Travel and Leisure
River cruising? I've heard of ocean cruising, but what is this? Well, I hadn't heard of it either, so I thought what better topic for the Travel and Leisure section? We're not experts on European travel, but after having sailed three times (now four) on river cruises, we are relative experts compared to others we know. That's why I thought I'd jot down some information here to help anyone out that may be considering a European river cruise. First in a series of four, this post will focus on the generic differences vs. other cruises or travel options, and we'll talk about the where to go, the best deals and what to expect in the next couple of posts. In the fourth post, I'll outline what a typical day is like while river cruising.
How did we find out about River Cruising?
Back in the early 2000s, she was a travel agent, and would occasionally get to go on FAM (FAMiliarization) trips or excursions. Usually, these would be company-paid, fully-escorted tours, accompanied by other travel industry professionals, and would be relatively high activity trips, visiting many hotels and properties along the way. Sometimes, it was simply a deeply discounted fare, with very little expected of her on the trip, except a brief tour or introduction by the operator, but would also allow for spouses to accompany them. So when she asked, "Do you want to go on a river cruise on the Rhine?", I quickly replied, "Hell yes!".
In truth, she did not know much about river cruising either, and so this was a new experience for both of us. At that time (2009) we were already pretty adept at European vacations, and were used to planning our own agendas, booking accommodations and organizing the travel, but we were happy to try something that was all pre-planned for us. All we had to do, was get to Amsterdam, and arrange for return from Zurich. We gave ourselves two extra nights in A'dam, as we find that it helps get over the jet-lag if you don't try to rush right into something as soon as you arrive. After a day of wandering around the canal district and enjoying a nice meal in one of their Brown cafes, we headed to the dock to board our ship.
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| Image credit: cruisecritic.com |
From the moment we stepped aboard Uniworld's River Ambassador, we knew we were in for something special. It wasn't the luxuriousness of the ship however; the River Ambassador was actually getting a bit long-in-the-tooth back then, and has actually been refurbished twice since, and has now been converted to join their U by Uniworld fleet. What we were taken aback by, is the exceptional level of service provided by all of the staff on board; with only ~120 guests per sailing, most crew members were addressing us by name within 24 hours! Each day, we woke up in a new city or town, were given a guided tour, and then had free time to explore on our own. The ship would be so close, we could walk back for lunch, or simply find a bite to eat locally. All meals were included once we had boarded, and we dined like royalty; full buffet breakfast with "American-style" options available, three-course lunches, and four or five-course dinners. Cruising occurred at night, and so we'd have to be on-board by 8 pm or so, when the ship would depart for the next destination. By the end of our trip, we were so sorry to see it come to an end that we vowed to do more river cruising in the future.
Ok, so we did notice immediately, that we were the youngest couple on board, by at least a decade. Maybe even two. On one trip, we met a lovely couple from New York, and the husband commented, "you two must feel like kindergarteners with the rest of us around". But we didn't mind, and we have met many great people on our river cruise trips. It would only be an issue for those younger passengers when it comes to the "pace" of things. I'll leave it at that - we will all get old eventually, and hopefully others will be patient with us when we get old too. There are however, cruise operators that try to cater to a younger audience, such as the aforementioned U by Uniworld. However, in my opinion, river cruising has still not attracted the 30 to 40-something demographic due perhaps to the perceived notions of this style of travel, as well as the relatively high prices. But with respect to the latter, there are ways to cruise on a more moderate budget, but it requires flexibility and patience. More on that in another post.
What is River Cruising?
As you can imagine from the name, river cruising entails using a ship as your primary accommodations, dining and inter-city transfer vehicle on the various waterways that connect cities and towns throughout Europe. Some of these rivers are huge, and sometimes traversing particular regions is like being on a large lake, whereas others are narrow, and wind their way through picturesque, tree-lined river valleys. As such, the ships are limited in size by the locks and bridges throughout Europe - they are long and narrow, with a very shallow draft and flat-topped. Typically around 135m long, and only 12m wide, there is only room for a single hallway down the centre, with a small stateroom on each side.
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| Typical River Ship 3-deck Layout; credit: vantagetravel.com |
These custom-built ships allow travellers to visit cities and towns that follow the path of the river; remember that back before modern transportation options, people congregated on the sides of rivers, as that was how you moved goods and people easily. As such, you will find that most ports have their city centres located literally steps away from where the river cruise ships dock. Some of the towns you will stop at end up being the highlight of the trip, when otherwise you would never have planned to go there on your own. While the rooms are quite small, even by European standards, there is plenty of space in the lounge or top deck to relax; you can get a drink from the bar and unwind after the day's exploring. With gourmet dining included on the ship, consider it as your own small, floating, European boutique hotel. And since there are so many small towns along the river, this style of travelling gives you an unique opportunity to see and visit places that you might not have visited on your own, self-guided travels.
What it Isn't
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| Ocean liner dwarfs river cruisers in Amsterdam harbour |
The first response from travellers who have gone ocean cruising is, "Where are all the restaurants and entertainment options?". Expecting the facilities of a huge ocean vessel would be the first mistake that newbies make. Multiple restaurants and entertainment facilities are not what river cruising is about, nor would you want them. Leave the kids (if you still have them) at home; there isn't anything for children on board, or in Europe for the most part. There also aren't any lineups for restaurants, as there is a seat for everyone in the dining room. You won't find thousands of passengers on board either; with typical ship layouts having 70-90 staterooms, you will rarely have more than 120 passengers on river ship. And because the ship is small relative to an ocean liner, you won't be mooring in the main harbour or anchoring off-shore and having to tender back and forth to the ship. No, the crew can moor a river ship in 15-20 minutes, and then a gangplank is dropped to allow passengers to easily come and go as they please. For those that want a full-day onshore, you can easily accomplish that, as you typically don't need to wait for a tender or coach to take you into town; you can have an early bird, continental breakfast, and be off the ship exploring by 8 am. Similarly, since the ship usually doesn't leave until after dinner, you can stay in town and enjoy a drink at a local pub until close to 8:30 pm or so. With most services and tours included in the price of a river cruise, you won't be nickel-and-dimed to death either. Yes, there are optional tours that can be worthwhile, as well as additional alcoholic beverages that are not served in the dining room. But unless you go with a more budget-style river cruise operator (and they do exist), you don't have much more to pay once your board other than tips and incidentals.
River Cruise vs. Self-Drive vs. Rail vs. Bus Tours
The other way to see as much of Europe in such a short period of time, is either self-drive or bus tours. Self-drive is a great option if you prefer to have no fixed agenda, and are comfortable driving in new, foreign countries, sometimes with very small streets that do not have signage in English. Of course the onus is on you to find and book new accommodations along your route, as is the case with rail touring.
Taking the train does take the stress out of inter-city travel, but it does require some comfort with public transport and transfers on each end; many of the sights and small towns accessible by the river network are also not necessarily on main rail routes. Of course there are tour operators that will offer similar itineraries to river cruising with their guided bus tours, but now you are really on fixed schedule. Not to mention that in order to see all the stops along the way that a river cruise would, you need to pack up and unpack each day in a new hotel. Often times, the bus tour requires that your bags be packed and put outside your room up to two hours before you are due to depart, which can be as early as 8 am!
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| Shop-till-you-drop in Europe |
With a river cruise, if you have purchased air travel through the operator, a representative will meet you at the airport and your transfer to the dock is included. Once you embark upon your ship, you unpack only once. You need not worry about where to travel next, and virtually all transport takes place while you are sleeping, rather than waste valuable daytime hours on the road or taking the train. After a leisurely breakfast, you can choose to take the included walking tour of the town or attraction, then perhaps do some more exploring. Have a delicious lunch on board, or find some local cuisine in town. More touring or shopping perhaps? Then a cocktail back in the lounge where you can meet new friends and share highlights of your day. A gourmet dinner awaits in the dining room, and some local entertainment in the lounge after. Repeat for 7 days or more, and then disembark on your final day, where you are transferred to the airport for your flight home.
Next: Where to go, and with whom?
No fees or payment have been received from tour companies or river cruise operators.
