We are considering a European river cruise next year and hope for some general advice. Which river cruise would you advise to be the most interesting and relaxing? I understand some rivers are loaded with commercial traffic and are badly polluted. What time of the year would be the best? Is there a line that exceeded your expectations - or you would advise against. We really don't know much about river cruising and would really appreciate any advice you can offer to get us started.



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Try the messasge boards on Cruise Critic web site. Click the River Cruise category. Lots of info there.

Check out Peter Deilmann. We did their Rhone to Paris cruise last Oct.... very nice.

My wife and I went from Budapest to the Black Sea on the Danube last year. Excellent ship, fine food, interesting shore excursions as well as watching the river traffic and shores. Went with Grand Circle -- superb in all respects. Late April, early May. Included add-on trip to Transylvania. Found Bucharest exceeded our expectations. We had been to Budapest 10 years before and were pleased to see how much had been done to improve the city. Friendly people everywhere. Grand Circle, we believe, operates the largest fleet of river ships. Five years ago we went from St. Petersburg to Moscow by river boat. Highly recommend. We do not know what there is about commercial traffic that troubles you, but we found watching other ships to be very interesting and enlightening. I cannot think of a single river we have seen in Europe that is not polluted, very much as they are in America. If you really want to see pollution big-time, go to China, Thailand, and Vietnam.

We have taken four river cruises, the Nile, the Danube, the Yangtze and St. Peterburg to Moscow via various rivers and canals. All of these were with Grand Circle, We have also done a day trip on the Rhine with K & D. In no case did pollution or commercial traffic detract from the trip. We have been totally satisfied with all of them. Obviously, each of them was very different, with different expectations. Grand Circle provides an excellent trip with vary attractive prices, as they include air in the pricing. You will find many detractors primarily based on back office issues, but in 8 trips with them neither we, nor any of our fellow travellers have had any problems. The biggest caution on river cruises is the navagibility of the river, particularly in Europe, as low water level may stop traffic altogether, ad high water levels may make it impossible to pass under bridges. The high water is generally, but not always in the spring. The low water can be most anytime. We have never encountered either on our cruises, except in China, where it meant bussing further down river to pick up the ship. I don't know of a better place than this forum or Frommmers to get information on river conditions by season. I have found Cruisecritic useful at times, but it is dominated and structured for ocean cruises, which do far more volumes.

River cruising is a great way to go, as most populations grew up around rivers, and ususally you dock close to the center of the cities and villages along the way. Generally go for the lower priced, lower decks, as you spend very little time in the cabin. Usually they will be pretty small anyway. On some Grand circle ships, these lower cabins are actually larger than the upper cabins, which have small balconies, but the space for the balcony comes out of the cabin. Grand Circle is generally all Americans, which may be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on your point of view, but it does mean than language difficilties with the crew and staff will be minimized.

If you any any specific questions, we would be glad to answer them either on this forum or by Eamail.

Jack and Ann