River Cruise in Europe - What Do DCL Cruisers Recommend?

[HermanTriplets+1]

Just playing with the idea of doing a River Cruise in Europe in order to see some places a bit more inland but still have the cruise / floating hotel experience. Though DCL does not (yet!) have any small river cruising boats, I figured I'd ask here because, well, you are the types of folks that I can trust! So, if you have any recommendations for European companies that do river cruising, or even for specific boats and / or itineraries - would love to hear!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just playing with the idea of doing a River Cruise in Europe in order to see some places a bit more inland but still have the cruise / floating hotel experience. Though DCL does not (yet!) have any small river cruising boats, I figured I'd ask here because, well, you are the types of folks that I can trust! So, if you have any recommendations for European companies that do river cruising, or even for specific boats and / or itineraries - would love to hear!

Well, while DCL doesn't have their own ships on the river cruises, they are partnering with AMA for some cruises this year. Have you checked them out?

We did a Vantage river cruise last summer. We enjoyed it a lot. We're already planning another river cruise in the next couple of years.

One note, except for those AMA cruises that Disney is partnering with, most river cruises are fairly non-kid friendly. There are not a lot of activities onboard like on ocean cruises, and many companies have a minimum age of 8 for river cruising. Rooms are smaller and only double occupancy, so multiple rooms would be needed for families.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Well, while DCL doesn't have their own ships on the river cruises, they are partnering with AMA for some cruises this year. Have you checked them out?

We did a Vantage river cruise last summer. We enjoyed it a lot. We're already planning another river cruise in the next couple of years.

One note, except for those AMA cruises that Disney is partnering with, most river cruises are fairly non-kid friendly. There are not a lot of activities onboard like on ocean cruises, and many companies have a minimum age of 8 for river cruising. Rooms are smaller and only double occupancy, so multiple rooms would be needed for families.

Thanks - not sailing with kids, just 2 of us in our mid 50s. Didn't know that Disney partnered with AMA - hmmm! Would that be attached to the Adventures By Disney branch? Where did you cruise with Vantage, and what season? Heard good things about Vantage as a river cruising line. Off to look up Adventures By Disney!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thanks - not sailing with kids, just 2 of us in our mid 50s. Didn't know that Disney partnered with AMA - hmmm! Would that be attached to the Adventures By Disney branch? Where did you cruise with Vantage, and what season? Heard good things about Vantage as a river cruising line. Off to look up Adventures By Disney!

Yes, Adventures by Disney.

We did a B2B, Bucharest/Budapest; Budapest/Cologne trip. Also added 4 days pre-cruise in Romania. In July. So there were some issues with low water levels, but we made it through. The weather was EXTREEEEEEEMLY hot last summer. Most days it was 90+ degrees. Lots of walking tours arranged through Vantage.

We're taking another Vantage trip (China) next year. And planning another Europe river cruise in a couple of years. Vantage basically caters to the US traveler - about 1/2 the people on our cruise were from CA, with a number from the southern states. Also had one couple from Puerto Rico and one from Canada (traveling with someone from CA).

 

[kaseyC]

Well, while DCL doesn't have their own ships on the river cruises, they are partnering with AMA for some cruises this year. Have you checked them out?

We did a Vantage river cruise last summer. We enjoyed it a lot. We're already planning another river cruise in the next couple of years.

One note, except for those AMA cruises that Disney is partnering with, most river cruises are fairly non-kid friendly. There are not a lot of activities onboard like on ocean cruises, and many companies have a minimum age of 8 for river cruising. Rooms are smaller and only double occupancy, so multiple rooms would be needed for families.

Not quite true. Tauck offers a number of family river cruises through their Tauck Bridges (Family division) and has been offering them long before ABD got into the game.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Not quite true. Tauck offers a number of family river cruises through their Tauck Bridges (Family division) and has been offering them long before ABD got into the game.

Thanks, good to know. When we were researching river cruises, this option wasn't found. We were told that river cruising tends to be a more "adult" (mature) event, not so many kids.

 

[kaseyC]

Thanks, good to know. When we were researching river cruises, this option wasn't found. We were told that river cruising tends to be a more "adult" (mature) event, not so many kids.

Not surprising. Tauck is better known for their organized land tours. But they offer more adult oriented river cruises and small ship cruising as well. They also have a category of cabin with no single supplement. Their Bridges family line has been around longer than ABD with land tours and river cruises. I suspect ABD modeled themselves after Tauck.

I took my girls on the TB Ireland trip last summer. It was fantastic. I'm hoping to book one of their river cruises in summer of 2017. They do offer triples and a few adjoining quads.

 

[angelinaxox]

Not surprising. Tauck is better known for their organized land tours. But they offer more adult oriented river cruises and small ship cruising as well. They also have a category of cabin with no single supplement. Their Bridges family line has been around longer than ABD with land tours and river cruises. I suspect ABD modeled themselves after Tauck.

I took my girls on the TB Ireland trip last summer. It was fantastic. I'm hoping to book one of their river cruises in summer of 2017. They do offer triples and a few adjoining quads.

I was going to say the same about Tauck. It is a great company. I did the Tauck Bridges Red Rocks and Painted Canyons tour last summer and it was fantastic. I have been looking at their Blue Danube river cruise and plan to do it in the future.

Tauck really takes care of everything. There is a river cruising section on Cruise Critic and there are lots of great recommendations for Tauck, especially when there are problems with the water in the river cruising. People have commented that Tauck handled everything well and I can believe that.

Tauck also has a forum on its site. You can also check its river cruise section, although their forum isn't as active as here.

Hope you enjoy whichever company you pick. But definitely check out the river cruising section on cruise critic. There are people who have cruised multiple times on different lines and might be able to give you a good idea of some of the differences in the companies.

 

[kaseyC]

I was going to say the same about Tauck. It is a great company. I did the Tauck Bridges Red Rocks and Painted Canyons tour last summer and it was fantastic. I have been looking at their Blue Danube river cruise and plan to do it in the future.

Tauck really takes care of everything. There is a river cruising section on Cruise Critic and there are lots of great recommendations for Tauck, especially when there are problems with the water in the river cruising. People have commented that Tauck handled everything well and I can believe that.

Tauck also has a forum on its site. You can also check its river cruise section, although their forum isn't as active as here.

Hope you enjoy whichever company you pick. But definitely check out the river cruising section on cruise critic. There are people who have cruised multiple times on different lines and might be able to give you a good idea of some of the differences in the companies.

We are doing the TB Majestic California in July. I didn't think I would like an organized tour because I enjoy planning most things myself. I absolutely loved letting them do all of the work last summer in Ireland. My girls had a blast. We had great group and they all bonded quickly.

The Blue Danube is the river cruise I'm looking at for 2017.

 

[angelinaxox]

We are doing the TB Majestic California in July. I didn't think I would like an organized tour because I enjoy planning most things myself. I absolutely loved letting them do all of the work last summer in Ireland. My girls had a blast. We had great group and they all bonded quickly.

The Blue Danube is the river cruise I'm looking at for 2017.

The California one is another one I want to do. There are so many great tours to choose from and I am glad I got to learn firsthand why Tauck gets lots of rave reviews.