ABD River Cruise Question

[JulieWent]

DH and I are planning retirement in the next few years, and I'm thinking about an ABD river cruise for a celebration. DH has some health issues that make extensive walking and vigorous activity a strain. If you have experience with river cruises, are the excursions generally friendly for people who are not capable of vigorous activity? Can you come and go on your own when the cruise is docked?

 

[YachtClubWoman]

We did an Avalon river cruise on the Danube (not a ABD) and there was one group that was for “gentle walkers”. For certain excursions they would have a van so there was less walking. I would be surprised if other lines did not do the same thing.

 

[gatordoc]

We did the ABD Seine cruise a couple of years ago. They generally have options that are more or less strenuous depending on preference. As to time on your own, that happens in some locations, but in others the ship is moving along during the excursions and you meet it somewhere else at the end of the day.

 

[JulieWent]

We did an Avalon river cruise on the Danube (not a ABD) and there was one group that was for “gentle walkers”. For certain excursions they would have a van so there was less walking. I would be surprised if other lines did not do the same thing.

Thank you! That is exactly what I needed to hear!

 

[sayhello]

DH and I are planning retirement in the next few years, and I'm thinking about an ABD river cruise for a celebration. DH has some health issues that make extensive walking and vigorous activity a strain. If you have experience with river cruises, are the excursions generally friendly for people who are not capable of vigorous activity? Can you come and go on your own when the cruise is docked?

With the ABD River cruises, there are always multiple choices of excursions to do. And one of them is generally less strenuous than the others (although they can involve a lot of walking, you'd want to check with the Adventure Guides). Most days, they are docked right in town, so if you want to, you can come and go all day if you don't want to do excursions, as long as you are back on board before sailing. If the ship is re-locating during the day (moving from where the day starts to where the day ends) you can stay onboard and watch the towns go by as the ship sails.

Sayhello

 

[lpm23]

I would say if you are looking for less walking I would check out a different company. ABD is geared towards families so most activities are pretty active. Even the less active all require a lot of time on your feet. Have you looked into Viking? When we did our Rhine trip there was a Viking group doing similar stuff but at a much slower pace

 

[Mathmagicland]

I don’t know the extent of your husband’s health concerns or how those might change over the next few years until your planned retirement dates. You might want to do some additional research on accessibility with River cruises in general. While there are some newer ships, there are still things to consider that are not issues on regular cruise ships. Here are a couple of articles to start.

https://www.rivervoyages.com/advice/are-river-cruises-suitable-for-disabled-passengers/
https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1959

 

[aggiedog]

I don’t know the extent of your husband’s health concerns or how those might change over the next few years until your planned retirement dates. You might want to do some additional research on accessibility with River cruises in general. While there are some newer ships, there are still things to consider that are not issues on regular cruise ships. Here are a couple of articles to start.

Yes to this. The ships themselves and the way they are docked/rafted make accessibility a real issue. For the OP, while this may not be an issue now, if your dh's medical issues worsen, it might become more important to consider.

 

[Woodview]

Why not Invest in , & bring with you, a Wheelchair or a Rollator ( ?)

Both should travel Free on a plane . The wheelchair provided you can push it , gives you Both a chance

of a bit of sightseeing within a short distance of the ship

As far as I know there are only 2 decks so not many steps to climb .

 

[OKW Lover]

Yes to this. The ships themselves and the way they are docked/rafted make accessibility a real issue. For the OP, while this may not be an issue now, if your dh's medical issues worsen, it might become more important to consider.

I'd second this. In addition, much of the Continent is not particularly friendly to mobility impaired.