Chelsea Cruiser

We had decided to do the Viking Cultural Delights land/cruise in China next year, unfortunately Viking are dropping this trip in 2016.

We do have a slight chance of doing this cruise this year, but in the mail just this week I received a GCT offer which was very similar to Vikings Cultural Delights trip, theirs was considerably cheaper, it even included free airfare.

We are not experienced river cruise travellers and wondered why there is such a considerable difference between the Viking trip and the much cheaper GCT trip?

Am I missing something?

Good plan!

If she doesn't want to go to Tibet, I would choose an itinerary in China that includes the Yangtze River. We also added the Silk Road, not many Western tourists there, maybe a handful of Europeans. We booked the one company that offered it, China Focus out of San Francisco. Our group was small, just 8 people, which meant that we also ate at non-touristy restaurants and twice used trains instead of busses, what an adventure!

Thank you so much what a good idea, just one question regarding the company you used, are the hotel accomodations of a good standard?

To all of you that have given such good advice, thank you so much. I guess it now depends how much my wife would like to check this off her bucket list.

Again many thanks

My wife and I are looking to do a river cruise in China, the one that sounds the best includes staying in Lhasa, Tibet for a couple of days. My worry is that my wife suffers with migraines, and by what I have read the altitude at 14000 ft does result in some people developing headaches. If my wife did get a migraine while visiting Lhasa that would be a big problem for her.

Has anyone else either been to Lhasa and is it worth the risk considering the altitude and its side effects?

Thanks

With a little advance planning on the packing it really isn't a problem.

 

We packed things we would both need for the period from Beijing up to the river cruise in one suitcase and left the other one pretty much untouched until we got on the ship.

 

It really wasn't a problem at all.

Thank you Mark, good advice

We have just finished our first river cruise on Viking, to be honest I went into this trip a little concerned (in my case particularly) if I could enjoy river cruising as against ocean cruising which we have always enjoyed. Anyway to cut a long story short my wife and I had a fantastic time, and we both can't wait to do it again.

The reason for this question is that the thing I love about cruising is unpacking and then the boat becomes your home for however long the trip is. We would like to go to China and do the Roof of the World cruise on Viking, my worry is that a lot of these days in China require internal flying, different hotels, and some river cruising, not sure how others have got on knowing you have to pack your case a few times to accomodate the hotel stays and flights, was this an inconvenience, or am I making too much of it? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Should we avoid the staterooms that are on the bottom deck, I ask because the cruise we are planning to do is in December 2014, so is the cost of French/balconies worth the extra money

It might be that AMA includes alcohol at lunch, and some optional tours, which you might pay extra for on Vantage. If this is not important to you, read the reviews for the Vantage sailings here on Cruise Critic. I seem to recall that Vantage has a high customer satisfaction rate. Also, keep in mind that some folks have a different level of standard of living. It is not about being able to afford it, it is what makes you happy. I rather have some money left over to make purchases in the ports, I don't care about extras on the cruise. For us, getting from one port to the next in an enjoyable, relaxing manner is why we appreciate River Cruises.

That is very good advice, and as my wife doesn't drink at all and I only have a glass of wine at dinner, the drinks are not important to us. The itinerary and the satisfaction of the cruise line we book with are the priorities for us.

Just one more thing, with gratuities is it similar to the ocean cruise lines?

Is the airfare worth booking with the cruise line? I guess that was two more things:D

Many thanks for all your help

Well, while realizing that we may have left it late in trying to make up our minds, its looks as if its a choice between the 12 day Prague- Budapest Christmas cruise on Vantage or an 11 day Prague-Budapest on AMA.

The Vantage cruise is less costly than the AMA itinerary, but as this is the first time we have done a river cruise is less better?

I just returned less than 2 weeks ago from "Christmas on the Seine" with GCT.

One huge difference is GCT has "murphy beds" that fold down from the wall. During the day there are very small couches below to sit on. I have also cruised twice with Uniworld, which was significantly more expensive, as you mention. It all depends on what is important to you. Want total luxury and everything included? Choose Tauck. I didn't see a big difference in food when comparing GCT and Uniworld. However, our Uniworld cruises had balconies and French balconies, GCT has neither. There were 105 people on my Seine cruise, 72 of the passengers had traveled with GCT at least 3 times (including me). They certainly aren't as fancy, but they do have their market. I should also mention that I found the murphy beds very comfortable and could not tell the difference from a regular bed. I think if I were you I'd choose something like Uniworld or AMA for my first cruise, as I did...have a wonderful time. If you use the search option, you'll find LOTS of comparisons of the various cruise lines. Edited to add: the river cruises include wine with dinner, some companies also include it at lunch. Lots of walking tours are included. Gratuities are more on river cruises, and we found the suggested gratuities were totally in line with the service we received.

The reason all river cruises cost more than ocean cruises is that river ships have only 100-200 passengers. Dis-economies of (small) scale.

 

It's difficult to compare river and ocean cruises, because they are as different as Caribbean resorts from ocean cruises. Some people who love ocean cruising also love river cruises, because they appreciate both types of travel. Other ocean cruise lovers hate river cruising. [We love both, but would hate being stuck at a Caribbean resort for two weeks. YMMV]

 

So what do we love about river cruising that makes it worthwhile paying so much?

• the small ship environment means you get to know lots of people, and if you're lucky you get to know some people really well

• as with ocean cruising, you unpack once for the entire cruise

• there is no risk of seasickness

• the food is usually tailored to match the countries you're cruising through [quality of the food may vary with the cruise line - you get what you pay for]

• wine and beer is free (and freely poured) at meals [quality of the wine varies with cruise line - and the most expensive lines include alcohol at all times]

• shore excursions are free [or most are free - again it varies with the cruise line]

• the Cruise Director (aka Program Director) will be a constant and personal presence throughout the cruise, handling all the details and able to respond quickly to requests and problems

• the itineraries are places that you can't visit on an ocean cruise (except via a long bus ride) and cover a region in depth

• in many cases the ship docks right at the edge of town and stays late or overnight so you can walk in on your own

 

 

What might be a problem with river cruising?

• the small ship environment means you can't avoid obnoxious people, especially if they are in an obnoxious group

• the ships have relatively few public spaces, so there's not much chance to find a quiet spot to be alone (except your cabin)

• the cabins tend to be smaller than on ocean ships, and there are few real balconies [French balconies or Juliette balconies are sliding glass doors that give you a full view and can open to give you half-width fresh air, but there's a railing right on the other side of the door so you can only lean out a little]

• if you don't like your Cruise Director, it can have a major negative impact on that cruise

• tipping guidelines are higher than on ocean cruises [gratuities are included on the most expensive lines]

• many excursions go to a neighboring town and some people are shocked that they have to ride a bus (after all the talk about docking right in town)

• the ship is unable to leave the river, so it's hard to avoid weather or water-level problems

 

As you have noted, river cruises are expensive. But we enjoy the experience and appreciate the aspects that can't really be done any other way.

 

Hope this helps.

Thank you both so much for the excellent advice:)

It does seem that everyone has a favorite cruise line to go on, for us I think the itinerary is going to be the most important. My wife seems to be leaning towards the Danube with trying to incorporate visits to Prague/Budapest and hopefully Vienna?

Once again many thanks for getting back to me.

My wife and I have only been on ocean cruises and never really considered a river cruise. But the Christmas Markets cruises have been recommended and we want to make this trip in Dec 2014.

I have looked at all of the RC companies for costs over 8/9/days and all in all it averages around $3000 per person without airfare. There was one company Grand Circle Cruises who were well below that average?

Knowing what we have paid for our ocean cruises with longer itineraries, the costs for a RC seem a lot higher.

I was wondering if others who have done both types of cruising could point out the benefits of paying more for the RC than we would have normally paid for ocean cruises, and why there is a big difference from all the others to GCT?

Thanks

To All:

My wife and I have always been on ocean cruises, but its been a dream of ours to do a RC particularly the Christmas Markets. We are planning to book very soon for 2014 in late Nov/Dec.

As we have never done this before obviously some of the questions we have relate to which Christmas Markets are the best, which RC company should we book with, and is there an itinerary that is more preferable than others?

Really appreciate any help you can pass along

To All:

My wife and I have always been on ocean cruises, but its been a dream of ours to do a RC particularly the Christmas Markets. We are planning to book very soon for 2014 in late Nov/Dec.

As we have never done this before obviously some of the questions we have relate to which Christmas Markets are the best, which RC company should we book with, and is there an itinerary that is more preferable than others?

Really appreciate any help you can pass along:)