I’m considering our 2020 vacation plans and am seriously considering a European river cruise. I’m thinking the Danube might be my best bet because I’m trying to avoid the tourist-heavy destinations like Paris and Germany.
I’ve been checking some of the more popular names, such as Viking and Uniworld and they are really expensive. While I can appreciate good food and a decent bed, I don’t really need nightly turn down service, a personal butler, and gourmet meals. So I’m hoping to find a ship less like the 4 Seasons and more like a Marriott.
Does anyone know of any reputable but less luxurious cruise lines? I definitely need English speaking tours. I’m looking for 7-12 days max, preferably in May or June 2020.
I’m with you brother. A few years back.i looked at Amsterdam to Budapest for two. After all was added up, including tips, side trips etc. I decided I’d rather have a new car. Cost was not all that different.
Subscribed. I’ve been loosely interested in doing one of these EUR river cruises, but there are so many options I usually just put it on the back burner, and forget about it for months at a time.
My recollection is that Viking was always sending me brochures with buy-one-get-one fares, so my impression is that the published rate is inflated. Though, even with the buy-one-get-one the price is pretty high. River Cruises are much more expensive than ocean cruises.
For lower cost, you would be looking at lines that have the smallest rooms/most people. Food costs/amenities probably won’t move the needle as much as the number of passengers crammed onto the ship.
Are you one or two people? If one, you would be looking to find a line that waives the single supplement. Do you need a room above the waterline?
When looking at pricing, be aware of what’s bundled in with the price vs. paid extra. Sort of like some airlines, the cheap ones might end up costing nearly as much once you actually do anything - mostly excursions. I don’t have concrete information, just something to ask about when doing the shopping.
Just as an FYI, as an American living in Krakow, Poland for going on the past 4 years and who has in that time visited over 15 different European countries, I want to mention that with a little homework, European travel can be EXTREMELY affordable if you can go without luxury hotels and be content with smaller, (yet perfectly nice) independant 3 star properties, if you don’t mind flying into smaller airports on the outskirts of cities instead of the main ones (Paris’ Orly instead of Charles de Gaulle or Berlin’s Schonefeld instead of Tegel, for example, that are served by low cost, no frills European carriers) and if you are OK with eating at places locals would frequent instead of dining each night at a ritzy tourist hotspot.
I flew to Venice two weeks ago, (amazingly less than $22 U$D roundtrip from Krakow!) fully expecting and dreading outrageous, inflated “Tourist Pricing” but by walking a hundred meters off of the main tourist-centric streets, I was able to eat incredibly amazing Italian food for about what I would have spent for dinner at a Salt Lake City Olive Garden or Applebees. (both two places I normally avoided like the plague, but my elderly parents liked them)
Worth repeating all of this. We travel as a family in Europe a lot (from the UK) and unless it absolutely has to be on a cruise I’d choose train, hire car or flights instead.
We’ve just priced up an 8 day trip in October for 2 adults and 2 kids to Pisa, Florence, Bologna, Venice and return flights, accommodation and train travel is coming to £1075. That’s in total for all of us but food is not included.
My wife is of Polish decent and has made noises recently about living in Poland for a few years. Would you mind if I PM you with some questions at some point?
Would you consider a coastal cruise? If so, how about the Hurtigruten around the coast of Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes? It’s a working ship but each stop is long enough for you to do or see something.
Appreciate the perspective from you and Royal Nonesutch, but we really want to avoid having to pack up every night or two, not to mention figuring out train schedules, and whether to rent a car or take a taxi, etc.
Last year, we did a Trafalgar land tour of Italy, and we really enjoyed just showing up and not having to worry about the logistics. While we spent too many hours on a bus for our taste, it wasn’t a horrible way to travel. What we didn’t love is the constant packing and unpacking of suitcases, and being in constant motion. A riverboat cruise just sounds like the best of both worlds.
I’d consider it, but I suffer from severe motion sickness. I took one cruise from NYC to Bermuda and was sick for 5 days, so I’m not sure that the Atlantic Ocean would be the best bet for me. But thank you for the suggestion.
I definitely want to stick to smaller ships, for many reasons.
Two people. Definitely need a room above the waterline for motion sickness reasons.
We used Tauck, which was not inexpensive but not a luxury line, either. Lower Danube (therefore, lighter on castles and locks than the upper Danube) from Budapest to Bucharest. Very nice, lots of fun. No sense of motion, FWIW.
I haven’t taken the Hurtigruten trip Quartz mentions, but I did go with them to Antarctica and was impressed.
This article has an introduction to river cruising.
While it doesn’t directly address which lines are cheaper, it lists many lines that cruise Europe.
This article is about Europe specifically:
Also, be aware that with River Cruising, at most ports you will see double or triple docking. Ships tie up next to each other and you have to walk through other ships to get to shore.
As an update, I think I’ve narrowed it down to Emerald Waterways, a company from Australia. The ships are newer and most of the excursions are included. Plus, being a company that is not US-centric (e.g. Viking), there is reportedly a nice mixture of people from all over the world. It’s nice to meet people from other countries.