Newbie to cruising

[Kristelle]

Hi everyone.

 

I have never been on a cruise, ocean or river, before.

 

am booked to go on Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise with Scenic in early September.

 

3 days in London, 2 days in Paris beforehand.

 

I'll be back later with any (probably silly) questions........

[CastleCritic]

Welcome to cruising, there are some pretty big difference between ocean and river, largely driven by the locations, ships and just the difference in # of people involved.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  You have made a great choice for a first cruise, as Scenic is one of the top river cruise lines.

 

I suggest you read through the stickies at the top of this forum, which will provide you with lots of information about all aspects of river cruising.  Then please ask any further questions here – we have lots of river cruise experts who are happy to help.

[Kristelle]

Thanks for the welcomes. 

 

Not sure ocean cruising appeals to me but have always wanted to do Europe river cruise.

 

Had it booked in 2020 but of course cancelled due to Covid pandemic so finally doing it this year.

 

 

 

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Sounds like a lovely trip. A river cruise is a nice intro to cruising. My advice would be to have an open mind and go with the flow.  The somewhat rigid schedule and fairly tight quarters can be a bit of a shock if you’re used to independent travel but I find it’s nice to relax and just show up and see what each day brings.  
 

[SLWW]

Hi Kristelle, my husband and I are booked on the September 6/23 Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest cruise. Is this the one you are booked on?  If so, I hope to meet you onboard.

[CastleCritic]

15 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Sounds like a lovely trip. A river cruise is a nice intro to cruising. My advice would be to have an open mind and go with the flow.  The somewhat rigid schedule and fairly tight quarters can be a bit of a shock if you’re used to independent travel but I find it’s nice to relax and just show up and see what each day brings.  
 

It can be, and that differs a lot from itinerary to itinerary.  It's also one of those "definition thing" there is the set itinerary of excursions and meals but also what the ship is doing.  Is the ship going to be sitting there all day so you can just get back off and go back into the town? or is there so much river to travel that you were bused to and the ship actually came to meet you in the excursion village and then undocked 30min later (Main river pretty much every day) and was moving until the next morning.

 

I dont know that its really possible to get a "chill rating". unless you can find a review of that itinerary.

[Kristelle]

18 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Sounds like a lovely trip. A river cruise is a nice intro to cruising. My advice would be to have an open mind and go with the flow.  The somewhat rigid schedule and fairly tight quarters can be a bit of a shock if you’re used to independent travel but I find it’s nice to relax and just show up and see what each day brings.  
 

  Thank you

 

I havent been on a cruise before but I have been on several all inclusive land group tours  - I guess they have a rigid schedule too - in that you all have meals together and do most things as a group on the same timing.

 

I'm not sure what is meant by a chill rating - I like to be doing things though not spending too much time just chilling (on the ship, resort, wherever)

[Kristelle]

18 hours ago, SLWW said:

Hi Kristelle, my husband and I are booked on the September 6/23 Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest cruise. Is this the one you are booked on?  If so, I hope to meet you onboard.

 

yes that's the one!

 

starts in Amsterdam on 6th Sept.

 

PS my name isnt really Kristelle though - just made that up for my user name.

[Canal archive]

I’ve been on quite a few Scenic river cruises and read a lot on these boards and I to have never heard of a ‘chill rating’ maybe someone can enlighten us please.

[SLWW]

3 hours ago, Kristelle said:

 

yes that's the one!

 

starts in Amsterdam on 6th Sept.

 

PS my name isnt really Kristelle though - just made that up for my user name.

I hope I get to meet you!  This is our fourth Scenic cruise, I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as we do.

[CastleCritic]

I'm going to assume that everyone is reacting to me using the phrase "chill rating" I was just referring to some general sense of how relaxed vs structured the schedule is.

 

i.e. 6a-9a eat

9-12 do your excursion

12-1:30 eat

2-5 do your afternoon excursion

7-9p eat

 

for 7 straight days.

Edited April 18, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Canal archive]

Ohhh I see - or

6 - 9 light breakfast in your cabin

9 - 12 gentle stroll close to your mooring

12 - 1.30 snacket in the lounge bar

2 - 5 afternoon snooze or on board activity 

7 - 9 excellent dinner with newly acquired friends with drinks in the lounge to follow.

 

Change as required.

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Some sailings especially on the Douro have some daytime, usually scenic cruising so definitely more chill.

Edited April 18, 2023 by Gourmet Gal

[Daisi]

On 4/16/2023 at 7:06 PM, Kristelle said:

Hi everyone.

 

I have never been on a cruise, ocean or river, before.

 

am booked to go on Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise with Scenic in early September.

 

3 days in London, 2 days in Paris beforehand.

 

I'll be back later with any (probably silly) questions........

 

On 4/17/2023 at 9:59 AM, Gourmet Gal said:

Sounds like a lovely trip. A river cruise is a nice intro to cruising. My advice would be to have an open mind and go with the flow.  The somewhat rigid schedule and fairly tight quarters can be a bit of a shock if you’re used to independent travel but I find it’s nice to relax and just show up and see what each day brings.  
 

 

Kristelle, the only "silly" questions are the ones you don't ask. You say you are used to organised tours, so the structure of a river cruise should be no problem for you. The bonus is, your hotel comes with you as you travel, so no having to rush in the morning to make sure you haven't forgotten anything!  There can be problems with water levels, but that is where the next piece of advice I quoted from Gourmet Gal says...go with the flow and look on everything as an adventure and you should be fine. Enjoy, and have fun planning your trip, that's 1/2 the fun!

[notamermaid]

@Kristelle Between the activity versions of CastleCritic and Canal archive there is all the variation you may want. However, the distance covered on this itinerary is huge. On a few days the ship needs to make time and sails while the passengers are on an excursion. The coach will meet the ship at the next port. You will know this in advance of course and can plan accordingly.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[CastleCritic]

Here is an a example of a near “worse case” complete with said ship moving while we were off last year (amadante, seine river France), I believe this was the one where we actually beat the ship to the dock and had to wait about 20min for it to arrive and tie up. (edit, photo archive says yes, she arrived about 6:10, 10min late)

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Kristelle]

Thanks for that and also the example of a day sheet.

so there are often exercise classes and suchlike on board in non excursion times? That sounds good.

 

and short coach trips would be nice change to a day - waiting 20 mins for the ship to catch up isnt a bad thing is it?

a few hours standing round in the cold wouldn't be fun but 20 mins would be ok.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Kristelle said:

and short coach trips would be nice change to a day - waiting 20 mins for the ship to catch up isnt a bad thing is it?

a few hours standing round in the cold wouldn't be fun but 20 mins would be ok.

Organization of those meets of coach and ship are very good, this has been done for years. Should normally not be a problem. On the Main and Main Danube Canal people have reported longer waiting times due to hiccups in the schedules. They stood in the heat or sitting on the coach waiting for up to an hour. It happened to Viking cruisers but can be with any ship that is held up for whatever reason. They were unfortunate, i.e. it can happen occasionally. Again, things just happen and I do not want to be negative. I am sure Scenic will do their best.

 

notamermaid

 

[CastleCritic]

3 hours ago, Kristelle said:

Thanks for that and also the example of a day sheet.

so there are often exercise classes and suchlike on board in non excursion times? That sounds good.

 

and short coach trips would be nice change to a day - waiting 20 mins for the ship to catch up isnt a bad thing is it?

a few hours standing round in the cold wouldn't be fun but 20 mins would be ok.

I think notamermaid got most of it, and to be clear I can only speak for how AMA does it, but yes, exercise classes are a constant thing, if the ship is docked there will often be a shore walk sometimes (and you can always just take the bikes if you want or use the treadmill, bike etc in the gym).

 

As for the ship moving, yes...as was said these are scheduled pretty well, the guides know exactly what time they need to get people on the buses,  the captain knows the river and the locks involved,  the cruise director is usually with the excursion and communicating with the captain the entire time. Of the about 5 times Ive had the ship move happen, this was the "worst" usually the bus (or walking group) arrives at the dock just as the ship does or at least appears.  Do things happen? yes the ship doesnt get through on the lock cycle they arrive on, someone else is at your dock and wont let you tie up to them.

 

AND usually the coach trips are pretty short, are there exceptions? yes...on that trip the next time the ship did the move we were off the entire day to make the 2+ hour drive each way to Normandy (and the ship got to where it was going HOURS before we got back.

Edited April 19, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Canal archive]

Kristelle we’ve never had to wait but as with everything there’s always a first time. On our last two Scenic cruises the fitness team were more in evidence, walking pole lessons and practice, some yoga and Pilates just ask at reception. Bikes available whenever possible to use them, if you want to do any extra exercise you can. I haven’t tried a salt therapy yet though.

[Kristelle]

oh that sounds good: Organised exercises or Tai Chi or suchlike groups on board that you can join  when and if you want to 🙂

there is no additional cost for these?

I know the bikes are free because Scenic brochure says so.

 

Occasional minor hiccups with bus waiting seem reasonable - the sort of minor hiccups that happen on all tours and you just take in your stride

 

 

[Wings55]

On 4/16/2023 at 6:06 PM, Kristelle said:

Hi everyone.

 

I have never been on a cruise, ocean or river, before.

 

am booked to go on Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise with Scenic in early September.

 

3 days in London, 2 days in Paris beforehand.

 

I'll be back later with any (probably silly) questions........

@Kristelle It looks like the others have done a good job answering your initial questions. I will just add that our first river cruise in 2016 was the same as yours except we sailed east to west. We absolutely loved that trip and it still remains my favorite vacation ever. You choose wisely and I hope you enjoy your experience as much as we did ours! 

Paul