Am I Wrong?

Hi. Started looking for a European river cruise last November. Had some health problems and put on hold. Now again looking and it seems that the prices, especially on Viking, have shot up considerably since late last fall. With the strong dollar, I was hoping that prices might come down. Has anyone else noticed this? I am looking at September, 2015, or May, 2016. Would like to try a Viking longship but other lines seem more reasonable. Any comments? Thank you. Pather

I have been looking at a couple lines, Vantage and GCT. They are not changing their regular fares, but they have been offering special discounts, usually advertised as "book before..." Also, if you do air through them there are deals there too.

I guess that other lines are doing similar promos. If you aren't on mailing lists, go and dig around the web sites.

River cruises sell out fast, so it's probably too late for Sept. 2015 -- but if there are cabins left, there may well be sales. If you want a bargain, it pays to be flexible on cruise line. Check out the Newbies sticky at the top of this forum for the names of other lines.

Recently booked a Viking 14 day cruise for August under a promotion that featured July and August cruises and included "free" air. Very limited choice of cabins so as mentioned above, sales do happen to move unfilled inventory but one needs to be flexible.

DW and I love Vantage. Compare with Viking and you will likely save $$$ going with Vantage.

DW and I love Vantage. Compare with Viking and you will likely save $$$ going with Vantage.

Same here, I actually did a cost comparison in February between Vantage and Viking and was astounded at the difference. We've done 6 trips with Vantage and have 2 booked for this spring and summer and 1 booked for next year. :D

Thanks. I will definitely check Vantage.

Also, try Avalon's Suite Ships. I know our ship is sold out all summer long (and has been for quite a long time) but I'm sure you could find other river cruises with them for this summer that would be available. Try AMA Waterways too. If you're "into" food, then AMA would probably suffice.

As you compare different river cruise lines, pay attention to what is included on each and how important those things are to you. Some people have found that putting all this in a spreadsheet helps them see which lines are the best value. But even a back-of-the-envelope comparison will probably show you that some supposedly cheap lines are actually more expensive in the event. Also it seems to me that those lines that are more inclusive also get better marks for the quality of everything. Finally, I agree with DrivesLikeMario that the food on AMA is very good.