Included tours on River Cruises

[SelectSys]

On 5/13/2024 at 6:29 PM, CDNPolar said:

…

Some river ships stay in port overnight... 

In the last couple of days we have had overnight stays in Vienna and Budapest. Both are great cities worthy of an overnight stay.

 

In terms of the included tours, I think that are just okay.  We almost feel we can see more things on our own outside of a group rour. 

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, SelectSys said:

In the last couple of days we have had overnight stays in Vienna and Budapest. Both are great cities worthy of an overnight stay.

 

In terms of the included tours, I think that are just okay.  We almost feel we can see more things on our own outside of a group rour. 

 

We will often use an included tour - if walking through the city - to get bearings on the city and surroundings and then we inform the tour guide and break off on our own. (Always tell the tour guide if you are leaving the tour.)

[pontac]

29 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

We will often use an included tour - if walking through the city - to get bearings on the city and surroundings and then we inform the tour guide and break off on our own.

 

Same here, especially when they are heading into  a cathedral (ABC) and at the end when they announce 'free time' we'll head back to the boat (when in walking distance).

[Nippy Sweetie]

Us too. We'll often take the included tour but branch off on our own. Sometimes it's just too boring shuffling along at the pace of the slowest or we're simply not that interested in the next big church or dull monument. 

We like to wander about, have a coffee and watch the world go by. We're on holiday and just want to relax.

Edited May 19 by Nippy Sweetie

[CPT Trips]

Don’t want to sound like a “ditto head,” but we too often breakaway mid tour. Lunch on board the ship isn’t that important for us. Yes, we inform the guide and verify “all aboard” time. At most stops we have a list of things to do for free time. 

[Canal archive]

I like taking photographs so the slow/gentle walking group suites me perfectly. After we got the new Scenic information system (introduced just before covid hit) working on our admittedly rather ancient phones  we discovered it included a self guiding feature so no need to stay with a tour guide especially after the may be interesting bits. As I’ve said before please let your tour guide know if you’re setting out into the wide blue yonder. I’ve only once heard a Captain request a passenger to report to him and as he was a rather large somewhat intimidating Dutch guy so I was really glad it wasn’t me. (Lovely guy but huge)

[Nippy Sweetie]

Of course. We always tell the guide when we're peeling off from the tour.

[CDNPolar]

19 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

Don’t want to sound like a “ditto head,” but we too often breakaway mid tour. Lunch on board the ship isn’t that important for us. Yes, we inform the guide and verify “all aboard” time. At most stops we have a list of things to do for free time. 

 

When we first started cruising, we hurried back to the ship - Ocean or River - for lunch because we paid for it in our cruise fare.  Sometimes we were close enough to the town on a river cruise that we could wander back after lunch and we were content.

 

Now, we like to find an authentic restaurant - off the tourist trail - to experience the country or city cuisine and we have lunch, wander some more, and then return to the ship.

 

For those that know IKEA and the meatballs, gravy, and lingonberry sauce that you get in the store restaurant, well... now I cannot eat them anymore...  Why?  We found a restaurant in Stockholm that served the meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes and sauce... and my goodness, this was like elevating the IKEA meatball experience to a 5 star or even a Michelin level.

 

Meatballs at IKEA are more or less dead to me know.

 

The included tours to us give us an orientation to the city.  We often find that optional tours are bus rides to an ancient cathedral or castle and don't interest us.  I hate to say it because there are beautiful churches and castles, but sometimes the local life to us in the city or town is more interesting. 

 

Once we have the orientation we need, then we break off, find lunch, and the story continues. 

[SelectSys]

23 hours ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

… We'll often take the included tour but branch off on our own. Sometimes it's just too boring shuffling along at the pace of the slowest or we're simply not that interested in the next big church or dull monument…

I can totally relate to this sentiment.  On tours that include a bus ride, the guide often times won’t announce the pickup place until after the formal tour and “free time” begins.

 

I have also noticed that the tours are sometimes a bit too short.  My speculation is that this happens because the tours are designed to fit within scheduled mealtimes.

[CDNPolar]

56 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

 

 

I have also noticed that the tours are sometimes a bit too short.  My speculation is that this happens because the tours are designed to fit within scheduled mealtimes.

 

Absolutely this is a planning consideration or we would be expecting a meal or at least a snack as part of the excursion.

 

Notice on River cruises how the dining hours sometimes alter a bit especially over lunch because of excursion return times.

[SelectSys]

31 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

…

Notice on River cruises how the dining hours sometimes alter a bit especially over lunch because of excursion return times.

Yes, today’s lunch time was delayed by 30 minutes or so to accommodate buses.  We could see the hotel manager on the gangway waiting to send word to the dining room as we arrived.

 

You are correct that there is more of an expectation regarding food times on the river cruise than an ocean vessels.  I guess this is because dining times are a bit more limited even though our ship has an afternoon tea every day for those that get hungry between lunch and dinner.

[Daisi]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

When we first started cruising, we hurried back to the ship - Ocean or River - for lunch because we paid for it in our cruise fare.  Sometimes we were close enough to the town on a river cruise that we could wander back after lunch and we were content.

 

Now, we like to find an authentic restaurant - off the tourist trail - to experience the country or city cuisine and we have lunch, wander some more, and then return to the ship.

 

Once we have the orientation we need, then we break off, find lunch, and the story continues. 

 

One of the benefits of the new apps for cruising - you get menus so know what will be served for lunch so you can plan if there is something you wish to try onboard or eat local. Growing up with a lot of European food, we do either, eat local or onboard....just make sure we get back in time for our next excursion.

 

 

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

I can totally relate to this sentiment.  On tours that include a bus ride, the guide often times won’t announce the pickup place until after the formal tour and “free time” begins.

 

 

We've just told guides that we know the area so would like to wander on our own and ask where to meet. Pop the location into my phone on Google Maps, and off we go. We've done this a couple of times.

[SelectSys]

My last comment on the included tours is the relentless pace of them on river cruises.  It’s really an “eye opener” for us and represents a significant difference to me between ocean and river cruising.  While the boat is definitely very important, it clearly isn’t the destination as it tends to be these days on some of the mega ships cruising on the oceans and seas.

[Daisi]

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

My last comment on the included tours is the relentless pace of them on river cruises.  It’s really an “eye opener” for us and represents a significant difference to me between ocean and river cruising.  While the boat is definitely very important, it clearly isn’t the destination as it tends to be these days on some of the mega ships cruising on the oceans and seas.

 

 

I've never Ocean cruised - to big of boat, to many people for my comfort level, but I think that is one of the main differences about river & ocean cruising. Ocean cruises are all about the boat, river cruises are all about the ports. They do tend to wear you out, which is probably why the evening entertainment is low key. Mind you, we do tend to do morning and afternoon tours as we want to see everything.

[RobInMN]

4 hours ago, Daisi said:

 

 

I've never Ocean cruised - to big of boat, to many people for my comfort level, but I think that is one of the main differences about river & ocean cruising. Ocean cruises are all about the boat, river cruises are all about the ports. They do tend to wear you out, which is probably why the evening entertainment is low key. Mind you, we do tend to do morning and afternoon tours as we want to see everything.

To quote Captain Kate: "It's not a boat". Whether we are talking about river or ocean, these are ships.

I beg to differ on a couple points:

• Even the largest ocean cruise ships can have a larger per person square footage than a river cruise ship. Yes, there's a lot more people, but there's a lot more places those people can be spread out to. If you don't want crowds, you can almost always avoid them (unless you want to watch something like a parade).
• While ocean cruise ships can be "all about the ship", they don't have to be. If you are cruising the same Caribbean islands over & over, yes, it's probably about the ship. But we like ocean cruising for much of the same reason we like river cruising. Unpack once, and your hotel comes with you. Ocean and Expedition ships can get you many places a river cruise is not. In addition to many Caribbean island (very few repeats), we've done the Western Mediterranean. Norwegian Fjords and Norway up to Honningsvag, Iceland & Ireland, and most recently, the Panama Canal. We've even gone to a couple different Mayan ruins (including Chichen Itza) in Central America from a cruise ship. This fall we will be doing Greece & Turkey (which was originally booked as "Holy Land" with 2 stops in Israel). None of the things we've done and seen could be seen as part of a river cruise.

 

Oh, and then there's the whole category of World cruises.

Edited May 24 by RobInMN

[Host Jazzbeau]

10 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

To quote Captain Kate: "It's not a boat". Whether we are talking about river or ocean, these are ships.

To quote my son:  "Whatever"  Please don't correct spelling, grammar or word choice (CC guidelines)

[RobInMN]

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

To quote my son:  "Whatever"  Please don't correct spelling, grammar or word choice (CC guidelines)

You should pop over to the RC board when "free" vs. "Included" is debated 🤣

[Host Jazzbeau]

Just now, RobInMN said:

You should pop over to the RC board when "free" vs. "Included" is debated 🤣

I wish there was a 'block' function for those posts.

 

"Whatever floats your boat" – nobody ever said 'ship' there!!!

[CPT Trips]

51 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

This fall we will be doing Greece & Turkey (which was originally booked as "Holy Land" with 2 stops in Israel). None of the things we've done and seen could be seen as part of a river cruise.

We are also doing a similar trip this fall and will also have a land portion. The cruise itself will be on a 50 pax ship, not on a large/mega cruise ship. I anticipate a somewhat “relentless pace” as we won’t be burdened with large tenders and buses. It looks like we will dock in some places where the “big boats” (😉) need to tender.

I’m not sure we would enjoy the experience of those “big boats.” When we cruise we enjoy the entertainment throughout the ship, I’m not sure we could enjoy or endure both a full day touring and the nightlife. 

[Roz]

I took a 31-day South American cruise on HAL, and the cruise was definitely about the ports. I don't think you can generalize that ocean cruises are all about the ship.

[SelectSys]

11 hours ago, Daisi said:

 

 

I've never Ocean cruised - to big of boat, to many people for my comfort level, but I think that is one of the main differences about river & ocean cruising. Ocean cruises are all about the boat, river cruises are all about the ports. They do tend to wear you out, which is probably why the evening entertainment is low key. Mind you, we do tend to do morning and afternoon tours as we want to see everything.

 

I think you might be happy on a smaller ship as it could provide a somewhat similar feel and more intimate experience.  A couple people on our current river cruise suggest that the “ship within a ship” experience on lines like MSC and NCL also provide a similar feel.  

 

I also think that entertainment is a bit “lower key” on river boats due to the economic realities associated with the much lower passenger counts and fewer public spaces.  On our current cruise, the dinner ends at around 9 and is followed by a single event that typically ends around 11.  

Edited May 25 by SelectSys

[SelectSys]

6 hours ago, Roz said:

I took a 31-day South American cruise on HAL, and the cruise was definitely about the ports. I don't think you can generalize that ocean cruises are all about the ship.

Of course ocean cruises can also be port intensive. However, the distances between ports tend to be much farther on ocean cruises.  With that in mind, I would bet you had at least 10-15 “sea days” on that 31 day HAL cruise to simply relax and enjoy the ship’s onboard experience.  A river cruise can sometimes make multiple stops in a single day.  Both types of cruises - ocean and river - are great and there is something available for everyone’s preferences.

 

 

[CDNPolar]

17 hours ago, Daisi said:

 

 

I've never Ocean cruised - to big of boat, to many people for my comfort level, 

 

 I get you on this, BUT, I would encourage you to look at the smaller ocean ships like Viking, Oceana, and others.

 

We cruise almost exclusively on Viking River and Ocean.  I am torn over which I prefer, but I will tell you this.  I feel significantly more like a sardine on a Viking River ship than I do on the Viking Ocean ship.  

 

Viking Ocean ships hold 930 passengers and they feel like they were constructed for 1200 passengers.  I never feel crowded anywhere on a Viking Ocean Ship.  I do feel crowded every dinner and ever evening on a River ship.  I almost dislike going to the lounge after dinner on a River ship because I am so forced into a small space with so many others.

[Daisi]

Thanks Jazz.

 

We are not your "typical" traveler if there is such a thing. We don't mind living out of a suitcase, so no need to unpack. A Sunday drive for us can last 8 - 10 hrs, and we consider it an enjoyable day. We will probably enjoy coach touring once we have completed the river cruises we are interested in, or train travel, stopping at different towns every day or so. When we are on the river, we are social during meals, but generally when touring are not overly so. We both have family that do ocean sailing, and they enjoy it, but it's not for us for more than the size of the ship and number of passengers. That is one thing we love about river cruising - out for tour, lunch, and back out for another tour. Yes, the scenic areas are nice to see when cruising, but we enjoy the port tours better I think.

 

I appreciate all your thoughts to getting us out onto an ocean ship, however, when you can almost have a panic attack standing in the line for Passport Control because of the # of people, I'm sure waiting for excursions/boarding could really set me off. I am learning to handle some crowds, but even having 20 people around trying to board a bus can bother me.

[Canal archive]

When all cruisers on board are given the number of the coach one needs to board for their requested tour and the number is very visible on that coach why do some insist on racing up and down regardless of everyone else and working themselves into what seems to be a completely needless panic just in case they might miss the bus. Stop, deep breath and relax please, I do wish you could say that and not be considered rude in some cases. But I suppose it takes all sorts.