Considering First River Cruise

[cleob]

Considering booking our first river cruise to Paris and Normandy through Viking. We’ve been on 7 Royal cruises and have one booked on Celebrity. We don’t know much about river cruises and would welcome tips and recommendations. We definitely want to go to France. We’re in our late 50’s and pretty active. Should we be concerned about being bored while on the ship?

[Host Jazzbeau]

Welcome to river cruising!  I suggest you start by reading the Stickies at the top of this thread.  There is a lot of good information about river cruising.  The short version is: it's nothing like ocean cruising.  There are articles about how to choose the itinerary, how to choose the cruise line, etc.  That will help you focus your questions.

[notamermaid]

cleob,

Welcome to river cruising. I heartily agree with our host. Do read the stickies he has compiled, they are a great source of information.

 

You have mentioned specific things. First, river and cruise line: Viking has a great product but is also the biggest advertiser that wants to convey a certain impression of river cruising. That is not wrong, my advice is just that with your second specific: age and activity level, it is a good idea to look beyond the line that aims at a higher age demographic (and no gym on board). But as you can see from their success a huge amount of people are happy with Viking. For Paris you need to know that only the new-built Viking ships of this year can dock in Paris proper and that is reflected in the cruise price. For knowing what ship docks in Paris rather than the outskirts look at the size, a maximum of 125m is allowed. I am not giving the guarantee that they will but every company endeavours to dock in Paris, CroisiEurope for example always has - the river regulators just do not allow a larger size. In France there are more river itineraries than you may think - the Loire is done by CroisiEurope, so a look at European companies might be a consideration.

 

Third, boredom: you can fill your day with lots activities and need not get bored. As much sailing is done on many rivers during the evening and night you will be on the ship with its limited on board entertainment. For specifics I again refer you to the stickies. For Viking details you might want to look at the roll calls for last year. People sometimes post dailies - sheets of paper that show the plan for the day. One important thing to remember: due to conditions on the river a daily plan can change.

 

Hope this helps. Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

While Viking advertises quite a bit - it is worth looking at other lines also. I would suggest getting brochures from a variety of lines and speaking to someone who has experience in river cruises.

[dogs4fun]

16 minutes ago, Coral said:

While Viking advertises quite a bit - it is worth looking at other lines also. I would suggest getting brochures from a variety of lines and speaking to someone who has experience in river cruises.

Good advice from Coral - there are several lines to consider - not just Viking.

 

9 hours ago, cleob said:

We don’t know much about river cruises and would welcome tips and recommendations. We definitely want to go to France.

Don't know if you just want to cruise in France or are open to river cruises that include France & some other countries. For example, Gate 1 offers a 12 day Rhine cruise that begins in Switzerland and ends in Paris (this 12 day river cruise is roughly the same price as Viking's 7 day "Heart of Normandy" itinerary). 

[AllisonJames]

Cleob — My husband and I are in the same “boat” with you, so to speak.  First river cruise coming up in June, in our 50’s, we’ve got about 17 ocean cruises under our belts, everything from mass market large ships to premium line mid size ships to luxury small ships. I researched the heck out of this and Viking because we loved Viking Ocean. In the end we chose Crystal due to many factors but especially our travel style as a couple.  Scenic ended up our second choice.  We looked at dining style (didn’t want forced group dining all at 7 p.m, wanted availability of tables for two and flexible hours — later dining). If we were going to pay the high prices river cruising commands, we wanted absolutely everything included in the price (some lines only include beverages at lunch and dinner which seems like nickel and diming to us and some don’t include gratuities).  We wanted a line that seemed more flexible and Crystal was reviewed as the “cruise line for couples.” And we didn’t like the fact that Viking wanted payment in full 18 months in advance, did not have a gym, and had more guests on the boats which was a lower guest to space ratio than some other lines.  I realize since you want France Crystal is not an option right now (although I did see that they are going to have new boats to sail in France in next few years).  And I don’t think you will be bored — we are actually worried it will be too active for us and not enough relaxation time as no sea days. Uniworld seemed 

Ike a fit but I just didn’t like the decor of the ships. Scenic and Amawaterways ended up our 2nd and 3rd choices but in the end Scenic didn’t have an itinerary that worked with our schedule (we were combining this with a work trip to Vienna) and AMA looked wonderful but for the rates they charged I didn’t like that it wasn’t completely all-inclusive. So, to each his/her own but just thought I’d share what we considered when booking our first river cruise. Have fun and let us know what you choose!

[Ktwofish]

@cleob my husband and I are 60. We have been on several ocean cruises, and we took our first river cruise last October—Viking Rhine Getaway. We found the days to be as full as we wanted. We did the included tours and booked three optional (one I wish we hadn’t booked, but that’s another story. 😉)  We love sightseeing and history, so we would spend extra time in the stops. We left one of the included walking tours to explore on our own. We didn’t feel the need to be back in time for lunch and would stay in the town/city for lunch on our own (if the itinerary allowed.)  After full days of exploring, I was plenty tired after dinner (dinner is a two hour affair.) I didn’t miss evening entertainment like what’s offered on an ocean cruise.  I would go back to the cabin to share some photos with family and catch up on email.  I found that we were probably younger than two thirds of the passengers.  Not a problem, but just an observation. On the first walking tour (offered to early arrivals the afternoon of embarkation,) an older woman fell, another just couldn’t keep up no matter how slow the guide walked. They were helped back to the ship by friends. People quickly discovered what they could and could not do, and Viking offered a slower walking tour group at each stop.  I’m not really good at small talk, so I missed not being able to eat alone...at all.  On the other hand, my husband can talk to anyone so he enjoyed meeting new people.  All in all, we really enjoyed the Rhine River cruise.  So much so, we are going on the Viking Danube Waltz in March. 

[sharkster77]

@Ktwofish, we also did the Viking Rhine Getaway last October, on the Viking Vidar.

 

You've piqued my curiosity---which optional excursion did not meet your expectations?   We did two--the Bruhl Palaces and Medieval Colmar and thought those 2 were excellent.  Do tell!

 

Of the included excursions we thought Strasbourg was the best--the guide was informative but had a good sense of humor, and having the afternoon free to wander was great fun.  Heidelberg (which is no longer part of this itinerary, BTW) was very interesting but we were shocked at how crowded the castle was, even for October--can't imagine what it's like in August.  We weren't enamored with the Cologne tour, mostly due to our tour guide who interspersed too many of his personal political and anti-religious opinions.  We did mention that in our survey.

[CPT Trips]

Definitely look at other lines. Try to get a handle on what touring options they offer in the fare and what is available through them at extra cost.
Although you can’t count on it, try to get a sense of how long the stay in port. We like to wander on our own, so we look for longer port stays. Skipping lunch on the ship can allow you maximize your time in port and make up for the”geezer” pace of some included tours.

Itinerary as well as the number of days on the river count. Longer cruises often means more ports on a given stretch of the river. That can result in longer time dockside, possibly even overnight. Look at both the Seine and the Rhône. 
Unless you are taking a Seine cruise you won’t get to Paris by boat. That will mean a train or bus ride. 
Don’t be too concerned about being on the younger side of the ship’s demographic. We were in our early 50s for our first river cruise. Now at 70, our touring style (being able and willing to go off on our own) has remained the same. Our mileage per day is down and we no longer relish climbing steeples and riverside hills.

[Coral]

I was 30's for my first river cruise and 40's for my second river cruise.

[Ktwofish]

@sharkster77 We were on the Viking Kara, B-A.  I didn’t care for the Cologne Beer culture dinner tour.   The guide was good, but I’m not a fan of bar hopping. We did the Top of Cologne Cathedral, which was amazing.  The guide for the included Cologne tour was probably our least favorite.  We also did the Colmar WWII tour and the guide was excellent. We, too, liked Strasbourg and stayed in town until the last shuttle back to the ship. 

[jeb_bud]

On 1/24/2020 at 6:54 PM, cleob said:

Considering booking our first river cruise to Paris and Normandy through Viking. We’ve been on 7 Royal cruises and have one booked on Celebrity. We don’t know much about river cruises and would welcome tips and recommendations. We definitely want to go to France. We’re in our late 50’s and pretty active. Should we be concerned about being bored while on the ship?

We took our first river cruise, with Scenic, in our early 60's.  We did not find ourselves bored, but we are not late night party people.  For Paris to Normandy I would give Scenic a good look.  Unlike some Scenic actually docks in Paris instead of the outskirts.  At the Normandy end, the shallow draft of the Scenic ship allows them to go further downstream than the others did when we were looking a few years ago.

 

Last year there was a thread in this forum by a woman on the Scenic Paris to Normandy cruise with a lot of details.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

We took our first river cruise, with Scenic, in our early 60's.  We did not find ourselves bored, but we are not late night party people.  For Paris to Normandy I would give Scenic a good look.  Unlike some Scenic actually docks in Paris instead of the outskirts.  At the Normandy end, the shallow draft of the Scenic ship allows them to go further downstream than the others did when we were looking a few years ago.

 

Last year there was a thread in this forum by a woman on the Scenic Paris to Normandy cruise with a lot of details.

 

It isn't all that unusual to actually dock in Paris – only Viking can't on their existing 135m ships.  But Scenic is very unusual in being able to dock in Honfleur, which is an incredibly cute little town that is best appreciated in the evening.  Of the very few lines that can dock in Honfleur, Scenic is head and shoulders at the top.