One problem that some have had this year because of lower than usual rainfalls is that some river cruises have been changed to sleep and eat in the river and free bus rides along where the boat would have gone but it’s too shallow to go. I heard that at an AARP meeting I spoke at. I’d be cautious about the shallower rivers, as this is something that could happen in future years as well.
How do you know which rivers are shallower? How deep does the water need to be?
HImom, we had that very problem on our cruise. Viking. They spring it on us, and also told us it was )our trip) the first one. They had to fess up when someone found out it had been several times.
We took one ship from Budapest to Linz. Linz was not on the itinerary. From there we got on a bus, and had a loooong bus trip to Passau, did the tour, then had another long bus ride to another ship. We were disappointed w/the food on the first ship, but the A/C didn’t work on the 2nd ship, and it was above 90 the entire time we were in Europe. Also, though they advertise WIFI all over the ship, it didn’t work o the sun deck on either ship.
The crew on AMA was much better than Viking, and the food can’t be compared. AMA>>> Viking.
We would like to do one more cruise. It will not be on Viking.
Our two favorite cities were Budapest and Prague.
Experienced cruisers on our cruise said that AMA and Uniworld were generally regarded as a higher tier than Viking.
Thanks for letting us know about the river level problems, HImom. I’d be beyond furious if my cruise company knew that my “cruise” was going to be on a bus and didn’t tell me beforehand so I could cancel with a full refund.
Thank you so much Cardinal Fang and others for sharing your experiences!!! I don’t care for ocean cruising, but this sounds much more appealing. Glad to have some names of other purveyors and also appreciate the warning about the shallow water issues. Yikes! Not a fan of bus rides!
Friends of ours took a Uniworld Rhine/Moselle cruise this past summer and raved about it, but they did say that the passenger demographic was on the older side (and they are in their 60s, although vigorous). The shore excursions offered grouping variations in exertion/length/walking to allow faster, fitter people more leeway, they said.
I suspect most people under 60 just don’t have the time, money or freedom to take this kind of trip. The river cruises don’t cater to families with kids or teens the way the big cruise ships do. I’d still like to go, though.
I’d be happy with a river cruise but VERY unhappy if it turned into a bus tour with the boat being our “hotel.” YUCK! That’s not my idea of a cruise, though I know they can’t do anything about how shallow the river level may be.
I’m going with my mom on the AMA Tulip Time cruise this April. CF, your posts have been very helpful, thanks. Did you fly in before the day you boarded? Where did you stay?
We flew in the day before. We stayed at the Movenpick. It was all very easy: Mr. Fang and I flew in, took the subway from the airport to the city center, and then just walked over to the Movenpick to meet Mom and my sister. Then the Movenpick was just a couple of blocks from the cruise ships, and if my Mom hadn’t been with us we could have walked over there too.
If your mother has mobility issues like my mother, you’ll want to arrange different transportation from the airport though, probably. Or at least take a taxi from the subway to the hotel.