Sailorsheila

We have done several ocean cruises and would like to try river cruising. Having looked at many brochures (Viking, Titan, Avalon etc.) we noticed that many cruise are considerably cheaper in the winter. Has anyone been on a Rhine, Elbe or Danube cruise in November, December or March and if so would you recommend it?

Also would anyone recommend any particular cruise line, and is it worth the extra to book a veranda or balcony cabin?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We are on Thomson Spirit for the Aegean Discovery cruise in April. Our return flight is at 17.05 so we would guess that we would only be leaving for the airport at about 14.00. We were wondering what the arrangements will be for the last day, will we still be allowed to use all the facilities on board and will our all inclusive package still count (we only arrive on-board at about 19.00 on our first day). Will we have to carry our hand luggage around with us all day or is there a storage area to leave it?

xxx

We are on Thomson Spirit for the Aegean Discovery cruise in April. Our return flight is at 17.05 so we would guess that we would only be leaving for the airport at about 14.00. We were wondering what the arrangements will be for the last day, will we still be allowed to use all the facilities on board and will our all inclusive package still count (we only arrive on-board at about 19.00 on our first day). Will we have to carry our hand luggage around with us all day or is there a storage area to leave it?

We are sailing on the Spirit in April and have booked a cabin on deck 9 but have not been told of any upgrade. Your Mum must have been moved to a balcony cabin as they can't upgrade the existing cabins between leaving Sochi and the start of the cruising season. I hope she has a great time.

We have just booked a cruise for next April on Thomson Spirit. How does the open dining for dinner work? We have previously enjoyed becoming acquainted with our fellow diners over the course of the cruise. Does open dining mean dining with different people every night and does it mean queuing for tables? We would be interested in your experiences with open dining. Do you prefer it to having a fixed time and table with the same people each night? What are the pros and cons? Any other information/comments on Thomson Spirit would be appreciated. :confused: