Comparing All Inclusive River Cruises in Europe

I am intrigued by what I have heard about European river cruising. I think it is something I would like to try. I am having a hard time comparing all the river cruise lines. I see some include more than others. Is there a grid anywhere that checks off what they offer? Gratuities included, alcohol outside of meals, port excursions (though I think most include this), transfers, port taxes, etc? I am 55 and would like to take two 26 year olds and one 25 year old with me. If this is already on the forum please let me know which threads to check into. Thanks in advance!

Sorry! posted this in the wrong thread earlier. I will learn!

Someone may have a grid of this, but things are changing and may be outdated and I recommend you do the research. One of the recent changes I have heard was to the dinner service. One of the river boat lines has everyone sit at once and serve dinner. This is changing to come in as you please between certain hours. So I recommend you get the latest by looking at the river boats that do the itinerary you want.

That would be great if someone has one, but I agree that it changes, so it would be a starting point only. You need to identify what venue you want to go on, what area or what river itinerary. Then you can start the comparison. I did a spreadsheet comparing a standard line, Viking, with a luxury all included (at least some of it), Crystal, for a Rhine river cruise. Some of the Lines don’t go that itinerary and specialize in France or Russia or China. So start there.

two threads really helped me that are avail above your thread: New river cruiser and River cruise articles. They compare Lines very well, and are good starting points.

Enjoy. Do remember, an all inclusive is great only if you are going to use pretty much ‘all’ the included.

Den

https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/cruise-companies/viking-river-cruises-vs-uniworld-river-cruises/

This article has a grid that compares a good number of the river cruise lines.

Thanks everyone! I will read thru the links. We can only go away July 21-30, 2018 so the selection is limited.

That's only a month away. Bad news - cabin selection will be limited. Good news - a good TA might be able to get you a last minute deal.

Thanks everyone! I will read thru the links. We can only go away July 21-30, 2018 so the selection is limited.

U by Uniworld has availability on their Danube Flow itinerary for those dates. That may appeal to your younger passengers.

Robin

The grid you want is available in Ralph Grizzle's Ultimate River Cruise Advisor book, which is available for download from his website (the link is in a post above). I can't post the grid here for copyright reasons, but the Appendix from pages 252 to 273 has grids and explanations that show included features and amenities for each cruise line and also apples-to-apples pricing for selected 2019 cruises. The book is amazing, and replaces the Berlitz guide as the river cruise source IMHO.

That's awesome! Thanks so much

The comparison grid on Ralph's web site does not include Gate 1, Grand Circle, and Vantage. Does his book also exclude those, and perhaps other, lines?

The comparison grid on Ralph's web site does not include Gate 1, Grand Circle, and Vantage. Does his book also exclude those, and perhaps other, lines?

He does not cover those lines. He does cover these: AMA, Avalon, CroisiEurope, Crystal, Emerald, Riviera, Scenic, Tauck, Uniworld and Viking River.

Gate 1 is also not included in the Berlitz guide – perhaps because it is still new to river cruising:

I’m not surprised that Gate 1 is not in the Berlitz book. River cruising is a relatively new offering for the tour company, at least on its own branded ships. From what I’m hearing, though, it’s a great value-oriented product.

Grand Circle and Vantage are covered in Berlitz, but not in the new book – perhaps because they don't book through travel agents? One of the problems for cruise lines that won't deal with travel agents is that they cut themselves off from much cruise media coverage, which is driven by travel agent advertising.

BTW I just received an updated version of the new book – after only 1 month! This is a great thing about ebooks, although most publishers don't take advantage of it. I have been buying the Take Control series of books about Apple products, and they always include free updates [until a major rewrite triggers a new 'edition,' when you get a half-price offer].

I make my own spread sheet.....compare and contrast....We years ago wedded ourselves mainly to RCCL, Celebrity, and Azamara....we have branched out to Seabourn and Celebrity...We decided NOT to wed ourselves to River cruise lines, but look, decide what we want, are we traveling alone or with friends? Do we want all inclusive? and then make a decision...We have been on AMA, Viking, and are doing Crystal Rhine in the fall......