European river cruise advice?

[braumeister]

We are not cruisers -- one big ship (Holland America) and one small ship (Lindblad) and that's it. Both were in Alaska, and I must say we enjoyed the small ship experience at least ten times as much as the big ship.

So it's with a bit of trepidation that we bit the bullet and signed up for a European river cruise next year. We'll be going from Paris to Prague (obviously there will be some bus travel in the mix).

Neither of us have ever been to Paris, and we'll have two nights there at the start. I've been to Prague and absolutely love it, so we'll have four nights there at the end.

In between, we'll be in (among other places) Luxembourg, Koblenz, Heidelberg, Würzburg, and Bamberg. Being a beer guy, I'm familiar with Bamberg, but the other cities will be new to me.

Any advice about those places or river cruising in general would be much appreciated.

 

[Meadbh]

You will love it! You didn't say which cruise line you have chosen. My one river cruise was with Avalon Waterways, which was superb. Prague was the only city on your itinerary that I visited on that cruise. Most of your entertainment will be on land. Wear comfortable shoes and bring an umbrella. Use the ship to eat, sleep, relax and get to know your fellow passengers in the evenings.

 

[braumeister]

We're using Viking river cruises, based on a recommendation from a neighbor.
Looking forward to it, but still with a bit of trepidation.

 

[RunningBum]

My son and I went to Luxembourg as part of a 3 week Eurail trip a few years ago. It was toward the end of the trip and he was pretty tired of looking at old buildings, as was I. I saw a big green patch down in the valley below town and wondered what it was. We decided to go walk down and it was a relaxing foot path. I can't even remember what all was down there but if it wasn't a park it was like one, with flowers, a river, and lots of green space. We even stopped and played mini-golf. It was just a relaxing time that was a nice break from the tourist crowds we were a part of. I'm sure we missed some history but it would've been a blur, and instead I have a nice memory of the country.

 

[jjquantz]

DW and I did Viking's Amsterdam to Budapest 15 day cruise last fall. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The crew was friendly and the on-board food was short of excellent but was still very good. You might want to think about eating some of your meals in the cities you visit - it is too easy to stick to the safety of the shipboard meals. There is a lot of fun to be had by eating with the locals.

If you are at all knowledgeable about the history and culture of where you are headed then you might also consider carefully whether you want to tag along with the guided tours. The crews and tour guides did not seem to possess any knowledge beyond their scripts. (The Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire are emphatically NOT THE SAME THING!) So DW and I took off on our own most of the time and had much more fun. We were able to cover LOTS more ground than the guided tours and hit many sites and oddball interests that were not covered by the tours. Do check to see if the guided tours include admission to places that might cost you $$ if you are on your own. The tours seemed to focus more on shopping, current culture and the big tourist highlights. It helped that we were in mostly German speaking countries and I was finally able to put my college German to use.

I'd be happy to answer more specific questions if you have any.

 

[jjquantz]

Also, I don't know how old you are, but DW and I were, at 55 and 54, the youngest on the ship by a good margin. Way too many conversations included, "I have a son about your age."

 

[Bamaman]

We've long since lost count of the ocean cruises taken, but my wife just returned from her 3rd cruise in 12 months. Common every day cruises are such a great travel bargain, especially in very expensive regions like Scandanavia and the Mediterranean.

I've slowed down my travel pace in order to see and experience more of the locations visited. But river cruises are even slow by my standards.

The other downside to river cruises are cost--with Viking 250% the fares of ocean cruises and Tauck river cruises that cost almost 5 times that of a regular ocean cruise. Add airfare and a river cruise is a seriously expensive vacation.

Next vacation for us is a 12 day Celebrity Cruise 4/2016 from Rome to Malta to the Greek Islands to Turkey and back to Venice. We got an incredible buy on the cruise and found airfare for 1/2 that of legacy carriers. Traveling in a thrifty manner has allowed us to take 5 vacations of a lifetime in the last 15 months.

You should try to arrange for a minimum 4 days in Paris, as the city's worthy of more than 2 days.

I too used to drink my way from one end of Europe to another, and Konisbacher Brewery in Koblenz is one of my favorites. The Andechs Brewery SW of Munich and the Augustiner Brewery in Salzburg are great--both run by "the brothers." We took the Nightlife Tour in Prague last year, and $1.05 beer was the only reasonably priced pleasure in the city--and it's a great beer city. Have a great time.

 

[audreyh1]

A couple we met on a day trip in Strasbourg had just gotten off a CroisiEurope river cruise of the Rhine and really enjoyed it.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=175

 

[donheff]

The only river cruises I have been on were VBT bike and barge trips which I loved. A good friend just got what she considers a great deal on a Viking River Cruise through Costco Travel. DW and I may consider Costco for a short notice getaway if the winter months get oppressive.

 

[audreyh1]

The Costco Travel offerings I saw required booking pretty far in advance, but I haven't looked in a while.

 

[braumeister]

The tours seemed to focus more on shopping, current culture and the big tourist highlights.

That was the case with our one big ship cruise (Holland America) and why we said we'd never do that again.

Yes, I'm the kind who likes to explore on his own instead of following a guide, so we'll probably do a lot of that. My main reason for the river cruise is to have an easy way to visit many cities -- I hate driving in Europe and it's kind of a hassle to take lots of trains and switch hotels frequently.

 

[donheff]

The Costco Travel offerings I saw required booking pretty far in advance, but I haven't looked in a while.

Could be. I haven't looked. I just figured they might offer last minute bargains that we could look into if warnings of unusual cold turn out correct. Our last such warning was excessive shedding of our Golden Retrievers coats. A couple of people told us they turn over a complete new coat to prepare for a particularly cold winter. How my dogs' systems could make such a prediction I can't fathom.

 

[jjquantz]

That was the case with our one big ship cruise (Holland America) and why we said we'd never do that again.

Yes, I'm the kind who likes to explore on his own instead of following a guide, so we'll probably do a lot of that. My main reason for the river cruise is to have an easy way to visit many cities -- I hate driving in Europe and it's kind of a hassle to take lots of trains and switch hotels frequently.

That's exactly the reason that we tried it and why we would consider doing it again.

 

[Meadbh]

Flooding in spring and low water levels in a summer heatwave are risks that can derail river cruises and turn them into bus trips. Both have happened in Europe within the past couple of years. There's nothing you can do to avoid this except to travel at other times of year. The Danube seems particularly vulnerable.

 

[donheff]

Flooding in spring and low water levels in a summer heatwave are risks that can derail river cruises and turn them into bus trips. Both have happened in Europe within the past couple of years. theres nothing you can do to avoid this except to travel at other times of year. The Danube seems particularly vulnerable.

Don't forget strikes. On a bike trip in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria we took a boat on a brief segment of the Danube but got stuck at a lock that was being struck. We just hopped in cabs for the last 10K or so to the pickup spot for our bikes but a bunch of cruise boats were not going anywhere.

 

[braumeister]

The tours seemed to focus more on shopping

Flooding in spring and low water levels in a summer heatwave are risks that can derail river cruises and turn them into bus trips.

Don't forget strikes. ... a bunch of cruise boats were not going anywhere.

Thanks so much. If I can't have reassurance, at least it's nice to have good reasons for being nervous.

 

[mpeirce]

I actually don't recall that the Viking tours focused on shopping. Maybe a trip to a vineyard suggested you buy some of their wine, but that seems normal for any vineyard trip to me. OK, the visit to the Black Forest focused on selling Cuckoo Clocks :-( .

I suppose a lot depends on the guide (not sure how you pick good ones). Some of the guides we've had have been excellent with lots of local and historical knowledge.

We enjoy the tours as a way to get a nice overview of an area. That said, if you know the area a bit, don't hesitate to strike out on your own. They don't mind at all.

Sometime the tours can get you into areas that are hard to get into. In Passau our group just walked into a wonderful organ concert (highlight of the trip for me, it was just wonderful - Bach as Bach was meant to be performed) that would have required prior reservations otherwise.

Its also fun to head into town for a good meal on your own. The people on the boat can be of assistance in setting this up and can help with taxis and reservations if you want them to.

 

[Meadbh]

I actually don't recall that the Viking tours focused on shopping. Maybe a trip to a vineyard suggested you buy some of their wine, but that seems normal for any vineyard trip to me. OK, the visit to the Black Forest focused on selling Cuckoo Clocks :-( .

I suppose a lot depends on the guide (not sure how you pick good ones). Some of the guides we've had have been excellent with lots of local and historical knowledge.

We enjoy the tours as a way to get a nice overview of an area. That said, if you know the area a bit, don't hesitate to strike out on your own. They don't mind at all.

Sometime the tours can get you into areas that are hard to get into. In Passau our group just walked into a wonderful organ concert (highlight of the trip for me, it was just wonderful - Bach as Bach was meant to be performed) that would have required prior reservations otherwise.

Its also fun to head into town for a good meal on your own. The people on the boat can be of assistance in setting this up and can help with taxis and reservations if you want them to.

On my cruise with Avalon, shopping was not the focus of the tours. There was a lot of history and culture. We had excellent guides who were more than willing to share their knowledge if we wanted to explore independently. Our cruise director was an opera fan, and on a free night in Prague a group of us went to the opera with him.

 

[karen1972]

So we took the Viking Cruise Budapest to Amsterdam. We loved the experience.. we are in our 40s and yes everyone is much older, but I'm fine talking with people that are older and sharing stories... they have so much better travel advice and everyone that takes those types of cruises tend to be a very good health and thus seem to be very much enjoying their retirement and life.. we made several friends. Yes, churches and old buildings can get old after awhile which is where it is nice that you docked usually dead center of town and can just stroll out at your leisure. I enjoyed most of the tours especially those from Vienna to Budapest, and then Amsterdam windmills. It was fun listening to natives trying not be political while trying to explain their time "hosting" their friendly Russian liberators?

Just be sure if you do book the Viking cruise to wait for the free airfair (or $99 from a smaller airport). They also have some better deals so if you wait you will see a huge swing in pricing. We went with the free airfare as that saved us quite a bit and then once your there.. you can always extend.

The food was good on Viking and the house wine is certainly acceptable so that meant no real extra money having to

 

[kcowan]

and Konisbacher Brewery in Koblenz is one of my favorites.

Our bike/barge trip ends near Koblenz. Now I have something other than cathedrals to look forward to. Thanks.

 

[sengsational]

That was the case with our one big ship cruise (Holland America) and why we said we'd never do that again.

Yes, I'm the kind who likes to explore on his own instead of following a guide, so we'll probably do a lot of that. My main reason for the river cruise is to have an easy way to visit many cities -- I hate driving in Europe and it's kind of a hassle to take lots of trains and switch hotels frequently.

We did a Viking cruise. It was kind of like a bus tour, but without messing with daily packing, I would not expect many minutes where you can be on your own; they have included tours, scheduled meals, and scheduled transportation. That covers 80% or more of your time. You might find yourself outside of town (mooring location) and needing their transportation to get to a place where there is something to see. High or low river levels might make it a bus tour, and you've agreed to accept that in the fine print. I'm glad I went, but I'm not jonesing to book another. As to the cruising scenery, that was nice, but we found ourselves in dark slimy locks a good fraction of the time, and the top deck was closed mostly to get under bridges. That left the front deck, which could only hold 40 people.

 

[jjquantz]

We did a Viking cruise. It was kind of like a bus tour, but without messing with daily packing, I would not expect many minutes where you can be on your own; they have included tours, scheduled meals, and scheduled transportation. That covers 80% or more of your time. You might find yourself outside of town (mooring location) and needing their transportation to get to a place where there is something to see. High or low river levels might make it a bus tour, and you've agreed to accept that in the fine print. I'm glad I went, but I'm not jonesing to book another. As to the cruising scenery, that was nice, but we found ourselves in dark slimy locks a good fraction of the time, and the top deck was closed mostly to get under bridges. That left the front deck, which could only hold 40 people.

Some good points here. I think some of this (amount of time ashore,mooring locations, time in locks, amount of available time) depends on the particular cruise. I found the balance between structured and unstructured time to work out pretty well. We only had a few days out of 15 where the bus was necessary to get to/from the ship. I do believe that river conditions that would put you on buses would be a MAJOR disappointment. Most days we had 3-6 hours on our own, there were a couple of days (of the 15) that were almost entirely aboard the boat and a couple where we had essentially the entire day free. It was a very relaxed pace, however, no rushing. If you like to have your days chock full of experiences this would not be for you.

Highlights of our trip that came about because of our independence included:

1) Catching a symphony concert in Cologne,
2) Getting off the boat early at Kinderdyk to see the windmills in the morning fog at sunrise,
3) Visiting the Kepler House in Regensburg,
4) Visiting the Roentgen laboratory in Wurzburg,
5) Seeing the huge collection of harpsichords in the German National Museum in Nuremberg,
6) Finding memorial plaques in Bamberg that 1) apologized for the slaughter of the Jewish townspeople in WWII by the Nazi regime - this one was right next to a plaque thanking the brave soldiers for their service in WWII, and 2) the plaque in the cathedral that memorialized the members of the 1944 assassination plot against Hitler for taking a stand against tyranny. We talked with folks who had gone on the guided tour and these were not pointed out by the tour guides even though they walked right by them.
7) Several others, but I've already bored some people.

There were also a couple of tours that we did hang around the edges of because it got us access to a particular cathedral or something that would have cost $$ if we had gone on our own.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Braumeister, looks like you'll be traveling on the Main River. it's a pretty industrial scene in some cities, like Nuremberg, but in others, like Bamberg, you step off of the boat and you're in the middle of town. Part of the cruise is on the Main-Danube canal, which actually crosses over at least one highway.

You might skip the beer in favor of the Franconian wine, which is quite a bit drier than the stuff from the Rhine region with a little more alcohol content. The river around Wurzburg is lined with vineyards. I've tried to find Franconian wine in the States to no avail ... so the cruise is a great opportunity to give it a try.

We traveled on Uniworld, a cruise line I found to be very hospitable and a little more luxury-oriented than the Avalon river cruise we took on the Rhone in France maybe 15 years ago. My one complaint is that the tour treated Frankfurt as kind of an afterthought. After days of one half-timbered town after another, it would have been nice to get a chance to take a good look at a modern German city.

 

[Meadbh]

My one complaint is that the tour treated Frankfurt as kind of an afterthought. After days of one half-timbered town after another, it would have been nice to get a chance to take a good look at a modern German city.

Frankfurt is worth a day if you are connecting through FRA. It was heavily bombed in WWII, so a lot of restoration has been done, but there are plenty of newer areas to look at.

 

[mpeirce]

Our cruise director was an opera fan, and on a free night in Prague a group of us went to the opera with him.

Yeah, these "extras" are excellent and can make a trip special.

When we were in Vienna, our chef took a small group of us on an "extra" tour to the Naschmarkt (no bus, we all just hopped on the subway). He always picks up supplies there for the boat when they stop in Vienna. He knew a number of the stall keepers and was able to arrange a number of samplings for us. Yum yum.