Help!! Which line to book for the Rhine

[MeganM]

My husband and I are in our late 30's. We are looking at booking a river cruise (our first) for 2016 to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and both of our 40th birthdays. We'd like to do on of the "Castles on the Rhine" type trips and have looked into and narrowed it down to AMA, Uniworld, A-Rosa and possibly Tauck (if we can swing it). Anyone have any recomendations as to which line - one that especially has a wide range of ages and or caters to the younger crowd? Really good food is also an important feature to me. Thanks for any help!!!!!

[Host Jazzbeau]

My husband and I are in our late 30's. We are looking at booking a river cruise (our first) for 2016 to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and both of our 40th birthdays. We'd like to do on of the "Castles on the Rhine" type trips and have looked into and narrowed it down to AMA, Uniworld, A-Rosa and possibly Tauck (if we can swing it). Anyone have any recomendations as to which line - one that especially has a wide range of ages and or caters to the younger crowd? Really good food is also an important feature to me. Thanks for any help!!!!!

 

I love AMA, but before you dismiss Tauck as too expensive be sure you are giving them credit for their extra-inclusiveness. The recommended tipping guidelines on AMA and most cruise lines add quite a bit to the published fares [uniworld also includes gratuities in their fares]. Also while wine and beer are included at meals on most river cruises, Tauck and Uniworld include all alcohol all the time; that may be a big deal for some cruisers.

[caviargal]

We love AMA and 3 of our 4 cruises with them have had a very enjoyable demographic that was younger and a lot of fun. We have learned to choose itineraries that have some overnights in port so we can head out after dinner and enjoy the local culture and their theme cruise, particularly the wine cruise we were on, attracted like minded passengers and was one of our best ever. The Christmas Market cruises also have a mixed demographic IME.

 

A-Rosa is on my list at they actively market to a younger crowd. Their itineraries are limited, though, so we have not found a sailing that works for us. But we do hope to try them in the future.

 

We have 3 more cruises booked with AMA as we have been very happy with our experiences so far. We sailed another line four times before we discovered AMA but have not looked back or elsewhere since.

[MeganM]

Thanks caviargal and host jazzbeau for your responses. Caviargal - one of the 2015 dates we are considering for AMA is an " in appreciation of wine" cruise. That looks fun to us. Hopefully they will have similar trips/dates in 2016. I'm interested to hear if anyone has recently done one of the tours with A-rosa. I've read in this forum that someone said their ships are ugly - but then again someone also said the same for Uniworld and IME their interiors are stunning.

 

 

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[caviargal]

We have seen A-Rosa ships in port and thought they were very attractive!

 

We do not care for the decor of the Uniworld boats we have seen though.

 

We loved our wine cruise with AMA in 2012 and are on the Rhone with them for another this November. They do it right and the wine cruise was awesome with lots of included extras.

[notamermaid]

I would really consider an ARosa cruise as offered for 2015. If I have found the correct internet site for the North American market, they offer different cruises for 2015 on the Rhine and Moselle. One option is the standard Basel - Amsterdam or vice versa. What I like about their variety is the fact that they do not stop in Rüdesheim but in Mainz. For younger people and art lovers a superior stop in my opinion. They also do not stop in Kinderdijk (standard with Viking) but have an overnight stay in Amsterdam before embarking. Just search for arosa on google.

 

Oh and do not forget: there are no castles of note North of Koblenz on this kind of trip if you do the stretch to Cologne at night. If you do that stretch during daylight you can see Remagen bridge and some hills with castles and ruins.

 

Perhaps you might like to consider their (or another companies) Rhine/Moselle combination? ARosa combines the Rhine and Moselle by starting and ending in Cologne.

 

You could even combine a flight to London with an overnight stay and then to Cologne by Eurostar and Thalys. Or - the more romantic option - fly into Paris, stay overnight and take the Thalys to Cologne.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

[RSLeesburg]

I would really consider an ARosa cruise as offered for 2015. If I have found the correct internet site for the North American market, they offer different cruises for 2015 on the Rhine and Moselle. One option is the standard Basel - Amsterdam or vice versa. What I like about their variety is the fact that they do not stop in Rüdesheim but in Mainz. For younger people and art lovers a superior stop in my opinion. They also do not stop in Kinderdijk (standard with Viking) but have an overnight stay in Amsterdam before embarking. Just search for arosa on google.

 

Oh and do not forget: there are no castles of note North of Koblenz on this kind of trip if you do the stretch to Cologne at night. If you do that stretch during daylight you can see Remagen bridge and some hills with castles and ruins.

 

Perhaps you might like to consider their (or another companies) Rhine/Moselle combination? ARosa combines the Rhine and Moselle by starting and ending in Cologne.

 

You could even combine a flight to London with an overnight stay and then to Cologne by Eurostar and Thalys. Or - the more romantic option - fly into Paris, stay overnight and take the Thalys to Cologne.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Does Eurostar go all the way to Cologne, or do you need to switch trains in Paris?

 

 

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[notamermaid]

You need to change trains in Paris. You can buy a through ticket. There is a great railway website which has been mentioned here on cruisecritic. Cannot remember where right now.

 

The Eurostar goes from London to Brussels and then you take an ICE or a Thalys to Cologne. Or you can go from London to Paris and take a Thalys or a fast train to Cologne. Brussels to Cologne is quicker.

 

From Paris there are also other routes that take you into Germany, for example Paris to Frankfurt.

 

The Eurostar website is:

 

http://www.eurostar.com/rw-en

 

notamermaid

Edited July 17, 2014 by notamermaid
spelling

[jpalbny]

There is a great railway website which has been mentioned here on cruisecritic...

 

notamermaid

 

Are you referring to the website "The Man in Seat Sixty-one" perchance? I have found that very useful when I want to look at what options are available.

 

http://www.seat61.com/

[RSLeesburg]

Are you referring to the website "The Man in Seat Sixty-one" perchance? I have found that very useful when I want to look at what options are available.

 

 

 

http://www.seat61.com/

 

 

Thanks. I was researching on a different site but will check this one out too!

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

You need to change trains in Paris. You can buy a through ticket. There is a great railway website which has been mentioned here on cruisecritic. Cannot remember where right now.

 

The Eurostar goes from London to Brussels and then you take an ICE or a Thalys to Cologne. Or you can go from London to Paris and take a Thalys or a fast train to Cologne. Brussels to Cologne is quicker.

 

From Paris there are also other routes that take you into Germany, for example Paris to Frankfurt.

 

The Eurostar website is:

 

http://www.eurostar.com/rw-en

 

notamermaid

 

 

Thanks. I used to live and work in Germany in the late 90's, and took the train from Frankfurt to Paris on standard train, not ICE. My wife and I used to travel to London every year for vacation before our son came along, but we never thought to travel from London to Germany by train.

 

We think our son may be ready to go over in the next year or so, and were looking at quick day trip to Paris on Eurostar, but might try to go all the way to Germany. It looks like a four hour train trip from London to Cologne :).

 

By the way, I have traveled on ICE - love it, but not familiar with Thalys. Is this Dutch or Belgian high speed rail? My son is huge train fan.

 

 

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[notamermaid]

Hello jpalbny,

 

that one is not the site I meant, it is: http://www.raildude.com/en/

 

Just found it again!

 

But the website you have linked to is great. :)

 

RSLessburg,

 

The Thalys is Belgian, Dutch and French. You can read about it on: http://www.seat61.com/thalys.htm#.U8gyGrGeL5k

 

It looks, well, cool :) when I see it in Cologne train station. I have only used it once and find it comfortable.

 

For train lovers the place to go is York in the North of England. There is a good railway link from London to York. York is the home of the National Railway Museum.

 

The German equivalent is the Deutsche Bahn Museum in Nürnberg (Nuremberg). This you can actually visit on a river cruise along the Main-Danube-Canal, i.e. Amsterdam - Budapest or similar itineraries!

 

But that is digressing a little...

 

notamermaid

[RSLeesburg]

Hello jpalbny,

 

 

 

that one is not the site I meant, it is: http://www.raildude.com/en/

 

 

 

Just found it again!

 

 

 

But the website you have linked to is great. :)

 

 

 

RSLessburg,

 

 

 

The Thalys is Belgian, Dutch and French. You can read about it on: http://www.seat61.com/thalys.htm#.U8gyGrGeL5k

 

 

 

It looks, well, cool :) when I see it in Cologne train station. I have only used it once and find it comfortable.

 

 

 

For train lovers the place to go is York in the North of England. There is a good railway link from London to York. York is the home of the National Railway Museum.

 

 

 

The German equivalent is the Deutsche Bahn Museum in Nürnberg (Nuremberg). This you can actually visit on a river cruise along the Main-Danube-Canal, i.e. Amsterdam - Budapest or similar itineraries!

 

 

 

But that is digressing a little...

 

 

 

notamermaid

 

 

Ha! We already have plans to see the museum in York...lol. My wife asked about a river cruise, but our son will only be 5 this fall, so he might be a bit too young. One of the day ones he might enjoy - from Duesseldorf to Mainz or Koblenz. Nuremberg might be too far for us this first trip, but will keep it mind if we get over to that part of the country.

 

I agree - the Thalys train does look cool.

 

 

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[Hoyaheel]

The German equivalent is the Deutsche Bahn Museum in Nürnberg (Nuremberg).

 

Thank you! My husband - who likes trains just a wee bit less than he likes boats - was very excited when I just told him. Our river cruise starts in Nuremberg and we'll be there a day early (plus, we're actually in town the first night on the boat as well) Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in a visit. My stepfather will be on the trip with us as well and he's an engineer who works on light rail systems so he might enjoy too:D

[notamermaid]

That is great Hoyaheel,

 

I hope you will enjoy it. Before this threads gets wildly off course, I have decided to put the subject of trains into a special interest thread.

 

For the original question of the "right" river cruise line for the Rhine I remember reading about an itinerary where an afernoon coffee and cake with a German family is included. That sounded great fun. I cannot remember the company. It might have been Uniworld or AMA.

 

notamermaid

[travelfirst]

Viking takes people to a home for coffee and cake. It is nice to visit with a family.

[CPT Trips]

GCT does a home hosted visit on all its cruises. The itinerary, available on line indicates which stop.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I was just reading a review [on another website] of a cruise on Emerald that indicates they did this.