Europe river cruising with kids (early/mid 20 year olds)

[shrimpmom]

Thinking ahead to planning a Europe river cruise with my son and daughter who are in their early/mid 20-s. I'd expect that we'd be very active with excursions but I also don't want them to be completely bored with activities/amenities once they're back on the ship. Without breaking the bank, what would be the best cruise line to consider? We'd probably be most interested in the Danube but open to other suggestions.

[ljandgb]

Tauck has a Bridges section for family travel, which can skew more active.  You might compare their regular trips to see what matches.  Some lines have bikes that let you ride along the river while the ship transits.  Avalon, and I believe AMA, does this.  

 

Back on the ship, there is frequently just not much to do, as space is limited.  Some ships have a hot tub, maybe a small pool, though if the water is high access to it will be closed.

[notamermaid]

On-board activities are low key but you get an entertainer or quizzes or an evening concert on shore. I think Tauck Bridges sounds good. If you like the European/German feel have a look at Arosa. Dismiss Viking.

 

The Danube is good. Try to get a full day in at Budapest, i.e. including an evening. If you can find an overnight in Vienna or at least late sailing that way you can get an evening concert or a "fun with wine and music" trip in the itinerary or plan it yourself.

 

On the Rhine likewise, try to find late night sailings, meaning leaving port after 10pm. Cologne is a fabulous place for a pub crawl. A good river for first-timers, as well as the Danube.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Gourmet Gal]

I believe the Tauck Bridges sailings are geared more to include children, not necessarily Gen Z’ers.  Scenic and Tauck have options for faster walkers on their excursions and bike, hike options.  On board is where the Gen Z’ers will do some eye rolling…I know Tauck can have some very silly, annoying games more geared to nursing homes or pre-school.  My last Tauck cruise had a cruise manager who treated everyone as though they had cognitive disabilities.  I would suggest scrutiny of the itinerary more than other factors.  Are the stops interesting to multi-generations and are there options to explore on your own?

[Daisi]

Avalon has active & discovery cruises, where you can hike, canoe, kayak, or do bike tours. Everyone can do what they want and meet up over dinner to compare notes. If anyone is into Yoga, there is a daily session before breakfast.

 

As others mention, onboard entertainment is not much, so if they are fine with that, then they will be fine. Many people feel cruising is only for the older people, but if the younger generation is fine with being the minority, and content to be amongst older people, they will do fine. 

[RobInMN]

In 2019 my family did the AmaWaterways Rivers and Castles (Nuremburg to Luxembourg) with 3 generations. At that time, my daughter was 19, my nephew 13, and niece 10. There were a number of families on this cruise, with a few kids younger than my niece. I know the kids in our family had a great time, and as far as I could tell, that was true for the other families as well. No one seemed bored at all. Many times we just hung out on our own sometimes playing cards. Saw the same from other families. And there's internet, so that's always self-entertaining. I would totally recommend 

As mentioned previously, Ama has a number of stops where there are active hiking and/or biking options. My sister's family did bikes at least once. In Trier, We left the ship early and walked over to the Roman Baths and Amphitheater on our own before meeting up with the walking tour near where they were starting.  

BTW, Ama is who Disney uses if you book a river cruise through their Adventures by Disney, but they charter the whole cruise and have their own Cruise Managers.

 

In December of 2022, we did another 3 generation cruise, this time Christmas Markets with Grand Circle (my parents love GC - my wife & I, not so much) from Nuremburg to Vienna. This time my daughter did not go (graduated, new job, boyfriend). Sister's kids now 13 & 16. Again, other than not really liking GC myself, I think we all had a good time. My sister's kids enjoyed the Christmas markets, and usually did their own thing in the evenings, but sometimes watched the entertainment. (my wife & I didn't always watch either). On this one, there also some other families, but not as many as the Rivers and Castles one.

 

My wife & I did the 2 week Grand Danube on Ama, that skewed older. I don't know if there were any 20-somethings.

 

We recently booked Basel to Amsterdam on Ama for Spring of 25 with my daughter and her BF, and she has no concerns about them being bored or anything.

 

Of the ones we've done, I would highly recommend the Rivers and Castles one for someone's first time, followed by the upper Danube (Nuremburg to Budapest), and probably the lower Danube last (cities visited are more depressed and the most recently recovering from communism).

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

5 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

Of the ones we've done, I would highly recommend the Rivers and Castles one for someone's first time, followed by the upper Danube (Nuremburg to Budapest)

Had forgotten about that one. Great idea. That is the Moselle, Rhine and Main (with a bit of the Main Danube Canal). Big difference to the standard Danube cruise is that this is only in one country with just a bit of time in Luxembourg, where the port is very close to Germany. Unless you fly into Paris, which gives you another country but no sailing in that one.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Doh15]

Ama on the Rhine has a nice mix of options including  some hikes (2-6 miles) and some bike tours (10-20 miles). 

[JordanF]

We took our sons, then in their twenties, on a Rhine cruise with Avalon.  We all had a great time even though there was only one other person on the boat under 30 (she and her mother did hang out with us a bit, but not a lot).  We have been on the Danube as well (without the kids), and I think they would have liked it as well.  One thing we did was include the kids in choosing the excursions, which led us to a very interesting tour of the Maginot line.  We are big fans of Gate 1, which is a bit less expensive and also a bit more laid back, but I seriously doubt that you and your kids will have a bad time on any line.

 

Here is a review of the cruise we took with the kids:  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=536856

 

And some pictures from the same trip:

 

 

[notamermaid]

The Schängel fountain in Koblenz is a fun attraction for sure.

 

32 minutes ago, JordanF said:

One thing we did was include the kids in choosing the excursions, which led us to a very interesting tour of the Maginot line. 

That is an excursion which is a bit more unusual. Would be very interested in seeing the line, still have not been. It is a history lesson one cannot have on a Danube cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[ljandgb]

Yes, Tauck Bridges is geared more towards younger kids, but looking at the excursions they offer would give you an idea of what sort of "active" excursions they offer.  Someone could then compare that with the standard Tauck trips, or any other line's offerings for that matter. 

 

Something else my kids have enjoyed with our travels to Europe (though it hasn't been a river cruise with them) is the history.  After AP World History, they knew quite a bit that my husband and I did not.  I got a whole lecture from my 15 yo on the Hanseatic League while on our Baltic cruise. LOL

 

 

Edited January 3 by ljandgb

[14ersco]

We have not yet taken our 20-something on an Ama Waterways cruise, but plan on in the future (need to plan a cruise when university is not in session).  On our previous Ama cruise there was onboard a fitness director. He led daily before breakfast stretching classes and post dinner walks (beyond the announced shore excursions).  If the ship was staying late in a town he would lead whoever showed up on a somewhat spontaneous walk around town.  One evening it was just him and I walking along the banks of the Danube.  If the ship was on the move after dinner he would lead the group on walking around the perimeter of the top deck.

[Second seating]

Uniworld offers a number of Active tours (hiking and biking).

[Canal archive]

Our first cruise that left from Amsterdam our cruise director - a very attractive young lady offered to take a group on a tour of the red light district. Evidently a very successful walking tour!

[Host Jazzbeau]

On our recent cruises on both AMA and Scenic they had earlier morning fitness classes on the sun deck – and regular reminders that the fitness instructor was up there all alone.  [Sorry, couldn't help – I never exercise voluntarily...]

[Got2Cruise]

There really isn’t much to do once you’re back on the ship besides sit in the lounge and drink. The ship is just a place to rest until the next day. Dinners are usually 2 hour affairs and then, back to the lounge for more drinking. Lol

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

There really isn’t much to do once you’re back on the ship besides sit in the lounge and drink. The ship is just a place to rest until the next day. Dinners are usually 2 hour affairs and then, back to the lounge for more drinking. Lol

Not on Scenic.  As documented in my recent review of their Unforgettable Douro cruise, we had different local entertainers most nights followed by the Entertainment Manager's DJ set.

[M.Travels]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted helpful information, especially about the walking excursions on AMA … we did a Viking this year and are glad we went but would never do another Viking River. It was simultaneously exhausting and too sedentary, even for my mom. We would like something with more walking and more choices next time and are thinking Emerald or AMA.

[Canal archive]

I must admit to not realising there could be a right and wrong way of using Nordic Walking Poles until I watched our Scenic wellness guide take a very full class a few years ago, I then realised that as there were already walking poles in each cabin it wasn’t such a bad idea.

[Got2Cruise]

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Not on Scenic.  As documented in my recent review of their Unforgettable Douro cruise, we had different local entertainers most nights followed by the Entertainment Manager's DJ 

Not sure if mid-twenty year olds would appreciate the entertainment. And as far as DJ . . . lol did he play hip hop? Because that’s what kids like to dance to. 🤣

[reeves35]

As has been said, the entertainment on river cruises is unlikely to appeal to 20+ year olds.  I imagine they'd even think the disco pretty daggy.  But there are lots of day activities that would appeal.  On Travelmarvel, we had bikes as well as younger entertainers who were quite active and did good fitness activities as well as tougher walks in some ports.

 

I'd look for an itinerary that spends nights in ports or at least has late departures.  This would mean the younger ones can experience the nightlife of the towns and cities they are visiting rather than having to spend every evening onboard.  Of course. some ports don't have much nightlife or the dock is not towards the centre of town but ports such as Amsterdam, Cologne, Bamberg, Passau and Budapest all offer a good night experience.   The biggest worry would be making sure they are back onboard before the ship heads off!!  Vienna has great nightlife too but the ship mooring is not that close to the vibrant city centre though taxis are plentiful.

[philw1776]

Before Viking went on a jihad against families with children we did a 3 generations Viking river cruise Paris to Normandy.  My 14 & 16 year old granddaughters loved it as did families with similar aged offspring on our cruise and the one before us. "Kids" are now 18 & 21 and in college.

[Lemonlee]

So glad to hear it!  We are doing Paris to Normandy this September with our 21 and 25-year-olds. This is our first Vikiking cruise and I was a bit worried, but this is reassuring.  

Edited January 13 by Lemonlee
adding information

[ural guy]

My first river tour was with two oldest twenty ish daughters, last was with youngest daughter and her twenty ish boyfriend.  They loved it...but they enjoy reading books and board games, so don't need lots going on.  The oldest has tons of energy and missed her runs, as leaving AMS to Budapest seemed like we had some long sailing days early in trip.

 

Try and give them time to wander around alone, if they're like mine you'll get some amazing spaghetti ice cream pictures.

 

Enjoy.

[sjde]

I've been on 7 river cruises (Grand Circle, AMA, Teeming and Viking) and I'd suggest Grand Circle (if twin beds are ok with you) or Gate 1. We have seen people younger than 40 on only 3 cruises-a family with 2 teen girls, a grandma with her high school graduate grandson, and a family of 11 Filipinos, 3 generations, some from the US and some from the Philippines, where there were 2 college aged ones.