I would highy recommend Grand Circle River Cruise if you are over the age of 50. Check out their web site. You can only book through them not a travel agent. They include air fare with the price and the web site is very user friendly. We did the Christmas trip with them last year and the France down to Nice trip a couple of years ago and were beyond pleased with every aspect. Check out their last minute specials and you can save even more. The ships were spotless, meals very good, free wine, those things you stick in your ears to hear the guide and a happy positive crew. Get on their mailing list and you will recieve something every week from them.

I forgot to mention that they dock so that you can wander into the town on your own which is great because you can persue your own interests too. You are one of 150 folks rather than 3,000 plus people. It gives you the opportunity to acturally have a conversation with people more than once. I love the small cruising aspects. We are going with OAT tours to Croatia in Dec. on their small boat with only 50 people. It's the sister company of Grand Circle and much more active than GC.

Our TA investigated a number river cruise companies -- she always personally tours lines before selling space -- and concluded AMA was one of the best bets for European river cruising. We just returned from an AMA Prague to Budapest cruise that was very enjoyable, though not the same as luxury ocean cruising.

We used Grand Circle for riverboat cruise from Vienna to Amsterdam in spring of '09. It was a really good experience, just as "southeastern" wrote. Might mention that they are really professionals, on top of every aspect of the trip, even before you set sail. Another thing we liked is they include guided walking tours of each port each morning, and then you have the afternoon to walk back into town on your own. Also included is a home hosted meal or coffee and cake. Our group visited a wonderful young German couple and their two children.

had a very bad experience with Grand Circle..be aware that they have had some pretty bad press in the past.

I notice the Grand Circle and OAT don't have anything less than 11-14 days. Any recommendations for just a week?

Thanks for all your comments. Southeastern, I am just curious why you recommended Grand Circle "if you are over the age of 50"?

It caters to the older crowd. They are always well-traveled and excellent conversationalists. Clarasong may had had a bad excerience but there are thousands that have had great experiences. It depends on the individual as to their "bad experience" sometimes they don't get the air schedule they want, had to get up early to leave, etc. Some folks are rigid and don't go with the flow. In short, they make mountains out of mole holes. Had a friend that didn't like Viking last Christmas and I thought her reason was pretty silly but to her it was a big deal. It's all about attitute.

You get free wine with grand circle and oat. Nice touch. It's always the local wine. When we were on the French tour you could bring your own wine to the top viewing area and drink. I love the smallness of the Riverboats, just not into a cast of thousands. Every tour goes to someone's home for some type of meal which people like. With oat we visited schools in Thailand and Egypt. Mixed with the kids. Nice to see their schools. As I stated earlier, it attracts an older group who has a more disposal income. Many repeat customers. One of the guys at Christmas had been on 27 tours with them. Most of the folks we socialized with had done several with the tour company. The oat group attracts a lively,physically fit group as you do some "adventures" like riding on an elephant, in the back of a truck through a desert or rafting down a river.

We recently cruised the Danube on Uniworld, River Beatrice and loved it. Most passengers were 50's to 70's but we did have couples in their 30's and 40's too. We frequently were docked next to other ships and I thought ours was by far nicer than the others. Crew was great too.

Beat part is that you can easily be very independent. You can have lunch on your own in the towns instead going back to the boat. We looked on it as a floating hotel and enjoyed it.

I agree with HappyTrvlr, you can be pretty independent on the riverboats. You can participate in their tours or you can go independently and do your own thing. Just be on the ship when it is ready to head out.

We did an Uniworld River Cruise in '08 thru the Netherlands with the main goal of seeing the tulips. I believe the ship was ambassador and like others posted, wine was included in meals,great nice hard working staff, and you walk right off the ship into town, at times, docked next to other ships that you walk thru. Then it was 8 days, now it is 10, with Belguim added on. If you are into flowers, you may want to check out a river cruise in 2012 for Floriade. It was a great trip, and can't wait to do this again...

tt

We have taken two trips with Vantage Travel. I especially loved the trip from Budapest to Amsterdam. Their staff was wonderful. They used many local tour guides in the cities we visited, each one was excellent. We were traveling during the last Presidential Debates and many of us wanted to see one that took place during the cruise. They were so gracious in setting up a tv in the lounge at 3 am so we could watch the debate . They also provided beverages and munchies at no extra cost. I have already booked another trip with them traveling the coast of Norway up to Russia and back.

Grand Circle has a Christmas Markets cruise from Vienna to Nuremberg that lasts just a week. The one I took was great.

We did the Grand Circle Christmas Market cruise from Ansterdam to Basel last Christmas and it was wonderful. It was like walking around in a beautiful Christmas card. I felt like Normal Rockwell in Europe.

AMA Waterways; check their website. We just returned from a cruise of the Danube, and it was absolutely first-rate in every way. I highly recommend them.

I travel by river boat at least once a year,AMA Waterways is very good,(they have the best showers)They break the tours up in to groups on how you walk to walk,or they offer a bike tours also,Internet wireless on the ship free bring your lap top,They don't serve frozen fish always fresh,Wine at dinner is included the waiters want let your glass get empty,Uniworld is good castles of the Rhine ,When are you going? The wine harvest great time to do river boat,I don't like Viking ,Grand Circle charge to much for what you get,In Amsterdam the river boats are behind the Main train to the ,Some great hotels close to the dock,Once you arrive go to tourist office across from main train station and get hop on hop off city trains tickets,In Vienna you will have a longer taxi or van ride to the port,Imperial Hotel is great but expensive,I enjoy river cruising ,country club causal dress going again in Dec

We have been on two river cruises with Grand Circle and we were pleased with both trips. One cruise was the Rhine Christmas Market from Amsterdam to Basel. It was wonderful but we did get a bit tired of the Christmas Markets. The food on this trip was really good and the wine was free & plentiful with the dinner. Our beds were not that great, they were narrow twins that converted to uncomfortable sofas during the day. The Volga river cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg was a great trip also. Our room was better than the one on the Rhine cruise, we had a double bed and the room seemed a bit bigger. The food was not as good on this cruise as the Rhine cruise. They served a lot of root vegetables and the main courses were not as good or as great a variety. The wine was free but you were limited to one free glass with dinner. Altogether, we had a positive experience though, I mean we didn't go to Russia for the food.
My only complaint with Grand Circle is their plane connections are crazy. (We also did the Australia, New Zealand & Fiji trip with Grand Circle.) On two of their trips we missed connecting flights. It is not unusual for Grand Circle to get cheap tickets and you might have a 30 minute time frame to swap planes in Charles de Gaulle.

I have found that if you book your own flight to where you would take off to Europe you get better flights. Ex: We fly from New Orleans on our own to Alanta and Grand Circle from Atlanta. That way it's direct over to Europe usually on Delta or Air France. We have also found it to cost less if we book our own flight to the main hub.

Southeastern, we fly direct from Atlanta, so that has not been the case with us and we have booked with Grand Circle! Maybe it is just the luck of the draw but nevertheless it has been out experience that Grand Circle has some unmanageable connecting flights! Returning from Basel we missed our flight connecting at Charles de Gaulle. Long, long story we missed our flight to Australia, arriving a day late - GCT acknowledged their fault in this case and compensated us -somewhat but nevertheless it was a day missed in Australia! Going to Moscow our flight arrived in Paris (Charles de Gaulle - what a nightmare) and we had something like a six hour stay over there. So, yes, I stand by my initial statement GCT has some crazy flights and buyer beware...otherwise, we have had good experiences with them.