RIVER CRUISES IN EUROPE
 

My husband and I would like to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary by going on a River Cruise, where we can meet people from different countries, see local countryside towns etc. We are thinking of going in September 2005, after the tourist season, for approximately 10 - 14 days. We would like some comments on cruise line, weather then, time to see each town etc.
Thanks

My folks did a Danube cruise including Budapest and Vienna this past fall, I believe on Grand Circle tours and for 12 days. they liked it very much.

I have taken two river cruises with Viking. They were wonderful. One was Amsterdam to Vienna and the other was in Holland during tulip time.
River cruises are very relaxing and you will see a lot of sights. But bear in mind that the passengers are mostly Americans.
I think September would be a lovely time to go. I have traveled in Europe in September and the crowds are certainly a little less. Weather should still be very nice.
I can highly recommend Viking River Cruises. And I use a travel agent who can get a discount on these trips and also she gives you a shipboard credit. She also helps with hotels and other things if you want to extend your trip after the cruise. She also knows a lot about other river cruise lines. Email me and I'll tell you how to contact her if you are interested.
Sue

There's lots of 'river cruises';which river, which countries., etc. The Danube will include many countries.
Chances are you will be surrounded with Americans.
We took a Opera/music cruise that was
fantastic. Dailey Thorpe; We went to operas in Vienna, Budapest;4 musicians on board; a musicale every night, great food; great trip..Max. 100 passengers.

First off, congratulations on 50 years! Wow, that's amazing!

I've only done one river cruise in Europe. This was on the Rhine between Koblenz and Bacharach, Germany. It is free for Eurail pass holders. It's a beautiful stretch of the Rhine, lined with lots of castles, farms, and vinyards. Although the cruises cover longer stretches of the river, you can hop on and off as you like. For example, you can hop on at Koblenz and disembark at St. Goar to tour the castle there, then get back on the next boat along and continue.

The Mosel river valley, which branches from the Rhine at Koblenz, is an equally beautiful but less toured region with a fantastic castle, Burg Eltz. It's 700 years old, it's still in tact and occupied and maintained by the original family that built it!

September is a fine time to go. Crowds will have diminished and the weather moderated. Several towns along the Rhine have car rental agencies. You could rent a car, tour the Romantic Road to Rothenberg, and drop the car off in Munich. Or continue on by car a little further south into the Tirolean Alps in Austria. And with two weeks to play with, this can all be done at a liesurly pace.

Here's another huge recommendation for Viking (we did Moscow to St. Petersburg and were thrilled).

Congratulations of your 50th! I just came across a deal last night on the internet for French Country Waterways (frenchcountrywaterwasys.com) that gives discounts for anniversaries ending with 0 or 5, so that for a 50th, you would get 50% off the price. Unfortunately, we're just at 42, so no discount for us!
Please do not even look at anything with Grand Circle, as we just had a huge disappointement with them that could happen to anyone out there. You can find my post with the details under the cruise portion of this website. Just know that you can book with them, pay the deposit, get the final invoice, and they can still raise the price to unaffordable levels. It's in their "fine print" that they're not liable for any mistakes THEY advertise on their website or to prices quoted to you or confirmed by their agents.
So take my advice, and go with a company that guarantees you a price with booking.
There are 3 couples of us, 2 of whom are celebrating their 40th anniversaries, that are now out there looking for a trip! Good luck, and let us know where you're going!

Better yet, get a good guidebook, do some research, and do the trip independently without a tour company!

I suppose I should start a new one, but I have been thinking of doing a river cruise next year with my husband. I hear about some situations where the river is dry, and the ships could not go to a designated place. When would this be less likely to occur? I have never traveled to Europe so I don't have a clue. I would think May would be a better time of year to avoid such a dissppointment. Thanks.

We have travelled with Peter Deilmann cruises. This is a German cruise company and came highly recommended by our travel agent.

I suggest you pick a cruise that starts on the Rhein and goes to at least Vienna. Whether you start the Rhein part in Amsterdam, Duesseldorf or Cologne (Koeln) is a matter of available time. Except for Amsterdam itself, the stretch between A.and Koeln is really not that interesting.

On our cruise, English speakers were a distinct minority, although everything on the ship was bi-lingual. The other passengers were mostly from European countries, with Germans in the plurality. Tours were generally separate for English and German language passengers. This had the advantage that our bus was NEVER crowded. At meal times, English speakers were either paired with other English speakers (we had a joint table with a delightful British couple, he was a British general and former test pilot of the ARF), or you can ask to be paired with German speakers who also like to speak English.

We opted for an upper deck cabin and were glad we did. Ours was also our 50th anniversary trip,and we found that climbing the stairs from the lower to the upper deck would have been a bit of a chore. Besides, we had a broad picture window versus portholes below. Our ship did not have elevators. But everything about the trip was excellent: Cabin size and comfort, food, service, tours.

First...HAPPY 50TH!I hope I get there!
Second..What's wrong with traveling 'with bunch of American"? Twice I've heard it in this string.
And now my response:) A friend and I are plannig a fall cruise from Luxemburg through Germany's wine country on an Amadeus Symphony cruise. I have read only good things and we are very excited. All daily shore tours included.

I don't think people mean to imply that there's anything wrong with traveling with a bunch of Americans. But sometimes people would like to have a greater chance to have contacts with people from other countries.

Grand Circle has been wonderful for us--We have done over a dozen trips with them and never had a problem--