Underhill...just went thru my old brochure. The ships' cabins range in size from 130 sq. feet to 200 !! Ours was 160. Excursions were extra as were wine and gratuities.. I received an e-mail last week from Deilmann advertising their ocean liner and the excursions were included.

Hmmm...GCT's price includes shore excursions and wine with meals. Decisions, decisions! Vikign looks promising too, but the food on the ships gets only 3 out of 5 stars on a cruise site.

If you're in sturdy health and vigorous I'd go with GCT.
The little luxuries of Deilmann helped us deal better with our infirmities.

Underhill, Viking charged extra for a couple of its shore excursions and you won't get your wine free with dinner. The main negative I saw with regards to their food was that they offered few entree choices most evenings, although all of these observations apply only to my experience on the Russian river cruise which you and I have previously discussed elsewhere on this forum. Viking also had a physician onboard and I understand that the fee charged was something like $5 US plus meds, although I had no personal experience with these services. The mooring restrictions were a result of the lack of tie-down space available, something that was out of Viking's control, although it was fun to go exploring through the common areas on the other river boats (Yes, I was very surprised at the lack of security on these vessels and that we were able to actually do this in Russia in May of 2005!) No wifi on the Volga, but that's sort of the no brainer in that part of the world....

Viking's China cruise was exceptional and I would travel with this company again....

My question is are these cruise suitable for a family with older children or are they primarly older people on board.

kr,

We don't know what you mean by 'older', but, on the three Grand Circle river cruises that we have taken, there have been multiple generations travelling together. In Egypt, there were two sisters, one of there daughters and a grand daughter of 13. There was also a woman in her 30's with her parents and a friend of about the same age as her. On the Danube, there were two college age sisters travelling with their parents and grandparents, and two sisters in their thirties travelling with their parents. In Russia there were two college age girls travelling with their grandmothers, as will as a 40ish couple travelling with her parents. In all cases they fit in well and enjoyed the trips very much. The younger people may have participated in different activities at times, such as going running, nightclubbing, etc., as they may had had more energy. We were very surprised how well the 13 year old fit in.

Jack and Ann

Kr, my kids are in their thirties and these cruises would be appropriate for them. High school and college aged students would find the pace too slow, but would be independent enough to explore on their own when docked at the various ports. I believe that younger children might not be too happy in a setting where they lacked a peer group and there are no guarantees that the trip you book will have other families onboard. Of course you could bring along your own playgroup by traveling with another family if you can all agree upon the destination.....

Try Uniworld ... my wife and I have used it twice and were very pleased. Kids on trip? Have yet to see any younger than early 20's and they were probably bored sick. BUT- great way to go for those 40 and above who like to settle in and be served on board and who want to find some info at each docking through shore tours.