What has been your favorite River Cruise itinerary and why?

[BJS]

What has been your favorite River Cruise itinerary and why?

 

 

 

 

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[pacmom]

This question has been asked before. Whatever cruise I have just finished is my favorite. We have done the Seine, the Rhone, cruised from the Black Sea to Amsterdam (three weeks of fantastic sites and sights, people and food, gone arounf So. Amer with Uniworld. They are all so different, it is really hard to pick a favorite. Pat

[BJS]

pacmom thank you for your response. I had done a search and did not find a topic asking the same question. I know within threads some have mentioned one cruise they liked better than another but thought this topic might be of interest to others, as well as myself, and easy to find doing a search.

 

We haven't even taken our first river cruise yet, Oct. 15th, but already thinking about the next one. The one we are taking from Budapest to Amsterdam I've read many comments about saying it is a favorite because of the towns visited and the scenic section of the Rhine. I can't seem to find to find the same comments and the reasons why people have liked other cruise itinerary. Russia seems to be a favorite but it looks like St. Petersburg and Moscow are the reasons why and they can be visited, maybe not for as long, on a Baltics' ocean cruise.

 

pacmom -What did you like about your Seine and Rhone cruises? I've read some negative comments about Budapest to the Black Sea and I'm wondering what you liked about that section of the trip?

 

 

 

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[margaretmerrill]

I want to know the same thing. This will be my first river cruise, and one person told me she thought the Rhine was much more scenic than the Danube. (She went from Amsterdam to Budapest). I want to do a christmas cruise, and like small towns, vs large cities. Any suggestions?

[pacmom]

The previous thread is on page 2---Aug 12th. We sailed from the Black Sea to Amsterdam. The first week was spent on the Danube--there was only one "sea" day. That was the day we went thru the Iron Gates. We stopped in bulgaria, serbia and hungary before reaching Budapest. The economy grew more capitalistic the further west we went. The scenery was beautiful--not as busy as the Rhine, very relaxing. We spent 2 1/2 days in Budapest--a great area. Then on to Vienna and spent 1 1/2 days there. The Rhine-Main canal with its many locks was interesting. The Rhine was spectacular--castle after castle. Going from east to west leaves you very upbeat at the end of that particular itinerary. We did this in Aug 2004--the itinerary is not exactly the same now.

[pacmom]

Margaretmerrill,

 

The trip on the Seine was our first European river cruise--a whole week to go from Honfleur to Paris. Talk about relaxing. In the morning you went on the tour and after sat on the sun deck with the beverage of choice and watched France go by. There was no overnite sailing. The Rhone was our most recent and there is a review of our trip around the fourth of July on this board. The two things that stand out from that trip were the 1/2 day in Beaune and the Paul Bocuse dinner. The Seine is a busier river than the Rhone. As I have said before all these cruises are so interesting. You just have to figure out which itinerary fits your need. We have 2 more booked for next year---the Nile and Prague to Berlin. If you bring all your questions to this forum, the CC members will do their best to help. Safe travels. Pat

[BJS]

The previous thread is on page 2---Aug 12th. We sailed from the Black Sea to Amsterdam. The first week was spent on the Danube--there was only one "sea" day. That was the day we went thru the Iron Gates. We stopped in bulgaria, serbia and hungary before reaching Budapest. The economy grew more capitalistic the further west we went. The scenery was beautiful--not as busy as the Rhine, very relaxing. We spent 2 1/2 days in Budapest--a great area. Then on to Vienna and spent 1 1/2 days there. The Rhine-Main canal with its many locks was interesting. The Rhine was spectacular--castle after castle. Going from east to west leaves you very upbeat at the end of that particular itinerary. We did this in Aug 2004--the itinerary is not exactly the same now.

 

Thank you for pointing me to the correct place. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=387385

 

Maybe others will add to the list.

 

 

 

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[pacmom]

BJS,

Thanks for the proper ID---will have to learn how to do it that way instead of by the page and date. This board has been invaluable to me. The search engine doesn't always pop up with all that is available. Safe travels. Pat

[steamboats]

margaretmerrill,

 

I think I´ve answered that in another thread already. They Middle Rhine Valley is the most scenic of the Rhine river but the rest is... That´s only about a day of the cruise. For Christmas Markets I highly recommend a cruise between Nuremberg and Budapest. Nuremberg should be a part of the cruise, Budapest is not that important. Nuremberg has the oldest and most famous Christmas Market. Bavaria and Austria are both famous for Christmas Markets and there´s the origin of those markets. They Rhine river is more like a copy of that.

 

Make a search for "Christmas" and you´ll find a lot of threads with reviews and more. I started a thread "What to see in .." and added links to Christmas markets in Regensburg and Nuremberg. Salzburg also has wonderful markets.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=391735

 

steamboats

[PH]

Pacmon, we are taking that same cruise on Uniworld in June. Any tips? How much did you pack? What was the best place to buy stuff? What are tours not to be missed? I am glad we are going in the western direction. PH

[relevart]

I have done only 2 river cruises, one with Viking on the Rhine and Mosel and one on GCT from Moscow to St. Petersburg. I really enjoyed them both but prefer Russia because it so different and foreign. Needless to say Moscow and especially St. Petersburg are increcible but the little towns along the rivers and lakes are fun to visit. Along almost the whole route are forests of birch trees and onion domes peeking out among them. I liked it so much this year I am going back next year. Mainly because they are breaking it up so you have 3-4 days in hotels in Moscow and St. Petersburg and the rest of the trip on the river cruise. It was difficult to get out on your own especially in Moscow so this should be a great way to do it.

[paul929207]

We have done two river cruises - 21 days Black Sea to Amsterdam and 7 day Nile River, with two weeks before in Israel and Cairo and one week after in Jordan.

 

While the Europe you was great, nothing can compare to the Nile and all its history.

 

Paul

[tom317]

We are booked on a June 2007 GCT Russian Waterways trip on the Tikhi Don.

We also took a Viking Rhine and Mosel trip. How does the Russian ship compare to the European ones?