Christmas River Cruise for Young Couple
 

Hey All,
I'd love to hear people's experiences with European River Cruises- particularly the Christmas Market cruises, but all insights are welcome.
My husband REALLY wants to do a Christmas River Cruise. Any particular companies or countries that are just must-sees?
I'm also a little concerned about our age. We're a very vibrant young couple: we're both around 30. I realize that the clientele is generally older on these cruises, but is there going to be so much of a disparity that it interferes with the vacation? We've done a Holland America cruise before and had a blast. I know it's not exactly the same, but they cater to a little more mature crowd as well.
Any advice?

**Well that didn't make sense. I was trying to say: "Any particular cruise companies that you would recommend or countries that are just must-sees?"

We've been on HAL several times and Viking once. Can't say that age is a problem unless you prefer real hell raising party ships. If it's a Christmas market trip you want, you are pretty much limited to Germany and Austria. I know Viking offers some Christmas Market trips. Can't imagine an ocean line offering one. Incidentally, Viking is great. Probably better that HAL. Small is great and unless you are really extraverted, I can't imagine age being a problem.

Thanks for your response, Reme! No, we DON'T like the crazy party ships. :) I will definitely have to look into Viking!

You will be the youngest by many years;only a problem if it bothers you. Also look at Uniworld and AMAWaterways for river cruising.

We are a senior couple who have taken a couple of trips with small groups (not cruises) where we were the oldest by far. Although we are pretty active for our age we took longer to do things and didn't have the stamina of the younger travellers, but otherwise the range in ages was not a problem. So with that in mind perhaps you could think of booking some independent tours at some of the ports where you move at your own pace and see the sites that matter most to you.

I think choosing a trip to do things that interest you means you will be travelling with people who have the same interests and a therefore a basis for companionship.

Have done several Christmas market river cruises, the last one was on Viking, Basel to Amsterdam. While you are on the younger side, age wise, the positives far outweigh the negatives, nice accomodations, unpacking one time, good food, wine included at meals and a chance to dock in great cities and do the markets on your own if you're not interested in doing the group thing. Most stops will include a short walking tour of that city or town, if you're interested it's a nice orientation and then you'll have free time to explore on your own. If you choose not to join the walking tour then you'll have plenty of time to do what you want. Just make note of what time you have to be back on board.

Also, you'll find all ages, some girlfriend groups or sisters, not only couples on Christmas market cruises.

Hope this helps.

Worldtraveler, if your husband really wants to go on a Christmas Markets cruise then I say GO FOR IT! Yes, it's true that these river cruises are geared towards the mature cruisers (including myself) but you will still have a wonderful time. We did our first cruise 3 yrs ago because I was really tired of all the ocean cruises we had been on and wanted a different type of cruising. I got a fantastic last minute special through Grand Circle Travel (http://www.gct.com/) and my husband and I had a fantastic time. It is all what you make of it as you already know if you have been on a HAL cruise. We meet many people such as yourself while onboard and end up having a wonderful time with them. We found the river cruise to be more personal and intimate than the ocean cruises, people are very friendly and receptive to meeting others who share their same interests. The nice thing about river cruises is that you don't have an assigned seating table for dinner but can sit wherever you like that has empty seats. This way we got to meet so many different and interesting people. You aren't "stuck" with the same dinner companions unless you want to be. You sound like you are flexible and fun so would fit in on any cruise!

We loved the Christmas Markets and you will too. They are so much fun and we usually would meet our cruisemates when we went ashore. If you are sociable drinkers you will enjoy trying the "Gluehwein" that you will find at the markets. It's fun to take a break and stop and have something nice and warm to drink. If this is not your cup of tea you don't have to participate.

We flew into Nuremburg and boarded the ship there. It was a wonderful port to visit, so much history there. We took an optional tour to see where the Nuremburg trials took place as well as an escorted ship's tour to the Markets. Here is the itinerary we did with GCT:

http://www.gct.com/trips/2013/christ...nube-2013.aspx

Check it out as there is a nice video presentation where you will get an idea of what you would be seeing. The weather was great, mild and no snow. We brought our winter boots, coats, etc. but it wasn't that cold when we were there.

Please let me know if I can assist you with any other information to help you decide. You don't have much time if you are going this year.
Also check out the www.cruisecritic.com website as they have a whole section devoted just to river cruising and this is where I got a lot of my information for planning our cruise. Good luck! Let us know what you decide but I hope you take my advice and go!

Thanks for all the advice! :)