Rafting river boats together.

[Got2Cruise]

One time we were rafted to our Amawaterways sister vessel. The two ships were identical. So when you walked into the ship you weren’t sure if you were on the correct one or you should walk through. Lok 

[Canal archive]

De ja AMA, maybe!

[CastleCritic]

12 hours ago, Got2Cruise said:

One time we were rafted to our Amawaterways sister vessel. The two ships were identical. So when you walked into the ship you weren’t sure if you were on the correct one or you should walk through. Lok 

now you know why Viking puts a different god picture on their ships.

Edited June 29, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Pushka]

On 6/28/2023 at 1:11 AM, sharkster77 said:

One of the big differences, river vs ocean, is that on a river cruise you really aren't in your cabin very much, mostly for sleeping and changing clothes.  There are no sea days, so no sitting on the balcony watching the world go by---most sailing is done while you sleep.

 

If you are day sailing it is in a scenic area (middle Rhine, Wachau valley) and the best place to view the scenery is not on your balcony, but on the top deck or the lounge (floor-to-ceiling windows).  When there was that rare chance to watch the world go by, it was very pleasant doing that from the lounge or top deck.

 

Rafting is a part of river cruising---OP, don't let that discourage you!   When you are rafted, you are most likely waking up in the morning, or off the ship.

There are scenic cruising days on Rhine cruises.   We were rafted in Croatia which was an ocean cruise but on a smaller boat. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Pushka

[Canal archive]

Even the various foyers are interesting the art be it on the wall static or all encompassing but most I’m afraid to say tend to scuttle through head down looking neither to the left or right, I wonder why?

[sharkster77]

6 hours ago, Pushka said:

There are scenic cruising days on Rhine cruises.   We were rafted in Croatia which was an ocean cruise but on a smaller boat. 

FULL cruising days?  NO.  On the Rhine with Viking, we had a morning when we cruised the scenic middle Rhine, and an afternoon, after visiting Kinderdijk, when we cruised on the Waal on our way to the Rhine.

 

My comment was in referral to sea days on ocean cruises, when one can spend the entire day in a lounge chair sipping umbrella drinks watching the water.  On the Rhine that does not happen.

 

Maybe your cruise company was different, but my comments were based on my experience.

[Daisi]

I think the only European river that does day sailing is the Douro.

 

I know (well, should say expect) we will have 1 day sailing from Budapest to Vienna as the first excursion is the evening concert. We will also have a few hours possibly sailing through the Wachau Valley. On the Rhine, we only had a morning from Amsterdam to Cologne as we arrived at Cologne at lunchtime (our cruise didn't go to Kinderkijk). 

 

I don't choose river cruising for the sailing (although the scenery on the rivers can be nice), I want to see the towns we stop at and have the convenience of being close enough to most ports that if I'm not out on an excursion, I can wander into town to stroll around on my own. 

[CastleCritic]

Ive had days that were MOSTLY Sea(river?) days but never the full day.

(all cruises Amawaterways)

 

Day1, first ever cruise we left Amsterdam after a morning canal tour and then were just moving until early the next morning (honestly one of my favorite cruise days ever, just me and a sunny day on the top deck with my laptop granted the next day I figured out I really should had worn sunscreen....wasnt bad but. lesson learned)

 

Day...something on my May cruise on the south/eastern Danube morning at Golubac fortress (Serbia) then on the ship from 11am for the rest of the day, including some actual sightseeing....again after the weather changed I REALLY enjoyed this day.

Edited June 30, 2023 by CastleCritic

[notamermaid]

There are just a few cruises where there is an actual full days of cruising, meaning no port stop 8am to 8pm. A-Rosa does an itinerary on the Rhine and Moselle where that happens, as an example.

 

Forgot to mention a few days ago: Viking prides itself on having prime location in some ports and sole use of their landing stage. They do not sell a slot to other river cruise operators to dock there. So no rafting right? Please do not assume this, they have no other company there but raft with each other. In Koblenz rafting together is the norm these days, happens almost every day for several hours. You can see it from Ehrenbreitstein webcam. Other ports, i.e. Viking landing stages, may differ. Not all docking locations are cleared by the authorities for rafting.

 

notamermaid

 

[CastleCritic]

25 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

There are just a few cruises where there is an actual full days of cruising, meaning no port stop 8am to 8pm. A-Rosa does an itinerary on the Rhine and Moselle where that happens, as an example.

 

Forgot to mention a few days ago: Viking prides itself on having prime location in some ports and sole use of their landing stage. They do not sell a slot to other river cruise operators to dock there. So no rafting right? Please do not assume this, they have no other company there but raft with each other. In Koblenz rafting together is the norm these days, happens almost every day for several hours. You can see it from Ehrenbreitstein webcam. Other ports, i.e. Viking landing stages, may differ. Not all docking locations are cleared by the authorities for rafting.

 

notamermaid

 

I dunno about that, 2021 we docked on the AmaPrima to a dock in Speyer with the viking wrap on it and signs saying it was property of viking tech gmbh.  Even had a viking ship go down to the next one as we were leaving when they could have just waited for us for a few minutes.

 

But yes in busy ports its been my experience that its quite common to see viking raft to each other more than to other ships (though I have also been in those rafts).

[notamermaid]

1 minute ago, CastleCritic said:

I dunno about that, 2021 we docked on the AmaPrima to a dock in Speyer with the viking wrap on it and signs saying it was property of viking tech gmbh.  

Yes, that is good to know. As I said/implied, docks and landing stages vary in size, actual number in port and policy. So in Speyer they do give slots to others.

 

notamermaid

 

[CastleCritic]

11 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Yes, that is good to know. As I said/implied, docks and landing stages vary in size, actual number in port and policy. So in Speyer they do give slots to others.

 

notamermaid

 

No doubt it gives them a lot more flexibility to either use it when they need it or make a little extra cash when they dont.

 

In Serbia at Golubac fortress, the attraction/state actually had its own single ship dock right in the park. They even had a dedicated crew of  "dock crew"  to handle the ropes and whatnot (I saw no sign there was any real significant traffic but....) Not aware of any similar thing on the Rhine.

[notamermaid]

1 minute ago, CastleCritic said:

In Serbia at Golubac fortress, the attraction/state actually had its own single ship dock right in the park. They even had a dedicated crew of  "dock crew"  to handle the ropes and whatnot (I saw no sign there was any real significant traffic but....) Not aware of any similar thing on the Rhine.

That is kind of cool. Never seen this or heard of this before. Back in the day when there was nobility in Germany palaces at the river had a landing stage for the guests of the residing nobleman. Not sure that anyone can do this these days, I mean families do own castles and palaces but I know of no private docking like that or indeed an attraction having their own dedicated crew.

 

notamermaid

 

[gnome12]

41 minutes ago, CastleCritic said:

But yes in busy ports its been my experience that its quite common to see viking raft to each other more than to other ships (though I have also been in those rafts).

Because Viking ships are virtually identical, the entries will all line up and it is a simple walk through one boat to another. If they rafted with another company the passengers may have to go up to the sundeck and over to get between boats. 

[Canal archive]

Interesting as Captains tend to be quite precious about their vessels so usually prefer their own crews but then they must get to know the local crews as well. For instance note the checking around the vessel that goes on after - each joined up mooring.

[DougK]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

There are just a few cruises where there is an actual full days of cruising, meaning no port stop 8am to 8pm. A-Rosa does an itinerary on the Rhine and Moselle where that happens, as an example.

 

 

 

 

Scenic's Romantic Rhine & Moselle cruise also has a full day of cruising on the Moselle. For a few years (including when I took it in 2018), Scenic's Jewels of Europe (Amsterdam to Budapest) also had a full day of cruising on the Main; their current version has instead added a stop in Miltenberg.

[Kristelle]

I am doing Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest n September - the itinerary does not show any full cruising days.

Which is good as  I do not want any.

 

 

[CastleCritic]

2 hours ago, Kristelle said:

I am doing Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest n September - the itinerary does not show any full cruising days.

Which is good as  I do not want any.

 

 

I would expect a decent amount of cruising on the Main segment at least, but no..not a full river day.

 

Ive never seen my own ship sailing with or without me as much as I did that week. (its a fun river though it just has a lot of locks which limits kilometers traveled per day)

Edited July 1, 2023 by CastleCritic

[CPT Trips]

13 hours ago, CastleCritic said:

I dunno about that, 2021 we docked on the AmaPrima to a dock in Speyer with the viking wrap on it and signs saying it was property of viking tech gmbh.

It was 5 or more years ago on a GCT cruise when we docked on a Viking dock . . . I don’t think it was Speyer.

[pontac]

Forgive me as I've not done a sea cruise, but doesn't 'sea day' mean a day when the ship is crossing an ocean and all there is to see in any direction is sea?

 

That's different from a day cruising on a river where there are river banks on either side to view.

 

On the Mosel in April we didn't take an included excursion to Trier so we could stay on the boat as it cruised along the Mosel and we admired the ever changing views on both banks, like below

 

[Kristelle]

Well, yes, I guess correct term would be river day rather than sea day - but point remains the same - a day you don't get off the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes I know you can stay on the ship and not get off any day you want to - but sea ( river) day refers to a day when you can't get off whether you want to or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regardless of how scenic the view is, I do not want such a day on my river cruise. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Kristelle
Typo

[Kristelle]

Sorry about these big white spaces, not sure how to stop that on tablet

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Kristelle

[sharkster77]

"Sea days" may work on ocean cruises because there is not shortage of things to do on the ship (spa, gambling, programs, etc.).

 

River cruises are all about the ports, not the ship, so if there was a "sea day" on a river cruise, there would be a limited amount of things to do.  River cruises are a very active kind of vacation, which some of us love, but others may not.

[Got2Cruise]

The castles on the Rhine itineraries Basel to Amsterdam or reverse has a river day when you sail past all the castles. It’s glorious. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Got2Cruise

[pontac]

2 hours ago, Kristelle said:

Regardless of how scenic the view is, I do not want such a day on my river cruise. 

 

Then such a cruise is easy to avoid before booking by looking at its itinerary on the cruise company's website or in its brochure.

 

I cannot recall taking a cruise that has a day without a stop and excursion.