Never been on a river cruise, how to decide which line to choose?

[gam888]

We have been on many ocean cruises with various lines, but have never been on a river cruise before. We are particularly interested in visiting Budapest, Prague, Passau, Vienna. Trying to decide between a coach tour and a river cruise. We feel that a river cruise is more convenient because at least we don't have to pack and unpack every few days. We are from Canada, and we have to work out the logistics of getting to the cruise port a couple of days before the cruise. Since all these river cruises depart from small ports, we would have to fly into a major city in Europe, then either take a train or a regional flight to get to the port. We plan to spend about 7 to 9 days on the river cruise, and maybe stay in a hotel before and after for 2 couple of days. We would like to select a cruise line that is reasonable, not necessary luxurious, since we have a limited budget. Ideally, if there is a small lounge one can do a bit of dancing after dinner, would be a bonus. Could anyone please suggest which cruise line we should start to look at? We looked at some itineraries that sail on the Danube, we can recognize some of the town's names, but a lot of them we have no knowledge of. We are thinking of July and August. Is the water level on the Danube going to be a problem? Any information on the most scenic destinations,  cruise line suggestions, where are the most convenient towns to pick as a departure or ending points, would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Roz]

If you want to cruise on the Danube, there are many river cruises that start in Budapest which is a major European city. 

 

At the top of this page are "stickies" that contain a wealth of information about the various cruise lines.  

[Canal archive]

Or of course from the other way and start at Amsterdam or a slightly smaller city Nuremberg.

[notamermaid]

3 hours ago, gam888 said:

We are thinking of July and August. Is the water level on the Danube going to be a problem?

It may be. As you have given us your towns of interest, I would say you could avoid most low water issues by doing Vilshofen to Budapest or vice versa. Prague is of course not on the Danube but used very much as an extension. Flying into Prague (or ending there) is a no-brainer as many river cruise lines offer that and transport you to (or from) the river cruise ship in Vilshofen or Passau. It may be the perfect route for your interests. The stretch to avoid is Straubing to Vilshofen. That means an itinerary that starts in Nuremberg or Regensburg is affected by low water possibly. But lines are always adapting in such a situation so I would not worry too much about it.

 

Cruise line? Viking, Avalonwaterways, Amawaterways, or European ones like CroisiEurope (if you are fine with lots of French food), Riviera Travel ("join the British") and Arosa (German, i.e. bi-lingual) and Viva Cruises (German, potentially a bit more stylish than Arosa). Not sure about the dancing, but the lounge is always the area to mingle with fellow cruisers after dinner.

 

notamermaid

 

[UDChE89]

22 hours ago, notamermaid said:

It may be. As you have given us your towns of interest, I would say you could avoid most low water issues by doing Vilshofen to Budapest or vice versa. Prague is of course not on the Danube but used very much as an extension. Flying into Prague (or ending there) is a no-brainer as many river cruise lines offer that and transport you to (or from) the river cruise ship in Vilshofen or Passau. It may be the perfect route for your interests. The stretch to avoid is Straubing to Vilshofen. That means an itinerary that starts in Nuremberg or Regensburg is affected by low water possibly. But lines are always adapting in such a situation so I would not worry too much about it.

 

Cruise line? Viking, Avalonwaterways, Amawaterways, or European ones like CroisiEurope (if you are fine with lots of French food), Riviera Travel ("join the British") and Arosa (German, i.e. bi-lingual) and Viva Cruises (German, potentially a bit more stylish than Arosa). Not sure about the dancing, but the lounge is always the area to mingle with fellow cruisers after dinner.

 

notamermaid

 

After taking Viva last year I’ve looked at their boats for the itineraries this year and I’m disappointed.  Looks like they gave the Thomas Hardy back to Riviera.  The Viva ships don’t have the balcony suites, just a French balcony.

[CPT Trips]

@UDChE89 How would Viva be for a monolingual English speaker? Please forgive the redundancy. 

[Ritabob]

Delightful Danube and Prague  on Uniworld will get you to all of the places you mentioned. 

RB 

[RobInMN]

I've only been on 3 lines. All 3 are US centric lines that cater to Americans.

Vantage and Grand Circle, which were both trips selected and planed my my dad. My parents love Grand Circle, but my wife & I would never pick them for ourselves, and would not recommend them.

AmaWaterways. This one I picked and helped organize. My wife & I I really liked them, and booked another trip with them (on our own this time) that we are leaving on in just a couple weeks here. I would recommend Ama.

We are also done many ocean cruises (all Royal Caribbean, except 1 Disney). We are also big fans of the "floating hotel" concept, and that makes river cruising attractive to us.

I think every ship we've looked at has a lounge/bar/multipurpose area. Dancing would probably be largely dependent on the crowd. 

All the ports we've started/ended at have all been "major" cities, just not cities that have had non-stop flights to my home airport. Unless I'm going to Amsterdam or Paris, I'm taking 2 flights.

In my limited experience, the most scenic I've seen is probably the Rhine River Gorge (AmaWaterway's Europe's Rivers and Castles).

For pre/post, again, limited experience so far, but loved Nuremberg and Munich.

If you're looking at Danube, I think Nuremberg (or close enough), Budapest, and Bucharest (whatever the actual nearest port city is) are very common starting/ending cities? All easy to fly in/out of.

 

[notamermaid]

23 hours ago, UDChE89 said:

Looks like they gave the Thomas Hardy back to Riviera.

That is a pity. I assume it is because Viva are getting another own ship, the Viva Two, this month.

 

notamermaid

 

[Got2Cruise]

Which is your favorite ocean cruiseline? Do you like luxury, middle of the road, or value lines? 

Another thing to keep in mind is how each company handles things to the consumer satisfaction when things go bad. Such as high water, low water, or recent pandemic. 
 

@Host Jazz has a bunch of stickies explaining all of this. You need to define your dealbreakers. Don’t take advice from others who might have different standards. 

[pontac]

On 2/28/2023 at 2:38 PM, gam888 said:

cruise line suggestions, where are the most convenient towns to pick as a departure or ending points, would be appreciated.

 

Vikings 'Danube Waltz could be what you are looking for. Travelling from Budapest to Passau it has tours of these places also Vienna, which are three of the four places you mention. Prague is a distance from the Danube but Viking do a post cruise extension to Prague which means they will organise transport to Prague from the boat.

 

Budapest is not a 'small port', and the international airport is well served and very close to the river and city, likewise Prague has a major international airport. I don't know whether you can fly non-stop from your home city, you may need an intermediate airport but you should be able to fly into/outoff both Budapest and Prague so you won't need to make land travel arrangements.

 

If you want to spend a couple of extra days in Budapest before the trip, again Viking have a pre-extension in Budapest. If you want to do this on your own, a taxi from the airport is quick and cheap/

 

Viking are reasonably priced. The Danube Waltz cruise is 8 days so falls within your parameter. There is a large lounge with a dance floo and an on board musician so you can dance after dinner

. 

I have cruised the Danube with Viking sveral times and have no hesitatin recommending them, but there is fierce competion now from the many river cruise companies and I've been with only two of them, Viking and Scenic.

 

People on this board all have their personal favourites.

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by pontac
fix typos

[UDChE89]

On 3/1/2023 at 12:43 PM, CPT Trips said:

@UDChE89 How would Viva be for a monolingual English speaker? Please forgive the redundancy. 

I had no issues with the crew.  They’re fully fluent in English.  They did prepare a translated menu for me each day.  No guides were hired for tours which was fine with me since I wanted to be on my own anyway when we were docked.  I also missed out on port talks but the cruise director did come to me directly to talk to me about important items.  Where it did affect me was interacting with other passengers.  The Germans on the boat were hesitant to talk to me.  That was fine for me because I was also working part of the time.

 

I have said that I was fine (as I’m also able to understand some German), I would not send my mother on the cruise.  It would be difficult for her.

[JohnIreland]

I think you need at least some basic German to get the full experience.  But you won't get lost or go hungry or thirsty with only English.

[notamermaid]

Just now, UDChE89 said:

 Where it did affect me was interacting with other passengers.  The Germans on the boat were hesitant to talk to me.

If my experience and from what I have learnt on this board are enough to judge this I would say that Germans are less chatty than American cruisers, meaning will not automatically engage as much with others. But as you said, you were fine with it.

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

My basic German is basic . . . ein bier, Weiss wein bitte and a few more survival Deutsch phrases. I use it enough to demonstrate I’m trying and that seems to help the other party switch to English -  which almost always is much better than my German.

[UDChE89]

On 3/6/2023 at 3:49 PM, CPT Trips said:

My basic German is basic . . . ein bier, Weiss wein bitte and a few more survival Deutsch phrases. I use it enough to demonstrate I’m trying and that seems to help the other party switch to English -  which almost always is much better than my German.

I used to tell my German colleagues that their worst English was better than my best German.

[UDChE89]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:09 PM, notamermaid said:

If my experience and from what I have learnt on this board are enough to judge this I would say that Germans are less chatty than American cruisers, meaning will not automatically engage as much with others. But as you said, you were fine with it.

 

notamermaid

 

I definitely agree especially after working for a German company and traveling to HQ a lot.

 

The funniest thing on the cruise was during the gala dinner the final night when the wife of the couple seated next to me and I saw the same item on the menu and declared “schweinshaxe” at the same time.

[Canal archive]

When my husband first learnt, as he referred to it as Restaurant German  we were at a a large exhibition when one of his German colleagues suddenly realised that DH could maybe understand them. His colleague explained to me in really very good English, which he kept apologising for, that they would now have to be very careful what they said. They seemed a little worried at first, not used to the tables being turned. We still hear from them occasionally.

[tribbs1]

You really need to think about what you want from your river cruise.  Virtually every line will sail to most of the same ports.  Like others have said, AMA Waterways, Uniworld, Avalon, Tauck and Viking do cater to North Americans - or basically English speaking passengers.  The ships are essentially the same size but the guest to space ratio is better on certain lines.  All except Viking will have some active touring components such as biking and hiking options for included excursions.  All except Viking will generally give you a choice of 2-3 options for excursions in each port.  Food is subjective, but some lines will have better food.  As for getting to a larger city - most of these lines will offer pre and post cruise extensions.  On the Danube we started out in Prague for 3 nights (amazing city) and then we were taken to Nuremburg to start our cruise and we ended in Budapest and stayed an extra night there as well.  The pre and post options really help round out your trip, but be aware that they are a bit expensive for what you really get, but they are convenient. 

[Shalandara]

3 hours ago, tribbs1 said:

You really need to think about what you want from your river cruise.  Virtually every line will sail to most of the same ports.  Like others have said, AMA Waterways, Uniworld, Avalon, Tauck and Viking do cater to North Americans - or basically English speaking passengers.  The ships are essentially the same size but the guest to space ratio is better on certain lines.  All except Viking will have some active touring components such as biking and hiking options for included excursions.  All except Viking will generally give you a choice of 2-3 options for excursions in each port.  Food is subjective, but some lines will have better food.  As for getting to a larger city - most of these lines will offer pre and post cruise extensions.  On the Danube we started out in Prague for 3 nights (amazing city) and then we were taken to Nuremburg to start our cruise and we ended in Budapest and stayed an extra night there as well.  The pre and post options really help round out your trip, but be aware that they are a bit expensive for what you really get, but they are convenient. 

I'm curious about the way you pointed out that all except Viking give a choice on excursions.  Are there no choices on Viking?

I'm in the beginning stage (dreaming more than planning) on a Rhine River trip.  I need facts I can present to husband on the pros and cons of the choices of lines.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Shalandara said:

I'm curious about the way you pointed out that all except Viking give a choice on excursions.  Are there no choices on Viking?

I'm in the beginning stage (dreaming more than planning) on a Rhine River trip.  I need facts I can present to husband on the pros and cons of the choices of lines.

Viking generally prices out at the low-cost end (especially when they are offering free airfare), but you have to pay attention to details to evaluate value and experience.  

 

Everybody's ships are the same length [135m on most European rivers, because that's the size of the locks] but Viking squeezes 190 passengers where most lines are closer to 150 and the best have only 120 – space matters!  

 

My observation in river ports in Germany and France is that a Viking guide umbrella will be followed by a much larger crowd than we experienced on our cruises with AMA and Scenic.  And even between those two we found that while AMA offered many choices, Scenic had even more including special evening concerts in palazzos and chateaux just for us.

 

These quality differences don't show up on websites' comparative tables, which only compare things that can be quantified [they should note the passenger space ratio, but most seem to overlook that].

 

If you are going for lowest cost, I will note that Viking gets lots of great reviews here so their customers seem to be happy with their trip.  [But watch out for Viking's final payment deadline – months before any other cruise line!]

 

But if you are going for the best experience, my view is that you should look at other lines.  IMO the top three are Scenic, Tauck and Uniworld; with AMA just behind.

[Daisi]

13 hours ago, Shalandara said:

I'm curious about the way you pointed out that all except Viking give a choice on excursions.  Are there no choices on Viking?

I'm in the beginning stage (dreaming more than planning) on a Rhine River trip.  I need facts I can present to husband on the pros and cons of the choices of lines.

 

 

Not wanting to put words in Tribbs 1's mouth, but I think they mean that while other lines will have a couple of included options with an optional (extra charge) option per day, the other lines have started offering a couple of different included options per day. For example, looking at Avalon's Romantic Rhine (ok, I cruise with Avalon, much easier to compare) vs Viking's Rhine Getaway, Avalon has 3 included tours to chose from the morning in Breisach, while Viking only has the 1. Both have the optional (extra charge) tour to Colmar.

 

Nothing wrong if you are doing your first cruise and are happy with the basic included tour, but if you are touring with family or friends, it's nice to have a choice as to what you may wish to see that isn't "standard".

[Roz]

Last December on Tauck I walked off the ship with an onboard balance of zero.  All tours, tips, food,  drinks, and transfers included.  Choice of 2-3 tours at each stop.  Small tour groups. 

[SM77]

Our first river cruise was in 2016 on Viking from Passau to Budapest - We had a land portion prior to that which started in Munich and included Salzburg.  I think today you can add it in as a pre-extension.  It was a fabulous trip - loved being in Salzburg, great place to visit.  Munich is a big city but a major international hub so it would be a good airport to arrive at, much nicer than Frankfurt to do any connections.  I highly recommend starting in Passau heading towards Budapest - on Viking, you arrive at night into Budapest and it is quite a dramatic arrival - Budapest is quite the party town.  Stopping in Linz is where we did a day trip to Cesky Krumlov which was delightful.  We did not do Krems but the Melk Abbey; loved our day in Bratislava; just to give you a sense of the other small cities/towns.  That was our first introduction to Viking and we have been on a few of their ocean cruises and other river cruises.  We are doing their Cities of Lights river cruise in late April.  I cannot speak to other river cruise lines but I know many who have done Tauck and they have been very pleased.  You cannot go wrong w/ a cruise down the Danube.  If you do the extensions w/ Viking, they handle the transfers from the airport and then to the ship and get you to the airport at the end of the cruise or post-extension.  That is very appealing to us having the cruise line handle all the transfers.  We have done our own transfers on Oceania ocean cruise from Athens to Barcelona which were very easy; did not have an easy embarkation experience w/ Crystal in Hong Kong doing it on our own.  Yes, it is much more expensive to do a cruise line's extension but we are at the point that we prefer someone else handling all the connection details.  

[tribbs1]

Shalandara - Viking offers 1 tour option in each port.  They do offer some alternative options that have an extra cost to them.  The other lines will offer you a choice of 2-3 excursions in each port.