European river cruises

jacketwatch · October 7, 2005

Hi guys: We have looked at Viking river cruises which go on the major rivers of Europe. Pretty different than the normal cruises we are used to but they look nice in and of themselves. Has anyone ever taken one and if so what do you think about them? Thanks, Larry :cool:

JohnG · October 7, 2005

Larry,

They are destination cruises, meaning that the places you visit are more important than the ship/barge. You are "in port" every day. They sometimes drop you off, have you visit the area, and pick you up further down river. They have excellent European meals, cabins about like any other cruise, small headcount (200 or less passengers).

TheSkipper · October 8, 2005

Jacketwatch,

We just finished a 16 day river cruise six weeks ago. Boarded in Amsterdam and disembarked in Vienna. We sailed on the Uniworld's River Duchess. This was our 45th cruise with all the other being ocean cruises.

We loved it! We had 110 people on board a ship which would hold 120. Food was outstanding! Cabins were on the small side, but very well laid out with plenty of storage. Even included a flat screen TV.

A unique thing about river cruise boats is that in some ports they tie up side by side, so if you are the outboard boat you must cross over or through the other boats to get ashore. This gave us a chance ot see several boats from other lines and it appeared to us that Uniworld was a cut above most of the others.

You will not have a casino, but we did have a workout room and sauna as well as a small beauty salon and gift shop.

Service was fantastic! No production shows of course, but lots of local entertainers brought on board, etc.

Almost all of the shore excursions are included in the price, which we enjoyed very much.

Be happy to give you more detail if you wish. We sailed the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers going through 64 locks enroute to Vienna.

jacketwatch · October 10, 2005

Thanks guys. Skipper I may take you up on that and I'll look into Uniworld. So far all I have heard of is the Viking line. Its good to hear that an experienced ocean cruiser liked the river cruises so much. Thanks again, Larry :cool:

JohnG · October 10, 2005

There are many river cruise lines. Among the most popular among North Americans are Uniworld, Viking, Peter Dielman, and Amadeus.

Uniworld averages 138 guests, breakfast and lunch buffets, English announcements only, 95% North Americans, 154 sq ft per cabin, refrigerators, and as Skipper said, most excursions included.

http://www.uniworld.com

[url=http://www.amadeuswaterways.com]http://www.amadeuswaterways.com

[url=http://www.deilmann-cruises.com]http://www.deilmann-cruises.com

[url=http://www.vikingrivercruises.com]http://www.vikingrivercruises.com

TheSkipper · October 11, 2005

JohnG's reply made me think of one thing I forgot to mention. Uniworld uses hotel style beds not something that turns into a sofa during the day which a lot of river cruise boats use (including Viking).

The linens in the rooms are fantastic. Really thick towels, robes, duvets, several pillows all top drawer! but the REAL bed was the card that turned the trick for us. Don't want glorified bunks.

Amadaus were the only others I saw that looked interesting, but they are more expensive. Viking has a lot of boats. Watched one of their boats rear end a docked tanker in Vienna and sink it! did a real job on the bow of the Viking boat. Wonder if there is much work for an unemployed river boat skippers?

In San Diego the next couple of days, but checking my email every night in hotel room.