Bumping up this thread because I’m thinking of taking my mom on a European River cruise. She’s 83, very mobile, no meds, but mild dementia. Claims she has never had any interest in traveling, but I’m pretty sure that’s because she has lived like she was impoverished her entire life. I feel that she is healthy enough that she would really enjoy it, and it would be the experience of her lifetime. No reason to wait, or this will never happen.
Has anyone taken an elderly parent on a trip like this, or seen many families like this on a river cruise? It seems like a very easy way to travel, all shore excursions and food paid for. Seems like a uncomplicated way to show her the world a bit.
I think that 83 is a great age for a river cruise. As long as she is pretty mobile, it will be great.
My fil who uses a cane but should be using a walker could never have the stamina for the cruise but my mil would be fine.
The great thing about a river cruise is the ease of traveling this way. Even when things go sideways!
I’m not great at this but I think a river cruise specialist would be very helpful. I booked both of mine on line myself. And both Viking which might not be the best choice but we’ve been very pleased.
I think a great start would be either the Rhine or the Danube. I would fly in early to make the most of the time on the cruise. I’m no expert but the last cruise from Paris to Prague was more time on busses than our first which was Basel to Amsterdam. I enjoyed the less time on a bus.
I think you are savvy enough to book the pre stay and post stay if you want on your own. The plus of booking those with say Viking is that everything is seamless. They are there at the airport to whisk you to your hotel. And to drop off at the end. I hear even to escort through connections.
I love to talk about this lol if you have any specific questions. But I think that 83 and mobile is a great age
That’s great to know that this would be appropriate for someone like my mom! Booking hotels before/after/transportation is pretty painless for me, but I’m thinking this would be so much easier than traveling independently with an elderly parent. I really hate planning, and it looks like these river cruises are so simple, you just have to select from a few shore excursions.
It sounds like there are certain months that are much better, as far as the rivers flowing enough so you don’t have to take busses from here to there instead of the cruise ship, so we’d want to avoid those bad months.
I know Viking has a great reputation, but I get huge discounts on AMA Waterways and Avalon, so I’d have to check carefully. Then again, if you book way in advance, Viking has some great deals.
I’m wondering, would Sep-Oct be good months, as far as the river levels? I had heard they can be pretty low in the summer.
@busdriver11 i would be more concerned about the time it takes to do the air travel to the place where the River cruise departs. I would allow some time to decompress when you can, whether it’s a connection spot, or your final destination.
We found that air travel for a relative with mild dementia was the most challenging part of a trip.
The hardest part traveling to South Africa with my mom the last couple of times was keeping an eye on her constantly. I had to have the mindset that she was like a young child. She was constantly forgetting things. She also had a hard time getting around. She tired quickly. But the effort was worth it! I’m so glad I had those last trips with her.
I’m thinking maybe a night or two at the departure point, though no need to spend a night at the end of the cruise unless it’s a great place to visit. There are definitely some very easy places to get to from Seattle for us that would be direct. Amsterdam, Paris, London (though I doubt there are river cruises from there). Definitely don’t want to do any three leggers or complicated routing!
I took her on a trip to Memphis last year, and she was very hesitant because she hadn’t flown for 20 years and always had a problem with her ears. We sat in first class, drank coffee and wine and watched movies, she chewed gum on the descent and was raving to the pilots and flight attendants about how wonderful it all was. I could barely keep up with her in the terminal. I hope she remembers that and gets over her reluctance to travel. I can use global upgrades to Europe, and that’s a very nice experience.
I’m a fan of the Tips For Travelers YouTube channel for videos about cruises. Here’s a link to one of several videos he’s done about river cruise lines. In this one, he lists his “6 Best European River Cruise LInes” which are Uniworld, Ama Waterways, Viking, Avalon, Emerald & CroisiEurope. He gives a good comparison. One advantage of Viking as I see it is the sheer number of ships they have. That means that if your cruise runs into low water (or, as in the case of our 2019 river cruise, a broken lock) they can more easily do a ship swap instead of converting the cruise into a hotel and bus tour. Having said that, we were on Scenic when this happened and they were able to do a ship swap.
My parents almost went on a river cruise with their 23 year old grandson in their early 80s. We all got nervous (what if something happened health wise? Would they manage?) and they don’t go through with it.
What followed was a slow, steady, physical (and mental) decline for both.
My parents have since both passed - I really wish they had taken the chance to go.
The thing is - your parent will never be younger/in better shape then they are right now.
If you do the Rhine you either start or end in Amsterdam. The city you end in, you will not see that city so Basel to Amsterdam, if you opt for no days post cruise, you will not see Amsterdam (this is Viking specific, be sure to to study the itinerary if it’s another line)
Also decide which end of the cruise you would like to fly directly home from. Because you can’t get both.
We decided to fly direct on our flight home from Amsterdam on our first trip and fly directly to Paris on the way there on this past trip. I can’t decide which I liked better but I think the edge was direct home. Because by the end of the trip, we just wanted to be home.
The great thing about a river cruise imo is that there is a slower group for those who tire easily and can’t walk as far. Our dinner companions who were in their upper 70’s opted for that. They loved it as they were able to stop for coffee and dessert. It was leisurely for them. Your mom might like the more walking intensive tours which are great also.
Was Paris an extra stop for you? Or did you fly through there to Basel? Definitely need to make sure the flights line up and are painless, direct always if possible.
I texted my sister about this 30 min ago, and now she and her husband are watching Viking videos and they want to go with us.
It’s about 8.5-10 hours from Seattle to Europe, I’m guessing, depending upon the direction of flight. I think my mom would be fine on a long flight, as she often sits all day on the couch, watching movies. Intl business class is pretty sweet on Delta, so if I could get an upgrade for her and someone else, I think she would be very happy. I’m usually annoyed when these flights land, because I end up missing the end of my movie. Sitting in the back can be incredibly painful, though.
I think it’s a great family thing to do with an older family member.
I would pick October because it’s cooler than September. As far as water levels go, who knows. This year the rivers went from low water to high water very suddenly. Last year the weather was great, this year not so much.
I’ve done two river cruises. The first was the Rhine, Basel to Amsterdam with extra days on both ends. We flew Ams to Basel on the way there with 2 days pre cruise in Basel. Saw the Alps and they were amazing.
Friends of ours opted do their pre cruise in Lucerne and they flew direct to Zurich. Viking bused them directly to Lucerne. Flew home from Amsterdam. That’s a great option if you want to try and find direct flights.
On the second cruise, it was Paris to Prague. Flew direct to CGD. Home Prague>Frankfort to the states.
There are river cruises on the Seine which are strictly France. So you could fly direct both ways.
Those sound like amazing trips. Sure would like to see the Alps again! Last time we were in Switzerland on a fantastic hiking trip, my healthy husband had a stroke, which was shocking, so we came right home. He’s fine now, but we’ve always wanted to recreate (most parts!) of that trip. Might be interesting to add the hiking portion (for us) on to that. Hmm……
We did a river cruise on Ama Waterways with three generations. In-laws were probably mid to late 80’s at the time.We started in Prague and ended in Budapest. We had a pre cruise itinerary via Ama in Prague. We also arrived a few days prior with my in-laws and we booked a private guide who took us to the town my FIL was born in. AMA was great. All excursions are included and at each stop they had a choice of tours. In many spots they had a choo choo that took those who had walk and stamina weakness. They also usually had an option that was strenuous like a hike. A bike option was also available. It was nice to pack your bag and unpack only once. We flew from Los Angeles and connected through Paris. The connection was the only challenge, in Paris it was busy and we had to go through security again and the lines were extremely long and confusing. We flew business which gave us the faster queue which helped. If we hadn’t had that I think we would have missed the connection. My in-laws booked through a local travel agent who had been on many cruises. Opinions vary but we liked having a cabin with a small balcony. My in-laws had a slightly larger with a sitting area.
Ok, you guys are very persuasive. We MAY try a river cruise later in 2024. H is 81 so not sure how many more international trips he’s up for. He’s fitter in many ways than me but he’s not so interested in travel.
A balcony would be perfect. Sounds like you had an incredible trip. AMA is very appealing to me because of the different options, for sure.
Ditto on the CDG connections. Security so awful and slow, connecting gates can be confusing. We had a 3 1/2 hr connection and almost missed the flight. I swear the security agent was so slow and mean, too, just yelling at us, and we are very compliant.
That sure plays into the decision, doesn’t it? You wonder how many more trips there will be like this, and if you don’t do it now, it would just get harder and less likely to accomplish.
Our worst experience in our somewhat limited flying experience was ORD. By a lot! I’ll try to avoid connecting internationally to the most unpleasant place to connect.
TSA agent screamed at a passenger for not putting his bin in the correct slot. When someone was having extra screening and their bin covered up where the bins were supposed to go.
Long slow lines. Baggage claim was confusing. So many employees screaming at us. And a young couple who practically ran us over to get one person in front of us in the TSA line, saving them 30 seconds.
And because of how we were ticketed, our precheck was left off.
My new years goal is to get global entry.
Off topic. Sorry.
I would definitely check out AMA and Avalon if you have connections. I think all river cruise companies are similar. In fact, I think AMA is more inclusive than Viking.
My mom’s last cruise was when she was a few years into her ALZ diagnosis. She went with very dear friends who knew her diagnosis and kept tabs on her. She was still very active at the time but it was more exhausting for everyone than they expected.
Time changes were especially very very hard for my mom.
If it were me I’d try a cruise to Alaska out of Seattle so you don’t need to fly.
