River cruise misconception

[JPH814]

I have been on many ocean cruise and two river cruises - with more of both types to come.

 

My pre-conceived notion of river cruises was this: river cruises are for old people who don't get around much who sit and watch the scenery and occasionally walk around a town.

 

My experience has been the opposite.

 

My wife and I are 61. We find river cruises exhausting compared to ocean cruises.

 

Our typical day started at 6 checking emails and facebook. Breakfast at 7. Off the ship by 8:30. A Tour in the am and a second one after lunch. Back by 5. Shower and dress for dinner Cocktails at 6 and learning what is planned for the next day. Dinner from 7 until 9. A post dinner drink and then bed

 

...and you do this for 8 days in a row

 

No days at sea, sitting around a pool. No time for a massage or a trivia contest.

 

My fitbit says I averaged over 15,000 steps a day over 8 days.

 

So yes, the passengers are older and no, there is not a nightclub or casino. But be ready for a full schedule and plan a couple of days to recover when you are get home.

 

 

 

 

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[Cobbie48]

I agree! Sometimes there is day cruising and time to sit on top deck with a beer. I caught my SO napping on the top deck! We loved everything about our cruise and have another planned this fall.

[jklc123]

I also agree. Most of our river cruises had at least one scenic morning or afternoon cruise but otherwise the ships move mostly at night. One exception is the Moscow/St. Petersburg itinerary; because of the long distance to be traveled, there is much more daytime cruising -- beautiful and relaxing.

[Roz]

Well put, JPH. That was my experience. It was go, go, go, which I liked. My first was an 8-day, my next one is 10 days. I think we have 1 or 2 days without a port, so it will be interesting to see if the pace is different.

 

Roz

[Lois R]

I took my first River cruise in April and I agree it was very active.

But....this is a big but......we all have different priorities. Getting up at

6am to check email and FB is not a priority for me and I never start my

days by doing those things.......they are just not something that are

important to me. I don't even do FB here at home and as for email, I

probably checked it 4 or 5 times (throughout the entire cruise). I am

not a techie and especially not while I am on vacation.

 

But again, I do agree with being active on the cruise. Lots of walking

tours and I loved seeing the places and learning about the history of

those places.

[JVilleGal]

Boy isn't this the truth! I so longed for a Sea Day but alas on a River Cruise there is no such thing. Exhausting absolutely but wonderful. I needed a vacation after my 16 day A to B trip :)

 

 

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[Rebel54]

I'm looking forward to it.

[Hydrokitty]

Boy isn't this the truth! I so longed for a Sea Day but alas on a River Cruise there is no such thing. Exhausting absolutely but wonderful. I needed a vacation after my 16 day A to B trip :)

 

 

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It really is the truth!!! And OP said it so well....we were so exhausted after our last river cruise we needed an ocean cruise to unwind :D

[Capt_BJ]

Just use the Queen Mary 2 for your trip back to the States rather than flying ... those sea days with no ports gives you plenty of time to rest up!

 

our way:

fly over ... spend a couple of days on land

river cruise

spend some more days on land making our way to where we can meet QM2 (Hamburg is nice)

cruise to NYC

fly the last short leg to home ..... arrive all rested

[JVilleGal]

Sounds lovely!

 

 

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[JPH814]

I took my first River cruise in April and I agree it was very active.

But....this is a big but......we all have different priorities. Getting up at

6am to check email and FB is not a priority for me and I never start my

days by doing those things.......they are just not something that are

important to me. I don't even do FB here at home and as for email, I

probably checked it 4 or 5 times (throughout the entire cruise). I am

not a techie and especially not while I am on vacation.

 

But again, I do agree with being active on the cruise. Lots of walking

tours and I loved seeing the places and learning about the history of

those places.

 

Just to clarify- it is not that I am a slave to facebook, but my normal routine is rising about 6. I use that first hour to go through my pictures from the day before and select a couple to post with a short description. Kind of like a 21st century version of sending a picture postcard., except this one goes out immediately and can be seen by all of my family and friends. Plus, I can catch up on the news and sports scores from back home. The point is, that is virtually the only time I get to do it, because the rest of the day is so filled.

[JPH814]

Just use the Queen Mary 2 for your trip back to the States rather than flying ... those sea days with no ports gives you plenty of time to rest up!

 

our way:

fly over ... spend a couple of days on land

river cruise

spend some more days on land making our way to where we can meet QM2 (Hamburg is nice)

cruise to NYC

fly the last short leg to home ..... arrive all rested

 

Oh how I wish I could do that. But my wife is not a big fan of crossings. one or two sea-days at a time is about it.

[Lois R]

Just to clarify- it is not that I am a slave to facebook, but my normal routine is rising about 6. I use that first hour to go through my pictures from the day before and select a couple to post with a short description. Kind of like a 21st century version of sending a picture postcard., except this one goes out immediately and can be seen by all of my family and friends. Plus, I can catch up on the news and sports scores from back home. The point is, that is virtually the only time I get to do it, because the rest of the day is so filled.

 

Hi Joe:) I wasn't trying to argue about it. I was just saying getting up at

6 to do emails and FB isn't part of my routine.

I actually wake up every day here at home at about 5:15am (during the

week for work). I would normally get up in the 7-7:30 range;), shower, dress,

breakfast and off for the morning tour.

 

But I do agree with you that the River Cruise experience is VERY

active:)

Edited June 12, 2016 by Lois R

[Rebel54]

My husband would call that a deployment. Not sure I see him jumping onboard for that one.

 

Just use the Queen Mary 2 for your trip back to the States rather than flying ... those sea days with no ports gives you plenty of time to rest up!

 

our way:

fly over ... spend a couple of days on land

river cruise

spend some more days on land making our way to where we can meet QM2 (Hamburg is nice)

cruise to NYC

fly the last short leg to home ..... arrive all rested

[CPT Trips]

Just use the Queen Mary 2 for your trip back to the States rather than flying ... those sea days with no ports gives you plenty of time to rest up!

 

our way:

fly over ... spend a couple of days on land

river cruise

spend some more days on land making our way to where we can meet QM2 (Hamburg is nice)

cruise to NYC

fly the last short leg to home ..... arrive all rested

 

How the heck do you pack? None of my River cruise attire is appropriate for Cunard. I'm sure as heck not heading up to Vierseenblick in a tux. All with one suitcase and a carry on.

[JVilleGal]

Send one suitcase by A Luggage Conceirge service to the ship with your fancy duds! Then they will be waiting for you in your cabin when you board the ship :)

 

 

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[pully8]

agree it can very busy, 2 tours a day, everyday. but it does not have to be that way. our flights to Europe can be 24 hours plus so we like to do pre/post independent stuff as well as the structured cruise. sometimes we do the 2 tours/day but if we have already done the tours we may decide to relax and enjoy the scenery while sailing.

we have also done 2 cruises, relaxing in between or/and doing what we like at the end or before the next cruise. many of the places really require more than a few hours to enjoy/explore. so many options really.

nothing wrong with being fully occupied everyday but its not for everyone and not mandatory. sailing in a near empty ship with beautiful scenery can be bliss for a few hours.

[Solent Richard]

I have been on many ocean cruise and two river cruises - with more of both types to come.

 

My pre-conceived notion of river cruises was this: river cruises are for old people who don't get around much who sit and watch the scenery and occasionally walk around a town.

 

My experience has been the opposite.

 

My wife and I are 61. We find river cruises exhausting compared to ocean cruises.

 

Our typical day started at 6 checking emails and facebook. Breakfast at 7. Off the ship by 8:30. A Tour in the am and a second one after lunch. Back by 5. Shower and dress for dinner Cocktails at 6 and learning what is planned for the next day. Dinner from 7 until 9. A post dinner drink and then bed

 

...and you do this for 8 days in a row

 

No days at sea, sitting around a pool. No time for a massage or a trivia contest.

 

My fitbit says I averaged over 15,000 steps a day over 8 days.

 

So yes, the passengers are older and no, there is not a nightclub or casino. But be ready for a full schedule and plan a couple of days to recover when you are get home.

 

 

 

 

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Well Hello JPH from Richard in the United Kingdom.

 

You make an interesting synopsis between the two types of cruising and I can only but agree with you.

 

Last October my wife and I did a Viking River cruise along the Rhone and I, at the age 70, never missed an excursion either complimentary or additional...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2015/11/09/viking-hermod-portraits-of-southern-france/

 

 

...still managing the climb to capture the view above the aqueduct..

 

 

Then, in March this year, we did a full 14 days along the Irrawaddy River...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/03/10/princess-panhwar-on-the-road-to-mandalay/

 

...and I still managed the odd climb...

 

 

There's life in the old boy yet.

[caviargal]

I so longed for a Sea Day but alas on a River Cruise there is no such thing.

 

 

Actually, some river cruises have much more sailing than others. We prefer port intensive itineraries to sailing time but we had lots of sailing time on our Bordeaux cruise and quite a lot on the Rhine.

[Sapphire73]

My fitbit says I averaged over 15,000 steps a day over 8 days.... But be ready for a full schedule and plan a couple of days to recover when you are get home.

 

I wore my fitbit on our first river cruise and was impressed with how much walking we were doing. And yes, definitely a full schedule! We took most of the optional excursions. And since we were traveling in November, I was checking weather apps each morning to figure out what the weather might be - specifically, when the rain might start and how heavy it might be to help determine which layers to wear that day.

 

My ideal would be to arrive a day or two before the cruise and stay on a few days afterwards. We did do the extension in Bruges after our river cruise on the Rhine & Mosel, and that was lovely.

 

One thing I hadn't realized before our cruise was that the direction of the cruise may affect the pace.

 

Thanks for starting the thread!

[anandaindonesia]

Now I am worried. I am not very active and my idea of cruising is r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g.....

This will be our firat river cruise and though I want to enjoy the Christmas Markets, I don't want to do the walking....

 

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[Sapphire73]

Now I am worried. I am not very active and my idea of cruising is r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g..... This will be our firat river cruise and though I want to enjoy the Christmas Markets, I don't want to do the walking....

 

Someone with experience on AMA cruises and the Christmas Market itinerary should be able to provide more specific information. But I think you will be able to choose a more relaxed pace if that is what you want.

 

On our river cruise, some people chose to skip the walking tour altogether and used the maps provided to make their own itinerary in port. And during our walking tours, the program director would announce good break off points (for those who wanted to shop or stop for coffee somewhere or head back to the ship).

 

As for the amount of walking, we almost always chose to go back into town after lunch (if we had that option and weren't taking an optional tour). We also chose to get lunch in Trier and in Bonn rather than head back to the ship.

 

Hope you find the perfect balance of relaxation and activity on your river cruise!

Edited June 13, 2016 by Sapphire73

[TravelerThom]

Now I am worried. I am not very active and my idea of cruising is r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g.....

This will be our first river cruise and though I want to enjoy the Christmas Markets, I don't want to do the walking....

I walk quite a bit, but the river boat will call a taxi (at your expense) that will deliver you any place you want. Have the boat write their location (as well as their phone number) down on a piece of paper so that you can catch a taxi back to the boat. Some markets (eg Nuremberg) are quite a ways from the remotely parked boat, but in those cases a shuttle bus will take you to near the market.

 

Thom

[JVilleGal]

You can choose to do as much or as little as you would like. The tour buses dropped many passengers off who simply wanted to enjoy the view along with a coffee and pastry while the rest of us wore ourselves out trying to see it all.

As long as you are able to walk 2 or 3 blocks you are fine to sit and watch the beautiful towns. Our boat often sailed on without us while we toured and several couples just chose to stay with the ship and sail on.

Go and enjoy! Let everyone else wear themselves out!

 

 

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Edited June 13, 2016 by JVilleGal

[anandaindonesia]

Thank you, Sapphire73, TravelerThom, and JVilleGal.

Yes, I will try to balance and enjoy....

 

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