Comparison of river cruise companies

Need comparisons of various river cruise companies - Viking, Ama, Avalon, Crystal, etc. Just complete a Viking Ocean trip and was pleased and now considering a Rhine cruise in April/May 2019. Any and all information from folks who have been on different ships greatly appreciated! We four cruisers are 60's-70's and moderately active. Any and all comparisons welcome.

Look at the stickies at the top of the main river cruise page. There are articles on river cruise lines (including comparisons of lines) as well as New to RIVER CRUISING??? START HERE!!!

They should give you a lot of information to start with.

At your ages and activity level, any river cruise line could work for you. It all comes down to where you want to sail (itinerary), how much you want to pay, and what inclusions you want.

Gnome gave you good advice to start with the stickies in this forum and go from there.

Roz

Consider what time of year you're going. Our last cruise was late October 2016. The rivers were very low. Most cruise lines were having to bus their passengers overland between ships. Example: West bound Viking couldn't go any farther west, East bound Viking couldn't go any farther east, so they bused the people and swapped ships. Three couples we met in Regensburg were on their THIRD Viking ship for that cruise. They were not happy campers because, apparently, Viking was not very forthcoming (or honest) with their information on river conditions. When people called in they were told "Oh, it's fine! No problem." But when they arrived on the first day they were immediately told..."oh, by the way... We're going to have to bus you between ships and maybe put you up in hotels along the way."

Virtually every cruise line was having this problem: Viking, AMA, Scenic. EXCEPT... Avalon. We were on Avalon. We were advised of the possibilities and the Captain publicly expressed his concerns before dinner a couple of nights. But we just sailed on through. Avalon has the newest fleet out there and they have a much shallower draft than the older boats used by the other lines. So, we didn't have any real issues. There was one stretch on the Danube where everyone was given a free "Optional excursion" into Saltzburg or a medieval village in Czech Republic because we couldn't get into the port at Pasau. While we were enjoying our free excursion, the ship made its way westward and picked us up somewhere along the river. It was no big deal as most people were going to buy the excursion anyway.

Anyway... something to consider. I guess all ships could be affected by very high water but not all are bothered so much with low water. The CC forums were full of stories about river conditions causing problems with the cruises. I never heard or read about any Avalon ships getting "stuck" somewhere along the river.