pinkmomagain

Thank you all so much for taking the time to weigh-in. I'm taking all into consideration. We've also been looking at barge cruises too (Belmond, French Country Waterways, and A&K) -- which is confusing us even more, lol. Anyone have experience with barge cruising?

Have done Rhine, Rhone, and Danube on Uniworld. If you want more details about the stops, scenery, Uniworld onboard experience, etc - I did trip reports on all of the cruises.

 

The destinations are all a lot of fun and it would be hard to go wrong on any of them. They would all make very nice anniversary celebrations and really you can decide based on what countries you want to visit.

 

The only problem is that now I need to find a different destination for our 25th in 2020... Even though I would go back to any of those three rivers in a heartbeat.

Wow you are certainly well-traveled. Scenic-wise would you say that one of those rivers stood out as most stunning? And would you say that one of the Uniworld ships was a particular favorite? Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post!

I would also look at Crystal. We have been on 5 river cruises, and will actually be celebrating our 25th next spring on a Viking Ocean cruise. We have sailed Uniworld (4 times) and Avalon once. Our preference is Uniworld, for its inclusiveness. Our next cruise may well be on Crystal, as it is also all inclusive, but has a higher staff:pax ratio, and fewer passengers on board.

 

I would look at the Danube. It has been our favorite with regard to scenery. Also a lot of opportunity for hiking and biking.

 

Congrats, enjoy, and happy planning!

 

Robin

Robin, Congrats to you too! I will look into the Danube itineraries and also at Crystal. Thanks for your suggestions!

Look into Amawaterways. They have excellent reviews, a specialty dining option at the Chefs Table, plus a biking and hiking option at every stop.

Thanks so much! I will take a look!

We'll be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary next year and we are thinking of an 8 day cruise (with maybe a pre or post stay of a couple of days). We are in our early 50s, foodies, enjoy art/culture, nature, moderately active (walks, hikes, bikes). Looking for something romantic & really special. Thinking about Burgundy & Provence. Looking at Uniworld, Viking, Avalon right now. Are there any destinations aside from this one I should be considering? Any other cruise lines I should be considering? (Budget is not an issue.)

Just came back from our cruise on the Epic in the Med and had to come on to this thread and thank previous posters for their RIL recommendations. I can now recommend them too. We had three great tours that went perfectly smoothly.

Our first tour was Pisa/Florence with Laura. We had a tough time disembarking and we were all pretty grumpy and then came upon smiling Laura waiting for us as soon as we got off the ship. She completely changed our moods in a split second. She was charming. She was also a very good driver. She took us first to Pisa, where I climbed the tower with 2 of my kids. Then on the way to Florence she took us through part of the Chianti region. She offered to stop for wine/olive oil tasting, but we were eager to get Florence. By the way, it was over 100 degrees in Florence that day. It was very hot. We saw David and many sights that day. She always got us very close to the sights. We hardly walked at all. She also recommended a great restaurant for lunch and was able to secure a table for our party of 5 even though the place was very crowded. Later that day she took as to a yummy gelateria and even gave us some baby wipes she carried with her when my kids got messy with gelato. She, of course, got us back to the ship without any problems.

In Rome we had Marco. Also a great driver. One of the good things about going in August is the lack of traffic in Rome. We zipped around no problem, and again hardly had to walk because Marco got us so close to sights. He treated us to a fantastic place for espresso first thing. And a wonderful spot for lunch. We saw so many amazing things in Rome, and Marco was very knowledgable with a book showing how ruins likely looked years ago. Bought some postcards for my little one who was fussy. For the Vatican, we had lovely Aurora. She was amazing. She explained things so well, particularly for the children. She was very knowledgable and was very charming. Again, no problem at all getting back to the ship on time.

Finally, in Naples, we had Tony. Nice guy - treated us to Limoncello and grapes. He took us straight to Pompeii where we met Lorenza. It was HOT. But she took us around for more than 2 hours. Very nice. Was patient with my little one. Then we chose to go straight to Positano where we had an AMAZING lunch over looking Positano. Tony got us in there early so that we could enjoy it before the crowds. We toured the town afterwards. Then went on to Sorrento for a brief visit. Once again, no problem at all getting back to the boat with plenty of time to spare.

All in all, very professional and reliable. It was pricey for our family of 5, but worth the $ for getting close to the sights, packing alot in, and having flexibility for our kids. We did pay with Amex TCs in Euros with no problem. We tipped 10% in euros, as that was the best our budget allowed.

ETA: BTW, all of the Mercedes touring vans we rode in were very comfortable and immacultely clean.

Thanks for all of your input. Thought I would jump on to say that we've decided to book private tours. Ultimately, we want to make sure that we get the most productive, enjoyable experience in each city and didn't want to risk missing things on a large-group ship sponsored excursion and losing time possibly by doing it on our own (getting lost, sidetracked).

Isabella and B. Cole....would you mind posting the guides/tours you used?

Hokiepoq...that's disappointing. I am seriously considering the Pompeii/Sorrento tour from NCL because it sounded like a good pace, but not good to hear that your Pompeii guide was subpar.

To all, thanks for your thoughts/experiences. I've been at the computer for 2 days debating all the points and so far all I have is a huge headache! Ugh.

In a few weeks we'll be in the Med on the Epic in August and I'm trying to settle on our excursions in Italy. Originally, I was ready to book our tours through RIL based on CC recommendations, but I did a big analysis on many of the NCL offerings vs. private...and if I add in some guides and admission charges to museums, etc. the gap does close in between the two options (of course that is if our family does the private on our own without sharing)...add on top of that the ability to charge the NCL excursions on a credit card (getting points) and the price gap closes in even further. I know the advantage of RIL would be private group, customizable excursion...NCL, guarantee to get back on board at the end of the day.

So I am wondering if anyone has recently done any of the NCL excursions in the Med (Livorno, Cittavecchia, Naples ports) or if they've heard anything from fellow passengers who might have done them? I've read some reviews on NCL, but thought I'd check in here as well for feedback.

For those of you who have used RIL, did you find it easier to pay in cash or traveler's cheque? I'm a little nervous carrying around the cash and I see they won't accept cc as final payment.