River cruises in Holland

[ranamuk1948]

My Wife and I are concidering a river cruise out of Amsterdam in late April or early May.  We have looked at Viking and Avalon but are not sure which is best.  Right now we are leaning towards Avalon.  Anybody out there with ideas about these cruises?  We have 4 times on Norwegian and once on Carnival but are tired of the mega ship experience.  Would like to get closer to the culture and people of the places we visit.

[Roz]

I suggest you go to the River Cruising forum - lots of good info there.  River cruising is not like ocean cruising. 

Roz

[LHT28]

check on the river cruise forum

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/115-river-cruising/

you will get many opinions

depends on how inclusive  you are looking for

[capriccio]

When you go to the river cruising forum as recommended, start by looking at the stickies at the top of the page posted by Host Jazzbeau.  There is lots of interesting information on river cruises to get you started.

[Lois R]

I agree with the River Cruise Forum suggestion. There are lots of threads over there and many folks who are helpful.

I sailed out of Amsterdam in 2016 on my first River cruise and loved it. I went in April and the flowers were simply beautiful. Hope you have a good time, whichever cruise you choose. I went with AMA Waterways and highly recommend them.

[marco]

While we have not sailed with Avalon, we have done  7 European river cruises with Viking, Grand Circle and Vantage.  All were excellent! I would heartily recommend any of them. Extremely thorough tours and very knowledgeable guides on all of them.  For us, that was the most important aspect of the trip. 

[capriccio]

OP - welcome to cruise critic!  You didn't ask this but as someone who has visited Keukenhof (the magnificent gardens outside Amsterdam and a must see on any spring visit) multiple times, I recommend a mid to late April date.  The tulips (of course it can vary year to year) begin blooming in mid-March, hit their peak in mid-April, and are done by mid-May.  Check out https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/discover-holland/traditional/tulips/tulip-season-in-holland.htm

Edited October 18, 2018 by capriccio

[Suzanne123]

I sailed the last week of April with Avalon and had a great time.  Tulips were in full bloom.  

 

[Hlitner]

If you are planning a river cruise out of Amsterdam in the spring, you might consider flying-in a few days early to enjoy the city and its region.  If your timing is good, a trip out to Keukenhof is an amazing day.  That park has the best tulip collection on earth and is something not to be missed.  You can Google the place.  We do those kind of things on our own, but you can also book tours.

 

Hank

[ranamuk1948]

On 10/18/2018 at 6:48 PM, Hlitner said:

If you are planning a river cruise out of Amsterdam in the spring, you might consider flying-in a few days early to enjoy the city and its region.  If your timing is good, a trip out to Keukenhof is an amazing day.  That park has the best tulip collection on earth and is something not to be missed.  You can Google the place.  We do those kind of things on our own, but you can also book tours.

 

Hank

 

[ranamuk1948]

Thank you for your response.

[ranamuk1948]

On 10/18/2018 at 7:09 AM, capriccio said:

OP - welcome to cruise critic!  You didn't ask this but as someone who has visited Keukenhof (the magnificent gardens outside Amsterdam and a must see on any spring visit) multiple times, I recommend a mid to late April date.  The tulips (of course it can vary year to year) begin blooming in mid-March, hit their peak in mid-April, and are done by mid-May.  Check out https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/discover-holland/traditional/tulips/tulip-season-in-holland.htm

 

[ranamuk1948]

On 10/17/2018 at 1:01 PM, Roz said:

I suggest you go to the River Cruising forum - lots of good info there.  River cruising is not like ocean cruising. 

Roz

I looked at the forum but there seemed to be a lot of negative reviews which appeared to be the result of a draught in Europe this Summer causing cancelations or switching to buses on several cruises due to low water levels.

[Roz]

19 hours ago, ranamuk1948 said:

I looked at the forum but there seemed to be a lot of negative reviews which appeared to be the result of a draught in Europe this Summer causing cancelations or switching to buses on several cruises due to low water levels.

 

Ignore the posts about water levels, and look at the stickies at the top of the forum.  There's a lot of good info there for newbies to river cruising.  Then post specific questions you have in a separate thread so they don't get mixed in with discussions about water levels.  The River Cruising forum is a very helpful and positive forum.  Sorry if you have the perception we're a bunch of negative cruisers.

 

Roz

[bl2sms]

I agree with checking out the river cruise forum.  But, we just got back from an 8 day cruise Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland on Scenic.  All-inclusive (and it really really is).  Excellence in all areas even though we did have to change ships mid-cruise due to water levels.  They made it a breeze to do and we still got to do the Rhine Gorge even though other cruise lines were busing people through that area.  They have figured out how to do it!