Selecting a river cruise company

[Car-Stan]

It seems like some companies, e.g., Brendan, Vantage, Taulk and some others, either charter or reserve space on other companies' river boats.

 

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to contracting with the "original" companies versus going with a "secondary" vendor, who is either reserving space or chartering the boat? It seems like the product the secondary company offers is just like the original 's product, but with a different name on it.

 

I am curious what people think about this, and hope people share as many specific ideas and experiences as they can, so we can factor this into our decision-making.

 

Car-Stan

[tiggypooo]

Some rivers will have most river cruise companies blocking space for their passengers on other company's ships. That would include the rivers in Russia, Egypt and China. The ships that sail these rivers tend to be owned locally.

While in Europe, I believe that the experience of the ship, no matter who you book with, will be pretty much the same for all passengers.

The cruiseline won't treat people that booked with tour companies any differntly than the people that book direstly with them. Most staff wouldn't even know who they are.

When booking with a third party, you might get some extra things that a tour company might offer for their clients only.

That would probably be for things that have nothing to do with the cruise.

[paul929207]

I think if you ask the originating companies they will tell you they are vastly superior. If you ask the secondaries, they do a much better job.

 

I would guess the secondaries will be a little more expensive since both companies are making a profit off you.

[hockeymadhockey]

I just got brochures from every one and lined them up side by side to see if:

They went where I wanted to go.

What was the cost difference and why?

Checked this sight for people's experiences.

Is cabin area important or is it just a place to sleep.

What kind of beds are important?

What is complimentary (beer, wine, mini bar in the rooms).

Checked the websites, etc for the towns we would be visiting.

Did the windows open (if that is important to you).

 

I was on the Viking Sky and it was very nice BUT I probably would try another line next time because they charged for every little thing. Things that seem to be complimentary on other lines (like beer, wine, mini bar). It was a lovely cabin but the windows did not open and next time I do want a window that opens. The closer to the engine the more noise and the people in the lower cabins did not seem thrilled (also pullman beds and I had a large double on the top deck). A tour was cancelled because they arrived late and they did not get their money back (Nuremburg). The drinks on board were very expensive but I just purchased sodas and water in town along with fantastic bakery items. The food on board was adequate but just adequate (I don't drink and they put liquor in everything and the taste wasn't great). They allow you to bring wine on board and charge a corkage fee which I have been told was reasonable.

 

The bathrooms are small but perfectly fine, there was very little storage space so we had to get creative with the suitcases (someone-not me-had them on his side of the bed and had to crawl over my side, hey he didn't complain-much). FYI the walls are very thin (I was fortunate enough to get a nightly soap opera because the couple next to us were fighting most of the trip-sometimes it was pretty interesting-she was right, he was wrong).

 

Make sure you have a cell phone that works where you are going, calling from the ship was very expensive.

 

Out of all that I checked on, I found Amadeus, Vantage and Tauck to be the most appealing to me. Hope this helps.

[Car-Stan]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I know there are still a lot of people with lots of experiences and ideas out there, and I would love to hear from them, also.

 

Car-Stan

[thmpsn]

Just returned from Amsterdam/Vienna on Grand Circles River Aria. OUTSTANDING in every way. Out Of 35 ocean cruises this was one of the best. Ship is very casual, wine for dinner every evening. Will travel again with Grand Circle.

Jim

[LuAnn]

for the Christmas cruise down the Danube..it was wonderful...but then DH is a "Christmas Hound" and loved every second! I have to say the food was just ok...but the tours included were excellent and we had a very spacious cabin...more room than on most cruise balcony cabins...our windows did open..but no balcony..We went in early December and the weather was fine...a little cold (that's based on a So Cal gir!) and we only had snow "sprinkles" once...we spent Christmas Eve and Xmas day in Vienna (that's where the trip ended) and it was fantastic...then took a train to Budapest (a little bit like something out of Dr. Zhavigo) ..but Budapest was wonderful...did get a little snow there but just a "dusting" on the Buda side...in Vienna we stayed in a wonderful hotel where, on Xmas eve, were we all sang Christmas songs around a tree with real candels and a piano! Hard to beat for the season...don't know about the other lines but believe Tauck is more expensive....have fun! LuAnn

[MSEm]

I just returned from an Avalon River Cruise (Budapest to Prague. June 2008).

Almost all of the tours were optional. The total cost of the optional tours for 2 people was about $1800 ($900 per person). Also the recommended tips were about $250 per person. If you take the tours and pay the recommended tips you are very close to Tauck pricing. The advantage of not having the tours included is you can just walk around the town, arrage for a private guide, or stay on the river vessel.

Make sure you are comparing apples apples price. If all of the tours are not included, be sure to get an estimate of the cost of the tours you want to take when comparing to a trip that includes the tours.

 

Good luck,

MSEm

[Car-Stan]

Again, thanks to all who have provided some info.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences on which cruise lines or suppliers provide more INCLUDED excursions/tours vs the optional/cost ones?

 

If anyone has extensive comments, you may want to e-mail me at csepstein@mindspring.com

 

Car-Stan

[MomC]

I just had friends return from a Grand Circle Cruise. They liked it very much, but their criticisms were valid (and not the first time I have heard them).

 

1. The clientele is significantly older than on some--i.e. my friends are in their late 60's and they found many, many who were in their 80's. In good shape and able to traverse the cobblestone streets, but older. There were also some who were younger than my friends--but in the minority. So while it is not a criticism, it may be a factor if you are younger.

 

2. The one that was most interesting about Grand Circle and I have heard it from numerous people is that there are many optional tours (being pushed) which should not be optional, but included, because they are an integral part of the city or village. Our friends spent about $2000 on optional tours for the two of them on a 16 day tour. So make sure you are comparing comparable cruise experiences. There may be a reason why the initial rates are so much lower on GCT.

 

On Amadeus, we only had two optional tours that we chose: a folkloric dinner in Prague and a tour of a concentration camp outside Prague. One more that I forgot, a concert in Vienna which was the highlight of the trip.

 

Please see my review of the Amadeus Amalegra Danube cruise which we took late September last year. I was quite specific why I chose this river cruise line. I did extensive research as I am a travel agent. I narrowed it to either Amadeus or Avalon--I felt both were comparable--but we wanted the bikes for riding that Amadeus offered. BTW, I am taking a group of 15 couples on Amadeus in 2009--that's how satisfied I was.

 

As for booking directly with the cruise line or through a tour operator, I know that Tauck is very pricey--we are leaving in 3 weeks on one of their cruise/tours. I loved the itinerary so that's why we chose it. You can book through Globus for the Avalon ships--I have had very satisfied clients. Prices should be the same--not the case for Tauck--they use their "own" ships and their prices reflect a more expensive (and probably very high end) experience.

 

Hope that is helpful to you. Please do look at my review of Amadeus and I think you will agree that I was truthful, but very satisfied and complimentary.

 

Mom C--aka Linda

Fort Collins, CO

[tban]

I have to agree with Mom-C about the optional excursions. We have been on 4 Amadeus cruises and liked every single one. All major sightseeing was included. We also like the fact that their ships are the newest. We cecame "hooked" on river cruising and the fact that we never tried an other cruiseline speaks for Amadeus and our online TA, who always got us a substantial discount.

[CPT Trips]

Mom C's point is well taken. You must work through all the trip brochure info so that you are comparing apples with apples. GCT seems to have many more "optionals" than other lines. However, they do include air.

 

We have only cruised with GCT and our experience was that some of the optionals just did not interest us. We then had time to explore on our own. Some travellers went by train to another city and caught up with the ship at the next stop.

[ddschur]

To MomC and TBan...

 

MomC-we are looking to do our first river cruise and like upscale/luxury (great food, etc.).

 

Currently looking at Amadeus, Tauck, and Scenic Tours...preference or someone I overlooked that I should include?:confused::confused::confused:

 

TBan-you mentioned a great online travel agent...anything you can share?:rolleyes:

 

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Walt

[tban]

ddschur, sorry cannot tell you online TA info here, but if you e-mail me at tban@yahoo.com I let you know !

[DonfromNC]

We've been on Viking twice, loved both trips. Excursions are included (a couple of optional ones cost extra). Tips may be added to your tab, something like $10/day/passenger unless it's gone up with the drop in the dollar. We book our trip including air directly with Viking, put it all on the credit card and spend very little extra. You could literally go and spend nothing extra if you really tried. The Viking rep's have been very helpful in booking; if you're flexible they can sometimes find a special value on a different itinerary or date than you originally had in mind.

[hockeymadhockey]

ddschur-if you are looking for luxury you may want to look at Premicon, see below sight that someone was kind enough to show me.

 

http://www.seereisenmagazin.de/cms/seiten/Seite_9.html

[scycgal]

We have done 2 cruises on Uniworld and enjoyed both,

 

The Christmas Market Cruise a few years ago was very special. All the tours were included and we had ample time to roam by ourselves. The food was very good. Wine and beer were extras but fairly priced. The cabins were as described in the brochure and on the internet.

 

We have just returned from a Uniworld Moscow to St Petersburg 2 week cruise. The ships are owned by the Russian Government so are no as nice as the company owned ship used in the rest of Europe. Look at the picture on the web.

 

There were a few optional tours and we took one to a Monestary outside of Moscow which was well worth the extra charge. All the tour guides were excellent. Food was good not great and entertainment some nights was very good other nights it was lacking.

 

Uniworld staff was friendly and very helpful. Fellow cruisers were mostly English speaking from US, Canada, UK,Wales, Australia.

 

The age range was from college age with family to active 80's. There is no elevator so most cruisers were able to participate in the activities.

 

Eileen

[donaldsc]

I did a Greece trip on OAT which is part of Grand Circle. It was a combination of a land trip and a small boat cruise. I realize that this does not extrapolate to a river boat tour but the trip was horrible and OAT was very non-responsive to travel problems I had.

 

Check out my review in the Greece section of Cruise Critic.

 

DON

[rubrrick]

We have cruised with GCT once, and found the trip to be very pleasurable. We only took two of their optional tours, and did a great deal on our own. We are in our mid 60's and met fellow passengers the same age, with a very few younger.......and quite a few older. All were in good shape.

 

We are planning a Danube trip for next May, after we get off of a TA from Florida to Barcelona. Then we are headed to Germany for a short period of time, before boarding one of the ships that we are looking at for our river cruise.

 

Rick

[rogerdawhip]

MomC...everyone has their own idea on what makes a great river cruise line. I have been traveling with GCT for 10 years now on a total of 7 river cruises. I started when I was a young child of 49. I travel as a single and never had a problem with the so called old folks. There are always a few who tend to slow things down but the PD's always keep things moving. I traveled once on Amadeus amd the ages on their ships wer similar to GCT's. As for the cost of optionals..the most one would pay is $495 per person, not $1000, if they took all the optional on GCT's Great Rivers trip. In my experience, these optionals have never been pushed but have always been offered with very little salesmenship. I like GCT (and Vantage) mainly because of the lack of Travel Avency middlemen. This saves me quite a bit of money and time. I know there are many who like the security of travel agents and everyone have this choice.

[Steamboatin]

Viking has been sending me 2 for 1 cruises all summer long. Got an email this week for a bunch of 2 for 1 Viking cruises leaving in October.

 

If you book in advance they WILL NOT refund you any money if they later offer a 2 for 1 sale on your cruise.

 

Thus, wait and book at last minute with Viking.

 

Personally we are booked on 2 cruises back to back with Uniworld next Spring because we found them to be better suited to what we wanted to do.

 

Also we are considering taking a 2 for 1 sale offering next year on a summer Russia cruise if Viking offers one.

 

No way are we booking a full price Viking cruise when for the past 2 years they have every month offered 2 for 1 prices on cruises a month of 2 out.

[Car-Stan]

Steamboatin and others,

 

We have been looking at some great last minute deals drom GCT - for example, just got an e-mail from them re a 13-day cruise on the Deine from Paris to Normandy leaving Sept. 3 - with airfare included for $1897, down from $3795. Wish we could take it, but we have to pass. (Had gotten a notice from them several days ago for the same trip for $2495.)

 

Do other lines have similar deep reductions? If so, which ones are people aware of, and how do you get clued in on them? Steamboatin, how large were the Viking last minute deals you mentioned? Any examples?

 

If anyone has info not permitted on the board, just e-mail me at csepstein@mindspring.com.

 

Thanks,

 

Stan (Car-Stan)

[MSEm]

You can sign up on the Companies web site for mailings and/or e-mails.

If you work with a travel agent, you can have them notify you of any special offering from a cruise or tour company. If you receive a special offering directly, you can contact a TA with the information on the special (usually a code for letters and/or numbers) to check for pricing and to book. You will still receive the special pricing.

MSEm

[Car-Stan]

Thanks, MSEm.

 

Stan

[ddschur]

MomC...can you let us know how your Tauck Tour went?