<p>We have been on about 6 cruises now… mostly mid-size and a couple of larger ships. Now we would like to take a river cruise. We are flexible as to the itinerary but think we want to head to Europe: Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Nuremberg, Berlin, St. Petersburg, etc. These are cities we haven’t been to yet. We also would like to see Istanbul, but I think this city is served by larger ships. </p>
<p>Anyone been on Avalon, Uni-world, Viking, or other river cruise lines that they especially liked? I know there have been many threads on cruising, but I don’t recall any that cover river cruising in any detail?</p>
<p>Thanks glo. I have read reviews on Cruise Critic but, unfortunately, there isn’t much feedback, with between 6 and 14 reviews per ship/itinerary and around 300 to 400 in total. The reviews are all over the place. Seems like the really unfavorable reviews were from disgruntled folk due to river closings (which happened a lot last summer) which is an “act of god” and not a result of a particular cruise line being negligent.</p>
<p>For many years, I was a travel consultant for a friend’s travel agency. We loved booking our clients on Viking cruises. They were a solid company with great customer service and noted for delivering a higher level of cruise and port experience. I did not take one of their cruises, but my friend went on several and thus the recommendation to our clients.</p>
<p>They use traditional looking barges in Kerala, but they can have all the amenities.
Not too bad for $125 a day, all inclusive.
[Backwater</a> Cruise In Kerala, India - Business Insider](<a href=“Backwater Cruise in Kerala, India”>Backwater Cruise in Kerala, India)</p>
<p>We took a Rhine River cruise on Avalon with 2 other couples. Had a great time. Relatively small ship - less than 100 cabins I think. We really enjoyed the ability to see multiple cities without ever packing and unpacking. </p>
<p>Typically there was a guided tour in the morning with time for self exploration in the afternoon/evening. Having never been to any of the cities on the cruise it was nice to have the combination of directed tour and self discovery. Meals and service were terrific. Rooms were very comfortable with large sliding doors providing great views of the Rhine as we cruised along. No balconies as there are a lot of locks to navigate. We are looking into the Danube cruise now. Maybe next summer.</p>
<p>Just put a 72-hour “hold” on a Viking river cruise-- 12-night Prague to Paris (reverse order for our departure date). Sticker shock. Even with a standard ocean view cabin (balcony cabs. sold out), with air and insurance… $12,338.00. For a grand a day, I thought one could at least get a balcony cabin?</p>
<p>Just gave up on the river cruise and put a deposit on an 11-day mediterranean cruise on the Noordam (HAL) in May '13: Rome, Naples, Pompeii excursion, Tunisia, Marseille, Barcelona. We cruised HAL in January '12 to the eastern Caribbean and liked the more “low key” (translation: an abundance of old farts like me) vibe. Going to use Cruise Critic’s “Roll Call” to form our own small groups for all excursions we will be taking. The river cruises book up even further in advance than I originally thought and will need to take that into consideration for future trip planning. The only Viking cabins left on the trip we reserved were on deck 1, halfway below the water line.</p>
<p>I have friends that did the Christmas market river cruise (they went with Viking). Nuremberg to Frankfurt. Said it was incredible. I saw the photos, it truly looked magical.</p>
<p>jshain - You will probaby really enjoy your Med cruses. Last May we did NCL Western Med cruise (7 nights - Barcelona, Naples/Pompei/Sorrento, Rome, Florence, Cannes, Marsaille, Barcelona). It was wonderful! The shore excursions made it more expensive (sometime over $200/pp per day, with a great lunch). But still the trip was very worthwhile.</p>
<p>It was wonderful to have the amenities of a large ship, but the real highlight was the touring. The disadvantage as opposed to river touring is that for the first 3 ports (Naples, Rome, Florence) there were long bus rides (1 to2 hours) to get to destination. Also 3 very busy days in a row. There is an option to start in Rome - that may make sense since it was furthest inland.</p>
<p>co_mom, We ARE doing the reverse of your itinerary. We embark in Rome and disembark in Barcelona. I forgot that Florence is also on the list of cities and, instead of Cannes, we stop in Monte Carlo.</p>
<p>That sounds like a great trip jshain. We loved Barcolona! Because we embarked and disembarked there, we to two nights … one pre-cruise and one after. We stayed at the same hotel and used the nearby Hop-On-Hop-Off bus for touring the day our cruise ended (departure was early morn).</p>
<p>We just reserved a space on an ANA Budapest to almost Munich cruise next spring. That line came heavily recommended by my Mom, whose been on a few of them.</p>
<p>I cruised the Med on a HAL ship quite a few years back and really loved that cruise.</p>