My husband and I are planning to take an Eastern Europe cruise in September and want suggestions on which cruise line to choose. We have Grand Circle credits but were told Vantage is better. Any suggestions?

I am interested in the Smartours Danube discovery cruise, The Road less Traveled. It is a small ship (90 people only) and goes through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and bulgaria in 13 days. I don`t know anything about the ship, the MS Beatrice, but it stops at a lot of interesting places.

Hi,

I am a travel consultant, specializing in cruises. I would check with Viking River Cruises, Avalon Waterways or Amadeus Waterways. Grand Circle gets all of the older ships, but the 3 companies listed above have new ships. Viking River Cruises wins awards from Conde Nast Traveler and Travel and Leisure readers. Avalon and Amadeus are newer companies, but are operated by river cruise industry veterans.

Choose a cruise that only visits a few countries - it is much more relaxing and more time is spent in each port.

Best Regards,
Julia

Can anyone who has done these tell me if there are many single (older) travelers?

I just visited with a friend today who loved her Vantage river cruise tour. She is a widowed, elderly lady, and she found them very "single-friendly," offering lower single-supplement fees and roommate matching. She is planning on river cruising again with Vantage this fall. However, she did mention that most cruisers were couples.