River cruising newbie

[bbfgator]

Hello experienced river cruisers - We are experienced ocean cruisers in our late 60's and are looking at Rhine with AMAWaterways  (either Captivating Rhine or Enchanting Rhine) in May 2025. For our first ever river cruise, we'll do a 7 day cruise then stay in Europe for at least 2 more weeks...but my point?  I can't seem to figure out with river cruising if you need, want or should have a travel agent as opposed to booking directly with cruise line??  I understand on ocean cruises they help a great deal with OBC and the like but it is lost on me for the river cruise.  I have truly tried to be diligent and do research but I'm missing the boat on this.  Also we would not be using the air program with the cruise line.  If I want a TA do you let AMA assign one?  Do you just google search?  Any tidbit of info would be greatly appreciated.  And if you have any thoughts on the Rhine in May please share.  Thank you so much for your time and knowledge. - Brenda

[pontac]

I have always booked directly with the river cruise line over the phone and they have been generous with discounts, but I am in UK and the host of this forum @Host Jazzbeau is based in the USA and very much recommends using a travel agent  - nay - he says they're essential.

 

Read his reasons here

 

I've not been on an ocean cruise but from reading this board I understand they are quite different experiences in which each offers something the other doesn't.

 

There is a lot of info on posts on this forum and especially here

 

[Daisi]

Some T/A's may have some discounts for you, like you get with Ocean cruises, or some extra perks. If you already are comfortable with a TA, ask them if they know anything about River cruising. We aren't allowed to recommend ones on here.

 

I find my TA great for looking after everything, and making sure I have everything I need. She is also a 2nd pair of eyes, checking that all paperwork (even though I get it from both her and Avalon) is in order - including a mix-up that happened on our last cruise over booking with our name. She had it fixed before I got the incorrect info as she received it first. Another thing to appreciate, if anything happens and cruises get cancelled due to broken locks and or water levels, she will be the one sitting on hold waiting to get through to the company to deal with everything!

[Gourmet Gal]

It never hurts to have your own TA.  Ask for recommendations from your friends - we aren’t allowed to recommend them here on CC.  Once you have one, it’s true that on a river cruise there’s only limited use for OBC but if laundry isn’t included then you could use it there.  Perhaps for upgraded wines and gift shop purchases or spa, if there is one onboard.
 

But a good TA, especially one affiliated with one of the big consortiums Signature or Virtuoso or American Express can offer hotel perks such as breakfast, upgrades, credits and my favorite - early check-in and late check-out.  That comes in handy when traveling overseas.  These perks do not cost you extra.  A good TA has traveled extensively and can make hotel, tour, transfer recommendations and bookings along with assisting and booking air.  After cultivating a longterm relationship with my TA, she has comped hotel nights, complimentary tours and lovely gifts. 

 

 

[RobInMN]

5 hours ago, bbfgator said:

Hello experienced river cruisers - We are experienced ocean cruisers in our late 60's and are looking at Rhine with AMAWaterways  (either Captivating Rhine or Enchanting Rhine) in May 2025. 

Nice choice! We are booked for Enchanting Rhine on AmaSiena May 15, 2025. We are doing the 4 night pre-tour to Zurich and Lucerne package, and will spend a couple days in Amsterdam post on our own. 

 

For reference, I book all our ocean cruises directly. I do all the excursion research whether it's ship or independent. I am very, very hands on.

 

This is our 3rd Ama cruise. Ama seems to prefer that you book through a TA. If you google the TA we used, she appears to be highly recommended, and supposedly specialized in AmaWaterways. However, I really am not sure what all she really did for us. I had very little contact with her other than to book it and pay. That said, when it cam time to book the May 2025 cruise, I looked around for an alternative, but ended up just using her again.

 

On an Ocean cruise, at least with Royal Caribbean, if you book through a TA, you have to do everything other than on-board pre-purchases through the TA. With river cruises, or at least Ama, there really isn't anything extra to worry about booking. So even if I don't necessarily see where the TA has been advantageous for us, I don't feel like there has been any downside from having used one.

[notamermaid]

For my river cruise I used a TA and the advice I got was useful. I travelled by train so booked that in addition to the river cruise from her and it was really convenient. I could have done it myself but I was happy to hand booking the package over to a professional. You may feel the same about sorting out flights - you intend to stay longer in Europe so could there be a transfer which may be good if your TA did it? As regards specifics for the US I of course need to leave that to others to answer.

 

6 hours ago, bbfgator said:

And if you have any thoughts on the Rhine in May please share.

I cannot think of a better time to see the Rhine - unless it is for magical Christmas markets. Of the two itineraries, which look the same at first glance and only differ in sailing direction, I prefer the Enchanting Rhine one. Details matter, and with this one it matters to me that the description says Burg Lahneck. You will be the only tour group there of all international river cruise passengers (and I am not sure if the owners have German river cruise passenger groups at all). I have not been inside, but have read good things about it. The small restaurant serves really nice waffles (and other food) and the view over the valley is good:

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

[Gourmet Gal]

9 hours ago, RobInMN said:

Nice choice! We are booked for Enchanting Rhine on AmaSiena May 15, 2025. We are doing the 4 night pre-tour to Zurich and Lucerne package, and will spend a couple days in Amsterdam post on our own. 

 

For reference, I book all our ocean cruises directly. I do all the excursion research whether it's ship or independent. I am very, very hands on.

 

This is our 3rd Ama cruise. Ama seems to prefer that you book through a TA. If you google the TA we used, she appears to be highly recommended, and supposedly specialized in AmaWaterways. However, I really am not sure what all she really did for us. I had very little contact with her other than to book it and pay. That said, when it cam time to book the May 2025 cruise, I looked around for an alternative, but ended up just using her again.

 

On an Ocean cruise, at least with Royal Caribbean, if you book through a TA, you have to do everything other than on-board pre-purchases through the TA. With river cruises, or at least Ama, there really isn't anything extra to worry about booking. So even if I don't necessarily see where the TA has been advantageous for us, I don't feel like there has been any downside from having used one.

I think you can do better with a new TA.

[bbfgator]

Thank you all for the responses - AMA solved my problem, well sort of.  I tried to book online and for some reason the website would not accept my credit card so I put a 7 day hold on the cruise.  In my confirmation email they are referring me to a travel advisor.  They did not give me a name but a telephone number, which I googled and is a TA in South Carolina (I'm in Florida).  I thought I'd share this info as I found interesting.  Be well and happy travels.

[ddaley822]

On 3/12/2024 at 4:37 AM, bbfgator said:

Thank you all for the responses - AMA solved my problem, well sort of.  I tried to book online and for some reason the website would not accept my credit card so I put a 7 day hold on the cruise.  In my confirmation email they are referring me to a travel advisor.  They did not give me a name but a telephone number, which I googled and is a TA in South Carolina (I'm in Florida).  I thought I'd share this info as I found interesting.  Be well and happy travels.

Funny, I booked my AMA Rhine cruise last September and they didn’t yet have the functionality to book online so I was forced to “request a quote.” The TA that AMA set me up with happens to be located in my city of San Diego! Purely coincidental. I am happy to have her as she has garnered me a room upgrade, included tips and $75 OBC for each of us which I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do on my own. She also researched and found a travel insurance plan that was better than the one I’d Googled myself. 

 

Which direction did you end up booking? I am doing A to B in August on AmaLucia and plan on writing a live (more likely semi-live) review. 

[bbfgator]

ddaley822 - Just today I'm getting booked :).  I have spoken with the TA from SCarolina and I did like her so I'm ok with how this is going.  Maybe she can get me a few of those freebies!

We are a long ways off - we don't travel until May 2025 for our first river cruise.  We are going Basel to Amsterdam as we plan to arrive 2-3 week prior to the cruise and visit Austria, Germany & Switzerland.  We have a few trips in the meantime to keep us busy - we'll be in your area the first week of May with our daughter and then in the fall we have B2B2B cruises in Australia/New Zealand.  I'll be looking for your live/semi-live review though :).  Wish you were on the AmaSiena so I'd get the real lowdown :).  Safe journeys.

[bhami]

bbfgator - my apologies for hijacking this thread.  Also looking at Viking River cruises for 2025 but more interested in your B2B2B Australia/New Zealand.  Would you mind sharing who you are cruising with and what time of year you are doing this cruise?  

[bbfgator]

21 minutes ago, bhami said:

bbfgator - my apologies for hijacking this thread.  Also looking at Viking River cruises for 2025 but more interested in your B2B2B Australia/New Zealand.  Would you mind sharing who you are cruising with and what time of year you are doing this cruise?  

No problem bhami - We're sailing on Celebrity Edge and the first cruise starts in October 2024.  Please ask if you have any questions. - Brenda