European River Cruises

[cruiseduo]

Pat and I are planning a trip to Europe and want to go down the Rhine on a river cruise. Then go over to Ireland and do some genealogy research.

Has anyone done a river cruise? What was it like? Would you do it again?

All opinions, both pro and con, are appreciated.

[Joanandjoe]

See our review of our Avalon Poetry cruise that we took three months ago. This was our only river cruise, so I can't give a comparison with other river cruise lines.

All in all, a refreshing and different experience. Things weren't perfect, but they were mighty good, and the trip was interesting. It was nice to know that, if the ship got into trouble, we could walk to shore.

Would we do it again? Yes.

If you have specific questions after reading the review, we'd be glad to naswer them.

[TheSkipper]

Hi,

Two years ago (almost to the day) we cruised aboard the River Duchess out of Amsterdam to Vienna. 14 days. It was fantastic! We cruised the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. Uniworld cruises are the greatest! They have real beds not sofa things that turn in beds at night. Flat screen TV's. Lots of storage space great although small bathrooms. The food was outstanding and the shore excursions and evening entertainment top notch.

Do it, you'll love it.

[Joanandjoe]

The Skipper makes a good point. We had a room that was about 170 square feet, with openable windows (AKA French balconies) and real, fixed, beds. Avalon, therefore, was very comfortable. Try to avoid tiny rooms with fold down bed.

[traveler1]

Have been down the Rhine several times and loved every minute of it. It is awesome...and you travel with people from all over the world. It's a good learning experience. One of the highlights of my cruising life was a trip on the Rhine during Rhein en Flammen. It was gorgeous. Fireworks and light displays all down the river and a stop at Remagen for the the street festival.

Also, twice on the beautiful Mozart on the Danube to Budapest. There is nothing as beautiful as approaching Budapest from the water. Awesome!

It is a totally different experience - more intimate - more informative - more elegant.

[PATJUD]

I'm planning a 9 day Rhine River cruise for mid-August 2010. I would like to hear from some people that have done this and to be pointed in directions for me to go to find out all that I can discover about this kind of trip.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[TheSkipper]

PatJud: See my earlier post in this thread. Would go back on Uniworld in a New York Minute.

Happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

[fred111]

Can't agree more about Uniworld. They are a great cruise line. We are already book for two more Uniworld cruises. First down the Rhine in Sept, second the Tulips cruise in Apr 2010.

[RayColey]

We are planning to book the Uniworld Christmas/New Year's Paris and the Seine cruise for December 26, 2010. The price is right and we've heard so many good things about Uniworld, we just feel like we can't pass up this cruise at the great price they have. If anyone is interested, we'd love to have company....

[TheSkipper]

You will enjoy Uniworld. We did. Doing a Transatlantic from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale in October next year. That will be our European adventure for the year. Pack warm clothes.