Using my own f.f. miles to Europe, which river boat company ??

[petlover]

1. We have a free companion ticket on BA (expiring next summer) so can use this to get to Europe and back in summer 2015. We also have lots of hotel points we'd want to use for our pre/post hotel stays. What kind of discount can we expect?

 

2. We aren't sure which river cruise company to use. We'd prefer an upscale all inclusive of liquor, gratuities, excursions. once on board. Any recommendations?

 

Thank you!

Edited September 22, 2014 by petlover

[cruiseryyc]

2. Scenic Cruises

Edited September 22, 2014 by cruiseryyc

[CPT Trips]

Discount from the cruise line for arranging your own air? Probably none. The lines I'm familiar with add on for air . . . amount of add on depends on dates and itinerary.

[petlover]

thanks,

 

I guess add on air is the same. I'm just beginning to explore possibilities and mistakenly thought air and hotel was included.

I'll look into Scenic cruises too.

[jpalbny]

Really liked our Rhine cruise on Uniworld this spring, and they are all-inclusive as well - including drinks at any time (not just meals), all gratuities (including on tours), and most excursions.

 

Though there are extra excursions you can take for additional $, we had OBC through AMEX Platinum, so we got to do some optional excursions for no additional charge as well.

 

Have a look at Uniworld.

[MerlinC]

My husband and I took a Scenic Tours trip on scenic Jewel last July from Amsterdam to Budapest and it was fantastic from start to finish.

[nana541]

Tauck!

 

 

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[Ozjohnno]

Tauck!

 

 

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I'll second that. We've just returned from our Tauck Cruise and if you truly want an all-inclusive company then I don't believe you can go past Tauck.

[Champagne Cruiser]

I'll cast my vote for Tauck. Not only is it all inclusive, excursions, drinks, gratuities, but they treat you really well and they have some amazing dinners off the boat in palaces, outdoors, etc. but do your research here on CC to see what others are saying.

[caviargal]

1. We have a free companion ticket on BA (expiring next summer) so can use this to get to Europe and back in summer 2015. We also have lots of hotel points we'd want to use for our pre/post hotel stays. What kind of discount can we expect?

 

2. We aren't sure which river cruise company to use. We'd prefer an upscale all inclusive of liquor, gratuities, excursions. once on board. Any recommendations?

 

Thank you!

 

You should not expect any discount. Price and book the cruise only option with whatever line you choose. Make sure you choose a line that does not include these in the cost of the cruise. They will not remove components that are part of their package and offer a discount.

 

We always book our own air, hotel and transfers.

 

Uniworld is inclusive of liquor and gratuities.

 

Our preference is AMA and we are on our 3rd AMA cruise in 7 weeks, and 8th river cruise overall. We very much enjoy the onboard experience with AMA and their attention to detail.

 

We prefer not to have liquor and gratuities included as our bar bill is always reasonable and we tip as we prefer.

 

Scenic and Tauck are also inclusive but Tauck may include items you will not use but will still be paying for as part of your fare.

[pacmom]

There are three lines that are all inclusive at the present--Scenic, Uniworld and Tauck. As others have said compare the lines, see what is non refundable part of package, also the itinerary and size of cabins and number of pax. Of the three we have only traveled with Uniworld--the six trips were wonderful, but have not traveled with them since 2006. We really like traveling with AMAwaterways, but they are not all inclusive. Good luck finding the right company and cruise for you. Be careful, river cruising can be addictive--we leave on number 20 on Nov29th. Pat

[ewizabeff]

Another vote for looking into Uniworld. Service is top notch. My bill at the end of the cruise was $85 because I got a massage. Mom's was $2.50 because she bought some stamps.

[amd1234]

I vote for Uniworld ... All inclusive.

[Ozjohnno]

You should not expect any discount. Price and book the cruise only option with whatever line you choose. Make sure you choose a line that does not include these in the cost of the cruise. They will not remove components that are part of their package and offer a discount.

 

We always book our own air, hotel and transfers.

 

Uniworld is inclusive of liquor and gratuities.

 

Our preference is AMA and we are on our 3rd AMA cruise in 7 weeks, and 8th river cruise overall. We very much enjoy the onboard experience with AMA and their attention to detail.

 

We prefer not to have liquor and gratuities included as our bar bill is always reasonable and we tip as we prefer.

 

Scenic and Tauck are also inclusive but Tauck may include items you will not use but will still be paying for as part of your fare.

 

I realise you tend to go out of your way to denigrate Tauck, albeit subtly, but can you please outline for us the items Tauck includes that you and others will not use but pay for? I'm sure others are wondering this as well.

[petlover]

I am curious what we wouldn't use as well? Thanks so much for all the great help. Sounds like there's excellent choices, now we just need to choose the when and where.

[papa B me]

Here's another vote for Uniworld. Went on our first river cruise with them and as others have stated are truly all inclusive. The food is fantastic and the service is all first class. We were blessed to be in a suite that included a true balcony and butler service which really placed it over the top. Be aware that Uniworld's newest ships are truly remarkable compared to many we saw or passed through on the river. We were on the SS Antoinette which sails the Rhine. A sister ship will was launched this year, the SS Catherine which sails southern France, and next year they will launch the SS Teresa which will sail the Danube. These 3 offer amenities such as an indoor pool, larger cabin sizes, real walk out balconies on many of their suites. We booked our own air. We did use their pre cruise package but didn't use the post cruise. They did provide transportation back to the airport to pick up our rental car post cruise even though we didn't use their services. The 3 optional tours JP alluded to on his post are very reasonable if you choose to use them instead of the included excursion for that time even if you don't have OBC. They ranged 39-59 Euros each. We did 2 of the three and were well worth it. Again there was an included tour option at those times but we chose to do two of the optionals instead. Have a great time choosing. I've heard nothing but good reports about Tauck as well and don't believe you can go wrong with either.

[AZCruiserguy]

My husband and I took a Scenic Tours trip on scenic Jewel last July from Amsterdam to Budapest and it was fantastic from start to finish.

Ditto. Just finished our Amsterdam to Budapest on Scenic Jade. Excellent service.

[Brisbanelionsfan]

Scenic. All inclusive, luxury, fantastic all weather balcony.:)

[Talisker92]

We have traveled on river cruises with Vantage and been very happy with them.

Let me give you a heads up on the BA FF miles. I book 330 days in advance because they go quickly. We used a companion ticket for our Russian cruise last year, but flew business class.

The lounge at LAX is great, and it gets you out of the congestion and noise.

[Got2Cruise]

I never cruise Tauck or Scenic but by all accounts they are considered the Gold Standard in River Cruising, and the price reflects that.

[cruiserfromalabama]

Last month we did our first river cruise with Tauck and I can highly recommend them. They really are all inclusive and all we paid for extra was gifts to bring home and some meals before we boarded the Swiss Emerald. My sister and her husband traveled with us and our TA booked our flights so that my sister could use points to fly to Paris. We did not extend out stay, but friends of my sister did and Tauck picked them up at the airport and delivered them to their hotel that they had booked with honor points. I am not sure what services Tauck would charge you for that you would not choose to use though. We choose to take advantage of everything that was offered to us! I feel like we got exactly what we paid for, which was excellent service and complete comfort in knowing that everything was taken care of for us before hand.

[DrivesLikeMario]

1. We have a free companion ticket on BA (expiring next summer) so can use this to get to Europe and back in summer 2015. We also have lots of hotel points we'd want to use for our pre/post hotel stays. What kind of discount can we expect?

Good luck using that companion ticket. We've earned 2 of them and been able to use NEITHER of them. What a waste considering we had to amass $30,000 in charges to earn each free ticket. Even when I've called on the very first day that the new schedules were out, I couldn't get a seat anywhere near the dates I wanted. It's been the biggest waste of time using my BA card and racking up points. I hope you have better luck, but be prepared. I was on it like a hawk trying to get ANYTHING near what I wanted with no luck, year after year.

 

2. We aren't sure which river cruise company to use. We'd prefer an upscale all inclusive of liquor, gratuities, excursions. once on board. Any recommendations?

Tauck is considered the best by most people. Compare a few lines including the Suite Ships of Avalon before making a decision.

Thank you!

 

Please let us know if you get to use that companion flies free ticket.

[caviargal]

I realise you tend to go out of your way to denigrate Tauck, albeit subtly, but can you please outline for us the items Tauck includes that you and others will not use but pay for? I'm sure others are wondering this as well.

 

River cruising is not one size fits all and your preference for Tauck is well known on this board. While it is great that Tauck works well for you, it is not for everyone. Nor can everyone afford their high price tag.

 

I do not denigrate Tauck. And I do not speak for others. I have seen their boats and they are lovely and they have a fabulous reputation. Tauck is simply not for me, anymore than GCT is for me.

 

Tauck is a great fit for those that want luxury and end to end planning and inclusions. I neither need or want to have every detail of my trip planned for me and prefer to plan on my own, based on what we enjoy.

 

We would not use:

- Included transfers - we book our own and prefer that.

- Included additional excursions - we participate in about half of included excursions as is and no optional ones. I have zero interest in having even more excursions included. We are not fans of group activities and prefer DIY at our pace and with our own interests in mind. We prefer to invest in private guides that tailor our time to our interests.

- Hotel stays in high end hotels. We book our own hotels and do not need luxury properties.

 

We prefer not to have unlimited beverages included as our bar bill is very reasonable at the end of a river cruise.

 

We prefer not to have gratuities included in our fare.

 

All of these things that are "included" with Tauck come at a price. I enjoy building my own trip to obtain exactly the experience we prefer. I don't need a trip that is planned from start to finish. For those that do, and that can afford the price tag, I am sure Tauck delivers an exceptional experience.

Edited September 23, 2014 by caviargal

[FlightMedic555]

IMHO the issue is not about finding availability for award travel it is the fuel surchage that BA charges. For an economy ticket the charge is about $600 per ticket, for business it is $1,100. Most will not use miles to fly on BA because of this. Unfortunately your companion ticket is only good on a BA plane.

 

We used BA for our first class flights from JFK to Kenya in January and happily paid the fuel surcharge but that was only because the tickets would have cost about $10k each vs the $1100 or so in surcharge.

[cruisecriticmember]

UNIWORLD for us. If it ain't broke don't fix it and Uniworld has been great for us and to us so we are faithful customers. Our next one will be in the Spring of 2015 on what will be the maiden voyage of their newest SS ( super ship). I really can not think of one thing to criticize about our previous trips with them. One thing I do notice we have done on both our river and big ship cruises is start with the least expensive cabin and with each subsequent voyage upgraded to a more expensive choice. IF the cost is an issue for you I would recommend getting the least expensive cabin available but that means you have to act fast to secure one. If money is no object then splurge. In our experience every passenger on board is treated as an honored guest by everyone working on the ship.