EmeraldRiver Cruises

We are considering an Emerald river cruise for next year. There are a few reviews posted--some good and some not so good. Has anyone else had any good (or bad) experiences with them. I know they are relatively new to the market, so the reviews are limited.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Hi 'Gramps'

Although I don't have any experience with Emerald (we've only done Viking) we're decided to do one of their France cruises next June. Most of what I've seen has been positive. There have been some negative reviews of the previous company 'Evergreen' (at least I believe it used to be called that) but I would think you find that with all companies and hopefully they learn from their mistakes. I'm willing to take the chance and look forward to seeing the kind of service they offer. Emerald and some of the other lines also allow a limited number of disabled people to bring small motorized scooters along, something Viking no longer allows so that's a positive thing to me.

Hi Rufusk,

looks like we are the only two who have heard of Emerald river cruises!! Maybe they are not promoting themselves to the American market?? I read that they are targeting the British and Australians.

I will continue to search for more reviews--I will post if I find anything more.

Cheers!

We are considering an Emerald river cruise for next year. There are a few reviews posted--some good and some not so good. Has anyone else had any good (or bad) experiences with them. I know they are relatively new to the market, so the reviews are limited.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

What cruise are you looking at? We booked Rhine in September through Mayflower Tours with a group. Like you, I have not found a lot of info on Emerald. Still searching.

They advertise regularly in The Wall Street Journal. The only river cruise ads I have seen there. It seems like a very interesting new line, and its hard to figure out the supposed cuts to the Scenic all-inclusive levels that are keeping the Emerald prices down -- it still looks quite complete.

bikn4fn: Bon voyage, and please give us a full report after your cruise!

Isn't Emerald the lesser sister of Scenic??? I'm sure I read that somewhere and maybe on CC?

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Yes, from what I have read, they are the lower end of Scenic -- apparently to compete with Viking and Avalon. We have cruised Avalon and enjoyed everything about them. So, if they are comparable to Avalon, that would suit us. In comparing scenic and emerald, I cannot see how they have made emerald "lower"==perhaps quality of foods and wine, lesser tours??

Isn't Scenic All-Inclusive ?? And possibly Emerald is not? Could be just that simple? Don't know!

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The ships look lovely.

The difference between Scenic and Emerald appear to be no Butler and drinks only at meal time rather than all day.

Gratuities are included.

If you meant Emerald Waterways (sold as Evergreen Tours in Australia), then check out the blog link in my signature for a cruise I did last month.

The differences can be subtle. When the Main Danube canal water level was low, our new ship having a shallower draft could go through, whereas several other companies had to bus their passengers to the other end and swap ships.

Very much enjoyed reading your review, Ash! Wonderful photos and informative details. Thank you! Looking forward even more now to our Danube Delights cruise in October.

Very much enjoyed reading your review, Ash! Wonderful photos and informative details. Thank you! Looking forward even more now to our Danube Delights cruise in October.

You're welcome. I am a very digital traveller. I was also checking in with Foursquare and Facebook on this trip. Have a great cruise!

We have been following Emerald and looking at their cruise itineraries and are interested in the Amsterdam to Budapest, in the fall of 2015.

Thanks for putting together a great blog and review of your cruise. Enjoyed it very much!

Thank you for all the information.Can I ask,is there somewhere to go in the evening away from the singers if you want?

Thank you for all the information.Can I ask,is there somewhere to go in the evening away from the singers if you want?

They weren't that bad! :D

Usually the entertainment occurs while you are moving and the entertainers get off at the next lock, but you can go to the Sun Deck if it is open. For the AMS-BUD direction, the ship was docked during the Hungarian Folk performance, so you could try your luck outside, but since there was a Danube by Night session immediately afterwards, I wouldn't recommend leaving the ship.

I saw one of the advertorial videos of a BUD-Nuremberg sailing on the same ship and it seemed that certain activities are timed in a different order. If you want to see videos of any day of this cruise, I have uploaded them at http://www.amsterdamtobudapest.com/video/ and they are in bite-sized pieces. Even the un-exciting bus rides are kept separate, so you can see glimpses of what I saw through my iPhone 5S - these are not professional videos and have minimal editing.

Thank you.I am not at all computer savvy so may call again on you nearer the time to ask more questions.;)

We have booked the cheapest cabin as we assume we will be on deck or out and about a lot.What is the pool like?

Sorry, I can't swim, so I did not try the pool. I don't think many people used it, but as it is small, you'd be doing turns every few strokes. Someone said that the coffee machine there was also very good, FWIW. My wife saw a movie there one night and they made popcorn for the guests.

What was the dress code for evenings and special dinners?

What was the dress code for evenings and special dinners?

There is just one sentence in the "My Tour Information Booklet" about clothes. You get this before you leave - it is a whole paragraph about clothes and shoes for the whole trip, but one sentence about the special meals. -"The Captain's Welcome and Farewell Dinners are dressy but not formal."

The timetable for those days merely refers to "Dinner" for both, but there was a "Welcome Cocktail". For the optional Viennese concert, silly me was one of 2-3 people who wore a business suit and tie! It was hot and stuffy in a room packed with at least 1000 people. Only one shipload arrived with the men in tuxedos. The same room had people in shorts, t-shirts and runners (not our ship but possibly independent tourists).

If you check out the video page I mentioned a few posts above, you can look up any day to see what people wore. I never saw a single tux on our ship. We passed other ships, e.g. some Tauck and Viking at meal times where they were definitely better dressed than our mob. Most people wore what you might wear to a friend's dinner party in Australia.

... its hard to figure out the supposed cuts to the Scenic all-inclusive levels that are keeping the Emerald prices down -- it still looks quite complete.

I have been looking at other brands to compare what we "missed" on the Evergreen cruise. Superficially, they stop mostly at the same places but the websites don't give you the benefit of assessing which one is better.

For example, in Vienna, we paid to see the concert at the Kursalon. The Scenic pax go to "the majestic Palais Liechtenstein" but I don't know if that room is less packed and has better air conditioning.

Evergreen pax go to Bratislava and do the family visit there; Scenic pax spend two days in Vienna and one option on the second day is Bratislava, but they do the family visit in Miltenberg.

The Scenic ships have "Six dining venues, including River Café and Table La Rive" - I don't know how they count their dining venues, but on the Emerald Sky I'd count just two - the Reflections restaurant and the Horizon Lounge for light meals upstairs. Yes, there was a barbecue on the Sun Deck once and you get popcorn while watching a movie, but that's not dining in my book.

There is a hint of better quality in the Scenic descriptions, e.g. we were given a walking tour of Cologne near the cathedral, while they choose between Dusseldorf and Cologne, then have a medieval banquet in some castle. We had dinner on the ship.

The two days in Vienna (also done by APT brands, which skip Cologne), is a better choice for those who want to see Vienna better on the second day. If I had my druthers, I would not mind missing Bratislava.

I suspect that someone who does an Evergreen + optional tours ends up paying close to the Scenic price. We did all but one option. In some places, Scenic has three or four choices, so they have to pay for a bus for each destination even if they have just two pax on board.

Thank you so much for the information.

I am getting a little nervous about being in lower deck in case there is noise from crew etc,early morning.

Thank you so much for the information.

I am getting a little nervous about being in lower deck in case there is noise from crew etc,early morning.

You're welcome. I didn't hear a complaint from people I met from the lower deck and when we went for the engine room tour, you could hardly hear the engines before the door was opened. There are no cabins above the front or rear engines. Apart from housekeeping people, the rest of the crew go up from a staircase within their area and they come out one or two levels up, as per their work routine. By the time you hear pax walking past, it'll be time for you to be up anyway. We heard nothing from our room. You should check out the engine room video on my site, at least for the walking part to the rear engines.

You are more likely to hear people above your cabin if they decide to move stuff at night. We were on the top deck and could hear joggers on the Sun Deck - they were asked not to jog too early.

Emerald are marketed to the Australian markets. They appear to be a budget version of Scenic and I believe they are targeting a younger market. There are some promotional videos on YouTube. They have indoor pools which are used as a movie theatres at night.

Emerald are marketed to the Australian markets. They appear to be a budget version of Scenic and I believe they are targeting a younger market. There are some promotional videos on YouTube. They have indoor pools which are used as a movie theatres at night.

Didn't look very young on crm911 clips.Did cringe when I heard YMCA...:rolleyes:

Didn't look very young on crm911 clips.Did cringe when I heard YMCA...:rolleyes:

Not a Yankees fan? ;) [The grounds crew dances to that when they do the 7th inning raking of the infield.]