Question for Seabourn cruisers

[wripro]

5 hours ago, rols said:

That was a great review and echos what my friend, who cruises Crystal and only Crystal both on ocean and river, tells me. 

But Crystal doesn't do a France itinerary so it moot for purposes of this thread.

[Hanoverian]

Perhaps a hotel barge cruise?  I cannot speak from experience, but we are intrigued by what French Country Waterways and European Waterways offer.  Usually a week on board, a range of 6 to 12 passengers total.  Maybe it may appeal to you, MarciAnn.

[alidor]

 

We have looked at those too, but what bothers me is what if you don’t like the other people on board?   It could even be a group, one that you aren’t part of.   I’m referring to the very small boats that do the waterways tours.

[Hanoverian]

Good point, alidor.  There is certainly nowhere to go if on a hotel barge to avoid people that you may not fit in with.  The brevity of the cruise becomes your only saving grace.  But river cruises also have a far more regimented routine that ocean cruise ships, such as meals and activities at set times, which requires a bit more effort to play nicely with fellow passengers. 

[clarky]

We have sailed Uniworld- Amsterdam to Budapest.  We had a Royal Suite.  Amazing experience.  New boat, excellent staff.  Wine and Food were also very good. We also did the Nile in Egypt with Uniworld and it reinforced their care and service towards it's guests.  We sailed the Rivers of France with Scenic (we chose Scenic because the itinerary was longer than the uniworld offering). We also had a Royal Suite.  Scenic was good but not as good as Uniworld in my opinion.  The suite on Uniworld was far superior.  The food and wine were about the same but the service on Uniworld was much better.  I did like that on Scenic they had a special event that was not an extra charge where on Uniworld the special event was for a fee.  We have friends who we cruise Seabourn with and they did a river cruise with Tauck and highly recommended them.  Sounds like Crystal would also be a good option.  All the river cruise companies I mentioned are all inclusive if I'm not mistaken.  Most other companies are not.  I would look at the options for these four companies and decide which itinerary suites you better along with timing and the boat they are using on the itinerary you like.  Great to have so many options nowadays with river cruising.  I agree you can not compare River cruising against a sea cruise but you can compare River cruise companies.  So far Uniworld would be my preference but I would not rule out Tauck or Crystal.

[wripro]

My main problem with Uniworld is the decor of the ships. Not sure I could spend a week or two with all the fake Baroque atmosphere. I like clean lines which is one of the things I love most about the Seabourn ships.

[marazul]

Viking is more of a well run mass market experience.  For river cruising AMA and Uniworld are a cut well above.  (I expect Crystal and Tauck are more so, but I haven't tried them yet.)

 

For cruising in France, the French Country Waterways barges are beyond extraordinary.  As part of the cruise, they take you to a 3-star Michelin restaurant one evening (in our case, Lameloise in Chagny), but we all thought that the food and wines on the barge were far superior to the restaurant! 

[galeforce9]

Really enjoying your reports SLSD.  Keep it up!  Seems like you’ve covered a lot of Kyoto in a short space of time, so full marks to your tour company.   We were advised by our hotel to visit Fushimi Inari shrine pre breakfast.   As I am a keen photographer and it was the sticky height of summer, we caught one of the first trains of the day. The hour had a 5 in it!!  

[clarky]

The decor might be over the top but in our suite we had a balcony that had not only glass that came down automatically but a fly screen that came up automatically as well.  Fantastic for evenings as bugs can be a problem in the evenings on the river.  Also had a drop down TV (from the ceiling)in the bedroom, a large mirror above the couch that turned into a huge tv screen.  The light switches were electronic and you just held your finger over to activate. Plenty of usb ports.  The pool on board had clear glass surrounding it but when you entered to swim the glass went opaque.  While I could not live with this kind of decor in my  own home we ended up really enjoying the decor.

[jdk-atlga]

Good morning/afternoon/evening (I'm never sure of the time zones): I know that this is an old thread, but I am starting to look at 2023 river cruises. We currently have three SB cruises booked from April 2022 - May 2023. My wife and I have never done a river cruise, but I wonder if you all have any newer opinions (we are looking at 7 or 8 days, just to try the product, somewhere in Europe). I understand that offered preferences, compared to SB, seem to be Uniworld, Crystal, Tauck and maybe Scenic or AMA. Thank you for your thoughts in advance. Best, jdk

[alidor]

I would suggest Tauck or AMA…

[cruiseej]

We did a river cruise on Crystal prior to the pandemic and thought it was excellent. The ships and buses are new and in great shape. The excursions were generally excellent. The decor, food and level of service really reminded us of Seabourn!

[fudgbug]

Viking River does a pretty good job.

[alidor]

Would not recommend Viking.  They do do a good job but other companies can do it better.  Viking does first class advertising which makes them seem very top class, but, in reality, they are not as good as others mentioned.

 

 

[malcliz]

Another vote for Crystal river cruises. We loved everything about it including their own spacious coaches that follow the ship with great excursions and special ‘Crystal moments’. We were looking for a river cruise line which had open dining and seating rather than fixed meal times. We found we could eat when we wanted and chose a table for 2 most nights.  Comfortable modern ships, personal service and great food. Hoping to sail again with them in November. 

[cruiseej]

4 hours ago, alidor said:

Would not recommend Viking.  They do do a good job but other companies can do it better.  Viking does first class advertising which makes them seem very top class, but, in reality, they are not as good as others mentioned.

 

On certain rivers, river cruise ships tie up alongside each other and you sometimes have to walk through one or two other ships if yours was the last to arrive. On our Crystal cruise, we walked through several different Viking ships, and just from that short look at the decor and the passengers as we passed through, everyone in our group of friends unanimously agreed we we very happy to return to our Crystal ship and not to have been on the Viking ships! 😉 

[jdk-atlga]

All: Thank you for the updates. We sailed on the Crystal Serenity (Venice to Barcelona) 10 years ago and it was wonderful. 

Best, jdk

[APFBarb]

We've done 2 trips on French Country Waterways.  They travel on the canals of France in small barges 8-12 guests. Phenomenol food and wines and service.  The canals are not subject to water level variations that the river cruises need to deal with.  These trips are as wonderful as Seabourn and Crystal but in a more intimate way.

Happy to answer questions.

[marazul]

46 minutes ago, APFBarb said:

We've done 2 trips on French Country Waterways.  They travel on the canals of France in small barges 8-12 guests. Phenomenol food and wines and service.  The canals are not subject to water level variations that the river cruises need to deal with.  These trips are as wonderful as Seabourn and Crystal but in a more intimate way.

Happy to answer questions.

So have we. It is a completely different experience and it is wonderful. The food and wines were truly outstanding. The tours and service more than the equal of SB.