Moselle cruise - which company?

[Pro Bono]

I've never been on a cruise before, but have decided I'd like to try one on the Moselle. But there are so many operators all of whom seem to be offering quite similar cruises that I'm now totally confused.

 

So can anyone give me a recommendation, or at least tell me what to look for and what to avoid? I'm sure this question's been asked before, but there are literally hundreds of threads so I'm hoping I'll be forgiven for possibly repeating a question that's already been asked and answered.

 

TIA for any advice.

[Gourmet Gal]

We did Rhine and  Moselle with Uniworld and it was a lot of fun.  Food was decent, service and tours excellent but the furnishings  in the public areas weren’t very comfortable because of the old world style.  It is considered all-inclusive and higher-end.  There are some stickies in this forum with comparisons between the lines.  That’s a good starting point.  
 

i didn’t know there were cruise lines sailing just the Moselle…I would consider a land-based trip vs river if that’s all you want to see.  It is beautiful and a great wine- and food region.  But if you really want a river experience and after considering your budget and timing then you should think about what you want to do, see and then compare itineraries.  

[Jeff in Torrance]

We did this trip:  https://www.gct.com/trips/river-cruises/europe/romance-of-the-rhine-and-mosel/2021/itineraries?icid=hplk_2_trd several years ago, with Grand Circle.  Great trip with very nice people, excellent tour guides (as always).  GCT tends to be less expensive than the "really fancy" tour companies, and with longer trips in general.  They are our first choice in travel.  Looks like the prices have increased substantially.

[notamermaid]

49 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

i didn’t know there were cruise lines sailing just the Moselle…

Indeed there are so few that they can be missed in the literature. The closest I have come to find for the large international river cruise ships is an itinerary Andernach return. That one left Andernach on the Rhine, went onto the Moselle, did different ports on the return leg and went back to Andernach. Not sure that it still exists. For a return trip on the Moselle a typical embarkation port is Cologne. British and German bi-lingual lines offer this. Short return trips from Koblenz on the Moselle are available with Viva Cruises.

 

A true Moselle-only in-depth cruise is far as I know only available internationally if you choose a bike and barge cruise. Here it is important to note that these are smaller ships. This is what it looks like: https://www.tripsite.com/bike-boat/tours/metz-to-cochem/

 

The question is: what do you want to see? If you are happy to sail another river, i.e. the Rhine, there are many options, for only the Moselle it is trickier as you can see. I recommend making sure you get to see the main tourist towns of Trier, Bernkastel-Kues and Cochem, those are the basic ports that almost everyone offers as they are indeed very interesting. But I find that short. I would suggest an itinerary that at least gives you a full day in Luxembourg city in addition to the actual time in Trier. For that I would start in Remich (which is the main Luxembourg (country) river cruise port). I like the cruise that I have linked to above for the fact that it goes to Metz. A favourite city of mine.

 

How many days can you spare? The Uniworld itinerary that Gourmet Gal did was a good one. 10 days is a nice time to be on the rivers. I wonder if it has changed for 2022? Here it is: https://www.uniworld.com/us/river-cruise/central-europe/rhine/rhine-and-moselle/2022-strasbourg-to-frankfurt

If you think you may prefer a shorter one then a Rhine/Moselle combined one that the North American lines offer is not so focussed on the Moselle. But...

 

...there is one I like for you because it does exactly what I find has been lacking a bit on the North American market. A new port with a little more time on the Moselle and not too much time on the Rhine. Avalonwaterways Active and Discovery. However, the time spent in Trier is short. I have given my thoughts on it here in post #391: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2250984-the-ever-increasing-popularity-of-river-cruising/page/16/#comment-62246717

 

Food is very subjective, of course. The stickies are an excellent suggestion. And you could look at the thread on the Moselle (quite a few pages by now, I know).

 

On the company websites you often find descriptions on the ships they use for a particular itinerary complete with photos. There you can get a feel for the level of luxury and "mood of decor".

 

Also, how inclusive do you want it to be? You can go from "everything is paid for" to "I pay for each individual excursion I choose myself and I do not drink alcohol so no way am I paying for that".

 

All in all, whichever line you choose, I think the Moselle is a lovely river to cruise on. Not spectacular but very interesting, with wine, culture and heritage in a great mix. You do not mention a preference for a season, but I think on the Moselle you cannot go wrong with any of them.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[CPT Trips]

Here’s the itin for GCT “Romance of the Rhein and Mosel” mentioned above. We found it a great trip. 
 

[PhD-iva]

Notamermaid, I am booked on the Rhine/Moselle itinerary that you linked to on Uniworld. I am really looking forward to my July cruise! 
My husband and I have cruised once on grand Circle tours, having it recommended to us by my uncles who had cruised with them many times. We were disappointed with the very substandard wine served with meals and we had the unfortunate assignment of a substandard guide. Our ship had three guides, and our guide was the worst, however we were not given a choice. So, perhaps you will have better luck than us, especially if you don’t drink wine.

[Ritabob]

We have sailed with Uniworld on the Legendary Rhine and Moselle twice!  We were booked on their Rhine cruise that included Baden Baden and the Moselle  in 2020, but we all know what happened .  Visiting the Moselle  every few years is such a treat.

RB 

[Gourmet Gal]

We did Legendary Rhine and Moselle Amsterdam to Basel and it looks like Uniworld doesn’t sail this itinerary anymore but they do have other shorter ones that include Mosel.

[Wings55]

16 hours ago, Pro Bono said:

I've never been on a cruise before, but have decided I'd like to try one on the Moselle. But there are so many operators all of whom seem to be offering quite similar cruises that I'm now totally confused.

 

So can anyone give me a recommendation, or at least tell me what to look for and what to avoid? I'm sure this question's been asked before, but there are literally hundreds of threads so I'm hoping I'll be forgiven for possibly repeating a question that's already been asked and answered.

 

TIA for any advice.

I've been accused of having an OCD trait (guilty!). Most cruise lines refer to themselves as all inclusive but we found there's a spectrum of what they include. Before we booked out first river cruise I made my own spreadsheet so I could compare various companies and items they included with the cruise fares. 

We decided that we wanted some of the extra perks offered by companies like Tauk, Uniworld and Scenic. You'll have to decide which extras you want as part of your cruise..

I think you'll enjoy the Moselle. We've sailed the Moselle/Rhine combination with Uniworld twice and we loved it both times. Let us know what you decide and then have fun!

Paul

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 hours ago, Wings55 said:

I've been accused of having an OCD trait (guilty!).

It's called OCPD [obsessive-compulsive personality disorder] and it is the secret of my success in life!  My daughter* gave me this diagnosis and I said "but I don't see it as a disorder" – and she said "they never do..."  Welcome to the club!

 

*she's not a doctor, but she plays one on TV...

[TMLAalum]

@Host Jazzbeau

Love your new avatar!

Edited March 15, 2022 by TMLAalum