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Can you pre-pay the gratuities with a cc, and have cash on hand for the above/beyond personal gratuities?

I started river cruising in my late 40’s and we were some of the younger on board. As we have been river cruising the word is out and we are in the middle at 57. The passengers seem to be getting younger by average. We like the lines that have the active excursions choices because it’s a win win for everyone. We usually go Uniworld, but we are trying Ama this summer. I am sure it will be wonderful. Viking was our first and second cruise, and they hooked us to this type of vacation. With all the positive Scenic talk, we will have to try them in the future. I just don’t know how anyone can go wrong choosing a river cruise.

@OneSixtyToOne Does Viking not include the American Cemetery with the Omaha Beach excursion? That was one of the most moving tours I have ever done.

I stand corrected. It was the ocean cruise and Uniworld. Our first river cruise was Viking Rhein but went on Uniworld a couple months after. They ran together. Uniworld has self laundry.

The longship that I have been on provided a complimentary passenger washers and dryers. They did provide a laundry service but never needed to use it as the washer/dryers were easy.

@m41475 yes you can go on your own. There are some stops that dock overnight or leave late. Some stops the boat moves to the next stop while you are touring and the tour bus takes you to the stop. Or you can stay on and move with the boat. The itinerary should let you know but it is not set in stone as they have to work with river levels and other issues that may come up. With that said, the walking tours are really great and usually still give plenty of time on your own. A lot of times it’s a historian or educator. The best part of river cruising is the idea of porting in or near the towns.

We stayed in a couple of places but Schweizerhof is our favorite which is right next to your hotel. We were going to eat at the GAIA but wasn’t impressed with the menu. (It is a very nice hotel)That is when we noticed a lot of business locals eating in the train station. The patio restaurants were outside city hall area. A lot of choices and the tram stops right there.

You might think this is crazy but my favorite meal was upstairs the train station. A lot of small restaurants and one over looked the tracks and sold pizza, flat breads etc, and I had a caprese flatbread that was delicious. There is a bank in the train station also if you need cash. Otherwise, across from the old market (i will look up the exact place) there are restaurants with patios on a no vehicle street. I think you will love that area. So convenient.

Hahaha That is what I get for trying to work and post at the same time. Airplane clothes. As in what I wore on the plane and would like to wear back home.

Thank you. I like washing airplane and undies.

On Antoinette there is a pool but it was very cold. It has a jet to swim against but it was too cold to stay in the water and this was in July. Beatrice did not have one that I can remember but probably wouldn’t have used it anyway. You will enjoy Uniworld.

My advice for going a few days early is to make sure that the Paris excursions do not include things you will see on your own i.e. Versailles. That just happened to a friend of mine last year. She went to Versailles and Latin Quarter and ended up doing both as cruise excursions without the lines and saw more with the tour guide. That will save some tourist time. The walking tours should be good excursions in the cities and towns they are offered. A lot to see in the beautiful Normandy area.

Have you ever been to Paris? I have been on the cruise with Uniworld and 8/5/23, I will do the itinerary again with Ama. Normandy is beautiful and the national cemetery is very emotional. Let me know what questions you have. I have been on Viking (just not that itinerary) and to Paris many times. One of my favorite cities.

To answer your question about Basel. We have been there 3 times and there is a lot to do there for a few days. We stay by the train station SBB as it has a major tram stop. You will get a free tram card at check in and we used them to go all over the city. Hop on..hop off. The Red Church is within walking distance. You can take the tram near the French border and there were some great restaurants, as well along the river. We then just took a taxi from the train station taxi stand to Viking. We have only flew into FRA and ZRH. Both are about approx. 1hr. Straight. Watch as some of the smaller boutique hotels do not have air.

I would love to know Ama prices. We have only sailed with lines that include guest laundry, with makes my packing so much lighter.

The yoga/stretching classes are very basic but after a fun night of dancing, it needed to be basic. The classes are a good way to meet fellow travelers and the fitness coach is also who leads the activity excursions. Please report back on your trip. I can’t wait to hear.

Enjoy Uniworld. It so far is our favorite line. Personally. I have never had an excursion we wanted fill before we reserved our place. We do tend to take the active excursions. I have been on the Beatrice and it is a lovely boat. SS Catherine is my favorite but that’s an opinion. It was on Beatrice that I had my first champagne with Bombay drink, French 75. My favorite to have on board now. Our cabin was a french balcony, which gave us plenty of storage. We tend to book later than earlier so we usually have our docs emailed. I get up very early and I love having a guest laundry, and fitness center.

CastleCritic has given a lot of great information. To piggy back on the information…our first river cruise was on Viking on the Rhein from Basel to AMS. I had to take a different flight from my DH, I flew into FRA and took the train straight from the airport to Basel. Very easy, We had a great time. The included excursion’s were fine for us. We also enjoyed all the time we had on our own as we tried pubs and shops. (I am a shopper) Most of the stops were in the center of towns except Strasbourg. We were bussed into town and after a city tour we had plenty of on-our-own time. We had the swan view cabin and we did wake up with swans looking in our window. We have had balconies since, and it doesn’t matter. We usually have to book last minute so we get what is available. We went around the first of July. The heat didn’t bother us, the weather was perfect as was the river levels. One of my favorite memory was the day cruising with the expert explaining the castles and houses we were seeing along the river. Please ask if you have any questions. I went 2013 so I am not sure what help I can be. Be ready for many more river cruises in your future.

@jpalbny Thank you for the information. In Paris, we will stay at the Hotel 31, it is our favorite boutique hotel and not by the train station. Thank you for the recommendation for the hotel at St Pancras. That looks like a great hotel so I believe that will be our choice. We will spend 2-3 days in London and 1-2 days in Paris. My nerves won’t take using the train the day of the cruise. And it gives me time to shop at a couple of my favorite stores in Paris.

We have been to Paris numerous times and love the city. I have always wanted to take the chunnel so thought this would be a great time to check that box. Plus we have only been to London one time and feel we have so much yet to see. With a 115.00 train fare (at this time), why not? I read from Seat61 that french strikes do not affect Eurostar travel. Not sure if that is true. Right now we have 2 days pre-cruise in Paris but we can change to 3 days London. I have too much time to think about this trip. Usually we only book a couple months ahead because of scheduling.

After all the train talk we decided to fly into London for a few days before our Paris (Normandy) river cruise in August. We have gone to Paris many times but London only once and the Eurostar 2.5 hour trip sounds exciting. Would you recommend taking the train the day of the cruise or spend the night in Paris the night before it leaves? If anyone has done this, I would love your expertise.

Thank you for taking time to answer questions. We will be first time Ama cruisers (not new to river cruising) on August 5, from Paris. We weren’t sure if Ama was going to check all our river line boxes because all inclusive is important to us. We decided on Ama because of the wonderful reviews here on Cruise Critic. My question is in regards to your research, are river lines going more towards inclusive, or semi inclusive. We can not wait to be aboard AmaDante.

I wonder if traveling right after Covid, travelers opened Pandora’s box. We were on Uniworld July 2021. Most of us were tipping the tour guides and bus drivers knowing they had not worked in a while. Interesting thought anyway.

@sharkster77 and I am sure there are a lot of choices of east coast to AMS flights. I will have to say that in Basel we were there early and decided to find the dock for the next day. We started talking to the crew and telling them we will be on the boat the tomorrow. They invited us to go on the bus tour, and we did. The cruise was going the other way, so it wouldn’t have been our excursion. The main reason I love river cruise vacations. Much more personal experience.

I agree that it is not worth the stress trying to fly the day of anymore. Now I just stress do I go one or two days early.