How much time in ports?

[Moose Tracks]

Just starting to research European river cruises. After doing numerous large ship cruises, this is totally different! The brochures are vague and don't seem to give definite times of how long you'll be in each port. Is there somewhere else to look that will tell you what time you'll sail away?

Lynn

[mushroom]

I'm sure it depends on what rivers you cruise, but we just got back from a Uniworld trip from Vienna to Amsterdam, so I'll tell you about that. We cruised the Danube, the Main and the Rhine. Usually, we had the better part of a day in each port...half of which was devoted to a ship-sponsored shore excursion and the rest to do on our own. In a couple of places, the ship overnighted and we were free to come and go throughout the evening. This was really nice. Since most of our stops were in relatively small towns, we felt like we had plenty of time to see each place. The actual cruising portion of the trip involved some of the most spectacular scenery you 'll ever experience. Years ago, we'd driven this area, later we'd done this area by train...but nothing prepared us for the beauty of the castles and towns along the "river route." Enjoy!!!

[paul929207]

The brochures from Uniworld and Grand Circle that I have seen list the arrival and departure times for ports.

[MSEm]

After you decide which rivers (or river) you wish to travel on, check this board for reviews and other information on the towns and cities you will be visiting. You will learn much about the tours offered and information on the many river vessels and companies.

 

After deciding which area you want to visit, you can then begin to compare the tours offered by each company.

 

Look closely at the cabin layouts before choosing a vessel. Many are using the newer vessels, but there are still some old vessels with pullman type beds.

 

MSEm

[lovetosew]

We took the tulips and windmills cruise via Viking in April 2008. Our interest is art galleries and WW11. If we had not made the effort to go off on our own in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Arnhem we would not have seen what we had wanted to see. The river and cruise itself was great but for those who have a bit of an independent bent it can be frustrating. For example, we took in Amsterdam by ourselves a day early; we had our own tour guide for Arnhem and Nimegen and spent the day in Antwerp instead of going to Brussels. The last day in Amsterdam we took in the Hague instead of going to see the tulips. Our goal was "Girl with the pearl earring" hanging in the art museum in the Hague. A true flower! The guide did not know about the art treasures in Ghent and instead wanted to take the tour group to Brugge to shop for the wonderful lace. We insisted on a second afternoon trip to Ghent, even though only a half a bus load of us went. Our tour director was not totally familiar with Ghent. Do not ever count on knowing what time the riverboat will be at a dock. If a second port is listed on the venue it is likely that it will be a night time visit. Do you really want to get off in Rotterdam by yourself at 7 in the evening? But despite this we are doing another Viking cruise " Land of the Cossacks" next June. It all depends on what you want. A lot of walking and not a lot of inside looking at each site and certainly a lot of shopping for those so inclined. And don't count on the times you might be guessing for dock stops. Pin your TA down or go directly to the cruise company for firmer answers. Best !

[LHT28]

Just starting to research European river cruises. After doing numerous large ship cruises, this is totally different!

Lynn

 

Hi Lynn

I was doing the same & came across this new line from B.C. there is a thread on it but no reviews yet

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=821108

 

It looks like a good cruise line but will have to see some reviews

 

Lyn

[KarlS]

Is there somewhere else to look that will tell you what time you'll sail away?

 

Hi Lynn,

 

Because several people requested previously, I've posted our daily programs from our May 2007 Uniworld Vienna-to-Amsterdam cruise. If you think that might help, go look at http://members.cox.net/karls.you_tube/Daily%20Programmes.pdf. (I haven't had a chance to post our May 2008 Uniworld Amsterdam-to-Basel daily programs yet).

 

Cheers!

 

...Karl

[Moose Tracks]

Thanks all for your information. At this time we're not looking to cruise until probably 2011. Our friend is looking for some type of cruise for us to celebrate DH's 50th BD so since I'm the Cruise Critic addict, I've been elected to do the research. We'll be sure to grill our TA to find out the exact times in port, etc. Lyn....thanks for the name of the new company. Looks like their first sailing had a bit of a problem, but hopefully within the next few years everything will be running smoothly and Scenic will be another option.

Lynn

[LHT28]

. Lyn....thanks for the name of the new company. Looks like their first sailing had a bit of a problem, but hopefully within the next few years everything will be running smoothly and Scenic will be another option.

Lynn

 

Oh I did not see that ...will check into it

Maybe we will do one in 2010 if I can convince DH to fly again after our Europe cruise:)

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

Hi Lynn,

 

Because several people requested previously, I've posted our daily programs from our May 2007 Uniworld Vienna-to-Amsterdam cruise.

...Karl

Thanks for posting the programs

Did you feel you had enough time in port to see the towns?

Some of the days it looks like a short time in the late afternoon for the port stop

[KarlS]

Did you feel you had enough time in port to see the towns? Some of the days it looks like a short time in the late afternoon for the port stop

Good question.

 

In general, the answer would be "yes".

 

We've been on three Uniworld Europe river cruises (see my sig), so my opinion is limited to just these three itineraries. In most ports, we've had time to enjoy the walking tour with the local guide, returned to the ship to eat a meal (can't miss out on EATING!!), and then had plenty of time to go back out walking on our own to explore. The days where we sailed in the morning and we're only tied-up for half a day in the afternoon, we enjoyed the sailing hours up on the sun deck with a book, binoculars, and/or a glass of wine,... watching the world sail by. Also, some of the half-day afternoon port stops are places where we spent the overnight tied up, so there was lots of time to enjoy the town/village later into the evening.

 

The only time we really felt we didn't have enough time in port was on our last cruise while in Trier. The Uniworld write-up made a big deal of seeing the Roman ruins, but we didn't read the cruise companion booklet carefully enough. The motorcoach just drove past the Roman baths and the collesium without stopping. Another planned stop while in Trier was to see the inside of Constantine's throne room. Unfortunately, there was a wedding going on inside which ran late, (not Uniworld's fault), and we just hung out waiting outside for 45 mins until our allotted time was up, and we had to get back on the motorcoach and continue our city tour.

 

To sum up, "yes", we almost always thought we had enough time to see what we wanted to see with the Uniworld itineraries. We consider this format, (just like most of our Ocean-going cruises), a teaser at each port stop, giving us an idea where we'd like to return for more time on another trip. Many of the port stops on these itineraries were small villages or towns, so a few hours permits a pretty good overview. When we docked in the few large cities, we were only interested in seeing a few parts of the whole anyway, so that was okay, too.

 

Of course, as always, "your mileage may vary". ;)

 

Cheers!

 

...Karl

[LHT28]

Good question.

 

In general, the answer would be "yes".

 

...Karl

 

Thank you for the quick reply.

Sounds relaxing sailing down the river with a glass of wine;)

 

Lyn

[KarlS]

Sounds relaxing sailing down the river with a glass of wine;)

Lyn,

 

You have nooooooo idea. ;)

 

There are three links at the bottom of our cruise web page with some of our river cruise pics.

 

http://hometown.aol.com/nitem0ves/page2.html

 

...Karl

[LHT28]

Lyn,

 

There are three links at the bottom of our cruise web page with some of our river cruise pics.

 

 

...Karl

Nice pics

 

...thanks for sharing

[Moose Tracks]

Karl...thanks for posting the photos and info. Wish we weren't having to wait so long before we do our river cruise. I see you were on the Westerdam in 1994....our first cruise was on Westerdam in 1993....she's still my favourite ship...too bad she's gone.

Lynn

[LHT28]

I see you were on the Westerdam in 1994....our first cruise was on Westerdam in 1993....she's still my favourite ship...too bad she's gone.

Lynn

 

She was a grand ship we sailed her in 1990 before Carnivalization

[kuldalai]

As a general rule with the River Cruises AMADEUS Waterways arrive after breakfast in the morning, and depart later in the evening . Some sectors are done during the day as half days , viz leave after lunch . If you look at APT Tours Australian website it will give you the feel .

[KarlS]

I just added our 2008 Amsterdam-to-Basel daily programs, but I had to modify/rename the link mentioned previously (above) so I could fit both files in our limited webspace. Therefore:

 

2007 Uniworld River Duchess Vienna-to-Amsterdam daily programs are at http://members.cox.net/karls.you_tube/2007%20Daily%20Programs.pdf

 

2008 Uniworld River Queen Amsterdam-to-Basel daily programs are at http://members.cox.net/karls.you_tube/2008%20Daily%20Programs.pdf

 

Sorry for the confusion.

 

...Karl

[KarlS]

I see you were on the Westerdam in 1994.

(With apologies to the other posters for hyjacking this thread from its original topic... ;) )

 

Lynn,

 

We really enjoyed the "older" Westerdam, too. She was a bit of an oddity when you saw her for the first time, since her superstructure was significantly beefed up above the waistline when HAL picked her up from her previous owners. But she was a wonderful ship.

 

...Karl

[CPT Trips]

I too felt that I had enough time at the various cities and towns we visited on 2 GCT cruises. A couple of times I would have enjoyed additional time off the boat, but generally we got a good flavor of the town/city. On a couple of occassions we skipped lunch on board in order to do an activity on our own.

 

Also both GCT itineraries had a day or two when the boat briefly docked in the morning to let passengers off for a tour and then it tied up at another town for overnight. Some adventuresome folks went on their own to the second destination in order to visit on their own. The program directors were quite helpful in providing guidence, directions and encouragement.

 

The time cruising the river during the day can be equally enjoyable with local beers if one prefers that to wine :)

[Cruisin Kay D]

Just beginning to look at a river cruise for us...

During the night when we're sleeping does the ship tie up or cruise?

Anyone have any experience staying in the lowest level of cabin & is it better to go up a category or 2? If I were to book lowest level, is there a chance of being moved up to higher level?

Viking has a Basel to Antwerp in mid-November 08 on sale now -- has anyone traveled on river cruise or just around in Europe in Oct or Nov? We would miss flowers & leaves, but is Nov a rainy season?

Any positive/negative comments on Viking?

 

In the 80s & 90s, DH traveled to Germany yearly in Febr and I went with him twice -- because leaves off trees then, we saw alot of the countryside (vineyards/castles) as we traveled on the train along the Rhine. Then once we went in Sept and rented a car in Frankfurt driving south of Baden-Baden, north to Essen area and east past Fulda and into Alsace area of France -- of course because it was warmer saw lots of flowers and leaves on trees.

 

Karl: Which of your 3 itineraries would you recommend for 1st timers? (We do like wine!)

[CPT Trips]

Just beginning to look at a river cruise for us...

During the night when we're sleeping does the ship tie up or cruise?

Anyone have any experience staying in the lowest level of cabin & is it better to go up a category or 2? If I were to book lowest level, is there a chance of being moved up to higher level?

 

During most nights, you are likely to be cruising, but you may not cruise the entire night Rather a late departure and/or an early arrival were common on our two cruises. On occassion, we stopped for a while and tied up "in the middle of nowhere" before cruising for a couple of hours to arrive in town just at or after breakfast.

 

We have never booked the lowest category, from chatting with fellow cruisers, it seemed as though they were assigned to the category they booked . . . but it was a very small sample.

 

Our cruises were Danube, Main/Danube Canal and Rhein and then Holland waterways in Springtime. One was August - great weather the other late March just into April . . . cool and wet . . . the layered look was quite the fashion. Having done March, I wouldn't be scared off from Novemebr, but I would definately be prepared for cold and wet.

[Betty/Avie]

I believe Viking gives a pretty detailed itinerary, including the times in port. If you look at the individual cruises, and then link to the itineraries, you should get a pretty good idea. The arrival/departures times might vary depending on the weather or speed restrictions that may be imposed. We have found, however, that the published times are very accurate.

[Betty/Avie]

Just beginning to look at a river cruise for us...

 

Anyone have any experience staying in the lowest level of cabin & is it better to go up a category or 2? If I were to book lowest level, is there a chance of being moved up to higher level?

Viking has a Basel to Antwerp in mid-November 08 on sale now -- has anyone traveled on river cruise or just around in Europe in Oct or Nov? We would miss flowers & leaves, but is Nov a rainy season?

Any positive/negative comments on Viking?

 

We are scheduled on Viking's Basel to Antwerp cruise, leaving Basel on 11/02/2008. This will be our 3d Viking cruise (European itineraries). We have booked in the "upgraded" cabin class. Most of the cabins on the Viking European cruises are similar in size and configuration. However, you should look at the layout to ascertain the type of beds, size of cabin, etc. The lowest class cabin may be a bit smaller than the others, have "pullman" type beds instead of "hotel" beds, and do not have windows that open.

 

The weather was cool on the trip from Vienna (Oct./Nov., 2007). We had a significant amount of rain in Vienna (the starting point), and only occasional rain after that. The weather was coolish. It ranged from the high 30's to the high 50's. Usually, the morning tours started out in the mid to high 40's. However, layers were the dress of the day. And it did get cool as the sun went down in the late afternoon. Yet, we considered the weather to be pleasant, and thus we are going back to the Rhine approximately the same time of the year.

 

We enjoyed the food on Viking. No, the chef is not Michelin rated! The breakfasts were a combination of buffet and table service, the lunches were very good (buffet and table service), and the dinners were very good. Most of the "featured" items represented items native to the region through which we were sailing. However, the menus contained several items, and steak, chicken, and Ceasar salad were also available most nights. The wine list is varied, and we augmented it from local regional wines we purchased in the various towns through which we toured.

 

The tours provided by Viking were excellent, and the guides were fantastic!

 

Needless to say, we believe Viking provides an excellent cruise. We have sailed on the upper end of the mass-market ocean cruises, and we now prefer the river cruises.

 

Good luck.

 

Avie

[KarlS]

Karl: Which of your 3 itineraries would you recommend for 1st timers? (We do like wine!)

Kay,

 

We liked our latest, "Legendary Rhine & Moselle" itinerary (http://www.uniworld.com/cruise.asp?id=127) the best, although they were all terrific. Uniworld builds-in some wine tastings while on the included Moselle land excursions. (For example, look at http://hometown.aol.com/nitem0ves/page5.html)

 

Of course, as always, "Your mileage may vary!". ;)

 

...Karl