Have you ever repeated a river cruise?

We recently completed the Viking Grand European Amsterdam to Budapest cruise and enjoyed it very much indeed. It was our second river cruise having done the Avignon to Lyon last year. Given there was so much to see and so little time I thought repearting the Grand European next year spending more time in Budapest as our start and visiting Prague before hand might be an idea.

Has anyone repeated a cruise and were your expectations met? I know there are other routes such as the Rhine Getaway and Passage to Eastern Europe that have appeal.

Thanks for comments and insights and safe travels to all.

We recently completed the Viking Grand European Amsterdam to Budapest cruise and enjoyed it very much indeed. It was our second river cruise having done the Avignon to Lyon last year. Given there was so much to see and so little time I thought repearting the Grand European next year spending more time in Budapest as our start and visiting Prague before hand might be an idea.

 

Has anyone repeated a cruise and were your expectations met? I know there are other routes such as the Rhine Getaway and Passage to Eastern Europe that have appeal.

 

Thanks for comments and insights and safe travels to all.

Just a few months ago, we repeated Uniworld's Paris/Normandy cruise, having done it initially in 2015. We didn't reserve it, but when our Provence cruise was canceled, we were able to "jump ship" and do this itinerary again.

This time, we were on Uniworld's newest ship, the Joie de Vivre. We managed to not repeat anything we had done the first time! My husband played golf at Etretat (included as an optional excursion) and we went to Mont St Michel.

We had a great time. We also plan to repeat the Danube, some day. (and, of course, there are several routes we haven't done yet)

Robin

We’re re-doing the Rhine on Viking this November. After telling friends how much we enjoyed the trip, they indicated they’d love to do that trip also, so we volunteered to join them.

There are so many castles to see and so much to do in Cologne , the Black Forest, etc, that we expect that it will be an entirely different experience.

We added Lucerne at the front end to mix it up a bit.

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We have visited several cities multiple times on river cruises . . . New things to see when you are touring one day at a time and dining on board the ship.

We did Passau to Budapest in 2014 on Viking and in less than a week we are doing Budapest to Prague on Scenic, so repeat of river, different direction, different travel partners and different cruise line so hoping for a different experience, will let you know.

I've not repeated a river cruise but I have often returned for extended stays to ports of call that we visited during cruises. I enjoy more than just a "taste". :) For these trips, we usually fly and train around Europe (train being our preferred method of transportation) and we sometimes do these trips in conjunction with a cruise (pre and post).

We have repeated a few cruises. It's nice to see a familiar town and see things we didn’t see before or even visit the same city in the spring and the fall, seeing the differences in the flora.

We have repeated the Rhine, the Danube (from Budapest to Nuremberg), the Seine - and, in 3 months, Eastern Europe from Bucharest to Budapest. We have "sort of" repeated the Netherlands, in that we did a Tulip Time cruise, and last year did Amsterdam over to Brussels, for Flanders Fields, Ypres etc. Each time we repeated, we did it with a different company, so while the river was the same, the trip was not.

We look closely at itineraries. Often, the included excursion is different, or there are options. If the excursion is the same, we will often head out on our own. For example, we had already done a walking tour of Rouen - and there wasn't another option offered. So, we visited the newly opened Joan of Arc museum on our own.

Our original Bucharest to Budapest cruise was with Viking - we are booked with Avalon this time. I have now retired, so have the option to spend a bit more time --> and we are going to Transylvania at the start of the tour. Most stops are different - except for Belgrade. We may try to visit Tito's mausoleum instead of doing the included tour. Budapest is the same... but lots to do on our own there.

We really enjoy the experience of river cruising... so it was inevitable that we would run out of rivers!!

Fran

Thanks so much for your comments. I am encouraged now to repeat that cruise and, as you suggested, add something new to the beginning, the end or both while exploring the towns or cities on our own while docked. We just really enjoyed cruising along the rivers especially the Middle Rhine and the Wachau Valley sections. Again our thanks! Safe travels all.

Thanks so much for your comments. I am encouraged now to repeat that cruise and, as you suggested, add something new to the beginning, the end or both while exploring the towns or cities on our own while docked. We just really enjoyed cruising along the rivers especially the Middle Rhine and the Wachau Valley sections. Again our thanks! Safe travels all.

Absolutely! We have repeated the Rhine, the Danube and will repeat the Douro in October. Each time we repeated, we did it during a different season, for instance Christmas markets, which makes the experience totally different. We have not repeated the Seine, but have considered it. We just wish that Europe had more rivers!!!!

Cole

Don't know why river cruising would be any different from those who repeat Caribbean ports cruise after cruise. In fact, to me it makes a lot more sense to repeat river cruising ports as there is certainly more to see and do than the same old same old in the Caribbean. :)

We did AMA Magnificent Europe (Amsterdam to Budapest) in May 2013 and AMA Magnificent Europe Christmas Cruise (Budapest to Amsterdam) in December 2014. They were like 2 different cruises because some of the ports were different but also the time of year made viewing from the ship very different. Even though it was cold in December, the trees are bare so you can see more of the countryside.

We love doing the longer cruises so you don't have all that much choice but we would definitely do it again, especially if we were with friends who had not done one before. Bottom line, we love the ships and the service so duplicating an itinerary is not a big deal for us.

We did the Rhine and Mosel in September on Uniworld a few years ago, then I did the Rhine again in December on a Christmas markets cruise. Enjoyed both. I did Bucharest to Budapest with a post trip to Prague a couple of years ago, and would do the Danube again.

We have done three Avalon cruises in four years. Amsterdam to Zurich. Vienna to Amsterdam. Zurich to Vienna. We have now repeated all sections of the rivers twice. We don't care. We enjoy just cruising down the river. The ships don't always stop at the same port along the way. If they did, we would sleep late, skip the included local tour, and just do our own thing. We also chose different optional excursions to mix it up a bit. But, for the time being, we're pretty much Rhine/Danubed out. Looking at Avalon's "Grand France for next year.

I did the Viking Rhine Getaway last summer, and am about to do it again. I loved the places we visited, and hope to repeat a few things I enjoyed, and find some new things/experiences I didn't do last year. I probably wouldn't do it thrice, but am looking forward to twice :-)