river cruise Viking vs Amawaterwys
 

Viking seems quite a bit less expensive but is Ama Waterways worth the additional $$
on the verge of booking a river cruise from Lyon to Arles, France

If you haven't already, you might want to read a few of the reviews of both companies on cruisecritic.com

A barge trip is a LOT more fun than a river cruiser.

thanks, have checked out some reviews, considering Avalon as well, seems travel agents align themselves with 1 or 2 cruise lines and that's the line(s) they want to promote,

Gretchen, did you take a barge trip on the Rhone?
Thanks

We thought AMAWaterways was a higher level cruise ( service,cabin, amenities, food) than the two we took on Viking. I don't think I would go with Viking again. Uniworld looks very good too.

As I said, read the reviews since whether or not one is more upscale than the other is most definitely a matter of subjective opinion.