any river boat cruises that don't include wine/beer at meals?

[terrya]

We just got back from our 3rd riverboat cruise. This time with AMA from Paris to Normandy. The cruise was very good. My husband and I do not drink alcohol and found the amount of drinking at lunch and dinner to be troublesome. Some passengers just drank too much since it was included. It would be more pleasant for us to be on a cruise where the alcohol is available but needs to be purchased. Any ideas of which cruise companies might have a plan like this where alcohol is not included?:

[Stratheden]

We just got back from our 3rd riverboat cruise. This time with AMA from Paris to Normandy. The cruise was very good. My husband and I do not drink alcohol and found the amount of drinking at lunch and dinner to be troublesome. Some passengers just drank too much since it was included. It would be more pleasant for us to be on a cruise where the alcohol is available but needs to be purchased. Any ideas of which cruise companies might have a plan like this where alcohol is not included?:

 

Can you please let us know what was troublesome about your dining companions.

 

I don't know of any river cruise that doesn't serve alcohol with meals but with some (like Viking) you have to purchase alcohol at other times.

[terrya]

We do not object to drinking but found that some of the guests got very loud and inconsiderate of nearby tables. I think wine was really encouraged on our trip with constant refills. Many passengers felt like they had paid or it in their ticket and drank plenty - more than we found on Uniworld trips.

[Yggdrasil98]

terrya, I totally understand. We had an abyssmal non-cruise with them last Christmas. One of the most irksome aspects was the excessive drinking at meals, and particularly at night with and after dinner, was we just had to avoid the lounge after dinner as we found the loud and "boisterous" behaviour unacceptable.

 

When we had our big list of complaints addressed we mentioned the over-indulgence of some passengers, and bizarrely, like a school head master they asked us the names of the passengers! Well, as we didn't go near them we couldn't have supplied their names anyway. In the scheme of awfulness, it wasn't a huge issue spending time in our cabin, which was very nice, but another thing that was below standard on a platinum cruise.

 

I don't drink, and my husband only has the odd wine, but we just would like the company's to have a discount if you don't drink, but we know that will never happen!

[peterdkiwi]

Avalon only supplies free wine & beer with dinner. We had no problems on our cruise in July with them, but could understand problems if it was free all the time

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Vantage does not and does a great job ,we are on a 27 day now in Hungry

[Host Jazzbeau]

Vantage does not and does a great job ' date='we are on a 27 day now in Hungry[/quote']

 

This needs to be flagged because it is the answer to OP's original question.

[beverlyjack]

From the Vantage Web Site on the Gateway to the Black Sea Cruise:

 

"Complimentary wine, beer, and soft drinks with dinner at Captain’s Cocktail Party & Dinner. Captain's Welcome & Farewell Parties feature open bar"

 

Open bar to me means unlimited free alcohol at these events.

[Hydrokitty]

This needs to be flagged because it is the answer to OP's original question.

 

Unfortunately, Vantage's policy MAY have changed this year. On the 5 trips we have taken with vantage wine was only free at the captain's welcome and farewell dinners and available for purchase at all other meals. However, according to their latest brochure they now "include beer and wine on many of our itineraries". That being said, I do understand and agree with OP about people over-indulging and have experienced the same behavior on one or two of our vantage trips. I think part of the problem with ALL cruises, river or ocean, is that alcohol is available right after breakfast! While we like a glass of wine with our dinner, we do not drink during the day nor do we hang out in the lounge after dinner. It's not a problem that can or will be solved by any cruise line so the best you can do is try to avoid the loud and boisterous passengers and head for the table where the "quiet ones" are! Fortunately, we've never experienced any serious problems with passengers who overindulge and I would bet, especially on the river cruises, that any passenger who became a problem would be dealt with discreetly.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I think part of the problem with ALL cruises, river or ocean, is that alcohol is available right after breakfast!

 

On our AMA cruise, it was available AT breakfast (bottles of bubbly next to the oj). But no one overindulged.

[Hydrokitty]

On our AMA cruise, it was available AT breakfast (bottles of bubbly next to the oj). But no one overindulged.

 

YIKES!!! :D although who hasn't been to a brunch where they didn't make mimosas....I think the majority of people don't overindulge, but it only takes one to spoil it for everyone else.

[tassietravellers]

On our AMA cruise, it was available AT breakfast (bottles of bubbly next to the oj). But no one overindulged.

 

 

On our Avalon cruise last year bubbly was available at breakfast, on the first morning there was a bottle open but it wasnt used and from then on the bottles were there on ice but never opened, anyone could have done but obviously nobody wanted to start that early.

 

Hydrokitty - alcohol wasnt available on our cruise right after breakfast, it was available to buy with lunch, which we only did the once at the outdoor bbq on the skydeck. Maybe its different with companies that have fully inclusive alcohol, open bars and included mini bars in the cabins.

 

With Avalon alcohol is only included with dinner, in our 14 nights we never saw/heard anyone that at had too much at dinner, or never heard anyone else complaining of that. There were people at dinner that only had juice or soft drink as well.

 

Deb

[travelfirst]

Viking had champagne available at breakfast on the March cruise I went on but I never seen anyone drinking it. They also have beer and wine with lunch and dinner but I never seen anyone over indulging...

If people are going to drink to excess they will regardless whether it is free or not..

[bobalink]

We just got back from our 3rd riverboat cruise. This time with AMA from Paris to Normandy. The cruise was very good. My husband and I do not drink alcohol and found the amount of drinking at lunch and dinner to be troublesome. Some passengers just drank too much since it was included. It would be more pleasant for us to be on a cruise where the alcohol is available but needs to be purchased. Any ideas of which cruise companies might have a plan like this where alcohol is not included?:

 

Hi terrya!

 

Did you enjoy the Paris & Normandy cruise? We are booked on the July 24, 2014 sailing.

 

I would love to hear about your cruise. What were your favorite ports and excursions?

 

We were on the AmaLyra in August. We didn't notice anyone drinking too much on our cruise.

[beverlyjack]

We did Paris to Normandy with Grand Circle. Most of the itinerary is very similar for all of the lines. I did a blog trip report on our trip, if it interests you. It is http://jackthetravelingman-seine.blogspot.com

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[bobalink]

We did Paris to Normandy with Grand Circle. Most of the itinerary is very similar for all of the lines. I did a blog trip report on our trip, if it interests you. It is http://jackthetravelingman-seine.blogspot.com

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks, beverlyjack! I will check it out.