What is there to do on River Cruises after dinner?

[screwsmcernst]

We are planning our 1st river cruise on Ama Waterways.  What is there to do in the evenings?  Will we need to make our own fun?

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Drinks and port talk before dinner followed usually by a piano player and dancing.  Possibly a special performance or presentation from a local group.

[gnome12]

Dinner doesn't usually start until 7, and runs until 8:30 or 9:00. Most people are tired enough at the end of the day that they may listen to the music for a bit after dinner, but then usually go to bed.

[Host Jazzbeau]

River cruises are all about the shore excursions, which start early.  So there isn't much entertainment, or much call for entertainment – as @gnome12 explained.

 

Scenic has more after-dinner entertainment than AMA [the two river cruise lines I have sailed on], with more local groups brought onboard and an Entertainment Manager scheduling activities from pre-breakfast Yoga to post-entertainment DJ.

 

[Nippy Sweetie]

We really enjoyed the musicians and singers on the Viking Grand France cruise. Quite low key and intimate but so good. Sometimes we'd be so tired after a busy day that we'd retire to our stateroom and continue to listen from there on the TV system. Other times we stayed to enjoy eg an Edith Piaf style singer over drinks with new friends.

No razzamatazz just pure enjoyment. Can't ask more.

[CDNPolar]

I agree with the above comments that there is not usually much to do but socialize and drink.

 

We find that sometimes there is entertainment brought on board from local - if you are in port overnight - and sometimes it is the piano player and the crew that do something.

 

We also find that after dinner, the lounge is not always that busy and can be quite quiet as Jazzbeau says, most people are tired.  We find ourselves more tired on River Cruises than Ocean because we will do more.  We will go on one or two excursions if possible, or if not then do the one excursion and then wander back into the city on our own.  We find we walk a lot and therefore just want bed after dinner...

 

 

[Kristelle]

On Scenic there were often quiz type games in the lounge after dinner.

Not everyone did them but there for those who wanted to. 

[sharkster77]

On our Rhine cruise almost 5 years ago, we averaged 17,000 steps per day, and I actually came home 4 pounds lighter, despite eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted!!  Yes, you are tired at the end of the day!  An active, early-to-bed/early to rise vacation, which suits us just fine.

 

We never stayed in the lounge for the keyboard player, but on the Cologne day we were leaving port late (-ish) so they picked up a trio who sang and played a history of German music program.  We sailed as they sang, and dropped them off when we picked up the folks who did the Cologne kolsch pub crawl.

[RobInMN]

Occasionally there will be an evening excursion after dinner. Dinner will be earlier.

We've done 5 river cruises, 3 on AmaWaterways. We are not dancers, and don't really care too much about most of the local entertainment. We are fine just chilling and listening to the piano player for a while. Maybe go through the pictures we took that day (deleting duplicates and bad ones). Sometimes we'll socialize, but we've never felt bored in any way. We'll also go back to our cabin and watch something from a streaming service for a short bit to wind down before going to sleep. Usually when the lounge changes to dancing 🙂 

Like others have said, it's easy to be worn out from the excursions earlier in the day.

[Roz]

Somewhat related to this, on my last river cruise, a young couple tried skipping breakfast the first full day as a weight management strategy.  When we got back on board at 2 pm (it was announced the night before that lunch would be later due to the excursion schedule), they were feeling tired, famished, and a bit light-headed.  They realized that skipping breakfast on a river cruise with early excursions is a no go. 😀 

 

Contrary to what's portrayed in TV commercials, most river cruises are very active.  They really keep you going, and at night you're ready to hit the sack so you can be ready to start all over again the next day.

[CDNPolar]

4 hours ago, Roz said:

Somewhat related to this, on my last river cruise, a young couple tried skipping breakfast the first full day as a weight management strategy.  When we got back on board at 2 pm (it was announced the night before that lunch would be later due to the excursion schedule), they were feeling tired, famished, and a bit light-headed.  They realized that skipping breakfast on a river cruise with early excursions is a no go. 😀 

 

Contrary to what's portrayed in TV commercials, most river cruises are very active.  They really keep you going, and at night you're ready to hit the sack so you can be ready to start all over again the next day.

 

So agree with the "very active" part.  We sleep better on river cruises than we ever do at home and it is because of the activity.

[Kristelle]

9 hours ago, RobInMN said:

Occasionally there will be an evening excursion after dinner.

 

 

yes  I forgot about that.

 

We did go to a concert after dinner in Vienna.

 

 

[Rebel54]

I'm always so wore out after all day in ports that I barely make it to dinner 🙂  I know lots of people hung out in the lounge drinking and socializing.  Too much for me.  I know on Avalon there are board games and the like in the back lounge so some people did that.

 

[Canal archive]

Scenic has a small bookcase, board games, sudoko and crossword of the day etc. There is usually something extra for about half maybe slightly less evening entertainment, we’ve had - wait for it - cow bell ringing - you can imagine the raised eyebrows for that one but the joke was on us absolutely spectacular, they actually got people singing to ‘cow bells’. Over the years several other different musical events the first South of France one was, well for me exceptional a group from the Camargue one of the guitarists was a born again Manitas de Plata. We’ve had local folk dancers, singers, musicians one exceptional violinist even if your left cold by a solo violin this young lady was superb. Oh and the quiz often music based. If you don’t want to join in no one is hassled to do so there is plenty of room on board to have a quiet bedtime drink served by a steward and you don’t have to retire to your cabin.

[sharkster77]

I forgot to add that the night we had the German musicians board the ship while some were on the pub crawl, after dropping off the musicians and picking up the crawlers, the captain invited us to the top deck to see Cologne all lit up as we departed the city.  Our latest night---we probably stayed up well past 10PM that night (wow)!

 

A photo I took of the illuminated Dom is still the wallpaper on my phone, 5 years later.

[Nippy Sweetie]

Wow 10pm! Well done you night birds!

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

A photo I took of the illuminated Dom is still the wallpaper on my phone, 5 years later.

The Dom at night is great, certainly something to stay up for. There was not much to do on our river cruise either, we just listened to the DJ, talked to other people in the lounge or watched the scenery even though it was dark. One is up so early in the morning that, contrary to being a night owl, I went to bed early, apart from the evening in Vienna when there was a late evening snack for those returning from a "wine with music" excursion.

 

You can watch television in your room of course - one night there was a football game which the crew put on a public space television per request of some passengers - or hang around in a quiet library area reading.

 

My cruise was a quiet affair compared to American cruise lines, Amawaterways will I am sure have a bit more entertainment that they stage on the ship or offer in towns.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Canal archive]

Moored up in Bordeaux and after dinner our cruise director invited us to the sun deck for an impromptu duo guitar concert, we actually had two impromptu evenings on the top deck that cruise, wonderful surprise and great evenings. 

[Ladyshopper23]

Is dinner a set time - as in, if it's at 7pm, you have to turn up at 7pm? Or is it starting from 7pm and you turn up when you want?

 

As you can probably tell I'm completely new to river cruising, but well versed on ocean cruising!

 

We're doing our first cruise with Avalon next month (Danube), and have been wondering specifically about dinner.

[pontac]

Which line are you asking about?

 

On Viking and Scenic the main restaurant opens at 7pm. Most people are seated by 7:30 in order to get the table they want or sit with the people they want. The restaurant hours are 7 - 9 pm and I don't think you'd get a meal if you turned up at 8:55pm.

 

We tend to sit when service starts and enjoy a leisurely meal

 

Scenic offer in-room dining but I think you'd need  a larger than standard cabin to make use of that and I don't know what hours that's available.

 

The galley is tiny and turns out multi choice 3 course hot lunches and dinners plus a breakfast. Oven space has to be booked by the various chefs, the baker needs over time to produce the breads while the meat cook needs  oven time to roast joints. Having toured  galleys I am amazed what they manage to do.

[Daisi]

@Ladyshopper23, yes, the dining room will be open for "set" times. On Avalon, it's usually 7-9 pm. Most will head down around 7:00, leaving the lounge area to be set up for a lighter dinner there. While you can turn up anytime between, you may be tying up your fellow table mates, as some servers will delay serving until everyone at the table is caught up. There are a few tables set up for 2, however they usually get grabbed up quickly by those who aren't up to an evening of socialising. 

 

Most nights, people will head to the lounge for cocktail hour, then the CD will go over the next day's activities. Most will head down after to the main dining lounge. The lounge is then turned into a "bistro", where they have a smaller selection of the dining menu.  The nicest thing is, with the app, you can see both menu's, and see which area you wish to go to. We did this for the BBQ lunch, as they had more in the bistro than upstairs that was to our liking.

 

Avalon also has room service for lunch and dinner, but we've never tried it as we like to meet up with our fellow travelers and compare excursions. 

 

Edited March 3 by Daisi

[Kristelle]

On the nights there wasn't a quiz or game after dinner, or it was one we didnt feel interested in - then we took a cocktail or a coffee and watched TV to wind down after tea - like we do at home.

 

We took a fire-stick with programs loaded from home, we didn't watch anything on the TV channels there.

 

We sat with different people not set dinner companions.

 

One night DH wasnt feeling well and he had room service for dinner  - bit squashy but room enough in the cabin. For one person at least -  I still went to the dining room.

 

Some people regularly had breakfast in their cabins or on their balconies - we never did but we saw breakfast trays outside other rooms.

[screwsmcernst]

Thanks, everyone.  We will be doing the Christmas markets cruise.  Will we be able to go to the markets in the evening?  Or will it be available in the daytime, or both?  

 

All of the answers you gave are exactly what I was thinking.  The friends we are going with are asking these questions, and I wanted to make sure I had the correct answers.  

[CDNPolar]

21 hours ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

Is dinner a set time - as in, if it's at 7pm, you have to turn up at 7pm? Or is it starting from 7pm and you turn up when you want?

 

As you can probably tell I'm completely new to river cruising, but well versed on ocean cruising!

 

We're doing our first cruise with Avalon next month (Danube), and have been wondering specifically about dinner.

 

On a Viking River Cruise, you can certainly arrive later, but once you watch the service routine you quickly see that they serve the tables in unison.  Everyone at the table gets the appetizer/main/dessert at the same time.

 

You can come late, but your service will then never match the rest of the table.  Not that this matters, but...

 

I also have a theory... about arriving a bit late.  Sometimes there are those you eat with for one or two meals that want to mix it up and sit with a different group.  If they come right on time and the folks they sat with at lunch have open seats it is more difficult to walk past and sit with others.  

 

I noticed this of a few couples that were on our last river cruise.  It seemed to be their strategy to sit with different people each night.

[pontac]

@Ladyshopper23 Further to my note above I am reminded that on my last cruise we were delayed at the airport and didn't get  to the ship to about 20:20 and after checking-in went straight to the restaurant for dinner