We did Budapest to Amsterdam a couple years ago. Wonderful experience. We did have low water but Viking is very experienced with handling it. Your pros and cons are spot on.
My husband and I sailed on Emerald on the Danube last September and I think you are 100% spot on in your pros and your cons. We very much enjoyed our very first river cruise, but you have to go into it knowing full well that it is not an ocean cruise. Even though we are in our early 50s and we chose a more active cruise line, we were still the youngest people on the boat. So if you’re looking to mix and mingle with the 40 and under crowd river cruising is not for you. I wanted to echo your point about activities on board. I think that’s the one thing that we really missed on the river cruise because primarily the port that you were at is the activity so other than lunch and dinner pretty much that’s it. There’s very limited other activities on the boat and I wouldn’t have mind a lecture or two it was just there was nothing. Most of this group goes to bed by 8 o’clock which meant that they were only about three of us watching the evening movie, (and that played about two days of the week). And your comment about the intimacy of meeting other folks on the boat is very true. I think that’s the one thing I enjoyed the most was getting to know so many other people because you were in such a small group.
Thanks once again for your great articulate reviews and this one was superb. Your fantastic honest descriptions of each pro and con really taught us so much about river cruising that we were able to decide not to ever do a river cruise, which we had been considering. We will stick to normal cruising which we love so much. Keep up your great work.
@@tipsfortravellers : Funny...your descriptions (and the video images of the ships and scenery) make me want to go on a river cruise more than ever! :-D
Spot on, as usual, Gary. We loved our Viking River Cruise on the Danube. Lots of excursion choices, great meals, and outstanding service. Pricey, but a good value with flights, excursions, beer/wine and internet included. The only downside was thatEvening activities were quite limited. All three couples purchased discounted vouchers for another cruise, which is booked for the Seine.
Great video. I have been on 8 river cruises on 4 different cruise lines, with a ninth coming up this October. I have been very lucky in that I had only 1 water level problem and that was on my first cruise. We could not dock at Melk because of the high water lever but they did bus those who wanted to see Melk from Vienna. One other comment, you touched on the cost for a solo traveler like myself but generally speaking river cruising can be quite expensive. Also another big plus is the smooth ride. If you are prone to motion sickness you will not have a problem on a river cruise.
Spot on! I went on a Uniworld River Cruise up the Rhine and it was outstanding. I absolutely loved it (went solo & I’m over 50). Looking forward to going on another Uniworld cruise.
Captain Quirk It was my first cruise, and I used a travel agent. I thought it was a good price, at approximately $3K. I wasn’t told I was paying for double occupancy.
Well your 5 up an 5 down are right on the money. Been on 8 river cruises with Grand Circle River Line an you know your stuff. Hope the folks looking at this believe it’s true.
With regard to the first con, the rivers are getting too busy, I recommend choosing the cruise line that has the most cannons. But seriously, a great video.
My wife went on a river cruise with a girlfriend of hers a few years back. She will never go on one again as she did not like the fact that the boat travelled too slow; hence not enough varying scenery and not enough onboard ship activities to fill in the slow-changing scenery. Also, they ran into the low water problem and had the pack up and move hassle plus extra expense and hassle to get the airport where their return flight was booked.
Great video full of useful information, we definitely want to do a river cruise this year. We are off to the CLIA River Cruise Conference next week to learn more!
@@tipsfortravellers Yes think we would too. Oh that's a shame about the conference but we are sure you maybe somewhere more exotic! Are you on the Spirit of Adventure in the summer?
River cruise still on my to-do list, even though I have visited all the towns along the Rhine and the Mosel. Maybe I will do the Danube or Portugal/Spain.
Great information! Would appreciate a matrix showing the features (inclusive, how inclusive, number of stops, what feature extra, etc.) and categories (family, couple, ethnicity, etc) for each of the major river cruise lines to assist in comparison as well as typical cost and which booking service seems to be the best.
Thanks for the info. My husband and I rather enjoy the intimacy of the smaller boutique vessels. For example, we recently did a river cruise on the Anawrahta in Myanmar which was phenomenal, we also did a cruise on the Zambezi Queen down the Chobe River and want to go back the next time we are in Africa.
I am not sure, my husband sets up all of our trips, but I do know that we were on Sanctuary Retreats Safaris, then got on board the Zambezi Queen and navigated the Chobe River. They have tender boats which took us up to the banks where elephants, hippos, and water buffalos were drinking and wading. It was a truly awesome experience. They have a beautiful videos on UA-cam. I know that I am hooked....we are doing the Paul Gauguin in a little over 30 days...Ocean Vessel, but still smaller than the mega ships, but now I have found The Aria Amazon and oh my!!! I really want to do that one. Have you seen it?
Much more expensive for so little as compared with ocean cruise. It can also be very boring during the evening after dinner. Not much entertainment, however it can be more intimate and very active indulgent in the tours.
Thank you so much for your many superb videos. I am going to do my first river cruise, down the Rhine, in August. I had hoped I might be able to wander around some of the German towns on my own and practise my long forgotten schoolgirl German. Would it be better and would I see more of the towns if I did all of the available group tours instead?
@@tipsfortravellers Thank you for that advice. I had worried it would be a bit rushed, but it seems that I can do the tours and have some free time to 'machen ein Spatziergang"
which destinations , museums, should you visit by river cruise vs bus , vs rental car vs train vs ocean cruise excursion vs.....? Leipzig Halle Eisenach Zwickau Weimar Land only also Neuschwanstein, Bergamo, Busseto, Pesaro, Cremona.... Cremona can be done on a Po river cruise. Dresden Prague Berlin can be done Elbe river cruise or land, Hamburg Elbe river, ocean or land, Amsterdam Ocean Rhine river or land, Cologne Bonn Rhine river or land, Vienna Budapest Danube river or land, Seville Cordoba Granada Guadalquivir river cruise, ocean excursion or land.... St Petersburg , Ephesus ocean excursion only. Madrid , Munich , Warsaw land only.... unless you can recommend me river cruises which visit these places. Paris Seine river or land, London land only. Brussels like wise land or excursion. Oslo copenhagen Stockholm Tallinn Riga ocean cruise. Edinburgh Glasgow Athens ocean cruise or land. Naples , Valencia ocean cruise or land,
@@wendycartwright1872 Lol, sort of wasn't the best there! I *think* I thought of changing it, but couldn't be bothered. So yes, even with my good English, I muck up ;-)
@@Pedro116092 Read the newspapers or watch TV news. They should give you more up to date info than what I could. Personally, without being too paranoid, I wouldn't travel to China, Italy, Iran or South Korea at the moment. Those countries have the biggest infections, but that can change almost literally overnight. So maybe better still, put off any overseas travel for a month or two and see how this virus goes. It should/will die out one day. The question being, which day will that be?
Which do you think is the best river cruise line (best bang for buck, etc.)? How does Viking rank as far as cost compared to other river cruises? Thank you.
River cruises are a totally different creature compared to an ocean cruise. Expect lots of down time to read, watch the world go by, enjoy the calm ambiance. I have been on a Viking river cruise which I found ordinary in terms of food, service, accommodations. My next will be Uniworld or AMA waterways both of which are reported to be better. We’ll see!
@@cher4705 thank you, I have heard that too about the other lines being better. It’s funny you replied now because I just happened to be on UA-cam watching river cruise videos! Can I ask you a couple of questions? How were most people dressed in the evenings at dinner? (I understand it’s casual during the day.) Also, one thing I’d like to do is see the orchestra in Austria. I’m assuming that is more dressy? Thank you!
Yes is the answer. 2 cruises out of the roughly 750 in last 3 weeks have had a coronavirus outbreak. 2 Caribbean ports refused entry to 3 ships pending testing of an ill cruise member who had recently embarked. The tests came back as negative for coronavirus and positive for influenza. In last 3 weeks I estimate there will have been around 2,500 to 3,000 ports of call by the just under 250 ships in service doing mostly 7-night cruises with 4 to 5 ports per cruise. Media reports do make it sound much more scary.
There's two engine rooms in a Viking Longship - one at the bow and one at the stern. On top of that, the azipods that are the main propulsion are at the stern. I've only travelled midships on the Longships, but I have travelled in a top deck stern cabin on both the Viking Legend and Viking Prestige, which are the immediate predecessors of the Longships and similar to them in many ways. There is a degree of vibration in those aft cabins on the Legend and Prestige, but nothing beyond gentle except when manoeuvring into and out of locks, and almost no noise. In addition, the Explorer Suites are a long way from the public areas, so you should get little human noise. I'd expect a quiet ride, though not the almost vibration free experience of travelling midships. As an alternative, you could consider the regular suites on the port side of deck 3, which would be cheaper, too.
If you mean 4:17, that's part of a Viking River Cruises breakfast buffet (as is 4:29). The glass containers have yogurt in them - either plain or with fruit compote (strawberry, blueberry or apricot).
performances, theatre, concerts , ballets, dance shows included or offered for price. yes river cruises tend not to welcome young children, singles....
Another informative talk. You are not obnoxious in anyway and very pleasant to listen too. Thank you.
We did Budapest to Amsterdam a couple years ago. Wonderful experience. We did have low water but Viking is very experienced with handling it. Your pros and cons are spot on.
My husband and I sailed on Emerald on the Danube last September and I think you are 100% spot on in your pros and your cons. We very much enjoyed our very first river cruise, but you have to go into it knowing full well that it is not an ocean cruise. Even though we are in our early 50s and we chose a more active cruise line, we were still the youngest people on the boat. So if you’re looking to mix and mingle with the 40 and under crowd river cruising is not for you. I wanted to echo your point about activities on board. I think that’s the one thing that we really missed on the river cruise because primarily the port that you were at is the activity so other than lunch and dinner pretty much that’s it. There’s very limited other activities on the boat and I wouldn’t have mind a lecture or two it was just there was nothing. Most of this group goes to bed by 8 o’clock which meant that they were only about three of us watching the evening movie, (and that played about two days of the week). And your comment about the intimacy of meeting other folks on the boat is very true. I think that’s the one thing I enjoyed the most was getting to know so many other people because you were in such a small group.
Firm believer that you should narrate audio books. Great video!
Thanks 😊 Good to hear your enjoyed the video
Thanks once again for your great articulate reviews and this one was superb. Your fantastic honest descriptions of each pro and con really taught us so much about river cruising that we were able to decide not to ever do a river cruise, which we had been considering. We will stick to normal cruising which we love so much. Keep up your great work.
Thanks. Really appreciate you watching and good to hear it helped. River cruising is not for everyone
@@tipsfortravellers : Funny...your descriptions (and the video images of the ships and scenery) make me want to go on a river cruise more than ever! :-D
@@tipsfortravellers z\zzzz\\z%‰‰%‰‰‰x
Spot on, as usual, Gary. We loved our Viking River Cruise on the Danube. Lots of excursion choices, great meals, and outstanding service. Pricey, but a good value with flights, excursions, beer/wine and internet included. The only downside was thatEvening activities were quite limited. All three couples purchased discounted vouchers for another cruise, which is booked for the Seine.
Great video. I have been on 8 river cruises on 4 different cruise lines, with a ninth coming up this October. I have been very lucky in that I had only 1 water level problem and that was on my first cruise. We could not dock at Melk because of the high water lever but they did bus those who wanted to see Melk from Vienna. One other comment, you touched on the cost for a solo traveler like myself but generally speaking river cruising can be quite expensive. Also another big plus is the smooth ride. If you are prone to motion sickness you will not have a problem on a river cruise.
Spot on! I went on a Uniworld River Cruise up the Rhine and it was outstanding. I absolutely loved it (went solo & I’m over 50). Looking forward to going on another Uniworld cruise.
Was it expensive, considering that you were traveling solo? (Did you have to pay for double occupancy?)
Captain Quirk It was my first cruise, and I used a travel agent. I thought it was a good price, at approximately $3K. I wasn’t told I was paying for double occupancy.
Well your 5 up an 5 down are right on the money. Been on 8 river cruises with Grand Circle River Line an you know your stuff. Hope the folks looking at this believe it’s true.
Thanks! Really appreciate you watching. I need to try that line too!
I worked on the Bizet in 2011!
Very useful, done plenty of ocean cruising but fancy a river cruise. Portugal is tempting.
With regard to the first con, the rivers are getting too busy, I recommend choosing the cruise line that has the most cannons.
But seriously, a great video.
Hi Gary! Thanks for sharing your cruise tips! Loved this!
Thanks! Appreciate you watching 😀
My wife went on a river cruise with a girlfriend of hers a few years back. She will never go on one again as she did not like the fact that the boat travelled too slow; hence not enough varying scenery and not enough onboard ship activities to fill in the slow-changing scenery. Also, they ran into the low water problem and had the pack up and move hassle plus extra expense and hassle to get the airport where their return flight was booked.
Yet another excellent video Gary, always lots of good info, good delivery, and appropriate clips.
Thanks! Great to hear you enjoyed. Also wanted to say thanks for keep watching cruise videos
Great video full of useful information, we definitely want to do a river cruise this year. We are off to the CLIA River Cruise Conference next week to learn more!
I think you’ll really like river cruising! I can’t make the conference this year unfortunately
@@tipsfortravellers Yes think we would too. Oh that's a shame about the conference but we are sure you maybe somewhere more exotic! Are you on the Spirit of Adventure in the summer?
River cruise still on my to-do list, even though I have visited all the towns along the Rhine and the Mosel.
Maybe I will do the Danube or Portugal/Spain.
It’s a great experience!
Great information!
Would appreciate a matrix showing the features (inclusive, how inclusive, number of stops, what feature extra, etc.) and categories (family, couple, ethnicity, etc) for each of the major river cruise lines to assist in comparison as well as typical cost and which booking service seems to be the best.
Thanks for the info. My husband and I rather enjoy the intimacy of the smaller boutique vessels. For example, we recently did a river cruise on the Anawrahta in Myanmar which was phenomenal, we also did a cruise on the Zambezi Queen down the Chobe River and want to go back the next time we are in Africa.
Nice. Was the Africa cruise with Croisieurope? I’m doing that in June
I am not sure, my husband sets up all of our trips, but I do know that we were on Sanctuary Retreats Safaris, then got on board the Zambezi Queen and navigated the Chobe River. They have tender boats which took us up to the banks where elephants, hippos, and water buffalos were drinking and wading. It was a truly awesome experience. They have a beautiful videos on UA-cam. I know that I am hooked....we are doing the Paul Gauguin in a little over 30 days...Ocean Vessel, but still smaller than the mega ships, but now I have found The Aria Amazon and oh my!!! I really want to do that one. Have you seen it?
Great info. Been on many, many ocean cruises and now planning a river cruise in Italy with Uniworld. Would love to learn more about that line.
Thanks @gary Bainbridge for providing interesting as well as inclusive information.
Uffizi Pitti Accademia, Vatican, definitely excursion only. long lines
Great video.
Thanks for the tips.
Much more expensive for so little as compared with ocean cruise. It can also be very boring during the evening after dinner. Not much entertainment, however it can be more intimate and very active indulgent in the tours.
Great information Gary we've never been on a river cruise thank you for sharing. Sincerely, Adventures of David and Aaron.⚓⚓⚓
Thanks for watching! Great to hear!
Can you talk about Italian cruises, please?
Have only been on 1 river cruise but you seemed to hit on all the particular things to consider. I too am a solo traveler and it is VERY expensive ;P
Great video.
With regards to low water levels, would it be better to cruise early in the season during the months of May or June?
pro food, unpack once. con very expensive, pro museum tickets included,
very good.
Thanks. Appreciate you watching :-)
Thank you so much for your many superb videos. I am going to do my first river cruise, down the Rhine, in August. I had hoped I might be able to wander around some of the German towns on my own and practise my long forgotten schoolgirl German. Would it be better and would I see more of the towns if I did all of the available group tours instead?
I would recommend doing the tours and then usually time to explore yourself in many. Then if is all day tour you can’t do that maybe skip one of those
@@tipsfortravellers Thank you for that advice. I had worried it would be a bit rushed, but it seems that I can do the tours and have some free time to 'machen ein Spatziergang"
which destinations , museums, should you visit by river cruise vs bus , vs rental car vs train vs ocean cruise excursion vs.....? Leipzig Halle Eisenach Zwickau Weimar Land only also Neuschwanstein, Bergamo, Busseto, Pesaro, Cremona.... Cremona can be done on a Po river cruise. Dresden Prague Berlin can be done Elbe river cruise or land, Hamburg Elbe river, ocean or land, Amsterdam Ocean Rhine river or land, Cologne Bonn Rhine river or land, Vienna Budapest Danube river or land, Seville Cordoba Granada Guadalquivir river cruise, ocean excursion or land.... St Petersburg , Ephesus ocean excursion only. Madrid , Munich , Warsaw land only.... unless you can recommend me river cruises which visit these places. Paris Seine river or land, London land only. Brussels like wise land or excursion. Oslo copenhagen Stockholm Tallinn Riga ocean cruise. Edinburgh Glasgow Athens ocean cruise or land. Naples , Valencia ocean cruise or land,
Does Gary cruise solo?
Often I do as my partner works full time so comes sometimes
@@tipsfortravellers : So when you do cruise solo, do you end up paying for double occupancy, or do you manage to find a single cabin?
Should I be planning a Pacific cruse with the China virus running wild. I have heard some ships are being quarantined
@Peter Rowe Well of course you mean 'quarantined' Turn on your spell checker, might make you look more smarter ;-)
birreboi “more smarter” poor grammar sir!
@@wendycartwright1872 Lol, sort of wasn't the best there! I *think* I thought of changing it, but couldn't be bothered. So yes, even with my good English, I muck up ;-)
Really... All you can think of is my grammar. Don't bother to help with the question.
@@Pedro116092 Read the newspapers or watch TV news. They should give you more up to date info than what I could. Personally, without being too paranoid, I wouldn't travel to China, Italy, Iran or South Korea at the moment. Those countries have the biggest infections, but that can change almost literally overnight.
So maybe better still, put off any overseas travel for a month or two and see how this virus goes. It should/will die out one day. The question being, which day will that be?
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to river cruise as a strict vegan? Will the kitchen accommodate us do you know?
On many lines you should but check and certainly let them know a few weeks before joining
Average age of passengers that do these river cruises?
They tend to average in 60s and 70s
Which do you think is the best river cruise line (best bang for buck, etc.)? How does Viking rank as far as cost compared to other river cruises? Thank you.
River cruises are a totally different creature compared to an ocean cruise. Expect lots of down time to read, watch the world go by, enjoy the calm ambiance. I have been on a Viking river cruise which I found ordinary in terms of food, service, accommodations. My next will be Uniworld or AMA waterways both of which are reported to be better. We’ll see!
@@cher4705 thank you, I have heard that too about the other lines being better. It’s funny you replied now because I just happened to be on UA-cam watching river cruise videos! Can I ask you a couple of questions? How were most people dressed in the evenings at dinner? (I understand it’s casual during the day.) Also, one thing I’d like to do is see the orchestra in Austria. I’m assuming that is more dressy? Thank you!
Do any ships cater for singles?
Are all the city's still allowing the ships to dock with the Coronavirus problem? Only answer if you know for a fact please.
Yes is the answer. 2 cruises out of the roughly 750 in last 3 weeks have had a coronavirus outbreak. 2 Caribbean ports refused entry to 3 ships pending testing of an ill cruise member who had recently embarked. The tests came back as negative for coronavirus and positive for influenza. In last 3 weeks I estimate there will have been around 2,500 to 3,000 ports of call by the just under 250 ships in service doing mostly 7-night cruises with 4 to 5 ports per cruise. Media reports do make it sound much more scary.
Hi want to know what is the market after covid 19 in river cruise.
Would you know if the Explorer Cabin on Viking River Cruises is noisy ? It is a suite but at the back of boat?
There's two engine rooms in a Viking Longship - one at the bow and one at the stern. On top of that, the azipods that are the main propulsion are at the stern. I've only travelled midships on the Longships, but I have travelled in a top deck stern cabin on both the Viking Legend and Viking Prestige, which are the immediate predecessors of the Longships and similar to them in many ways. There is a degree of vibration in those aft cabins on the Legend and Prestige, but nothing beyond gentle except when manoeuvring into and out of locks, and almost no noise. In addition, the Explorer Suites are a long way from the public areas, so you should get little human noise.
I'd expect a quiet ride, though not the almost vibration free experience of travelling midships. As an alternative, you could consider the regular suites on the port side of deck 3, which would be cheaper, too.
@@DavidWood2 Thank you very much David. This was most helpful. I feel much better now. Cheers! Rosemary
💙
Just curious, what type of food was that at 4:15??
If you mean 4:17, that's part of a Viking River Cruises breakfast buffet (as is 4:29). The glass containers have yogurt in them - either plain or with fruit compote (strawberry, blueberry or apricot).
@@DavidWood2 Thank You.
PRO: They're fun.
CON: Coronavirus.
*CoViD19 ( Coronavirus ) has entered the chat*
Understatement.
Mm , .
performances, theatre, concerts , ballets, dance shows included or offered for price. yes river cruises tend not to welcome young children, singles....
Not welcome to singles???
Turn them in to fishing boats for food shortages up and coming.
It's all over stop preaching nonsense
Great information. Thank you for all your cruising videos 😊