Favorite cruise line for Europe

[NMTraveller]

Just wondering what your favorite cruise lines are?

 

 

[rrraydon]

following...

[Canal archive]

This is so very subjective as many of us have only cruised on one line and formed ideas of others from these forums or friends. I’m pretty sure many choose different lines for inclusions and referrals rather than a whim ‘oh I will have a change this year’.

[CDNPolar]

As @Canal archive says, this will be a very subjective response and so I will start with my favourite cruise line - Viking River.

 

We have done 4 Viking River cruises now but we just love Viking for so many reasons, both River and Ocean.

 

HOWEVER, this forum is opening my eyes to the fact that there are many more options that we could try in the future and we are looking seriously because of what is shared here.

 

We have also sailed Uniworld on The Nile and although we loved the trip overall and Egypt, this was not a good Uniworld experience for us from the perspective of the ship.  We also have concluded that this poor ship experience with Uniworld is more likely contained to the Egypt experience and not other Uniworld ships.

[Rebel54]

For me it's Avalon.  Viking turned me off with their payment policy.  I am trying out Viva in 2025 but am heading out on my third Avalon in couple months.  I would recommend getting a good travel agent, spelling out your must haves and deal breakers and let them find you the perfect cruise that will suit your needs and wants.

[sharkster77]

At top of the main page there are "stickies", threads that are always there, describing the various river cruise lines.  I would start there, then post any questions that arose.

[RobInMN]

If you peruse this forum, just going back to threads even in the last 6-12 months, there are a many threads asking for opinions on or comparisons of various cruise lines. There are fans and detractors for almost all of them. There are things about some cruise lines that people like, and other people don't like the same things. Also note that many people, when they find a line they like, they stick with it. Don't try searching, just go back thread by thread looking at subject titles.

 

Anyway, to answer your question, for us, that's AmaWaterways. We did 1 cruise on them, and loved it, and haven't looked elsewhere. My parents, they love Grand Circle. We did a GC with them and hated it. I've re-hashed the differences between the 2 in a few threads, so I won't do that here.

Many, many people love Viking. If they were that bad, they wouldn't have so many ships, but others don't like them.

That said, I can't say I've really ever seen anyone post negative things about Ama or Avalon.

[Host Jazzbeau]

The good news is that the vast majority of posters here loved their first river cruise no matter which line it was on.  The bad news for comparisons is that most of them stay with that line for future cruises ("if it ain't broke...") so can't help with comparisons.  My first river cruise was on AmaWaterways and we loved it so much that for the next 3 we only looked at AMA.  But in 2022 I wanted to do a b2b Tulip Time and Seine, and the dates worked best if the Seine cruise was on Scenic – which became our new favorite river cruise line.  So now I look at both AMA and Scenic and pick the line with the best details (excursion choices differ among all lines) and dates, confident that I will have a great cruise.

[Daisi]

Although we haven't ventured out to other lines than our original Avalon, I always look at the routes I want to take. If Avalon doesn't have it, then I look at the other lines. There are several differences between the lines, and we'll probably stay with ones that aren't "all inclusive" unless there is something really special. That's just because we aren't drinkers, wouldn't use some of the other items included and I really don't see the need to pay for them if not using them.

 

We've found a line that "fits" us, so we stick with it.

[CastleCritic]

echoing what others have said, basically you pick one, and as long as it wasn't a terrible experience, most tend to stick with them.

 

For me that means AMAWaterways where I'm up to 5 at this point with another (though in Egypt) next year.

[Kristelle]

5 hours ago, Daisi said:

There are several differences between the lines, and we'll probably stay with ones that aren't "all inclusive" unless there is something really special.

 

 

So here is example of something one poster  does not want (all inclusive) whereas for me I like all inclusive trips and that was one of the reasons  I went with Scenic

 

From Australia, APT ( which  I think markets as AMA elsewhere) offerred very similar itinerary and very similar costs, also as all inclusive - what won in the end was simply the Scenic dates suited better for us.

 

was very happy with my trip.

 

  I would go with Scenic again - but unlikely to be doing another Europe river cruise in foreseeable future.

Not because I didnt like it - I certainly did - but it is long way from Australia, costly and other travel plans first.

 

My next overseas trip will be Scenic cruise/land o n the Mekong, Cambodia /Vietnam

[RobInMN]

1 hour ago, Kristelle said:

From Australia, APT ( which  I think markets as AMA elsewhere) offerred very similar itinerary and very similar costs, also as all inclusive - what won in the end was simply the Scenic dates suited better for us.

 

I've seen this reference before, and was curious, so I did a little Google searching.

As I believed, they are 2 separate companies. APT is owned by the McGeary family. Ama is owned by husband/wife team Kristin Karst & Rudi Schreiner, and original third owner Jimmy Murphy's share appears to now be owned by his son Gary Murphy. The Wikipedia page for APT indicates that APT was an investor with Jimmy Murphy in starting Ama. The Ama page makes no mention.

Apparently last year, APT chose not to renew their 18 year partnership with Ama which ends after this year. It sounds like they chartered AmaWaterways ships? Sounds like this will be the last year. They have launched their own (owned?) ship on the Duro, and it appears that they are launching 2 new (owned?) ships for the Rhine, Main and Danube. I can't see anywhere on the APT site to book, so I can't confirm if they fully charter certain Ama sailings or what. But the APT site says they use AmaWaterways cruise managers.

 

 

[CastleCritic]

Yes they fully chartered the ship, and put a magnetic logo on the side when they did it.

 

Im pretty sure they have a few of the ships the entire season as they never appeared in any of the AMA schedules.

 

Some others like AMAMagna (the doublewide ship) APT shows on their site that spend most of their season being booked by AMA.

[Daisi]

1 hour ago, Kristelle said:

 

 

So here is example of something one poster  does not want (all inclusive) whereas for me I like all inclusive trips and that was one of the reasons  I went with Scenic

 

 

 

That’s what’s great about having so many lines doing almost the same itineraries, everyone can get what they want out of cruising.

[pontac]

There are now so many river cruise lines that I don't think anyone on this board has been with them all. As @Host Jazzbeau says, most of us find a line that suits us and stick with it.

 

There are so many factors when choosing between them: Cost, cabin types and facilities, whether travel to/from the boat is included, quality of food and drink, whether alcohol is included, whether unlimited alcohol is included, types of excursions offered, whether some or all excursions or included in price, what they do in non-navigable situations, and so on....

 

Also, what a line offers can and does change year by year. Also lines have different offerings depending on the market they're selling in

 

And don't forget the crew; they change over so two people could go on the same cruise on the same boat on subsequent weeks but with a different crew. One Programme Manager could 'make' the cruise for the first person, a different Programme Manager could spoil the cruise for the second person.

 

For the record, I've cruised with Viking and Scenic. They're much of a muchness, but I prefer Viking.

[JordanF]

My personal favorite is Gate 1--Excellent product for less money, and a very relaxed vibe.  Here is a link to my review from last year:

 

 

[LuAnn]

On 5/27/2024 at 9:34 AM, Host Jazzbeau said:

The good news is that the vast majority of posters here loved their first river cruise no matter which line it was on.  The bad news for comparisons is that most of them stay with that line for future cruises ("if it ain't broke...") so can't help with comparisons.  My first river cruise was on AmaWaterways and we loved it so much that for the next 3 we only looked at AMA.  But in 2022 I wanted to do a b2b Tulip Time and Seine, and the dates worked best if the Seine cruise was on Scenic – which became our new favorite river cruise line.  So now I look at both AMA and Scenic and pick the line with the best details (excursion choices differ among all lines) and dates, confident that I will have a great cruise.

What moved Scenic to the top of your list? Thanks

[Host Jazzbeau]

39 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

What moved Scenic to the top of your list? Thanks

B2B Ama Tulip Time and then immediately Scenic Seine.  The food and service on Scenic were a clear step up.  Also the 10-night itineraries on Scenic add more shore excursion options while also building in some downtime.  Followed up with Scenic Douro and confirmed all of the above.

 

But Ama is still very good, and we are booked with them later this year for Bordeaux – DW doesn't drink, so I liked their range of non-wine excursion options better than Scenic.

 

Ama also has a couple of very unique itineraries that people should consider when they have run out of European rivers:  a river safari on the Zambezi Queen in Africa, and two brand new ships built for the Magdalena River in Colombia.