Choosing a Cruise Line?

[papa B me]

For the biking, I assume you are on your own. Do they provide maps, routes so you see the most scenery, and don't get lost? I ask because we run and it's nice to know where we are going.

 

Uniworld had both on your own and scheduled bike excursions often led by their fitness person on board.(They also have included yoga, water aerobics on boats with pool, active walks, etc...). On our Castle on the Rhine cruise Amsterdam - Basel there were a number of locations that there were bike paths/running paths that were all along the River so no way to get lost. But they do provide maps for all stops. I read in another thread that Uniworld has upgraded their systems and now provide a personal GPS system to be used with pre loaded maps. I don't know if that is on all ships or not yet. I'm hoping they are available on our Venice Lagoon cruise in June.

[Got2Cruise]

My understanding (stickies above) is that dinner (excluding Chef's Table) on most ships is open/free seating. True?

 

So, if you arrive at or close to the scheduled seating time, do they seat you randomly with others, or do you just wander around looking for tablemates that look the most...friendly?

 

What happens if you are, god forbid, a half hour late?

 

Any cruise lines that you particularly like as to how they manage the dinner seating?

 

Thanks!!!

 

If you're half an hour late that would be considered rude but of course they would accommodate you. But you would be seated with others who already have begun eating and conversing. Meals are several courses and leisurely.

 

 

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[jpalbny]

My understanding (stickies above) is that dinner (excluding Chef's Table) on most ships is open/free seating. True?

 

So, if you arrive at or close to the scheduled seating time, do they seat you randomly with others, or do you just wander around looking for tablemates that look the most...friendly?

 

What happens if you are, god forbid, a half hour late?

 

Any cruise lines that you particularly like as to how they manage the dinner seating?

 

Thanks!!!

 

 

If you're half an hour late that would be considered rude but of course they would accommodate you. But you would be seated with others who already have begun eating and conversing. Meals are several courses and leisurely.

 

We like how Uniworld manages dining but we don't have anything else to compare it to. You are not seated by the dining room staff, but you wander into the dining room and seat yourself wherever you'd like, whenever you'd like. The majority of people come to dinner when it first opens but we did not always do that.

 

Got2Cruise, that hasn't been our experience on Uniworld, so far. They always graciously accommodated us whenever we wanted to eat. There were times that we didn't join the 7PM rush, and went in later at our leisure. We never had to join a table that was already in progress. In fact, when we did wander in late, the staff actually would guide us to an empty table and the service was great!

 

They did not seem to expect everyone to come to dinner at once, and they took great care of us!

Edited January 28, 2017 by jpalbny

[Roz]

I had the same experience as jpalbny on Uniworld. As it turned out, I met 3 other women around my age who were all traveling by themselves, so we just met every night at an agreed to time and sat at the same 4-top. At breakfast and lunch I just sat wherever there was an opening, and met lots of varied and interesting people that way.

 

Roz

[JerryInIL]

Approximately how many tables for 2 do they have on river cruise ships? Do you reserve them, or do you have to arrive promptly to get the table for 2? Not anti-social, but sometimes it's a nice break.

[jpalbny]

Approximately how many tables for 2 do they have on river cruise ships? Do you reserve them, or do you have to arrive promptly to get the table for 2? Not anti-social, but sometimes it's a nice break.

Depends on the line and the ship. For Uniworld, the answers are (1) not many - 10 to 12 is my guess, (2) no you can't reserve them, and (3) usually yes, arrive early. On our last cruise though, when we arrived later, they always sat us at a table for 4 or 6 that was empty. I suspect our ship wasn't full. That makes a huge difference as well.

 

BTW a table for two is far from a quiet, solitary experience for the two of you. The tables are very close together. They will be about six inches from the next table, which will be another table for 2 or 4. You will likely end up talking with your neighbors, even if you want to be by yourselves.

 

Other lines will likely have different setups.

 

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[caviargal]

. You are not seated by the dining room staff, but you wander into the dining room and seat yourself wherever you'd like, whenever you'd like. The majority of people come to dinner when it first opens but we did not always do that.

 

Got2Cruise, that hasn't been our experience on Uniworld, so far. They always graciously accommodated us whenever we wanted to eat. There were times that we didn't join the 7PM rush, and went in later at our leisure. We never had to join a table that was already in progress. In fact, when we did wander in late, the staff actually would guide us to an empty table and the service was great!

 

They did not seem to expect everyone to come to dinner at once, and they took great care of us!

 

We had the same experience. We prefer a later dinner time and came to the dining room within 45 minutes of opening most nights. It was not considered rude nor did we receive anything other than great service. It was actually my favorite part of the Uniworld experience, the flexibility to dine when we chose to.

[JerryInIL]

BTW a table for two is far from a quiet, solitary experience for the two of you. The tables are very close together. They will be about six inches from the next table, which will be another table for 2 or 4. You will likely end up talking with your neighbors, even if you want to be by yourselves.

 

 

Always "interesting" squeezing in and out of those 6 inch gaps between the tables :)

[Sleep7]

Hi Jerry!

We took our first river cruise last November on Avalon and it was truly the most amazing week.. wouldn't have changed a thing!

Your hotel comparisons are spot on.. we are Hilton/Marriott people and Avalon was perfect for us. Upscale yet never stuffy.. extremely comfortable and with perks and luxuries that made us smile all week.

When we returned I posted a full review/blog of our trip with lots of pictures. It will give you a good idea of what your experience might be on Avalon.

Here is the link::)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2422694

[JerryInIL]

Hi Jerry!

We took our first river cruise last November on Avalon and it was truly the most amazing week.. wouldn't have changed a thing!

Your hotel comparisons are spot on.. we are Hilton/Marriott people and Avalon was perfect for us. Upscale yet never stuffy.. extremely comfortable and with perks and luxuries that made us smile all week.

When we returned I posted a full review/blog of our trip with lots of pictures. It will give you a good idea of what your experience might be on Avalon.

Here is the link::)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2422694

 

Thanks for the report !!! Is northbound downstream? Do you spend more time in ports going downstream?

Edited January 31, 2017 by gab1107

[zitsky]

I'm surprised that I don't see more people recommending Viking? I did Lyon-Avignon last year and am doing Romantic Budapest this year. The ships were new or looked new. Service was very good. Tours were good, maybe too many.

[Sleep7]

Hi Jerry!

Glad you enjoyed our tale of fun on the Rhine.

RE the ports NB and SB.. I thought they would be the same just in reverse order.:)

[Marlster]

go with the best...Scenic.

 

I wouldnt go with anyone else..we loved our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise so much so we have booked with Scenic again to cruise on the Scenic Eclipse Nov 2018

 

We are also booked with Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest May/2017 only because after extensive research found they are what you call ALL-INCLUSIVE, leave your wallet at home, nothing to pay at end of cruise. I went to a presentation regarding the Eclipse and boy are you in for an amazing ship, I was so impressed.

Marlster

[zitsky]

Guess Viking isn't popular in this thread. I did Lyon & Provence last year and doing Romantic Danube this year. I did consider Scenic, but their price would have been several thousand dollars more than Viking. I didn't think the difference was worth it. We had a great time on our Viking tour last year. We met several interesting people who we stay in touch with from time to time.

[gnome12]

Personally, I don't really understand the lure of totally all-inclusive. I must admit that I'm not a drinker (much) and so I don't have that issue. But tips are fairly easy to calculate, and while I admit that it is a nuisance to pay the guides and bus drivers individually (you need to collect a bunch of 1 and 2 euro coins), I can't see paying way more money upfront to avoid having to come up with some cash during or at the end of the trip. But that is just me.

[4774Papa]

Guess Viking isn't popular in this thread. I did Lyon & Provence last year and doing Romantic Danube this year. I did consider Scenic, but their price would have been several thousand dollars more than Viking. I didn't think the difference was worth it. We had a great time on our Viking tour last year. We met several interesting people who we stay in touch with from time to time.

Viking has never been the lowest price of 4 river cruises that we have taken. Also, payment a year ahead of time is required.

 

We like Vantage and have always had a great product from them.

[zitsky]

Viking has never been the lowest price of 4 river cruises that we have taken. Also, payment a year ahead of time is required.

 

We like Vantage and have always had a great product from them.

 

I'm glad you're happy. You've proven my point. :)

[budbo]

We are also booked with Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest May/2017 only because after extensive research found they are what you call ALL-INCLUSIVE, leave your wallet at home, nothing to pay at end of cruise. I went to a presentation regarding the Eclipse and boy are you in for an amazing ship, I was so impressed.

Marlster

 

 

We did our first river cruise last fall on Scenic and it was truly "all-inclusive". We have been ocean cruising for years and typically book almost all excursions independently so going to an all-inclusive was very much out of our comfort zone. We thought we might end up doing some excursions on our own but there was no need.....and really no spare time to do so. We flew into Budapest 2 days early and stayed a couple days extra in Amsterdam at the end so we thought we'd have to arrange our own transport to/from the airports but Scenic handled all that for us at no additional charge. The crew was great, the cabins were great....the food was pretty darn good too. Of 146 passengers, we were 2 of only 6 Americans.....mostly Aussies.