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Thanks and a question...


2Alaska09
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I've been lurking here for months, soaking up all the great information and tips. I specifically want to thank Travelcat2 and UUNetBill for all the great posts - many of them were very helpful to me.

 

DW and I are not really "cruise people," but we very much enjoyed the Copenhagen to Stockholm cruise on Explorer earlier this month. I have posted a review:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=585043

 

I'm happy to answer any questions from other "newbies" like myself.

 

And I have a question of my own. If we cruise in Europe again, it will likely be a river cruise. I'm interested in both the Rhine and the Danube. Unfortunately, Regent doesn't do rivers.

 

If I want a "Regent level experience" on the Rhine or the Danube, which cruise line should I use?

 

Thanks!

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A river cruise is very different than a ocean cruise. We have done the Danube twice with AMA and were generally pleased. The first time was on one of the older boats, and the cabin was tiny. Second time was on one of the new long ships and was a world of difference. We could actually both walk into the bathroom at the same time, and there was a small sitting area in the cabin as well as a walkout balcony.

 

Food was good, but not quite as good as regent. Wine and beer were included with meals. Obviously many fewer passengers. Most tours were walking tours but excellent quality.

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A river cruise is very different than a ocean cruise. We have done the Danube twice with AMA and were generally pleased. The first time was on one of the older boats, and the cabin was tiny. Second time was on one of the new long ships and was a world of difference. We could actually both walk into the bathroom at the same time, and there was a small sitting area in the cabin as well as a walkout balcony.

 

Food was good, but not quite as good as regent. Wine and beer were included with meals. Obviously many fewer passengers. Most tours were walking tours but excellent quality.

 

Totally agree RachelG. We have done the Danube and the Tulip cruise with AMA. Their long boats are great. We will cruise with them again!

 

Carolyn

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We did our river cruise with Scenic and found it very similar to Regent in terms of service, excursions, comfortable cabins and inclusions. There have been a couple of recent posts here with Scenic guests looking for compatibility with Regent. IMHO, I don't think you could go wrong with Scenic, AMA or Uniworld, they all have good reputations. Scenic is an Australian company and in the last two years has opened up an office in Boston. We were the only Americans on our Southeast Asia Scenic trip and had a great time and are looking forward to our Danube cruise next year!

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I've been lurking here for months, soaking up all the great information and tips. I specifically want to thank Travelcat2 and UUNetBill for all the great posts - many of them were very helpful to me.

 

DW and I are not really "cruise people," but we very much enjoyed the Copenhagen to Stockholm cruise on Explorer earlier this month. I have posted a review:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=585043

 

I'm happy to answer any questions from other "newbies" like myself.

 

And I have a question of my own. If we cruise in Europe again, it will likely be a river cruise. I'm interested in both the Rhine and the Danube. Unfortunately, Regent doesn't do rivers.

 

If I want a "Regent level experience" on the Rhine or the Danube, which cruise line should I use?

 

Thanks!

 

Scenic. All inclusive like Regent including some excursions and for self led tours a hand held GPS to allow you to tour on your own. Jean.

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Look into Uniworld - exceptional accommodations, service & inclusions. www.uniworld.com/en/

 

I agree.

 

We just did our first river cruise in April with Uniworld on the Rhine from Basil to Amsterdam. The ship, food, service, ShoreEx, amenities were excellent. Balcony room was nice, but it is only 200 f² (19m²). Uniworld is like Regent in that it is almost totally an all inclusive product, except, like Regent, some up scaled ShoreEx.

 

J

41/602

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I've been lurking here for months, soaking up all the great information and tips. I specifically want to thank Travelcat2 and UUNetBill for all the great posts - many of them were very helpful to me.

 

DW and I are not really "cruise people," but we very much enjoyed the Copenhagen to Stockholm cruise on Explorer earlier this month. I have posted a review:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=585043

 

I'm happy to answer any questions from other "newbies" like myself.

 

And I have a question of my own. If we cruise in Europe again, it will likely be a river cruise. I'm interested in both the Rhine and the Danube. Unfortunately, Regent doesn't do rivers.

 

If I want a "Regent level experience" on the Rhine or the Danube, which cruise line should I use?

 

Thanks!

DW and I have done 9 Regent cruises and have 3 more booked. We didn't want any of the Fall 2018 itineraries on Regent, so we went with Crystal River's Mozart on the Danube. We hope their river operation is as good as their ocean operations - but we will see then.

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My wife and I have done a couple of Uniworld cruises on the Rhine and Danube. As mentioned, they are different from the larger Ocean cruises, but we enjoyed them immensely. The scenery while cruising and ports are wonderful. On Uniworld, the food was excellent, they were all-inclusive, except for a couple of excursions. The excursions were primarily walking, but the the groups were small and quite manageable. If you haven't visited the River Cruise part of CC, I highly recommend you check it out. There is a wealth of information (make sure you checkout the stickies along with the reviews). I am certain you will find many who can help you if you have questions. Happy Cruising!!!

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2Alaska - I think we might have originally booked the cruise you were on but we had to change it to the August sailing. Just read your review, sounds like you had a good trip. One pointer about booking the spa - you can contact Canyon Ranch directly via the web or phone and schedule appointments. I set my wife up before out cruise I. April - she was very appreciative not having to make appointments on board.

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All the referrals seemed good to me after my extensive investigations. Just DO NOT do Viking River Cruises. Not!

 

Hi Carol from Carol....Did you do a Viking river cruise and did you have a bad experience? We did one and actually thought it was pretty good. We did the Danube. We also did their China trip which was amazing, and have done two ocean cruises with them.

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Our halfpenny worth. We have done rivercruises in both Asia and Europe. Our Asian ones on the Mekong and Irriwady were excellent, the Europe ones mixed. Tauck excellent, Uniworld good and Scenic dreadful.

River cruises are totally different from sea cruises. The ships are so much smaller and the activities and options onboard are that much less. It is in fact a different experience, but nonetheless can be very enjoyable.

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We recently returned from our first river cruise, with Scenic on the Danube. In November we have our fifth cruise with Regent booked. It is a very different experience. The positives for us - an excellent itinerary on the Danube, a friendly & efficient crew, really well organised excursions. We would rate the excursions as superior to Regent's. That's not a complaint about the latter, we just thought the Scenic attention to detail & care was better. We thought the breakfasts as good as Regent's, the lunches perhaps slightly better (for us).

On the downside, the cabin was very cramped & the veranda added little. And, of course, there were those days when the curtains were closed all day because of another boat being alongside. We really didn't like having a set time for dinner each evening - it varied, but it was emphasized that everyone should be present at the appointed hour. Dinner was a major disappointment for us, both in choice and quality.

We won't be rushing to return to river cruising, & if we ever do will probably look at Uniworld or Tauck.

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I did not mention that food is never great on river cruises because of the cramped kitchen. One exception we experienced was on the Irrawaddy where the chef was excellent and overcame the very small kitchen. We had memorable meals.

We have found Regent excursions far better than Scenic but neither can compare with those of Tauck both on river cruises and land journeys.

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We are Regent cruisers and have done one river Cruise. Our river cruise was with Scenic on the Rhine, Basel to Amsterdam. It was very nice with very good excursions. The only thing that I did not especially like was the set time for dinner and how they kept the entire dining room on the same service - all finish salad before picking up dishes and serving next course. I have since been told that people can go in for dinner later than the "set" time with no issues and that all suites can have room service for dinner.

While breakfast and lunch on Scenic was nice - it was not as good as on a Regent ship.

 

I have a question for Eilana - I am looking at a river cruise on the Irrawaddy and did you write a review on it anyplace??

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Another vote for Uniworld. We have done the Rhine, Rhone, and Danube with them. I did trip logs for each of the trips, if you want to get an idea of what the tours and food are like on Uniworld. No experience with other lines though.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

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I did not mention that food is never great on river cruises because of the cramped kitchen.

 

The food on our Uniworld cruises has been nothing short of exceptional almost across the board. Everything has been fresh, varied, plentiful, and expertly prepared.

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Check out the following that our host Jazbeau has nicely put together for helpful info on river cruising.

 

https://pdf.cruisecritic.com/travel-guide/UltimateGuidetoRiverCruising.pdf?et_cid=1262487&et_rid=99616845

This gives a good idea as the the various lines out there, and how they compare to ocean cruises & hotels.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2233868

 

The main help board. Here you will find the above link (Ultimate guide to River Cruising), as well as other helpful info comparing river cruise lines, and what to expect.

 

Most people will start with a length of time they wish to travel (and for first cruises, the regulars on here advise a week), and the location they wish to go for. Then decide on your budget, and look at the various lines that will fit the budget.

 

All rooms will have "outside" views, but the lowest levels are basically smallish windows at waterline. Some rooms have french balconies, some have full balconies. The main thing to think of when comparing the french/regular balconies is to check on the room size. Most (Viking is an exception, they moved the corridors so the full balconies are larger) full balconies deduct from the actual room size, as all the ships are restricted by width due to the locks. Some french balconies have full walls of windows that open almost all the way, some only open a bit. Some french balconies are full wall of windows with the top 1/2 sliding down. Another thing about the balconies, when in port, the ships are often "rafter" - 2-3 ships side by side, so you may not get the benefit of either.

 

There isn't much night time entertainment like on a larger ship. Days are usually spent touring around the ports you are in, and most sailing is done at night, so if you can live with the lower level cabin (and sight see on either the sun deck or the lounge), you can play with your budget and go for a higher end line. There is lots of walking, which helps wear off all the good food I guess.

 

Have fun planning, but make sure you ask lots of questions... no dumb questions only dumb answers. There are so many variables with river cruising, it's better to really know what to expect. You may decide even after all the research that it's not for you, but hey, at least you went on your trip knowing what to expect.

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Look into Uniworld - exceptional accommodations, service & inclusions. http://www.uniworld.com/en/

This may be trivial, but I recommend checking out the decor on Uniworld. On our recent Viking river cruise, we were rated several times with Uniworld. Talk about over the top! I described it as low budget Versailles. Several of the guys (dh included) said they'd go bonkers if they had to live in that for 2 wks. Remember, Viking does clean contemporary Scandinavian so it was the anti-Uniworld.

 

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This may be trivial, but I recommend checking out the decor on Uniworld. On our recent Viking river cruise, we were rated several times with Uniworld. Talk about over the top! I described it as low budget Versailles. Several of the guys (dh included) said they'd go bonkers if they had to live in that for 2 wks. Remember, Viking does clean contemporary Scandinavian so it was the anti-Uniworld.

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Forums mobile app

Correction: we were rafted.

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Forums mobile app

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The Uniworld decor is a little frou frou but all very functional, comfortable and not low budget at all. The beds are very comfortable and service, food, tours, everything about Uniworld is top notch. Being a fan of true luxury lines I would trade "clean Scandinavian" for French country house anytime.

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The Uniworld decor is a little frou frou ...

 

It is worth looking at the individual ships as I'm not sure that 'a little frou frou' truly encompasses the Disneyesque Marie Antoinette explosion of some of the ships :)

 

 

...but thankfully that is missing from the most recent new vessels.

 

Should be able to find one that meets your needs if someone can't cope with the faux Louis XVI, as indeed we cannot.

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