River Cruise Company for O-lovers?

[LHT28]

Avalon is a definite plus. We have sailed on her 2 times. There is a new company, Scenic Tours, which I understand is out of Canada. Their river boats have balconies on which you can actually sit. Go to their website.

 

I don't know anything about them, but our agency is booking them and has had a good response.

They are Australian but have an agent in B.C. Canada

http://scenictours.com/history/

 

They look pretty good...more inclusive than some other lines

 

Still trying to convince DH to fly to Europe for one ;)

 

lyn

[spindrift]

LHT28. Thanks for clarifying that. If it is Aussie, it HAS to be good. :p Anyway, we are thinking about trying it next summer.

[winegirl]

We've been on Oceania Insignia and AMA Waterways.

 

The upper end cabins on AMA are either suites or "larger" cabins. We had a cabin on A deck but not a suite, 170 sq. ft. It was a very nice cabin with nice appointments, but still small compared to any ocean going vessel. There was a "French balcony," which means you can open a picture window to a railing flush with the side of the ship, primarily for views or air. I haven't seen any "balconies" as commonly known on the river cruisers.

 

Some people mention Tauck, which has the reputation for a high quality product. To the best of my knowledge, however, Tauck will lease or book a vessel owned by another company--they don't own the boats themselves. If you have the name of the vessel, you can google the ship name and find out who else uses/owns the vessel. Correct me if I'm wrong here though.

 

Oceania's food was far superior to that on AMA. When we cruised on AMA, it was best to stick to the fish, and perhaps chicken dishes. Wine served was drinkable but definitely "local," meaning low end.

We did find on our Tulip Time cruise that the staff was Eastern European and had some language difficulties when it came to speaking and understanding English. One thing I did find is that the lines hire different "hotel service" in different areas. In other words, a private company provides the hotel management, food service, etc. and this may differ from cruise to cruise. Some people may have a great experience and some may have an indifferent experience.

 

The river cruisers dock all over the place. Some places may be convenient for private touring or visits to town but some may not. I'd research where your ship is docking if you don't want to take the included excursions which will probably involve a bus ride. We liked the excursions. However, some physically challenged people complained of the fast walking pace, etc. I have seen that AMA now has excursions for different levels of ability, at least on some itineraries.

 

River cruises are good value for the money. If you want a decent size cabin, AMA and Avalon have larger cabins than some others. However, my TA, knowing what we liked, recommended Uniworld as the top of the line. They are expensive, especially for one week cruises. They also have very small cabins, and that's one reason why we are choosing to go it on our own for travel from Vienna to Munich.

 

I'm more and more convinced that the hotel management service hired for your cruise means the difference between a great experience and a mediocre one.

[nyfeds]

My husband and I have river cruised on both Deilmann, which, very regrettably does not offer river cruises any longer, as well as AMA. We've ocean cruised with Regent. We were elated with Deilmann and are so sorry that they no longer offer river cruising. Just not enough demand from outside Europe. We were completely blown away with service levels and dining, which was the equivalent of dining in a 5 star restaurant. Superb. A huge loss for the river cruise industry.

 

AMA was a real disappointment; specifically with their inconsistent, lackluster dining and cattle-call dining room arrangements. Poor dining is most assuredly a deal breaker for us. AMA cabins, however, were small, yet comfortable and housekeeping levels for our cabin were very good.

 

When we return to river cruising, we will go with Tauck. A very class act when land touring with them. I've read and heard nothing but stellar reviews from those who have river cruised with Tauck.

[pacheco18]

Very glad I asked all of you

Terrific information which I will use when determining which line to choose.

As always,O cruises are sharp and give great advice.

Thanks for all the responses.

[shoshona2]

Hi,

We have been on all three Oceania ships as well as Azamara's Journey and Crystal two times. We took a Tauck Riverboat cruise on the Rhine/Moselle last July and will be taking AMA's new ship the Katarina from St. Petersburg to Moscow next September. We were very pleased with our experience with Tauck. We have taken 14 tours with them in the past and had wonderful experiences on the Le Ponant and the Le Levant which are French ships chartered by Tauck. Tauck is a really terrific tour company and is on top of ALL situations should they occur. It doesn't matter if they own the ships or just charter them. They used to use Regent for their Alaska tours.

 

Tauck is more expensive, but you only have to arrive at the airport in the departure city since EVERYTHING is included. They will pick you up and take you back to the airport at NO charge. There are no port taxes, no tips, no extra tours, and next year they are including a free night at their 5-star hotels either at the front end or the back end. Repeat passengers will be getting two free nights. The oldest ship that Tauck uses was is 3 years old. There is a new ship coming for 2011 to do the waterways of France.

 

So, if you are looking for a upscale experience, go to Tauck's website and view their video or go to U-tube and search for a video. We have heard good feedback about AMA and since Tauck isn't doing Russia, we booked AMA.

 

Sheila

[gr'aunt]

Wonderful experience on the Amadeus for a 2007 Christmas Markets cruise. No snow (which we wanted but I understand how those "up north" wouldn't miss it) but some cloudy days pre-cruise in Prague. Very cold on the bridges in Regensberg and Salzburg! The food was just ok for lunch, and went from ok to fabulous for some dinners. But we were never hungry. And the convenience of being able to just walk off the ship into most of the city centers was fabulous. Word of warning for those going to the optional Viennese opera: they pack you in like sardines (makes economy seats on an airplane seem spacious) and it's hot inside. If you go in winter, wear a coat with a tank top underneath. I'm not kidding!

[Mura]

Don't think I'd do a Christmas Market cruise ...

 

Our first river boat was on Viking, Amsterdam-Basel. We were on the last cruise of the year in October. Having traveled in that part of the world in Oct/Nov we knew what to expect, but many of our fellow passengers did not. A light coat sufficed but temps were pretty much in the 40s/50sF. That was cool enough for us!

 

We also did a Viking China cruise two years ago which was wonderful.

 

While our river boat experience has been limited, our two trips were fab.

 

But do remember that river boat cabins are going to be smaller than those on a cruise ship. They are comfortable ... just small!