River Cruise first timer questions

[edgee]

Planning our first river cruise. Veteran Ocean cruisers in our mid 70s. Looking at European River cruises for Aug. 2025. Looking at upscale companies, generally including Tauck, AMA, and Uniworld. 3 questions: 1. Among Danube, Rhine and Seine, which river (s) generally have less chance of low/ high water issues? 2. What river cruise lines besides Tauck (including others not on our list) have alternative more casual evening dining options if you are tired and do not want to do multi course main dining room. 3. If we want to avoid long bus rides as part of our shore excursions, which itineraries between Danube, Seine and Rhine have attractions closer to the river, so less need for long bus rides? Thanks for any advice!   Ed

[notamermaid]

Welcome to the world of river cruising. I am sure you will be happy with any of the three companies you mention. One note on Uniworld. They have as regards ship decor a wider range of options than the other two I would say. There is the River Queen, a classic ship, and then the other ones, but also the new ones in the fleet which are the ex-Crystal ships, those are the SS Victoria (from this year) and the SS Elizabeth (from next year).

 

To your question 1. - the Seine

 

To your question 3. - avoid Nuremberg if you do not want an industrial harbour, it is on the Main Danube Canal.

 

Over to others.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[CPT Trips]

I’m not sure about these lines, but when we cruised the Seine with another company the only long ride we had was to the DDay beaches. 

[Canal archive]

If you choose to cruise the Seine choose a company that actually does the full length to the sea and moors in Honfluer. Yes the longest coach trip would be D,day landing sites or the Bayeux Tapestry one way or the WW1 sites the other way. So on a ten night cruise only 2 days. If you don’t want a relaxed dinner in the dinning room, you really don’t have to partake of the multi courses if you don’t want to, try Scenic and relax in you cabin and let you butler serve your dinner choice there. It’s your holiday your paying for it make a list of what you would like and try to find a match but most of all have fun and enjoy!

I meant direction along the coast one way or towards Belgium the other way.

Edited June 15 by Canal archive

[pontac]

15 hours ago, edgee said:

if you are tired and do not want to do multi course main dining room.

 

One doesn't have to have all the courses. You can select only what you want, e.g. just a  soup from the starters.

15 hours ago, edgee said:

If we want to avoid long bus rides as part of our shore excursions, which itineraries between Danube, Seine and Rhine have attractions closer to the river, so less need for long bus rides? Thanks for any advice!

 

Going on excursions is not mandatory, you can decide at the last minute to duck out and stay on the boat or take a stroll. Rivers were the historic way of travel so many of the most historic sites are in a the town the boat docks in and a brief walk away.

 

There are so many cruise options, especially on the Rhine and Danube that if one were to state one or other it wouldn't help you. For instance Danube cruises can go the length of the Danube (plus some) - e.g. Amsterdam to Bucharest or concentrate on a shorter stretch e.g.  Budapest to Regensburg.

 

Then, to multiply the complications, there are many places to visit on excursions so that some cruise line travel along the same route on different cruises stopping at different places and having different excursions.

 

So, you need to select a cruise and see what excursions are available, then select what interests you. Then it's easy to use Google Maps or similar to see how far the attraction is from the mooring point.

 

I too dislike long coach rides. What also needs to be considered is how close the start and end points are to airports. Budapest and Amsterdam, for example are less than half an hour. But Passau's nearest airport is Munich, almost 2 hours by coach, and Bucharest airport is fairly close to the city, but to get to the city from the mooring take a considerable time because of the distance (170km) compounded by the poor state of roads and weight of traffic.

 

 

[edgee]

5 hours ago, Canal archive said:

If you choose to cruise the Seine choose a company that actually does the full length to the sea and moors in Honfluer. Yes the longest coach trip would be D,day landing sites or the Bayeux Tapestry one way or the WW1 sites the other way. So on a ten night cruise only 2 days. If you don’t want a relaxed dinner in the dinning room, you really don’t have to partake of the multi courses if you don’t want to, try Scenic and relax in you cabin and let you butler serve your dinner choice there. It’s your holiday your paying for it make a list of what you would like and try to find a match but most of all have fun and enjoy!

I meant direction along the coast one way or towards Belgium the other way.

Thank you. Sounds like the Seine will be a good possible choice for us.  Scenic's ship is small enough to go to Honfleur...not sure what others can. We toured the D day sites a few years ago from an ocean cruise.  

[Canal archive]

 

Entering Honfluer on our way to the inner large vessel harbour. The shorter length of Scenic Gem is more for the lock lengths than mooring in Honfluer which I’ve been led to believe a vessel needs more maritime specialities for. 

[pontac]

 

8 hours ago, Canal archive said:

relax in you cabin and let you butler serve your dinner choice there.

 

I might find out soon, but how is this done? The floor plans show only the 4 Royal Suites have chairs in the room. The other 58 cabins do not and don't appear to have space for them should the room attendant bring a table & chairs. And how do you get your wine/water glass topped up?

[Roz]

On 6/14/2024 at 1:54 PM, edgee said:

If we want to avoid long bus rides as part of our shore excursions, which itineraries between Danube, Seine and Rhine have attractions closer to the river, so less need for long bus rides? Thanks for any advice!

 

I've sailed Tauck and Uniworld.  In each port we had a choice of at least 2 shore excursions.  If you don't want long bus rides (there aren't many), the descriptions will allow you to determine which ones to avoid.

 

You mentioned being veteran ocean cruisers.  My advice is to forget what you know about ocean cruising and be open to the river cruise experience.  You're going to find there are few options for dining venues and times, and entertainment is limited.  

[Canal archive]

So sorry I’ve never photographed our Scenic Balconies with their chairs and small tables, don’t forget to check the cabin cupboards for your chair cushions. Basically if you think of something you would require ask your butler that’s what they are for I’ve found that nothing is to much trouble. 

[Kristelle]

On 6/16/2024 at 12:56 AM, pontac said:

 

 

I might find out soon, but how is this done? The floor plans show only the 4 Royal Suites have chairs in the room. The other 58 cabins do not and don't appear to have space for them should the room attendant bring a table & chairs. And how do you get your wine/water glass topped up?

 

 there is a chair i n the general balcony cabins. One night my husband had room service for dinner - the butler set it up o n the little table attached to the wall

I guess would be bit squashy for 2 people - I imagine you would bring a chair i n from the balcony and use the balcony table for other person (but  I went  to dining room as usual so  I didnt find that out)

 

I guess you would top up your own water glass  fro m the water container you have in your room - and just have the one glass of wine each that was brought with dinner   - or open the one i n the bottle in mini bar fridge if you want more.

[Kristelle]

[pontac]

Thanks @Kristelle for answering this question.

 

The image I had of in-room dining 

 

 

 

 

 The actuality

 

 

 

😁

[TN_travels]

On 6/14/2024 at 1:54 PM, edgee said:

Planning our first river cruise. Veteran Ocean cruisers in our mid 70s. Looking at European River cruises for Aug. 2025. Looking at upscale companies, generally including Tauck, AMA, and Uniworld. 3 questions: 1. Among Danube, Rhine and Seine, which river (s) generally have less chance of low/ high water issues? 2. What river cruise lines besides Tauck (including others not on our list) have alternative more casual evening dining options if you are tired and do not want to do multi course main dining room. 3. If we want to avoid long bus rides as part of our shore excursions, which itineraries between Danube, Seine and Rhine have attractions closer to the river, so less need for long bus rides? Thanks for any advice!   Ed

I took the Uniworld Paris-Normandy cruise last year and it was great- I am

happy to answer any questions. 
 

The longest bus rides were to Honfleur (maybe 45 minutes?) and the Normandy beaches. On both occasions the tour guide gave a nice talk about what we were going to see, and the rides themselves were quite lovely (very interesting scenery). In Rouen, Caudebec en Caux and La Roche Guyon we walked right off the ship into the city. In Paris we were docked by the Eiffel Tower. We arrived early before the start of the cruise on Sunday and took a quick Uber into town to sightsee. 
 

there is a bistro onboard which is more casual, but it is not open every night and due to space does require a reservation. They do have a bar menu of sandwiches, salads, etc which you can eat if the dining room is closed. 

[Rebel54]

Avalon offers several dining options in the evening: Main dining room, Panoramic Bistro or room service.

 

I don't remember any of the bus rides for the included excursions being that long.  The exception would be from Prague to Nuremberg to embark, the excursion to Cesky Krumlov is a bit of a ride but well worth it and plenty to see along the way and I'm sure my upcoming Prague to Vilshofen will be a couple hours but again, worth the week in Prague and not having to worry how I'm getting to the boat on embarkation day :).

 

Most of our stops on my last trip (Prague to Paris) we were docked right near a town and didn't spend a lot of time in a bus.  Trier to Paris was a train ride which was enjoyable.

 

[edgee]

On 6/17/2024 at 8:01 PM, TN_travels said:

I took the Uniworld Paris-Normandy cruise last year and it was great- I am

happy to answer any questions. 
 

The longest bus rides were to Honfleur (maybe 45 minutes?) and the Normandy beaches. On both occasions the tour guide gave a nice talk about what we were going to see, and the rides themselves were quite lovely (very interesting scenery). In Rouen, Caudebec en Caux and La Roche Guyon we walked right off the ship into the city. In Paris we were docked by the Eiffel Tower. We arrived early before the start of the cruise on Sunday and took a quick Uber into town to sightsee. 
 

there is a bistro onboard which is more casual, but it is not open every night and due to space does require a reservation. They do have a bar menu of sandwiches, salads, etc which you can eat if the dining room is closed. 

We have already spent a meaningful day at the Normandy beaches...off of an ocean cruise four years ago. If we choose not to take a Normandy tour, Uniworld offers no other options. Is the location on the river where the ship docks on the day of the tours to Normandy a good location for individual sightseeing?

[TN_travels]

The ship was docked in Rouen when we went to Normandy. It is right in town so very easy to explore on your own. 
 

I believe there was an excursion to see the Bayeux which included a bit more leisure time as well.

[CPT Trips]

If the docking and time of year fits 

https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/highlight/normandy-impressionist-festival/

[Canal archive]

Interesting that they include David Hockney!

But you can loose yourself for days in this city it’s got everything, and the food and wine isn’t bad either. 
Enjoy!

Edited Wednesday at 06:29 AM by Canal archive

[UDChE89]

Uniworld at the stop in Linz offers an excursion to Salzburg.  If I recall correctly, it’s a three hour round trip.  We declined and did an excursion in Linz.