Newbie needs help...what am i missing here?

[pickypicky]

My DH is really interested in a river cruise. We have done a few ocean cruises and enjoy unpacking once and waking up every day in a new place. We like small ships that can get close to the ports and are small enough that they're easy to navigate. We don't particularly care for the entertainment. Sounds like river cruising meets all of those criteria, right?

My issue is that for not much more than I will be paying for a balcony/french balcony/some kind of view on a 7 night river cruise (Scenic or Uniworld), I can get a 12 or 13 night ocean cruise in a balcony cabin (Azamara). Both include all alcohol, and the river cruises include a shore excursion each day. Looks like cabin sizes are about the same on both, but in reading reviews I perceive that the culinary offerings are more limited and probably not as good on the river cruise as what we've experienced on our ocean cruises. In those same reviews, I learn that there is the possibility of (a)having to be transported by bus/miss ports due to low or high water levels and (b)boats being rafted together rendering the balcony unusable. We have missed ocean ports before, but it just didn't seem like that big a deal. We still had the ship to enjoy.

Can anyone help me justify spending what seems like an astronomical amount of money for a one week vacation? Are the included shore excursions on the river cruises "all that"? Do they ever offer special pricing and perhaps I'm just looking at "rack rates"? I'm struggling here:confused:...first world problems, for sure!

P.S. We are specifically looking at the Danube, Nuremberg (or similar) to Budapest.

[Hoyaheel]

I've done an 11 day Christmas Market cruise on Avalon and a 12 day (?) SIN - HKG cruise on Azamara. I liked Azamara better. My husband might choose the river cruise. But they're not terribly comparable other than price. I think river cruises are too expensive because of the excursions that are included - I'd prefer DIY. But I'm also frugal and I hate skipping things I've already paid for....

 

We're trying to figure out husband's 50th birthday trip now and we have examined river cruises (his birthday, his choice) but I haven't seen any bargain fares that make me want to jump on a river cruise again.

 

(The cruise itself was excellent - my issue is with the concept and price)

[Got2Cruise]

Here’s the thing. You can’t take any type of Ocean Cruise to the cities on a Danube Cruise. So... you need to decide if you want to visit these cities by a River Cruise or perhaps train travel or Gawd forbid one of those bus tours.

 

The quality of the meals on river cruises is excellent. It’s the choice that is not extensive. You’re not going to have the choice between different type restaurant venues.

 

The quality of the excursions are usually excellent and by reading the reviews of the different lines you can notice subtle variations. Basically you pay for what you get.

 

The various lines do offer special incentives including free or low cost international airfare. Check out all the websites and sign up for the emails.

[Princess-of-Quite-alot]

Just did a fantastic river cruise with AmaWaterways. Message me and I can give you more details or help. Highly recommended!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[acwmom]

Uniworld has special pricing right now, and most lines will have sales throughout the year. Prices also depend on when you want to go.

 

Food is always subjective, but I've found the food on Uniworld to be excellent. When the crew only has to cook for 120 passengers, and there is no set dining time, then food comes out cooked to order, and hot/warm. As to choices, we usually have three options, plus the always available steak/chicken/salmon. If a person wants an entree salad, they accommodate.

 

Low or high water also tend to be seasonal. To get to a bus, you'll always have to be in a port, of some kind, so if you don't want to be bussed, you can walk around the port.....but if the boat leaves to head to the next step, you'll want to be on it.

 

As to the balcony, most river cruises are port intensive. We generally leave the boat at 8:30, may, or may not, come back for lunch, get back in time to shower/change for the port talk, then unwind at the bar or head to dinner. Lounge time after dinner, then bed. We generally walk about 10 miles a day. Thus, we aren't in our cabin a whole lot. On the one or two afternoons of scenic cruising, we spend the time on the sundeck. If we stayed in our cabin, we would miss what was on the other side! Quite honestly, the French balconies aren't anything like ocean cruise balconies.....I don't know about Scenic, but Uniworld only has one chair in the room.

 

The Danube is gorgeous. We prefer river cruising to ocean cruising. But, honestly, they are totally different animals. We have learned so much from the local tour guides, and often do a combination of the included tours and DIY things.

 

Robin

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

[Host Jazzbeau]

Some thoughts about your concerns:

• River cruises are inherently expensive because of the small size of the ships -- just as Celebrity Xpedition is more expensive than other Celebrity ships

• If you put a high value on food, consider AmaWaterways (Berlitz's top-rated river cruise line for food) or Crystal (new entrant in the river cruise market and knocking people's socks off)

• To avoid problems of rafting and low water, avoid the Danube - the Rhine is often recommended for a first river cruise, and the Rhone is a great choice for wine, Van Gogh, and Roman ruins

[pickypicky]

Thank you all for your informative and encouraging replies! We have traveled to a lot of far-flung places, but Prague and Budapest are still on my wish list, so I guess the Danube it may be.

It's nice to hear that the food is generally good. We are much more concerned with quality than quantity and variety and are not "fussy" eaters. I would like to go with a cruise line that doesn't try to feed everyone, banquet style, at one or two sittings. We prefer to dine when we are ready, within the confines of dining room hours. Any feedback on that?

I may consider an aquarium cabin, although some cruise lines don't have an elevator to that level. We're perfectly able to do the stairs on a daily basis, and assume that luggage, etc. won't be ours to haul. Anyone have comments on that?

I've looked and looked and am still in a quandary about water levels...I read that they may be high in spring and low in summer. Is this why fares are higher in autumn?

Sounds like the shore excursions are generally good and worth taking? I had the impression that some people skip them and do their own thing, but I'm like Hoya...if I've paid for it, I feel obligated to do it. But we're not ship excursion/bus tour types as a rule.

We would plan to do Prague and Budapest on our own, before and after our cruise. Thanks again for the help!

[beanpittsburgh]

Took an Ocean Cruise once and didn't like it at all.. Days spent cruising with nothing to see but water is boring. Yes, there may be a pool or a casino but with nothing else to do they get crowded on cruise days.

We absolutely loved River Cruising though. Its great to wake up in a different port each day and most of the included excursions were very informative. The small size crew handles the 140-180 passengers very well. Everyone pitches in to help. The food, while not fantastic, is plentiful and not too bad. They will usually cook some local dishes for dinner (we had escargot in France,etc.). The included wine is average and plentiful but there is no need to upgrade to a better alcohol package. Most cruise lines encourage you to bring your own wine onboard and don't charge a corkage fee.. You can get some great wine bargains in port.Time spent in your cabin is minimal since the sundeck or lounge are the best viewing spots for scenery. Don't spend alot of money for a fancy cabin because chances are, sometime during the cruise you will be docked next to another ship. Because there are no assigned seats, its easy to meet new people.

I realize many people love Ocean cruises but to me it doesn't matter how much cheaper they are than river cruising because of the sheer boredom and tourist trap markets they take you to in port.

[acwmom]

With Uniworld, you can dine anytime. Dinner usually started at 7. We ate as late as 8:30.

 

The luggage is taken care of for you, both at the beginning, and end, of the cruise.

 

Most water level problems tend to occur in the fall. Fares are probably higher in the fall because the weather is better??? We always travel in March/April. Less predictable temperatures, but lower fares, and fewer crowds.

 

We enjoyed our Danube cruise ports. We did do one bus tour, to Cesky Krumlov, and didn't regret it. Salzburg is another bus option, and worth it if you haven't been there. (We did it on our own pre-cruise)

 

Robin

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

[pickypicky]

"The included wine is average and plentiful but there is no need to upgrade to a better alcohol package. Most cruise lines encourage you to bring your own wine onboard and don't charge a corkage fee."

 

 

Thank you...great idea and one I'll remember. My husband isn't a wine drinker...will they allow him to bring on a bottle of vodka?

[Got2Cruise]

"The included wine is average and plentiful but there is no need to upgrade to a better alcohol package. Most cruise lines encourage you to bring your own wine onboard and don't charge a corkage fee."

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you...great idea and one I'll remember. My husband isn't a wine drinker...will they allow him to bring on a bottle of vodka?

 

 

 

You mentioned Uniworld. ALL alcoholic beverages are included except certain exclusive high priced bottles. I believe Scenic is the same.

[pickypicky]

You mentioned Uniworld. ALL alcoholic beverages are included except certain exclusive high priced bottles. I believe Scenic is the same.

 

Thank you. I'm now looking at a couple of others...any suggestions?

[pickypicky]

acwmom: Thank you so much. We will consider May. We're retired so it doesn't really matter. Just don't like to go any place that's colder than home, unless it's summer in Georgia!!! Are European school kids still in session then?

Also, thanks for the Cesky Krumlof suggestion. I think we would do that on the way from Prague to our port. That way we could see Strasbourg from Linz.

[pickypicky]

Took an Ocean Cruise once and didn't like it at all.. Days spent cruising with nothing to see but water is boring. Yes, there may be a pool or a casino but with nothing else to do they get crowded on cruise days.

We absolutely loved River Cruising though. Its great to wake up in a different port each day and most of the included excursions were very informative. The small size crew handles the 140-180 passengers very well. Everyone pitches in to help. The food, while not fantastic, is plentiful and not too bad. They will usually cook some local dishes for dinner (we had escargot in France,etc.). The included wine is average and plentiful but there is no need to upgrade to a better alcohol package. Most cruise lines encourage you to bring your own wine onboard and don't charge a corkage fee.. You can get some great wine bargains in port.Time spent in your cabin is minimal since the sundeck or lounge are the best viewing spots for scenery. Don't spend alot of money for a fancy cabin because chances are, sometime during the cruise you will be docked next to another ship. Because there are no assigned seats, its easy to meet new people.

I realize many people love Ocean cruises but to me it doesn't matter how much cheaper they are than river cruising because of the sheer boredom and tourist trap markets they take you to in port.

Thank you! I don't necessarily prefer ocean cruising. Just trying to justify the price of river cruising! Appreciate your help!

Edited February 5, 2018 by pickypicky
Additional thoughts

[Got2Cruise]

Thank you. I'm now looking at a couple of others...any suggestions?

 

We loved our AMA Melodies of Danube beginning in Budapest. There is an additional dining venue included the Chefs Table. Also an excursion to the Vienna Woods for wine and snacks after dinner as an included excursion.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[FuelScience]

I've looked and looked and am still in a quandary about water levels...I read that they may be high in spring and low in summer. Is this why fares are higher in autumn?

 

You can probably lower your chances of water problems by picking a specific date, but it's always a possibility. A while back there was a post by a cruiser on the Danube describing how they were warned at the beginning of their cruise about the possibility of problems due to low water. Later in the week they ran into problems due to high water. Things can change in a hurry!

[Wings55]

We have enjoyed a number of ocean cruises but two year ago we decide to try a 'bucket list' river cruise with Scenic from Budapest to Amsterdam.. Expenesve? Absolutely but we loved every moment of the cruise. The Jasper was a marvelous ship and the crew couldn't have been more accommodating and special Scenic excursions were terrific.If you'd like, you can find my review of the Jasper from July of 2016 in the review CruiseCritic review section.

We enjoyed that trip so much we booked a last minute special deal with Uniworld this past summer sailing the Rhine & Moselle rivers. Again we loved every aspect of the cruise.

If we had to choose with cost being no object we'd choose Scenic again but Uniworld was a very close second in our estimation. Either provides a top-notch experience and you might select one or the other based on the decor of the ships.

We would highly recommend you give river cruising a try.

 

Paul

[pickypicky]

We have enjoyed a number of ocean cruises but two year ago we decide to try a 'bucket list' river cruise with Scenic from Budapest to Amsterdam.. Expenesve? Absolutely but we loved every moment of the cruise. The Jasper was a marvelous ship and the crew couldn't have been more accommodating and special Scenic excursions were terrific.If you'd like, you can find my review of the Jasper from July of 2016 in the review CruiseCritic review section.

We enjoyed that trip so much we booked a last minute special deal with Uniworld this past summer sailing the Rhine & Moselle rivers. Again we loved every aspect of the cruise.

If we had to choose with cost being no object we'd choose Scenic again but Uniworld was a very close second in our estimation. Either provides a top-notch experience and you might select one or the other based on the decor of the ships.

We would highly recommend you give river cruising a try.

 

Paul

Thank you for this. I have read reviews for the Danube cruises on both Scenic and Uniworld and Uniworld's sound generally more positive. I'm glad to hear that you slightly prefer Scenic. We really like an all-inclusive product and I'd like to keep my options open!

[capriccio]

Regarding pricing - my TA has gotten us 10% discounts on Uniworld's advertised rates. I don't know how many of the other companies let TAs discount but I'm sure past passengers will chime in.

[Capt_BJ]

have done plenty of ocean cruising and the specific river cruise you contemplate (Budapest to Nuremberg) so here's some thoughts on your questions

 

1. When comparing river cruise price to ocean cruise you need to consider that ocean cruises come in a WIDE RANGE or cost options so are you really comparing apples to apples. In other words a cruise on a mass market BIG ship carrying several thousand of pass' is not the same cost as say VIKING OCEAN or WINDSTAR which is what some call 'small ship cruising'. Both of these lines will carry under 1000 pass and accordingly the price is higher than RCL OASIS. Your average river cruise ship is no more than 200 pass' .....

 

2. Because the river is a small vessel the options for just about anything are fewer. There is one lounge and one dining room - maybe one alternate eating venue (in VIKING LONGSHIPS you can eat on the Aquavit terrace). At every meal there are typically 4 choices and IME they try to tailor the day's menu to where you are ... local cuisine will be featured. If you want steak and taters every day and only burgers for lunch the small ship experience may not be for you.

 

3. The smaller the ship the less crowded you feel ... there is plenty of room for everyone to spread out. There's no rush for a good seat for the show (what show?) and the dinning room typically has enuf seats for everyone. IME even tho dining was 'open from X to Y, we found that 90% of the pass' went in as soon as the doors opened anyway! Hungry buggers I guess (we were in the crowd too). But small ships don't have assigned seats and two seatings for dinner ... less structure.

 

4. prices wrt 'included air'. We never use air arranged by the cruise line. Period. We always do better on our own. But we are willing to spend TIME setting things up. I'd note that if spending the $ to go 'over there' we tend to do more than the cruise (river or ocean) and spend time on either end ashore. We set all this up ourselves for WAY less $$ that 'cruise extensions'. (lately we've become fans of BnB accommodations btw). <footnote - how much better have we done booking on our own? Well on our first river cruise we came home on the QM2 (with a balcony) for less than the cost of the plane tickets the cruise line was offering .... it took 9 days versus one, but we're retired!>

 

5. As has been mentioned, when you compare river cruise companies you see quite a range of what's included. We too don't like to pay for things we won't use. If you only drink a lil wine on occasion why pay for unlimited on board. If you DO like to partake, see what the line that does not include charges for the up, versus what the 'all inclusive' diff' is. On our next cruise the line difference was in the thousands but going 'cheap' we could add booze for $100 a week each on a 2 week cruise. {Mrs is a CPA, she crunches the numbers every way possible}

 

6. Some rivers have more high/low water issues than others. And ocean cruises can have hurricanes and the like. There is always a risk ... Paris doesn't routinely flood but look at there today ....

 

7. We've found the included tours/excursions to be similar to the hop on hop off tours available in popular tourist destinations (with out the hops). If you want to spend time at something special there may be an extra cost optional excursion for this. We have always gone on the 'included' .... why not? And have enjoyed a small number of 'optionals' .... typically we just leave the 'included' someplace and make our own way back to the boat/ship - but as someone noted: on a river trip the boat may move during an excursion so be SURE you know when and where to meet 'em. "Honey, I thought this is where the boat as when we got on the tour this morning?????"

 

8. Some random thoughts. We've liked Viking River enuf that we're gonna give Viking Ocean a try this summer. Midnight Sun here we come ....

[Host Jazzbeau]

My experience with included tours (on AMA) is different from Capt_BJ's -- not like HOHO bus tours at all. A bus may be necessary to get you from the port to an outlying village or vineyard, but once there you get a walking tour that IME adds a lot to what you would get DIY. The Quietvox system allows you to hear the guide without crowding around (I hang back to get photos after the group is out of sight). If you are docked close to an interesting place, the included tour will be a walking tour from the get-go. AMA also includes choices for most ports, since some of their customers are repeating an itinerary and have already done the basic tour.

[Floridiana]

Here’s the thing. You can’t take any type of Ocean Cruise to the cities on a Danube Cruise. So... you need to decide if you want to visit these cities by a River Cruise or perhaps train travel or Gawd forbid one of those bus tours.

 

 

I agree. You need to decide whether you want to see the places you can see on a river cruise.

[Floridiana]

I've looked and looked and am still in a quandary about water levels...I read that they may be high in spring and low in summer. Is this why fares are higher in autumn?

 

 

The most unpredictable river is the Elbe.

The Danube has a stretch between Regensburg and Passau that is sometimes too low for hotel ships. Cruises that start near Passau and go to Budapest are rarely affected.

 

Consider your comfortable ship the bus-hotel combination that you would other wise have to book - or you could do it on your own by train or by renting a car, booking hotels yourself, and finding your own way around. This is our plan for 2019.

[philw1776]

My experience with included tours (on AMA) is different from Capt_BJ's -- not like HOHO bus tours at all. A bus may be necessary to get you from the port to an outlying village or vineyard, but once there you get a walking tour that IME adds a lot to what you would get DIY. The Quietvox system allows you to hear the guide without crowding around (I hang back to get photos after the group is out of sight). If you are docked close to an interesting place, the included tour will be a walking tour from the get-go. AMA also includes choices for most ports, since some of their customers are repeating an itinerary and have already done the basic tour.

 

Your experience matches mine on Viking River. Not like HOHO but walk off ship or sometimes bus to destination and walk around with quietvox.

If Viking OCEAN says panoramic, it's code for bus tour with photo stops.

[Capt_BJ]

I guess what I poorly expressed was that the Viking included tour in the places we've also ho/ho'd .. went to the same places for the most part .... at some stops V allowed walk around time .... a ho/ho and a few days in the place allows much more exploring .....