Cruising throughout the night

[GrammaRama]

As I have been researching different cruise lines for a European River Cruise, I am surprised by how many lines say evening/overnight cruising. I always thought that a fair amount of the cruise would be sailing during the day so as to be able to admire the beautiful scenery as you sail by. Is there any line that put an emphasis on cruising throughout the day or is evening/overnight sailings the norm. If that is the case then I think the time of year would be earlier rather than later in the season to take advantage of the longer days. Any comments would be appreciated

[TravelerThom]

I have done over 20 river on a number (but by no means all) river cruise lines. I also regularly read this river cruise board. It appears that most lines on similar itineraries have similar day / night sailing ratios. The most scenic sections (Rhine Gorge, Iron Gates, Wachau Valley, etc) are almost always done during the day, often with commentary. There is also a fair amount of additional daylight sailing, especially if you sail during the long days of Spring and Summer. IMO there is a good ratio of daylight sailing to time in ports; others may have a different opinion.

 

Note that some lesser sailed rivers (eg Douro, Irrawaddy) have only daylight sailing as those rivers are not equipped for night sailing.

 

Thom

[GrammaRama]

I have done over 20 river on a number (but by no means all) river cruise lines. I also regularly read this river cruise board. It appears that most lines on similar itineraries have similar day / night sailing ratios. The most scenic sections (Rhine Gorge, Iron Gates, Wachau Valley, etc) are almost always done during the day, often with commentary. There is also a fair amount of additional daylight sailing, especially if you sail during the long days of Spring and Summer. IMO there is a good ratio of daylight sailing to time in ports; others may have a different opinion.

 

Note that some lesser sailed rivers (eg Douro, Irrawaddy) have only daylight sailing as those rivers are not equipped for night sailing.

 

Thom

 

Thank you for your insightful reply. Could you give me your opinion between the Rhine and the Danube as to which is the most scenic.

[notamermaid]

Just to expand a little on TravelerThom's reply: in order to get to the prime locations on the rivers the river cruise ships sometimes need to travel quite a few miles. As the emphasis is on port experience during the day - usually 8am to 10pm depending on port and excursion plan - this sailing is done at night. If you prefer much scenery choose a month when you have daylight from 7am to 8pm for example.

 

 

And while you wait for TravelerThom's reply as regards the most scenic river: if you choose the Rhine you might want to consider a Rhine/Moselle cruise which I regard as superior in terms of experiencing beautiful scenery.

 

 

notamermaid

[CPT Trips]

I recently saw an ad for a Vienna to Basel itinerary. This gives several stretches of scenic cruising and the engineering marvel of the Main-Danube canal. It's Crystal's Majestic Europe.

[Hoyaheel]

I recently saw an ad for a Vienna to Basel itinerary. This gives several stretches of scenic cruising and the engineering marvel of the Main-Danube canal. It's Crystal's Majestic Europe.

There are other lines who do that stretch in various ways. We did Avalon NUE-BSL but there were other segments that were on the cruise earlier, from Vienna (and some started in Prague). But we did the Christmas Markets version, in December, so it was dark. We still had some scenic cruising (and yes, we might have been the only people up on deck during that time ;p) but it wasn't the highlight of the trip. Husband is pushing for Rhine gorge/scenery next time. I'm pushing for Vietnam. So, you know, marriage :*

[OneSixtyToOne]

Another scenic river valley is the Moselle. Like the Rhine, it is covered in vineyards and the sailing is mostly daytime.

We just returned from Viking's Paris to the Swiss Alps. It sails on both the Rhine and Moselle. It was fantastic.

We have also taken the Grand European Tour from Amsterdam to Budapest. It sails on the Rhine as well as the Main and the Danube.

The castles along the Rhine are by far my favorite section.

[Kenster]

Ships sail at night to allow more time for day trips and walks in port towns. We also love the daytime cruising. I think most lines have a pretty fair balance.

 

 

We've done three river cruises. All Avalon. Rhine and Moselle from Amsterdam to Basel. Danube/Main/Upper Rihine from Vienna to Amsterdam. And lower Rhine/Main/Danube from Basel to Vienna (last month.)

 

 

So, we have now covered the same sections (except the Moselle) twice. They're all great but I would say the Rhine and Moselle is the most scenic overall. The Rhine Gorge is awesome. This also avoids the potential problem of low water in the stretch of the Danube between Regensburg and Passau. Notorious for low water though both of our Avalon ships sailed right through when all the Viking, AME, and everyone else was tied up and busing their people everywhere.

[tracyasu]

We had a couple day cruising on Scenic recently (Budapest to Nuremberg) was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it.

[sharkster77]

I believe that in some cases overnight sailing allows ships to deal with locks while passengers are asleep, as opposed to slowing things down during the daytime. Same reason why ships sometimes pick up passengers in a different location after an excursion--while passengers are enjoying excursion, ship is dealing with queuing up for lock(s).

[gnome12]

I know some people are enthralled by locks, but I have been through them since we had a houseboat on the Trent Canal system over 50 years ago. Once you have seen a few they no longer interest me.

 

River cruising developed from the land tour industry as a way to get to destinations without having to pack up and take a bus; the cruise ship acts as a floating hotel to allow you to maximize sightseeing time in port. The exception to that is particularly scenic portions of the river which are cruised, and some longer distance travel between two sights that can’t be done overnight.

 

The exception, as noted, is rivers that require daytime navigation to which I will add the Mekong.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Rebel54]

We did the Prague to Paris and there was a split between day and night cruising. We cruised at night but were usually pulling in to a location early in the am so we got to see some scenery. There were a couple days we sailed during the day where there was some particularly nice scenery to see. I'd rather sail at night and spend my days seeing the towns. There were always a couple hours before dark that we were sailing so we could see things along the way.