Just a question about quality of river cruises slipping?

[alexandra cruiser]

Have been reading a thread on Oceania re similar question.

Many seem to think the quality of the experience is slipping,regardless of company due to crowding or other reasons.Seems like lots of double docking,poorer food and service in general.

Have you found this to be true?

I just took an AMA to Vietnam and LOVED the whole thing,found everything almost 5star,but have not been to Europe on one in 2 yrs.Have a Scenic booked next June from Budapest to Bucharest and have seen mixed reviews.

What do YOU think? Sure hope not,love to take BOTH river and ocean cruises.:confused:

[caviargal]

We took our first river cruise 5 years ago and will be on our 7th next month.

 

We experienced a difference on the same line over a 3 year period. Some things improved, like bedding quality and cabin layout, and some things did not, like quality of food and included wine.

 

Then we tried AMA in 2011 and 2012 and enjoyed both equally, and saw no decline in overall quality from year to year. We experienced improvements in tours with the introduction of the active level tours and culinary tours, enjoyed the included specialty dining venue, had lovely dinners in the wine room in the MDR and had even more fun in the evenings than on our first AMA cruise.

 

AmaCerto was really fabulous and will be a tough act to follow. Hoping that AmaPrima will be equally impressive.

[KY Deb]

Caviargirl, I posted on the nightlife thread if you could email me with some questions I have about AMA. Thanks!

[caviargal]

Caviargirl, I posted on the nightlife thread if you could email me with some questions I have about AMA. Thanks!

 

 

Sent you an email. :)

[KY Deb]

Sent you an email. :)

Caviargirl, didn't get the email. Debbiesuttonky@yahoo.com. Thanks for trying again!

[caviargal]

Ok, sent again. :)

[alexandra cruiser]

We took our first river cruise 5 years ago and will be on our 7th next month.

 

We experienced a difference on the same line over a 3 year period. Some things improved, like bedding quality and cabin layout, and some things did not, like quality of food and included wine.

 

Then we tried AMA in 2011 and 2012 and enjoyed both equally, and saw no decline in overall quality from year to year. We experienced improvements in tours with the introduction of the active level tours and culinary tours, enjoyed the included specialty dining venue, had lovely dinners in the wine room in the MDR and had even more fun in the evenings than on our first AMA cruise.

 

AmaCerto was really fabulous and will be a tough act to follow. Hoping that AmaPrima will be equally impressive.

 

But anyone else out there with different companies?

Opinions needed.Thanks

[travelfirst]

I was on Viking Odin in March and am going with Viking again next week (my 4th Viking river cruise).

The service on Viking is still the same (wonderful as usual).

 

No one can control the ships double docking. There are a lot more river cruise boats out there now.

[AttilaTheFun]

I have only done one river cruise with Uniworld, but we were very satisfied with nearly everything, including the food and service. The river cruise industry is still very "new" compared to ocean cruises, so I feel that as more ships enter, the competition between cruise lines will be great and they'll have to step up their game to attract customers.

 

The reviews for Uniworld have generally been very positive (although very few), but with them going all-inclusive next year, the prices are higher than I can justify.

[Talisker92]

We have done 4 cruises with Vantage and been very happy with them. We did a Xmas cruise, a Budapest to Amsterdam cruise, a Rhone River cruise, and we just got back from a Russian River cruise.

The food has been good, the Tour Managers helpful and knowledgeable, and the shore excursions interesting.

The stories and pictures are on our website.

We are always happy to answer any questions.

[webfoot]

My experience with Avalon has been great! Booked trip #7 for next August!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[alexandra cruiser]

companies,rated by price or luxury .That would be a good thing to reprint or have as a sticky under river boats to help us determine which one for the area /price.etc.

Anyone else see it,can it be reprinted? Can a CC rep.look it up and do that??:confused:

[AttilaTheFun]

companies,rated by price or luxury .That would be a good thing to reprint or have as a sticky under river boats to help us determine which one for the area /price.etc.

Anyone else see it,can it be reprinted? Can a CC rep.look it up and do that??:confused:

 

That's all very subjective, so I doubt Cruise Critic will keep it as a stick. Cruise Critic has written their own articles and reviews of each river cruise line that would be the most "official" source of information.

[Ironcity]

My experience has been the opposite. We are booked on our 5th Christmas market cruise, all with Viking. The quality of the rooms and the food has gone up in our opinion. I think that is partly due to the high expectations of people who have done ocean cruises, as well as Viking adding so many new ships to their fleet. There has never been an issue with overcrowding as the boats are all almost the same size, dictated by the dimensions of the locks. We have been very satisfied when things beyond Vikings control (high or low water) have had an impact on our cruise and Vikings response to these issues.

[alexandra cruiser]

That's all very subjective, so I doubt Cruise Critic will keep it as a stick. Cruise Critic has written their own articles and reviews of each river cruise line that would be the most "official" source of information.

 

but I m sure I read a list.

Think AMA,Scenic,Tauck were listed as luxury.

Uniworld,Viking,Avalan premium(or similar word)

Vantage,Grand Circle,Gate mid to lower range.

But this is just from memory.