Seine River Cruise

[tink1970]

This will stay on our watch list, but it's a no-go for 2019 due to the dates.

Too bad, I've really enjoyed your trip reports so I'm sure it would have been nice to meet in real life

I get issues with dates, however...I really wanted to do the N. European cruise this summer but with school starting in early August it was a no go. I've extensively researched the start dates for the colleges my DD wants to attend to make sure DH and I can go on a "whoo hoo she's almost out of the house trip" in late July/early August of 2019. The freedom to travel with DH outside of school breaks makes me giddy

I'm curious about which operators you are comparing. I looked at Viking and the itinerary was very similar -- including the Paris land portion. I wouldn't pay money for the ABD, but only because of the Paris land portion and that's because I've lived in Paris and have no interest in revisiting standard tourist sights there with a group.

That makes sense! My mother went on a short cruise excursion last summer and fell in love with Paris, and my teenaged daughter is enamored of the city, as well. Since I'm the one who gets to make everyone as happy as possible , it works well for our family. That said, I suspect DD will take off at some point during the land portion to meet friends (she has friends everywhere...when we were in Amsterdam she met up with a friend from Dubai!) and I'll hang out in the room. Mom, on the other hand, will be going 90 to nothing with all 160 of her new best friends

just back from the Danube Christmas markets cruise, weather was miserable for us San Francisco bay area weather wimps, but now I'm looking at the Rhine fall adult food and wine vs the adult Seine.... which to do, which to do......

What a fun decision! I would probably go with the Rhine since the kinks seem to be worked out but if someone in your party loves Paris, then the Seine.
Not sure you can go wrong either way

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I will be the lone wolf on this one and say that this cruise doesn't interest me one iota.

After our experience on the Rhine ABD I don't know if I'd consider another ABD river cruise. My kids enjoyed the trip (especially my daughter because there were several other teens her age and they really bonded), but I didn't. I didn't like the full buses with only 2 guides, the lack of family pictures taken (seriously I asked a guide in Amsterdam and she said "there isn't enough time" -- for ONE family pictures on the last day), the huge groups on "adventures" and the general lack of organization (one guide told us NOT to take either water or our cameras on a 3 hour zip line course with several uphill hikes between the lines in the exhausting summer HEAT -- the same guide also told us the bathrooms were "down the street on the left -- umm everything was closed so it was a wild goose chase -- turns out they were in a restaurant that was CLOSED). There were also many other little things that I won't list but when put together add up to too much for me to pay the $$ to give ABD another try on a river cruise. I understand ABD got most of these kinks worked out during the summer but for me it just wasn't worth it.

I did e-mail my concerns to ABD when we returned and never heard back from them.

You aren't alone It didn't really interest me either. It's funny, I signed up for the very first river cruise and was so excited about it, but ended up canceling after our negative ABD Add-on experience in the Baltics with 49 people! I feared many of the things you talked about. We ended up doing Greece instead and then the next year China and the river cruises have never come back onto my immediate wish list. I may do one in the future, but for me, ABD works best in the more faraway, difficult to navigate on your own locations like China. So my list for ABD is for things like Japan, SEA and possibly South Africa.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Just saw that ABD is offering this! If I hadn't already done a Viking Seine River cruise, this would be on my bucket list for sure. It looks like they have really tried for a mix of cultural and fun activities for those traveling with children and I bet it will be popular. Would love to go back!

Laurie

 

[tgeorge]

That makes sense! My mother went on a short cruise excursion last summer and fell in love with Paris, and my teenaged daughter is enamored of the city, as well. Since I'm the one who gets to make everyone as happy as possible , it works well for our family. That said, I suspect DD will take off at some point during the land portion to meet friends (she has friends everywhere...when we were in Amsterdam she met up with a friend from Dubai!) and I'll hang out in the room. Mom, on the other hand, will be going 90 to nothing with all 160 of her new best friends

It sounds like your Mom and my Mom are the exact same! For as extroverted as she is, I’m the very opposite. If she picks the Seine Cruise, we’ll need to make sure we’re not on the same trip. I’m not sure if the ship can handle two of them

 

[tink1970]

It sounds like your Mom and my Mom are the exact same! For as extroverted as she is, I’m the very opposite. If she picks the Seine Cruise, we’ll need to make sure we’re not on the same trip. I’m not sure if the ship can handle two of them

I was thinking of your mom as I was typing Maybe it would be good...if they use their powers for good I am a terrible introvert myself (hence the multiple references to staying on board or in my room!). Maybe it skips generations which is why DD enjoys tours and lots of other people (that and she's an only child!).

 

[sayhello]

I will be the lone wolf on this one and say that this cruise doesn't interest me one iota.

After our experience on the Rhine ABD I don't know if I'd consider another ABD river cruise. My kids enjoyed the trip (especially my daughter because there were several other teens her age and they really bonded), but I didn't. I didn't like the full buses with only 2 guides, the lack of family pictures taken (seriously I asked a guide in Amsterdam and she said "there isn't enough time" -- for ONE family pictures on the last day), the huge groups on "adventures" and the general lack of organization (one guide told us NOT to take either water or our cameras on a 3 hour zip line course with several uphill hikes between the lines in the exhausting summer HEAT -- the same guide also told us the bathrooms were "down the street on the left -- umm everything was closed so it was a wild goose chase -- turns out they were in a restaurant that was CLOSED). There were also many other little things that I won't list but when put together add up to too much for me to pay the $$ to give ABD another try on a river cruise. I understand ABD got most of these kinks worked out during the summer but for me it just wasn't worth it.

I did e-mail my concerns to ABD when we returned and never heard back from them.

You were on one of the first Rhine cruises, right? It really did seem that they had all sorts of issues with the Rhine cruise that they did not have with the Danube cruise. I wonder why that is? I, too, am glad you complained, because they did seem to eventually work those kinks out. I'm *very* surprised they never got back to you. What email address did you use?

You're not the only lone wolf. I took one look at this itinerary and thought "Are they serious?! Who would pay money for this trip?" I've seen other Seine River cruises with other operators that are much better and much more appealing, not that we're river cruise people.

Also not surprised in the slightest that you never heard back from ABD. Their customer service sucks when it comes to things like this. They just don't care. Their attitude is "suck it up and deal with it". We had an issue on a recent park visit over Christmas. I emailed Disney about it and they gave us a partial refund for our meal AFTER we'd returned home. You email ABD about an issue and they just blame you and brush it off. Didn't you know it was your fault that you couldn't find an open bathroom? Family picture? Why would you want a family picture? And who needs water in the summer.

Out of curiosity, do you remember who the guide was?

I have to admit, my experience with ABD has been FAR different from yours. The Guides cared. ABD cared. I got responses, if not immediately, in an extremely reasonable amount of time. I'm sorry you're so soured on ABD, but some of us still love them, and continue to have excellent experiences with them. I think it's a good thing you've found other companies to travel with, as ABD is obviously not a good match for you.

Sayhello

 

[OhanaCuz]

I've never done an ABD before or a river cruise. My fiance and I are in the process of planning our honeymoon cruise and the August dates are exactly the same time as the cruises we are looking at. It looks really interesting and I like the all inclusiveness it has. Would this be something we'd enjoy when we've only been on the bigger cruises?

There actually was a honeymooning couple on our Danube cruise! I've purposely never taken an ocean cruise but river cruising appealed to me the more I learned about it. It's only 158 guests, you have Internet access, you get off of the boat a lot, etc. I immediately wanted to take another one when the river cruise ended. Still don't have any interest in ocean cruising.

 

[Calfan]

I will be the lone wolf on this one and say that this cruise doesn't interest me one iota.

After our experience on the Rhine ABD I don't know if I'd consider another ABD river cruise. My kids enjoyed the trip (especially my daughter because there were several other teens her age and they really bonded), but I didn't. I didn't like the full buses with only 2 guides, the lack of family pictures taken (seriously I asked a guide in Amsterdam and she said "there isn't enough time" -- for ONE family pictures on the last day), the huge groups on "adventures" and the general lack of organization (one guide told us NOT to take either water or our cameras on a 3 hour zip line course with several uphill hikes between the lines in the exhausting summer HEAT -- the same guide also told us the bathrooms were "down the street on the left -- umm everything was closed so it was a wild goose chase -- turns out they were in a restaurant that was CLOSED). There were also many other little things that I won't list but when put together add up to too much for me to pay the $$ to give ABD another try on a river cruise. I understand ABD got most of these kinks worked out during the summer but for me it just wasn't worth it.

I did e-mail my concerns to ABD when we returned and never heard back from them.

You aren't alone It didn't really interest me either. It's funny, I signed up for the very first river cruise and was so excited about it, but ended up canceling after our negative ABD Add-on experience in the Baltics with 49 people! I feared many of the things you talked about. We ended up doing Greece instead and then the next year China and the river cruises have never come back onto my immediate wish list. I may do one in the future, but for me, ABD works best in the more faraway, difficult to navigate on your own locations like China. So my list for ABD is for things like Japan, SEA and possibly South Africa.

This exactly! When I first read through the itinerary for the Seine river cruise yesterday, I was actually a lot more interested than I thought I would be. I'm particularly interested in the Normandy piece because we opted for Mont St. Michel over Normandy on last year's British Isles cruise with DCL, and as a history buff, I've got to get to Normandy at some point. There were also some appealing activities on the itinerary. But then I started thinking about large groups of cruisers on excursions, bus loads of folks with only one or two guides, and the appeal quickly started to wear off. I'm not ruling it out entirely at some point in the future, but it's not tempting in the near-term to displace other trips I have in mind.

 

[Calfan]

We definitely will! I've LOVED my Nat Geo hiking trips. Signed up for the next one already to Peru in August with DD18 (Calfan is going to Peru with her family on one of their family trips).

Now I might be able to get DH over the hump for a Nat Geo SEA trip. I just don't see him doing another ABD after BSM this year unless it's a private ABD or somehow guaranteed to be a small group.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Now I might be able to get DH over the hump for a Nat Geo SEA trip. I just don't see him doing another ABD after BSM this year unless it's a private ABD or somehow guaranteed to be a small group.

Feel free to ask me any questions about it if you want. They do have a private one to SEA but it doesn't do Lao which is why we opted for the Active trip. Message me on here or on FB or just ask on the Other Options thread and I'll answer.

 

[canadakath]

I just reviewed the itinerary and it looks like the Anne Frank house isn't an option for next years' cruise...interesting.

We have not yet switched our Rhine cruise this July to the Alaska ABD, so I still received the communication that the Anne Frank Museum recently began an extensive renovation and no longer allows group tours of the museum. They are "busy planning alternate experiences for our Rhine River Cruise Guests".

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Now I might be able to get DH over the hump for a Nat Geo SEA trip. I just don't see him doing another ABD after BSM this year unless it's a private ABD or somehow guaranteed to be a small group.

That is the key!

 

[sayhello]

I do believe that the river cruises are quite different than traditional land based ABDs. The most disappointed passengers we encountered were those who had been on land ABDs on the best trip of their lives and expected this to have the same/similar small ratio of guide to guest (1 family had been to China with a total of 20 Adventurers), intimacy and Tinkerbell magic. (Please note, I understand your concerns...I'm just noting my observations of the unhappy Adventurers on our trip). The happiest fellow guests appeared to have never been on a land ABD (previous DCL families, as we were prior to the Danube cruise) or had been on the Danube and understood this was different type of trip.

I totally agree with this. I have this really big dichotomy going on, in that my Danube cruise was a FABULOUS vacation. I enjoyed it extremely, had a wonderful time, and even felt relatively relaxed after it was over. *However* I would not rate it as a great *ABD* compared to land based ABDs. Most of the things that make me really love ABDs was missing. The Adventure Guides were fabulous. LOVED them. But there was no chance to really get to know the Guides like you do on a land ABD, because you were getting different Guides every day, sometimes different ones even on the same day. And I missed that. In the same way, there wasn't the same bonding with the group like there is on land ABDs. One of the things I love about ABDs is how the Guides make the group feel like a family. That just didn't happen, since there was a different mix of people for each excursion. I got to know a few folks that I saw on more than one excursion, but there just wasn't the group dynamic that I love. But the activities were fabulous. The ship was fabulous. The ports were fabulous. But a part of me knows that I'd never done a river cruise before, so I don't know how much of that was because it's inherent in river cruise travel, and how much of it was because it was ABD. I'm still torn when I try to work it out. But I will tell you, there is NO WAY I would sign up for one of these river cruises if I had to pay a 100% single supplement. I lucked out & got an early booking 50% single supplement that first year. I just don't know that I consider it worth that much of a premium. I might do a river cruise again some time (I still haven't looked at the Seine itinerary. It might happen at some point because of the single room -- but it's pretty low on the list.) But it was not a bad trip. It was a fabulous trip. Just not a fabulous ABD...

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

You're not the only lone wolf. I took one look at this itinerary and thought "Are they serious?! Who would pay money for this trip?" I've seen other Seine River cruises with other operators that are much better and much more appealing, not that we're river cruise people.

Also not surprised in the slightest that you never heard back from ABD. Their customer service sucks when it comes to things like this. They just don't care. Their attitude is "suck it up and deal with it". We had an issue on a recent park visit over Christmas. I emailed Disney about it and they gave us a partial refund for our meal AFTER we'd returned home. You email ABD about an issue and they just blame you and brush it off. Didn't you know it was your fault that you couldn't find an open bathroom? Family picture? Why would you want a family picture? And who needs water in the summer.

Out of curiosity, do you remember who the guide was?

Who would pay money for the ABD Seine river cruise? Uhm, me and a number of other people here on the DIS and a TA friend I spoke to earlier today about it, and ... well you get the idea. I'm not a river cruise person either as I've only done the one on the Danube with ABD vs 19 DCL cruises. I still enjoyed my experience enough that I'd like to do more river cruises with ABD. Since I haven't done other river cruises I wouldn't be able to determine if other operators were better but I can say that our experience with the ABD/AMAwaterways collaboration was outstanding. I can also say that more than once while we were out on our excursions guests from other river cruise operators asked their guides why they weren't getting the experience we were getting.

I know that you had a bad experience or two with ABD and are completely soured on the company and what they have to offer. I am going to agree with @sayhello and also state that my experiences with ABD have been the polar opposite. All of our guides have been amazing, caring wonderful people that really made the trip even more special. From the very first moment I reached out to ABD with a concern back in 2012, I received and email and phone call to address my concerns. I have had nothing but top notch customer service from ABD. It's why I keep coming back.

 

[OhanaCuz]

I totally agree with this. I have this really big dichotomy going on, in that my Danube cruise was a FABULOUS vacation. I enjoyed it extremely, had a wonderful time, and even felt relatively relaxed after it was over. *However* I would not rate it as a great *ABD* compared to land based ABDs. Most of the things that make me really love ABDs was missing. The Adventure Guides were fabulous. LOVED them. But there was no chance to really get to know the Guides like you do on a land ABD, because you were getting different Guides every day, sometimes different ones even on the same day. And I missed that. In the same way, there wasn't the same bonding like there is on land ABDs. One of the things I love about ABDs is how the Guides make the group feel like a family. That just didn't happen, since there was a different mix of people for each excursion. I got to know a few folks that I saw on more than one excursion, but there just wasn't the group dynamic that I love. But the activities were fabulous. The ship was fabulous. The ports were fabulous. But a part of me knows that I'd never done a river cruise before, so I don't know how much of that was because it's inherent in river cruise travel, and how much of it was because it was ABD. I'm still torn when I try to work it out. But I will tell you, there is NO WAY I would sign up for one of these river cruises if I had to pay a 100% single supplement. I lucked out & got an early booking 50% single supplement that first year. I just don't know that I consider it worth that much of a premium. I might do a river cruise again some time (I still haven't looked at the Seine itinerary. It might happen at some point because of the single room -- but it's pretty low on the list.) But it was not a bad trip. It was a fabulous trip. Just not a fabulous ABD...

I heard the same thing from some passengers. Most had done many ABD's. They said the land based tours were very different. They loved the river cruising but said it was a different beast.

It was random draw on what adventure guides we got each day. There was one guide that we rarely got assigned to and barely got to know.

Not complaining just explaining. We had a fabulous time.

 

[OhanaCuz]

BTW, I'm taking an Amawaterways cruise without ABD next. It was the single supplement that was the dealbreaker. I'd be happy to compare/contrast this summer.

 

[Mathmagicland]

BTW, I'm taking an Amawaterways cruise without ABD next. It was the single supplement that was the dealbreaker. I'd be happy to compare/contrast this summer.

Please do - I’m looking at an AMA for a cruise AbD does not yet offer. Would love to hear of your experiences.

 

[tgeorge]

Please do - I’m looking at an AMA for a cruise AbD does not yet offer. Would love to hear of your experiences.

I, for one, would love to hear what you think comparing the two. I looked at Viking and AMA and it just seems like you get more excursions (and better options) with the ABD.

 

[OKW Lover]

Interesting discussion. We are real Disney fans and have done 7 ABD's (land based) so far with #8 booked. We've also been on two non-ABD river cruises on Viking with #3 booked. However we've never done an ABD river cruise so I really can't say if there is value to the ABD experience on a river cruise. I guess I'm very satisfied with the Viking experience and price so paying the ABD premium for a river cruise is just too high a hurdle for me.

 

[tgeorge]

Interesting discussion. We are real Disney fans and have done 7 ABD's (land based) so far with #8 booked. We've also been on two non-ABD river cruises on Viking with #3 booked. However we've never done an ABD river cruise so I really can't say if there is value to the ABD experience on a river cruise. I guess I'm very satisfied with the Viking experience and price so paying the ABD premium for a river cruise is just too high a hurdle for me.

I was looking at a Viking Ocean cruise to Italy in March, but then we decided to do a land based trip to Paris. That’s when I first looked into their River Cruises and they look good. Glad to hear you’ve done them multiple times and enjoy what they have to offer. Their excursions seem limited, but maybe I just haven’t done enough digging. Thanks for the info!