River cruises are very active (few or no "sea" days), very sparse on nighttime entertainment, and limited options beyond the main dining room.  Some ocean cruisers fell restricted by all this.  Ocean cruising is about the ship---river cruising is about the ports.

 

For those advocating at least 10 days to make the grind of getting to Europe worthwhile, how about an 8 day cruise, with a pre- and post- cruise stay (DIY or with cruise line, either way)?  We did 2 days in Amsterdam, took an 8-day Rhine cruise, and ended off with 2 days in Lucerne.  We did Lucerne DIY and Amsterdam with the cruise line.  Wonderful, wonderful time!!

Edited December 9, 2021 by sharkster77

[Coral]

35 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

Conventional wisdom on these boards is to try a shorter cruise first, as some ocean cruisers do not adapt well to river cruising---all they have in common is floating on water.  River cruises are very active (few or no "sea" days), very sparse on nighttime entertainment, and limited options beyond the main dining room.  Some ocean cruisers fell restricted by all this.  Ocean cruising is about the ship---river cruising is about the ports.

 

For those advocating at least 10 days to make the grind of getting to Europe worthwhile, how about an 8 day cruise, with a pre- and post- cruise stay (DIY or with cruise line, either way)?  We did 2 days in Amsterdam, took an 8-day Rhine cruise, and ended off with 2 days in Lucerne.  We did Lucerne DIY and Amsterdam with the cruise line.  Wonderful, wonderful time!!

The problem with pre and post cruise plans is COVID testing right now. I was trying to plan a B2B with hotels in between and it was going to be a nightmare to privately test over Easter in either of 2 very Catholic countries. Heck - I am struggling on COVID testing back home on a weekend right now. Unfortunately we don't know when COVID or testing will go away.

 

At least on a ship you know you will get your COVID testing done.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Coral

[Gourmet Gal]

Are you an avid ocean cruiser?  If not you might consider a shorter cruise.  I have friends who were used to land-based travel, went on just an 11 day cruise and went berserk feeling so confined, herded and restricted. Do you usually stay in suites or standard cabins because most river ships have tiny cabins and even the suites aren’t much bigger than standard ocean cabins.  Sharkster has mentioned some big differences between ocean and river cruises that should not be underestimated. 
 

We do most of our travel land-based and always add days before and after any cruise. We’re planning to do the same next year and will just have to roll with the testing.  This is where it may pay to stay in higher-end hotel properties where testing can be easily arranged by the concierge.  There’s also the home testing that might work when traveling if you can time it right.

 

 

[crashdox]

We are not ocean cruisers at all - never intend to be either!  Strictly land based tours to date.

[BPCruiser]

3 hours ago, crashdox said:

We are probably very late to the booking process for the time we want, but that is how that goes.

 

What we are wondering:  for a first-time river cruise, should we pick a short one or a long one ?  I can see pros & cons both ways, so we are wondering what other first-timers have done, why, and did they "regret" their choice of length.

We have done numerous river cruises, all on Avalon Waterways. Our most recent 2 months ago in September. Definitely recommend 12 days or longer. Not worth it to go all the way to Europe imo for a 7 day cruise. When looking at your cruise options, pay attention to how many actual days you have on board the river boat. Many cruise companies advertise 10 or 12 day cruises but there are actually only 7 days cruising on board the ship, which imo is the best part of the trip. They will say it is a longer cruise but they are including pre & post cruise days in that 10 or 12 day cruise. You can easily book your pre or post cruise days independently at a significant savings from what the cruise line charges. Look at the booking at the actual cruise days on board.

[notamermaid]

@BPCruiser You make an important point about the actual cruise days. An extreme example: Viking says Elbe Berlin to Prague, neither of those two cities are on the Elbe, but are part of the cruise package. The actual cruise, all on the Elbe river, is shorter in days. The pre-cruise is added on to this again, if that is what you wish, it could be Hamburg, which is on the Elbe. Confused? It gets better. In Summer, this is not a cruise at all, but a holiday on an almost stationary river cruise ship. This of course is made clearly visible in the description. Extreme, I know, but it is important to look at the day to day itinerary available online or in paper format to find out what you get as river cruising days and what is coach trip/hotel.

 

notamermaid 

 

 

[sbjornda]

River cruising is, imo, a bit closer to a bus tour than to an ocean cruise. I find it more fun and far less hectic than a bus tour, since you're not packing & unpacking all the time, and of course it is far more comfortable than traveling by bus. But it does have the common downside of a fairly rigid schedule and limited opportunities to strike out on your own (even if you don't join the scheduled land excursion you still need to be back on board before she sails, though of course boarding takes next to no time at all compared to an ocean cruise ship). 

 

We're comfortable with the compromises involved in river cruising, but it's not our only way of taking a holiday. We always supplement our river cruise with some self-directed exploration before and/or after, and in hindsight find that a 14 day cruise zips by in the blink of an eye, leaving us wanting more. Arriving a few days early to start adjusting to the time zone is helpful for us. And for getaways back at home, we're still nimble enough to be able to sleep in a tent. From rustic tenting to Scenic's all-inclusive comfort, we're happy we can still have it all. Cross fingers for good health.

[Shmoo here]

5 hours ago, crashdox said:

We are probably very late to the booking process for the time we want, but that is how that goes.

 

What we are wondering:  for a first-time river cruise, should we pick a short one or a long one ?  I can see pros & cons both ways, so we are wondering what other first-timers have done, why, and did they "regret" their choice of length.

It would depend on your traveling habits.  Do you typically take short vacations?  Or long ones?  Are you adaptable to changes?  

 

Our first river cruise was actually a back to back - Bucharest to Budapest/Budapest to Cologne.  30 days long including travel days on either end and a pre-cruise add on.

 

We generally prefer longer trips/cruises so it wasn't an issue for us.  Some people prefer to "break in" to cruising gradually by booking shorter trips for starters to be sure they're going to enjoy it before they take longer ones.

 

Our first ocean cruise was also a long one - 15 nights.  And we travel in our RV up to 3 months each summer.

[need2travel1]

Our first river cruise was 7 nights Paris to Normandy on Uniworld w/ one pre night at a hotel.  Time & money constraints were the only reasons we didn't do a longer trip.  I know the maxim is to go for at least two weeks to get your money's worth but not everyone can swing that.  

What river/itinerary are you interested in?  Have you looked into the different lines & their various offerings?  If you have an idea of what you want to do/see that might help you figure out if you want a long/short cruise.  

Have fun w/ your research!  

 

[Gourmet Gal]

4 hours ago, crashdox said:

We are not ocean cruisers at all - never intend to be either!  Strictly land based tours to date.

So does that mean you usually do group bus tours or do you travel independently?  If you’re used to group travel you may find you have a higher tolerance on a river cruise because you don’t have to pack up and change hotels and the pace while still busy and structured would be more relaxing.

[sharkster77]

2 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

So does that mean you usually do group bus tours or do you travel independently?  If you’re used to group travel you may find you have a higher tolerance on a river cruise because you don’t have to pack up and change hotels and the pace while still busy and structured would be more relaxing.

Agree 1000%---we had done two bus tours in Europe prior to our river cruise and had a great time on both tours.  The river cruise was a lot like our bus tours, but we brought our hotel and restaurant with us from town to town!!

[Coral]

I don't find river cruises like bus tours. Not any more than ocean cruises are bus tours..... If anything, I find river cruises better than ocean cruises as you often dock in town and and don't have long distances to travel in a bus compared to ocean cruises.

[texasstar]

I will add my vote for 1 week river cruise and 1 week "on your on" pre-cruise in the area. We always do a pre-cruise journey on our own, and it is usually our favorite part of the trip.  I use Rick Steves guide books and forum,  advice from this forum,  and Fodor's forum,  to plan our trip.  I enjoy planning trips, if you don't, that might not be a good idea.    If you feel comfortable traveling on your own, you can save a lot of money rather than doing the cruise pre or post trip.  I find that one week of socializing, wining and dining  is enough for me, but everyone is different.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, texasstar said:

I will add my vote for 1 week river cruise and 1 week "on your on" pre-cruise in the area. We always do a pre-cruise journey on our own, and it is usually our favorite part of the trip.  I use Rick Steves guide books and forum,  advice from this forum,  and Fodor's forum,  to plan our trip.  I enjoy planning trips, if you don't, that might not be a good idea.    If you feel comfortable traveling on your own, you can save a lot of money rather than doing the cruise pre or post trip.  I find that one week of socializing, wining and dining  is enough for me, but everyone is different.

I could have written this, except that we usually split the land week between beginning and end.

 

Whenever this question is asked, I'm reminded of the thread posted here by a river cruise newbie who had signed up for a long Danube cruise and discovered by day 2 that they didn't like river cruising.  Facing 12 more days and very unhappy about it!

 

A few days in Amsterdam–Rhine cruise to Basel–a few days in Lucerne and Zurich would be a great introduction to river cruising [you even get that unusual thing - a sea day - going through the Rhine Castles area].  Harder to find but maybe even more scenic would be: a few days in Paris–TGV to Luxembourg–Mosel & Rhine cruise to Basel–a few days in Lucerne and Zurich:

https://www.amawaterways.com/destination/europe-river-cruises/2022/rhine-moselle-splendors

[ericosmith]

13 hours ago, crashdox said:

We are not ocean cruisers at all - never intend to be either!  Strictly land based tours to date.

I'm not sure what kind of land based tours you have taken but I would liken a river cruise to a land tour without the hassle of dealing with luggage and moving in and out of a hotel all the time.  Having said that, what is it that you enjoy about a land based tour.  If it is exploring different places to eat, a flexible itinerary, going to famous places that might not be along a river then a shorter cruise might be the way to go.  If on the other hand you would enjoy traveling without dealing with luggage, hotels, finding a place to eat, etc. then go for a river cruise that's similar in length to what you are comfortable with on a land based tour.  

[TMLAalum]

Our first river cruise was 4 nights on the Yangtze with a Chinese river tour provider. Except for the food, it was delightful, especially since our cabin had an actual usable balcony. For our 2nd river cruise, we sailed down the Danube with Avalon in November 2019 in a swan, aka aquarium, deck cabin. That cruise felt confining due to the weather which prevented gathering on the outdoor decks. It was especially gloomy being in our low deck cabin going thru the myriad locks on the Danube- instant night!

Lesson learned, we will be on Avalon again, still in the cheap seats so to speak, but at a time of year when the weather will permit us to enjoy the scenery from the outdoor deck; we might even bring our swimsuits and take advantage of the hot tub!

[ljandgb]

In a non-Covid world, I think the perfect combo is a river cruise bracketed by a land portion on either end, for as long a duration as I can get off from work.  With Covid testing/vaccine requirements, that can get complicated.  If you do the land portion thru the cruise company, they can help with some of that, though the entry requirements at the beginning can be difficult to navigate.  We just did a 2 week Danube cruise with 4 days in Prague prior and 3 in Romania afterwards.  Getting TO Prague was complicated, and all on us, as we flew thru London, so had to comply with England's and Czechia's requirements.  Our TA was minimally helpful, but the folks on TripAdvisor saved the day.  

 

When on land trips, we like to find a cafe at night and sit and watch people, or stroll around the area.  There will be evenings on river cruises where you are sailing, and all there is to do is what is on the ship - the same lounge, the same people.  After our first river cruise, where most evenings were spent this way, I purposely chose an itinerary with more late night sail aways so we could have our evenings in town.

[AnhaltER1960]

On 12/9/2021 at 5:58 PM, sbjornda said:

even if you don't join the scheduled land excursion you still need to be back on board before she sails, though of course boarding takes next to no time at all compared to an ocean cruise ship). 

 

 

You are absolutely correct with everything you wrote. Just to add one more aspect: Even if you miss sailing of your river cruise ship, the next port of call usually will be no more than a, say, two hours train ride away, plus maybe some taxi, no more than a 50$-affair. No comparison with the hassle of getting a flight to the next island/country/continent with all your travel documents in the cabin of the ocean cruiser.

[Coral]

On 12/10/2021 at 7:38 AM, ljandgb said:

When on land trips, we like to find a cafe at night and sit and watch people, or stroll around the area.  There will be evenings on river cruises where you are sailing, and all there is to do is what is on the ship - the same lounge, the same people.  After our first river cruise, where most evenings were spent this way, I purposely chose an itinerary with more late night sail aways so we could have our evenings in town.

I also chose itineraries with late times or overnights in town also.

[Psoque]

Most river cruises (and for that matter, even ocean cruises) often start and end in cities that are interesting enough to deserve a few days of hotel stays before the and after the cruise.  Examples of such cities include Amsterdam, Basel, Budapest, and Vienna.  I think it is impossible to even get a good taste of any of these cities without at least a couple of nights stay.

 

If you are trying to decide if a river cruise is something you enjoy or not, I would suggest you book a 7-night Rhine or Danube cruise with ample pre and post cruise stays (2-3 nights on each end).  This way, you will be sufficiently un-jet-lagged to fully enjoy the river cruise, not worry about making it to the ship on time, and have a few days after the cruise to decompress before taking the flight home.  If you are somewhat unsure if you enjoy a river cruise or not (and I don't expect everyone to like a river cruise), a 7 night itineraries, in my opinion, are good ways to find out.  And another plus of this approach is that there are more 7 night itineraries than others on the popular routes, given you a wider range of options to choose your first river cruise from.