Is this ridiculous or a good idea?

FannyCornforth

I think that there may be a conflict of interests here…

Hello Fanny

Can you explain please?

Hello SD
It’s just that for most posters the thread is already on the go, or sailing for that matter.
For instance see Marydoll’s post from yesterday.
Posters are here already and talking about their experiences.(unfortunately I have none).
Whereas you are at the planning stage.
You can’t really plan a thread.
And you definitely can’t predict it.
It’s an organic and collaborative thing.
Threads go their own way.
If a thread hasn’t ended in a all mighty barny, and hurt feelings all round; then it’s been a roaring success!

So, God bless this ship and all who sail on her! ? ?

No worries folks. We'll just steer our way through the murky waters and sling anyone overboard who rocks the boat!
I like the idea of being in charge of the meals for a day, all local produce and specialities. Wine too, but I won't turn it into a booze cruise.
France or Germany preferably for me.

‘Off to the Happy Danube Cruise!’

I ♥️ vintage travel posters

Here’s a beautiful French one for you Joseanne

I agree FC. This could all get overly-complicated very quickly.

MaryDoll has provided an excellent start with her picture of Lyons. Viking offer Avignon to Lyons with three days in the latter. As we don’t have to worry about logistics of getting to and from start and end points, why not switch it around?

Two-three days in Lyons. Much to see and do and to chat about. Plus, for new or non-cruisers, plenty off time to get acclimatised before the boat gets underway.

Then stops in Tournon and Viviers towards Avignon then a branch off to Arles before returning to Avignon.

What you want here is discussion and imagination but NOT a lot of links as we can find information ourselves.

I would hope that some of the contributors have been to these places and can offer some real life experience. (I can only offer Aix en Provence and surrounds if there’s time to go off-piste.)

Most importantly, it’s a holiday of which food and drink are a part. Joseanne is offering to be meal planner and sommelier so how about an onboard get-together to discuss the first afternoon or day ahead?

Just a suggestion and not set in stone.

CaravanSerai

I agree FC. This could all get overly-complicated very quickly.

MaryDoll has provided an excellent start with her picture of Lyons. Viking offer Avignon to Lyons with three days in the latter. As we don’t have to worry about logistics of getting to and from start and end points, why not switch it around?

Two-three days in Lyons. Much to see and do and to chat about. Plus, for new or non-cruisers, plenty off time to get acclimatised before the boat gets underway.

Then stops in Tournon and Viviers towards Avignon then a branch off to Arles before returning to Avignon.

What you want here is discussion and imagination but NOT a lot of links as we can find information ourselves.

I would hope that some of the contributors have been to these places and can offer some real life experience. (I can only offer Aix en Provence and surrounds if there’s time to go off-piste.)

Most importantly, it’s a holiday of which food and drink are a part. Joseanne is offering to be meal planner and sommelier so how about an onboard get-together to discuss the first afternoon or day ahead?

Just a suggestion and not set in stone.

There is a balance between

"Argh, it's complicated, waah! Ha ha ha do nothing! Just watch the telly."

and

"Hey fellow geeks we can do this, then that and then ..."

This thread can continue as well, but I feel that once a basic plan of where to start, and a route is decided upon, that a specific thread is needed with a structure.

I know it may sound like restriction, but I think of it like trying to find rhymes for a poem can make the result better than if it were unrhymed. I know that poetry does not need to rhyme, I am just trying to convey my meaning.

I like the idea of starting off with two to three days in the start location.

How do people feel bout including links? Lots, none, some, few, what?

/

Just get on with it SD!
You’re losing your crew and passengers.
CS has given you a plan, just use it.
This is starting to feel like very hard work!

No links. None.

I think I agree FC. No links else we'll get into a protracted discussion about how many is a few. Meantime, I'm channelling my inner Ed Burra and off on a virtual trip to Marseilles for a few days to check out the docks! I can get a train from there to Lyons for ten euros in time for Joseanne's horses doofers with a glass of bubbles.

Bon voyage!

FannyCornforth

Just get on with it SD!
You’re losing your crew and passengers.
CS has given you a plan, just use it.
This is starting to feel like very hard work!

Well, it needs a consensus.

Shall we have the suggestion by CaravanSerai starting with a few days in Lyon before we depart?

No links, as suggested by Fanny.

If people agree I will start a new thread for the virtual cruise, with a few days in Lyon, then on Monday we can head south towards Avignon.

You don’t need any more consensus SD!
You don’t need permission to start a thread.
Lots of posters have already expressed an interest.
Especially me, CS and Joseanne
Just start the blooming thing!

www.gransnet.com/forums/chat/1311451-Virtual-cruise-Lyon-to-Avignon-and-Arles

? well done

No links in the cruise thread, so a note here that Lyon is featured in Google street view.

Wow.... EXCELLENT IDEA..☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

?

Budapest to Amsterdam is lovely, fond memories. Also Vietnam to Cambodia on the Mekong, eyes out on stalks.

The travel route site

www.rome2rio.com/

is good not only for long distance trips but also for much shorter ones, such as from

13 Rue de la Poulaillerie, 69002 Lyon, France

which is the location of the printing museum

to

Rue Mercière, 69002 Lyon, France

which is where a lot of printing places were many years ago.

Having been reading up on all of this on websites, I decided to break and get something to eat.
I am in the habit of, when eating, to put the computer into playing YouTube My Mix on full screen, so as to provide entertainment, a continuous stream of music videos I have watched with a few of the same sort added in by YouTube, without needing to concentrate. Adverts come up from time to time. Upon starting My Mix up a few minutes ago, I got an advert for river cruises!

We have been Amsterdam to Basel, fabulous. Very friendly and a more pleasant experience than a sea cruise. Many visits enroute with excellent guides. No compulsion to join anything if you just wanted to relax on deck.
Cannot wait to go on another.

Virtual Basel to Amsterdam, might be good. I could find out what we would have seen. Ours turned out to be 10 days isolating in a lovely hotel on the banks of the Rhine watching the cruise ships sail by.

On the Rhine.

www.vikingrivercruises.co.uk/cruise-destinations/europe/rhine-getaway/2022-amsterdam-basel/index.html

I thought at first that you meant virtual river cruises down our own UK rivers and I was wondering how that could be achieved, given that most of our own rivers (other than those that pass through industrial areas as they near the sea) are hardly navigable by anything much larger than a rowing boat! However, in the spirit of the OP, I would recommend a cruise down the River Coquet (pronounced coh-ket) which rises in the Cheviot Hills, winding for sixty four kilometres more or less eastwards through the Northumberland National Park and discharging into the North Sea at Amble. Places to visit: Rothbury, NT Cragside House and Gardens, lunch (or stop over) at The Anglers Arms at Weldon Bridge, call on me for a cuppa in nearby Longframlington! ? Stop for tea at The Running Fox here or further down river at Felton, but book a table in advance because they are hugely popular. Nearing the end of your cruise, stop off in Warkworth, where there is a castle, and thence to the fishing village of Amble by the Sea. There is the most beautiful scenery between stops but nothing much else, so it's very restful between your super human efforts with the oars!

Search River Coquet on Google.

My late sister went on a river cruise. I think she would have been in her 70's. She said the passenger's were Very Old. So for that very reason, "I'm out!"