European river cruises

My parents went on one with Viking. They started in Amsterdam and ended in Budapest. Loved everything about it and my mother hates boats.

They are going on another one in Spain and Portugal next year hopefully. Can't wait to see what they are planning.

We did a Rhine River cruise with Avalon Waterways. I would totally recommend them, they were awesome.

This year, we're trying Viking - Paris/Normandy/Paris. We had originally booked a Russia cruise with them because they offered a fantastic deal. But then all hell broke loose over there and we decided to change our itinerary.

Had some clients a few years back who tried Vantage, but they said they were nickel and dimed on the cruise and described the pressure to recruit friends to take a cruise, too, as borderline MLM.

Your mileage may vary, of course. They aren't hurting to book cabins, so it obviously works for some people.

We went on a 2-week river cruise with Avalon: Mosel, Rhine, Main, Danube Rivers.
DH and I both loved it. The ship stops at least once every day, and the town tours are included in the price of the ticket. There were a couple of extra, optional tours as well - we went to Czesky Krumlov in Czech Republic, others went to Salzburg on that day.

The tours were very interesting - most of them led by a local who was of course very knowledgeable and friendly. But there was no pressure to go on the tours, if you wanted to explore on your own.  

The ships don't have the same level of entertainment as the big ocean cruise ships of course, but you don't miss it. Because you are on a river, there is always something to see on both sides of the ship while it is moving. Castles, town, villages, stunning scenery.......  If you go on the Mosel or Rhine, keep a look put for the vineyards - simply amazing; the vineyard workers must be so fit!!!!!
And going through the locks is fascinating.

life on the ship is casual. There is no dressing up for dinner, you don't need any "dress-up" clothes. On our ship, there was no assigned seating for dinner, you just sat where you wanted to - so you could choose to sit with different people each night, or if you become good friends with others on board, you can sit together.

There was some entertainment in the lounge most night, quite simple but enjoyable. The crew put on a concert one night, with songs, dancing, comedy skits etc.  Other nights had dancing, or a games evening etc.  There was a piano player on nights when nothing else was scheduled, and of course there were still towns etc to see at night.

I would go on another river cruise in a heartbeat, no hesitation.

We have friends who have taken VIking and Avalon river cruises. They all loved them, but said it would not work for my husband as there were significant stretches of travel time when you sit on the boat and watch scenery -- which my dh does not like to do. He has to go go go .

So I guess that's a consideration -- do you want to sit and relax and look at scenery for much of your vacation?

I'm sure the price varies widely but would you mind sharing the cost per person for your European river cruise? TIA!

I wanted to add that when we booked the cruise, I was afraid we would be the youngest couple by far - I'm late 40's, DH early 50's. But the passengers were surprisingly mixed, quite a few couples were younger than us. And most of the older people on the cruise were VERY active, not people walking around with oxygen tanks. And many of them European. I am very sad that I am not European, I mean seriously those people get so much vacation time, they have been EVERYWHERE. The travel tales from our fellow passengers made us green with envy, LOL.

crankypea, I would love to hear a report back after your Viking cruise. How do Avalon and Viking compare?

We are considering one for our 25th anniversary next year. Viking had a great two for one deal, not sure if it's still going on, but worth checking out.

Good to hear about the ages ranges, that was one of my concerns.