Comparable Alternative to Crystal River Cruises

[floridacruisegirl]

Greetings from Miami - I'm looking for a comparable alternative to Crystal River Cruises (in terms of comfort and hospitality) for a Christmas markets cruise.  While my only river cruise with Crystal wasn't perfect, it was still an amazing time.  Thank you, in advance, for your recommendations. 

[Mrs. Claypool]

We have taken river cruises with Crystal, Tauck and Uniworld. We were very pleased with our experiences on all 3 of them.  
 

Crystal stood out in terms of dining. Which is a moot point now, of course. So I can heartily recommend either of the other two lines. 

 

[Roz]

I also recommend Tauck and Uniworld, with the caveat that I never sailed Crystal.

[CruiserFromMaine]

We had an excellent cruise with AMA Waterways that was hard to pick between that and our Crystal River cruise. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I will also put in a good word for AMA, and note that this spring on a multi-line back-to-back we found Scenic even better.  And I think that Crystal alums will find Scenic's all-inclusive policy more what they are used to.  [But you must use a travel agent for Scenic, because their website continues to be a source of major tsuris.]

[loriva]

Having sailed the Danube with Crystal in October 2021, the Rhine with Scenic in June 2022, and the Elbe with Viking in December 2022, I'd add Viking to your search.  While there was no butler like on Crystal and Scenic, we did not miss anything in service.  We found food on each of the three lines very good as were the wines.  We bought the beverage package on Viking and were able to upgrade our wine selections as well as receive cocktails at no additional charge.  We missed the free laundry--and washer/dryers--Crystal provided on both Scenic and Viking.  Viking seemed to have higher prices for its laundry as well--$10 for a pair of trousers and $4 for underwear.

 

Where Viking really seemed to shine was in their tour personnel.  The Program Director (the name for the cruise director since we had both land and river stays with Viking) was fabulous.  He was always available, willing to help, knowledgeable, and very personable.  When weather prevented us going out to the enrichment event of a concert at the Zwinger Palace in Dresden, he somehow found a trio to come onboard and present a classical concert with just a couple hours' notice--and they were wonderful.  When my brother-in-law became ill at the end of the tour and had to go home early, the PD arranged everything for him.  (We also expected our extension to Poland to be cancelled when we found out on the last day of the cruisetour it was just me, DH, my sister, and her husband on the trip that overlapped Christmas.  And then just DH and me.  I was shocked Viking had not cancelled it when only four signed up and even more shocked when they ran it just for us.)  With one exception in Prague, we also found the tour guides used by Viking exceptional--personable, knowledgeable, and aware of the range of abilities of those on walking tours so able to adjust and serve all participants.

 

While Viking might be considered not as luxurious as Crystal or Scenic--it depends on how much you like Nordic minimalism in design--we found it very comfortable.  The staterooms were smaller than either Crystal or Scenic, but so well designed it did not detract from the experience.  The only thing I noticed as a shortcoming was a lack of hanging space in the wardrobe.

 

We booked a future cruise credit on Crystal (which we were able to recover when they declared bankruptcy) and on Viking.  We had such a terrible experience with Scenic before the cruise--despite a strong TA on our side--that we did not.  We cruise based on itinerary, however, not loyalty to a particular cruise line.  We would sail on either Scenic or Viking River for the right itinerary and pricing.

[Daisi]

If you don't need "all inclusive", I'd recommend Avalon. 

 

We don't use onboard laundry, we pack clothes that we can rinse out in the room (fast dry), but like Viking, it is provided at an extra charge. We don't drink much, so wine/beer included with our meals is fine, especially as you can grab "a glass to go", when you are touring the scenic areas or bring your own favourite tipple onboard. The food was great on our cruise, but food is subjective. I do know that you have to watch what you say to the servers, or you could end up eating more than you figured....my husband mentioned my desert looked good, and next thing we knew, he had one placed in front of him, despite him already having one. The rooms are spacious as most are French Balcony style, so you don't lose the square footage from a balcony. We loved the spacious bathroom, and also the almost wall to wall sliding glass door for when we were in our room.

 

Like @loriva, we look more for how we are treated onboard, and the tour experience. Our crew was amazing, made us feel like we were special guests but still part of the family. Our CD was great, arranging special treats for the guests - including a cruise of the canals in Strasbourg. Most of the time our tour groups were from about 20 or less in a general tour, but as we took the "slow walkers" (because I wanted lots of time to take pictures) We usually had about 6 or so.....until other photographers figured it out, then we jumped to about 12!

 

Think about what you feel are "necessities" - drinks, food, laundry, butler etc. that you had with Crystal, and hopefully you will find something that will suit you. Avalon was a great fit for us, and I think it will take a special itinerary for us to change.

[Balloon Man]

Saga has some newish river ships and is all inclusive - as long as you are over 50!