First European River Cruise….Suggestions?

[martyap]

We travel to Europe often, recently more by land. We have taken a number of Mediterranean cruises and would like to try something different. What would you suggest for a first European river cruise? Prefer something more than 7 days, possibly 10-14. What line would you suggest for a first time river cruise? More middle of the line rather than economy or high end. Prefer traveling late April to mid May or late September to mid October.
 

We are currently finishing a three week land/RCCL cruise that started in Lake Como>Milan>Florence>Rome and ending on a 7 day Oasis of the Seas (we had a credit we had to use.) The land portion was great……the cruise not so much. Food was terrible, services diminished everywhere, way too many children (in May!) and more strollers than I could count.

 

i love doing research…..just please point me in the right direction.

TY…..Marty

[Nippy Sweetie]

Viking Grand France is very good. You see a lot of France in a relatively short trip (14 days). We've done it twice because we just liked it. No excuse!!

[JordanF]

I think the two best places to start are the Rhine (Amsterdam to/from Basel) or the Danube (Budapest to/from Regensburg or someplace near there as lines vary a bit).  But... those are basically 7 day cruises, and since you are up for a longer one, why not Amsterdam to/from Budapest--more likely around two weeks?

 

As to cruise lines, I am huge Gate 1 fan, but it sounds like you may like a slight step up, so maybe Viking or Avalon?  I have been on Avalon and it is very nice.  My only relationship to Viking is the practically daily mailings I receive from them, but people like them.  The "longboats" Viking operates carry a few more passengers than shorter boats--I'm not sure if that is a feature or a bug, but it's worth considering either way.

 

You probably won't get too many kids.  Many lines don't take young ones.  We took ours on the Rhine with us--they and one other "kid" were the youngest on the boat, and they were in their mid-20s!  On our recent Danube cruise there were not even any of those.  And since you are aiming to go during the school year...

 

Like you, I love me some ocean cruise!  And I also love the river cruises.  In general, river cruises cost more per day, and the service and food are a step up from the mass market lines like RCCL.  If you go, have a great time!

[JordanF]

2 minutes ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

Viking Grand France is very good. You see a lot of France in a relatively short trip (14 days). We've done it twice because we just liked it. No excuse!!

And...you can never go wrong with France.

[CPT Trips]

Grand Circle Travel river cruises are longer, 10-14 days. Some folks complain about the “Pullman” style fixed beds. Neither my wife nor I have any problem sleeping on them. 
Their fares tend to be lower in the summer than during shoulder seasons🤷🏻‍♂️

IME, the crew is uniformly great and provide excellent service. 
They regularly have special offers and last minute specials on their website. 

[JJK2008]

3 hours ago, martyap said:

We travel to Europe often, recently more by land. We have taken a number of Mediterranean cruises and would like to try something different. What would you suggest for a first European river cruise? Prefer something more than 7 days, possibly 10-14. What line would you suggest for a first time river cruise? More middle of the line rather than economy or high end. Prefer traveling late April to mid May or late September to mid October.
 

We are currently finishing a three week land/RCCL cruise that started in Lake Como>Milan>Florence>Rome and ending on a 7 day Oasis of the Seas (we had a credit we had to use.) The land portion was great……the cruise not so much. Food was terrible, services diminished everywhere, way too many children (in May!) and more strollers than I could count.

 

i love doing research…..just please point me in the right direction.

TY…..Marty

Hey Marty, we've only done one river cruise, but it was Awesome!!!! We did lots of research for what we were interested in and went from there. I'll share with you what we did and learned and hopefully some of it will be of value to you. The rivers in Europe struggle with water levels every year. Some years high water levels, some years low water levels. This causes issues because of the numerous bridges that must be gone under. Viking Cruise Lines has the most ships by far. So what Viking is able to do (that other lines can't do because they don't have the fleet) is if there is a water level issue Viking will send two ship one on each side of the bridge. Passengers will disembark for their daily shore excursion, Viking will transfer all luggage, passengers return to the "new" ship on the other side of the bridge and continue their cruise.....seamlessly. The Viking ships are virtually identical except for the decor. We learned of this from our research. As a result, we chose Viking. We did NOT have any water issues at the time of year we went, so switching ships for us did not happen. But it was nice to know we had it covered if we had to. We did the Grand European Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest 14 night. It was spectacular. In fact, we're looking to do it again. We chose early June for the cruise. Water levels were fine and we lots of daylight hours. There are 180 guests as I remember. Everyone eats at the same time and as you choose you can sit with different people each meal or not, very flexible. Beer & wine is served complimentary with lunch & dinner. Drinks outside of those time are paid for. In the evening there was a guitar player and singer in the lounge. It was a very different atmosphere than an ocean cruise. With such a small number of passengers you get know most everyone within a couple of days. There are shore excursion in each port each day included as part of the cruise. I'd suggest Viking Cruises. They checked all the boxes for us. Best of luck. Enjoy your cruise whatever you decide.   

[Kristelle]

Amsterdam t o Budapest or reverse.

 

this is certainly the most popular river cruise for Australians and is 14 days long.( I know you are not Australian but  I see yo u wanted a cruise of about that length of time)

 

Several companies offer this.

 

We did this with Scenic. 160 passengers,no children. Most people were i n the over 50 age bracket.

 

Similar experience to JJK2008's post above ,except drinks at all times are included

 

We went in September, no issues with water levels - I believe Scenic does similar though with ship swapping if neccesary.

 

 

[notamermaid]

The Rhine is very popular for first time cruisers to try. If you would prefer to spend longer on the river than seven days you could combine it with the Moselle. That takes it to ten days or more. I cannot remember who does it of the North American lines, this is a European one: https://www.rivieratravel.co.uk/river-cruises/long-cruises

 

The issue I have with Viking is the early full payment policy, the worst terms of all companies I know (for North Americans).

 

River water level conditions are something that can indeed surprise the unsuspecting new river cruiser. Ship swaps are a fairly smooth solution to the problem.

 

notamermaid

 

[RobInMN]

We've done 4(5) so far:

• Danube - Budapest to Bucharest on Vantage in 2005. My sister, our spouses and my parents. Vantage is no longer, but it was basically just like Grand Circle. We were the youngest on board by far. I think my parents were actually on the younger end
• "Rivers and Castles" - Danube-Main Danube Canal-Main-Rhine-Moselle - Nuremburg to Luxemburg on AmaWaterways in 2019. Same as before, but with the next generation (10, 13, & 19). We were a family of 9, and there were 2 larger family groups and a few kids younger than my niece (10). This is probably my favorite port stops so far, as I am all about "Cathedrals, Castles, Forts, and ruins" 🙂 This also turned us on to Ama. I would highly recommend this one (even if a different company) to anyone as a first cruise. The reason we chose this is that their minimum age was like 7 or so, and when you look at river cruises on Disney Vacations, they fully charter AmaWaterways cruises. Figured if they held up to Disney standards, it should be good enough for our 3 generation family, and they held up. Only complaint would be that we sailed end of June to beginning of July, and it was unusually hot. The ship was not designed to handle that kind of heat, curtains on the south side of the ship had to be kept closed to help.
• "Christmas Markets Along the Danube" - Danube - Nuremburg to Vienna - Grand Circle in Dec 2022. Same group as before minus our daughter who had just started her first post-college career job. My wife and I hate the cabins, the pullman beds are a no go for us. Crew was nice. Ship was ok. Food meh. My parents love GC. Passenger age skewed higher, but there were a few families and younger kids. I believe the crew said this was the most kids they've ever had on that ship. December, so it was cold and snowed a few times. But we were prepared.
• "Grand Danube" - Danube from Vilshofen to Bucharest (2 weeks plus extensions) on AmaWaterways Spring of 2023. Just my wife & I. We actually booked this prior to my dad springing the whole Christmas Market thing on us. This can be booked as a B2B as "Romantic Danube" (or "Magna on the Danube") with "Gems of Southeast Europe". If you are considering Ama and Danube, I highly recommend taking a close look at AmaMagna. The ship is amazing! However, I almost don't recommend it as a first river cruise, only because nothing else will live up to it if you do more 🙂 . There were no kids. The first week (Vilshofen to Budapest) ended up being a wine cruise and the ages skewed a bit younger (40-60) than the second week (Budapest to Bucharest). Food was probably a bit "too fancy" for our pedestrian tastes, but everything we ate was very good, and we didn't go hungry. For a first time cruise, I would not necessarily recommend the Budapest to Bucharest portion. Do it someday, but it's not quite what you would picture for "River Cruise", it's a lot older former communist eastern block countries. Do the Nuremburg to Budapest first (or with) as it is more like what you are probably picturing. Weather wise, we went last week of March to middle of April. A couple cold days, mostly cool days. maybe 2 really nice days. I have a review on here, as does @CastleCritic, just search this forum for "AmaMagna".

 

Next up for us for river cruises is the "Enchanting Rhine" from Basel to Amsterdam in May 2025 on Ama. We will be taking our daughter and her fiancé (both will be 25). Hopefully the weather will be nicer than the Danube was in March-April.

 

Ama ships have fewer passengers and bigger cabins than something like GC. More like what you would be used to coming from an ocean cruise ship. Other comparisons between these 2:

• Ama has a single Cruise Manager that coordinates the local expert tour guides. GC divides the whole ship between 4 CMs and they lead all tours that are not visiting a location that has their own.
• Ama has multiple excursion options, some ports have biking options. Walking tours are usually broken up into easy, normal, and active groups. GC has 1 "option" (do it, or don't).
• Ama uses multiple local guides even if doing the same excursions to keep groups small. GC's groups are 1/4 of the ship. 

 

We are big on ocean cruises also. D+ on Royal Caribbean. We love the Oasis class ships and really liked the Western Mediterranean (Symphony in 2018) that you must be on. We did a week in Rome prior (we did the Rome to Rome interporting).

 

 

[martyap]

Wow…..thank you all for the amazing info……lots to start researching

[SelectSys]

We are currently on our first ever river cruise and are traveling between Amsterdam and Bucharest.  We picked this cruise as it seemed to have the greatest variety of stops across different areas of an countries within Europe.  
 

We are now past Budapest and into our final week.  One thing that we have really enjoyed- in addition to all the sites - is the much more intimate nature of the river boats.  We now pretty much know lots of the crew and passengers in a way that’s not possible on ocean ships, or at least on lines like RCCL.

 

As a side note regarding lines - I think the boats with real separate balconies tend to waste cabin space over those that simply have sliding windows or doors to let air inside the cabin.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[pontac]

18 hours ago, martyap said:

way too many children (in May!) and more strollers than I could count.

 

Some river cruises welcome children, others don't, so check the rules of any cruise line you are considering. Viking has a minimum passenger age of 18.

 

What I like is flying to a country, being taken directly to the boat, unpacking once and at the end, packing and being taken directly to the airport for the journey home. I don't want a land element, and it sounds you are the same.

18 hours ago, JordanF said:

The "longboats" Viking operates carry a few more passengers than shorter boat

 

Viking call them Long Ships - a Viking Long Ship is their logo. The Vikings of old roamed the oceans in their long ships bringing rape & pillage (or if you're Scandinavian - culture). Boats from the major cruise lines have different names but tend to have the same sized boats on a river, made as large as will fit in a lock and go under bridges.

Edited May 21 by pontac

[capriccio]

13 hours ago, Kristelle said:

Amsterdam t o Budapest or reverse.

 

I agree.  We won't fly to Europe for anything less than 14 when on vacation.  That's a 14 day cruise plus adding a night or two at each end especially if you've never been to either city.  The ports range from large cities (Vienna, Frankfurt, Cologne) to beautiful small villages and the scenery is magnificent almost the entire way (with Amsterdam to Cologne being the weak spot in my opinion). 

[RobInMN]

7 hours ago, SelectSys said:

We are currently on our first ever river cruise and are traveling between Amsterdam and Bucharest.

I'm guessing a 4(?) week cruise, nice! I think it would be very cool to do that in one continuous trip. After we do the cruise next spring, we'll have covered basically that same itinerary, but it will have taken us 4/5 different cruises (had some overlap 🙂). 

• Rhine - Amsterdam to Moselle - Enchanting Rhine (Ama)
• Rhine - Moselle to River Main - Enchanting Rhine (Ama) & Rivers & Castles (Ama)
• River Main - Rhine to Main Danube Canal - Rivers and Castles (Ama)
• Main Danube Canal (to Nuremburg) - Rivers and Castles (Ama)
• Danube - Nuremburg to Vilshofen - Christmas Markets (GC)
• Danube - Vilshofen to Vienna - Christmas Markets (GC) and Grand Danube (Romantic Danube/Magna on the Danube) (Ama)
• Danube - Vienna to Budapest - Grand Danube (Romantic Danube/Magna on the Danube) (Ama)
• Danube - Budapest to Bucharest - Grand Danube (Gems of Southeast Europe) (Ama) and the Vantage one

 

 

Edited May 21 by RobInMN

[Daisi]

@martyap, I would suggest talking to a TA to discuss what you are looking for. There are several types of cruising, some more active than others (although you can still go on an "active" one and do the regular walking tours), some include all most everything, others are partially inclusive.

 

We sail with Avalon, it "fits" us. We like the multiple choices of included excursions - you can hike, bike, kayak etc., or do a general historical walk, or some discovery tours where you can go on "taste" tours, cooking or art (painting) tours. We like the French balconies, where our cabin (when we are in it) can turn into a balcony with the sliding windows that open almost the whole width of the cabin. We like the smaller passenger #, you can meet most of your fellow passengers, and the tour groups tend to max out about 15 or so, so your guides can get you through places quicker (think touring Schönbrunn Palace with a group of 15 vs 30, every gets a good chance to view the rooms, and you aren't waiting forever for people to catch up). We like the fresh local foods served - on our first cruise the White Asparagus had just came out and our Chef prepared a whole meal (with other options) around it. There is so much more we love about Avalon, but that's us, not necessarily what you would be looking for.

 

Everyone has their favourite line, and will push for that. Since you are looking at your first, a TA who has been on different lines will be able to assist you in finding one that "fits" you.

[JordanF]

2 hours ago, pontac said:

Viking call them Long Ships - a Viking Long Ship is their logo. The Vikings of old roamed the oceans in their long ships bringing rape & pillage (or if you're Scandinavian - culture). Boats from the major cruise lines have different names but tend to have the same sized boats on a river, made as large as will fit in a lock and go under bridges.

I beg to differ just a bit.  The Long Ships are the same height and width as other ships (for bridges), but are a bit longer (or at least have more cabins).  I checked some random ships, and the Viking boats have 190 passengers (Viking Aegir).  I found an Avalon boat with 166 (Avalon Envision) and a Gate 1 boat with 174 (Monarch Baroness).  This was a quick check--not meant to be thorough or scientific.  So, as I mentioned above, a "few" more passengers on Viking.  Some people would prefer fewer passengers for a more intimate experience.  Some might like more as there are more people to meet and also, perhaps, more tour and other options.  

[Daisi]

8 minutes ago, JordanF said:

I beg to differ just a bit.  The Long Ships are the same height and width as other ships (for bridges), but are a bit longer (or at least have more cabins).  I checked some random ships, and the Viking boats have 190 passengers (Viking Aegir).  I found an Avalon boat with 166 (Avalon Envision) and a Gate 1 boat with 174 (Monarch Baroness).  This was a quick check--not meant to be thorough or scientific.  So, as I mentioned above, a "few" more passengers on Viking.  Some people would prefer fewer passengers for a more intimate experience.  Some might like more as there are more people to meet and also, perhaps, more tour and other options.  

 

 

Actually, the Envision and the Aegir are both 443 feet long (135 meters), it's just that the cabins in the Envision are larger than those in the Aegir to enable a larger # of passengers. We are more used to sailing on the Avalon ships that are 361 feet (110 meters), and when we sailed on the Envision in September found it 'huge"! It took us a while to get used to the larger top deck, but that was the only difference.

 

The AMA Magma is really the only ship that is really larger as it's a double wide. All ships have to be the same length or shorter to fit the locks. I believe the max is 135 meters.

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

9 minutes ago, JordanF said:

I beg to differ just a bit.  The Long Ships are the same height and width as other ships (for bridges), but are a bit longer (or at least have more cabins).  I checked some random ships, and the Viking boats have 190 passengers (Viking Aegir).  I found an Avalon boat with 166 (Avalon Envision) and a Gate 1 boat with 174 (Monarch Baroness).  This was a quick check--not meant to be thorough or scientific.  So, as I mentioned above, a "few" more passengers on Viking.  Some people would prefer fewer passengers for a more intimate experience.  Some might like more as there are more people to meet and also, perhaps, more tour and other options.  

Number of passengers was definitely a factor for us when choosing our first river cruise.  We like Viking Ocean but decided the 30 additional people Viking squeezes into the same size river ship was definitely in the "Minus" column.  We also like more than 1 dining option available, as well as room service for all meals, which again put Viking in the "Minus" column.  And we like to drink other things then just free wine/beer at lunch/dinner, so All-In alcohol was also a factor, as well as multiple included shore excursions of all activity levels.  So, even though we love Viking Ocean, we chose Scenic for our first river cruise.   

MARTYAP, you'll find everyone has an opinion, so think about what's important to you and then find a cruise line that checks those boxes!

[RobInMN]

To add the companies I'm familiar with:

GC - River Adagio/Aria - 418' x 38' - 162 Passengers

AmaWaterways:

• Older ships: 360' x 38' - 140 Passengers (4 ships)
• Newer ships: 443' x 38' -152-162 Passengers (15 ships)
• AmaMagna: 443' x 72' - 196 Passengers

 

[pontac]

4 minutes ago, JordanF said:

I beg to differ just a bit.

 

Oh do!! I like a good discussion. And I do sometime get things wrong.😁

 

5 minutes ago, JordanF said:

The Long Ships are the same height and width as other ships (for bridges), but are a bit longer (or at least have more cabins)

 

According to Viking's website the Longships are 443 feet long, and have a max of 190 passengers, i.e. 95 couples. Scenic 'Space Ships' in Central Europe and Southern France are 135 metres long and have a max of 163/149 passengers. 135m = 443 ft.

 

So the boats are the same length but Scenic have fewer passenger, But standard cabins are the same size, the space freed up by not having passenger cabins is taken with a hair salon, gym, and Salt Therapy Room (?).

 

It gets complicated because both operate shorter boats on the Seine and Douro.

 

I haven't looked at dimensions of other cruise lines boats, but on a non-scientific look while rafting the major players are all the same size.

 

I have cruised with both Viking and Scenic and I am cruising twice more this year with Scenic, but my impression after one cruise with Scenic was that Viking's boats give more impression of room.

 

 

[Daisi]

2 hours ago, pontac said:

 

O

 

I have cruised with both Viking and Scenic and I am cruising twice more this year with Scenic, but my impression after one cruise with Scenic was that Viking's boats give more impression of room.

 

 

 

 

Interesting, as they actually have more passengers. It must be the light, airy Scandinavian design that helps. A lot of people seem to not like it, but I guess it works!

[pontac]

17 minutes ago, Daisi said:

. A lot of people seem to not like it, but I guess it works!

 

We all have different tastes, luckily there are (now) many different cruise lines that can satisfy those tastes.

[cruisestitch]

I would avoid viking river cruise. On my one and only Viking cruise. I found the food to be inedible much of the time and service was often sub par.

 

one and done.

 

on the other hand, I have done eight AMAWATERWAYS river Cruises all have been outstanding

[Daisi]

@pontac I think there is only one line who's decor stops me from travelling with. I wouldn't decorate my home with Scandinavian furniture, but it wouldn't bother me for a cruise. The only thing that holds me back from Viking is I'm stuck with the payment policy that the Americans get.  

Edited May 21 by Daisi

[pontac]

1 minute ago, cruisestitch said:

would avoid viking river cruise. On my one and only Viking cruise

 

It seems you did! 😁

 

The food on Viking suits me, though recently there has been too many dishes with cheese in them but you're obviously happy with AMA so why change?