rawlus

When overnighting in a given port, is it permissible or common to leave the boat after dinner to explore the city even more and come back later at night?  is it expected everyone goes to bed after dinner?  

We we have an overnight in Amsterdam and I’d like to make the most of it by seeing more of the city at night before we set sail the next day... is that possible or frowned upon?

thanks for any advice.

rawlus

many of the river cruise lines have added anytime dining, more excursion options including bikes, active/adventure, lesuire and bus-oriented tours, and sometimes more than one eating area (rooftop grills, lounge eating area) in addition to main dining room...over the last several years....

unlike ocean cruising, river cruising is not a year round business... cruise staff tend to deliver a high level of personalized service to a smaller set of guests and both salary and tips need to last through the offseason as during season their jobs are almost 24/7,especially when dealing with the variability of rivers... there’s no autopilot in river cruising.

great posts so far. we are in early 50’s taking my parents (early 80’s) on their first river cruise, we’ve taken them all over to italy a few times, napa sonoma, arizona, oregon, lots of wine country explorations... they are both pretty active but i’m having them train steadily to be able to easily deal with what could be 5 mile day’s of walking on probably uneven or cobblestone streets and such. wife and i will probably also take advantage of bikes and extra active stuff in the afternoons or evenings, but as others have said, the river cruises can be almost as active as our want to make them...

Avalon does not permit children under 8 YOA and has no programs or special accommodations for young kids. I’m ok with that actually.

from my understanding, river cruises have a bit more unpredictable docki times than do ocean cruises, this may make scheduling private tours a bit more of a risk or challenge.... river tours generally tell you the details of the following day on the night before and things tend to be “in the morning” or “in the afternoon” because river traffic, dock availability and the line up for river lock appointments can cause some u predictability which makes exact times possible.

if i were to book a private tour i would book it for a morning but have the tour provider on call for when i arrive at the dock, and then plan to have my return before the boat departs if it is only a single-day docking.

definitely more logistics to a river cruise i think with so many external factors affecting timing.

i suspect this is true for most cruise companies who are selling discounted air... it is not the same as booking your flight yourself where you know the exact seat you’re getting when you book. cruise lines are booking on potential unsold seats.... this is why sometimes the arrangements change, why confirmed seats come late and why often parties are not seated together... it’s not necessarily Avalon fault, you’re free to boomdirect with an airline at additional cost, but when you’re seeking the “free air” or lower prices this is sort of the arrangement you have to accept.

i booked my own air via TA, it was more expensive but i got the seats i needed, we are all together, it’s a direct flight in the extra legroom area of the cabin and i have confirmation already.

it’s about choices. often peace of mind vs cost.