sapphireblue

I am looking to do a river cruise in July or August 2026 in Europe. I have done some research on various river cruise lines and watched numerous YouTube videos but honestly don’t know where to begin. I have sailed on 50+ cruise ships throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Mediterranean & Baltic. I have sailed with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America & Princess. And now would like to experience a river cruise for about 7 days. I would also like to add my own land travel to include Germany, Austria & Switzerland either before or after a river cruise. This I’ll arrange myself. I live in Canada and have read that some river cruises include flights and from the UK. I’m not sure how this would work. Can a river cruise be booked without air? What would you recommend?

Oops. I forgot a little detail. Thanks for asking. We were on Royal Caribbean.

There may be another option available for you next year - taking you to the port of Athinios. We were in Santorini this summer, had our own plans and were wanting to get off as soon as possible. We had read posts by others who had sailed prior to our cruise that it was possible to purchase tender/bus tickets once on board. So, once we boarded, we headed straight for the Excursion desk and purchased "Fira Tender" tickets for $20 per person. (They did sell out quite quickly). We were able to get the first tender at 7:00am (shortly after our arrival in Santorini). This included the tender to the same port that the shore excursions go to, where we then boarded a bus that zigzagged its way up to Fira, dropping us off close to the middle of town, next to a large parking lot which was a pick up point for local bus tours. It took approximately 30 minutes. This ticket also included the bus and tender return with designated times. We opted to return earlier and took the cable car down. Hopefully this will be offered again on your cruise. It worked very well for us.

Positano is beautiful. I will say that on our two visits there, we had a very short time there (it's never long enough in Positano), as we had to fit in the other stops in busy traffic. The drive is a while but I honestly don't remember it being long. There is so much to see along the way - it's a very scenic drive. The driver (while not a tour guide) provided a lot of great information along the way, and made a few photo stops along the road. I didn't get car sick, but asked to sit in the front of the van and I was fine. (One in my travel group took something and promptly fell asleep, and missed a lot. 😄). Yes! It was worth it to me. The beauty of taking a tour like this, is that the driver can make changes to the itinerary, and stop if there is a need to with a small group. They will also take you to a restaurant for lunch somewhere along the way, often with a wonderful view to enjoy. In my experience, after posting on my roll calls, here and other places (along with having Jany add it onto their website that my tour was open to share) it can take a while for others to join. We filled our van days before our cruise the last time I travelled. Some wait until just before they travel to look at tours. My small group of 3 decided that even if no one joined our tour, we were ok to pay the tour rate, because we wanted to visit I would suggest to go with what you feel you're the most comfortable with. 🙂

I also agree with using a local tour company if possible. I have used Rome in Limo on my last 2 visits to Italy ( 6 different tours so far), and will be using them again this month. I've booked various tours and services with them and have had an excellent experience every time. I'm not sure how many are in your party but you could make it a shared tour (an option that Rome in Limo offers). All of my tours were shared to fill a van from 6 to 8 passengers. The contact person with Rome in Limo is Jany - she is incredible. Very efficient and quick to respond. She can also create a tour for you based in your requests, and will let you know what will work or not. When I've booked, I have shared my tour info here on Cruise Critic and also on other social media for my sailing and filled my van every time. Others are often looking for the similar tour and happy to join. The more in your van, the less expensive the cost per person. Someone also noted the distance to drive, and yes, that can be an issue. The RIL drivers are always in contact with others in the area sharing traffic or other issues affecting travel. We had one instance (on our way to Positano) when there was an incident on the road to Sorrento that would affect our plans. Our driver explained the situation and as a solution, offered a wine tasting experience at a vineyard at the base of Mount Vesuvius. There was a charge for it, but everyone in our group agreed and we had the most unbelievable lunch / wine tasting experience. So unexpected but a huge highlight on this trip. Flexibility can be key in this area, but SO worth it.

Try mydaytrip dot com.

No, I have only used Rome in Limo. I did three tours back to back in 2014, and because I was so impressed with the quality of the tour, I booked the same three again this last summer. I have had awesome experiences working with Janey in the office. She is very quick to respond and was amazing at working through some of my requests.

We have stopped in Positano and had approximately 1 hour to roam around the streets and shop. I have done this tour twice so far and the next time I travel to this area I will work with Jany at Rome in Limo to have more time in Positano. I will add that this last summer, due to a travel obstruction on the road that made a visit to Sorrento a problem, our driver suggested a wine tasting (lunch) to a winery at Mount Vesuvius, very close to Pompeii. Oh my goodness! It was an unexpected highlight of our tour. We then concluded our day at Pompeii. It was an epic day. We shared this tour here on cruise critic and had no problem filling the extra seats on our 6 passenger van, making the cost per person very affordable.

I highly recommend Rome in Limo as well. I have done 6 tours with them and can confirm they are outstanding. We just did a tour out of Naples with them this summer to both Positano and Pompeii. Spectacular. Email them and Jany will get right back to you. She is amazing.