Family River Cruise

[Paumavista]

Is there such a thing as a river cruise for families?

 

Grandma wants to take the family to Europe/Germany in 2008 and we all love cruising....so we thought a river cruise would be perfect....great transportation mode, see a lot, unpack once, great little ports etc. We'd see all the sights grandma wants to show us and have a great big family vacation!

 

But between us and my brother's family we'll have five children between 5-10 years old. I understand there may not be a big "children's program" but I don't want to ruin the cruise for ourselves and other passengers by trying to mix our families with those who "don't want kids around" or on a trip that's just inappropriate and not any fun for half our group under 10.

 

Don't they have any river cruises in Europe that welcome children? We can't be the only family thinking about doing something like this.

 

Thanks for any help or advice - we ARE trying to be especially considerate to other passengers - our children are basically well behaved....but kids are kids......

[steamboats]

Paumavista,

 

European river cruises do not tend to families. Many of the cruise companies do even allow children or do have age restrictions. I don´t know exactly but I don´t think that any of the companies plying the US market is offering triples or even quads. Viking does not allow kids under 12 years of age (http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/pdf/termsandconditions.pdf). Some time ago we did have a similar discussion on this board and BTW there´s no age restriction on the German Viking cruise ships!

 

There is definitely no kids program on any river cruise ship. You might find some board games or jigsaw puzzles but that´s it. There are no special kids menues. Most of the cruise ships do not have a pool (a whirlpool but nothing for kids).

 

We do cruise with our DD (who will be 7 years old by tomorrow). We mainly did river cruises in the US (see my signature). The former Delta Queen Steamboat Company did offer a kids program throughout the last three years and the American Queen and Mississippi Queen are perfect boats for family reunions. The new owner, Majestic America Line, discontinued this Riverbonding for Families program.

 

We did one Danube river cruise with Deilmann (and have another booked for the Elbe river this May/June). Deilmann is offering a couple of triples on some of their ships. And the MS Mozart even has a cabin which connects to the next one and can be used for families of 4 (you have to ask for as it´s not marked in the deck plans). On our cruise was another family with two kids (3 and 5 years).

 

All shore tours are not kids friendly too. Most of them require walking and kids will be bored within 10 min by the historic explanations of the guide. Most companies plying the US market (to name some: Avalon, Amadeus, Grand Circle, Uniworld, Vantage, Viking) do include the shore tours. Deilmann is much more expensive and does not include the shore tours. On our cruise we only booked the Puzta horse farm which was fun for our daughter. We did all the towns on our own doing lots of research for kid friendly activities.

 

There´s only one cruise company which is trying to attract a younger crowd. That´s A´Rosa, a German company. Most of their cabins are available for triple occupancy. They do offer more shore tours with sports activities. Their focus groups is 35/40+. That´s the company closest to being "family friendly". But they also do not offer any kids program. And this company is not focused on US passengers (don´t even know if you can book them in the US, http://www.arosa.de/).

 

I´d say a family with kids or two might be o.k. on a river cruise ship. But a family reunion with 5 kids??? I wouldn´t do it. I´d do a Mediterrenean cruise for a family reunion.

 

steamboats

[bigreckster]

I absolutely agree with steamboats...bringing kids on a river cruise would be torture for them and their parents! There are no programs or even any activities geared to them and the walking tours in ports of call are for adults with an interest in the historical significance and social aspect of the stop...not geared towards kids at all (I taught high school for 35 years so I know what would hold their interest!). Yes, a Med. cruise with all of the large ship activities and the more diverse ports would be the advised route to pursue.

[Paumavista]

Thank you for the replies. I was afraid everyone would confirm what we already thought. I was hoping that with more families traveling and an interest in more varied destinations that perhaps a few of the European river cruise lines would start catering to families.....maybe they will before 2008.....I'll keep my eyes open. In the meantime...there really are some great ships and ports in the Med.