Rhine River Cruise

[rayinpenn]

The wife and I are considering it... Anyone have any experience. Son(16) & Daughter(21) will likely come along. Not sure it is a good match for them - every advertisement I see has oldsters...

I think the wife and I would love it..

Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[karen1972]

if your talking about something like Viking.. its lovely but they don't allow children (your son) on those trips and they are catered for 65+.

My honey and I went on one this year, Budapest through Netherlands. There was one large family there that brought their 20 somethings along and then there were us, mid 40s, 1 other couple mid 50s, and then most were able bodied 70+.

I personally enjoyed it because you got off right in town and most travel was done overnight while I was sleeping comfortably in my bed. Food was decent, wine was plentiful and free at breakfast, lunch, dinner .. It was catered for education mostly, lots of historical guides walking you around which is what we wanted as its one thing to study architecture in school, another to be in the middle of Vienna with all those gorgeous buildings to do comparisons on. We adventured out often after meals and got to see a lot .. leaving tourist spots to the morning guided tour.

Most younger people would probably be bored after awhile as you can only see so many churches. I know most go via the bus/train tours, but I think you have to be young enough to enjoy that too... long stays on the bus/train, traveling most of the day, to drop into a random hotel, checkin/checkout, slog to the next town with sometimes only a few hours in any given town...that wasn't for us either. Next trip we do will likely be a bike tour to really get time to see stuff and wonder with our hotels planned so we dont' have to worry.

Whatever you choose, like all these tours, really check the amount of time you will be in each town and when.. ie if it ends up in Cologne and its 6PM and you wanted to see the great Art museum they have there... well its not going to happen. That's what made us decide on Viking, though ironically we ended up on Cologne on a Tuesday where all museums are closed. (so much for my planning).

 

[braumeister]

if your talking about something like Viking.. its lovely but they don't allow children (your son) on those trips and they are catered for 65+.

We're going on a Viking river cruise this coming summer and looking forward to it (although we are definitely not "cruisers" like many here.

But I don't think Viking is quite that restrictive. From their website:

On all cruises and cruise journeys, minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied and share a cabin with a parent, legal guardian or other responsible adult over the age of 21. We reserve the right to limit the number of minors under the age of 18 years on board and on land excursions booked through us.

 

[EastWest Gal]

So many assumptions about young people in the above post. My son travelled to Europe twice without us and loved the sight seeing, yes, mainly churches and museums. He was on his own in London for a day when in college and spent the whole day in the British Museum.

When I was 18, I went with a youth group (13-22 years) on a one month tour in Poland and the USSR. We had a great time visiting many historical sights, churches, The chaperones were more problematic than the teens.

Viking allows kids down to age 12, with a parent/responsible adult. I've been searching river cruises for us and found a website, rivercruiseadvisor.com. There seem to be many river cruise companies. Viking seems to do the most advertising.

I think it depends on the kids. BTW we took DS and his cousin on a Mediterranean cruise when both graduated from high school. The cousin loved being able to have a drink (one) when out to sea and DS tried a poker tournament. Other than that it was sightseeing. They didn't like the stuff they had for teens and it was too hot to go outside on the ship (100+ every day.)


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[brett]

I know what my kids would say......no way...cruising is for the fossils.

And that would be the polite version. But, our son was backpacking and then working in Europe at that age.

 

[Souschef]

River Cruise

Attached is our trip story about our river cruise. The original story also included a Scandinavian cruise, but was too big to post.
We are always happy to answer any questions

 

[mpeirce]

and they are catered for 65+.

I don't know. I was 52 on the last Viking River cruise we went on and I was not the youngest person on board by any means. There were even two honeymoon couples on board and a few family groups. I expect each cruise will vary with some skewing older and some not.

They do group the excursions around the abilities of the people - some tours are quite the hike on uneven surfaces, but they always offer a "easy tour" for those who prefer that.

That being said, Viking (and most other river cruises?) are not aimed at families or people looking for lively clubs and shows and such. Basically, a fairly relaxed cruising experience with very good food and nice excursions.