River cruises

I am planning to take the Danube cruise next summer, but my sister won't be able to come with me as her spinal problem makes the long car journey uncomfortable.
Yes, the boat does return you to the port of departure. All the other passengers had come by coach from Dover/Calais.
Some cruises don't do a round trip, but passengers are flown from the airport nearest the last port of call to a convenient airport in England.
There were many people with mobility problems on the cruise and it is worth doing some research on the various companies (I just googled 'river cruises') if you have any queries.

Thank you Greatnan for that most informative post on your holiday. We have discussed doing one of these trips and it is great to have a first had report from someone who has done it. Did the boat take you back to the starting point or did you need to make your own way there? Sometimes the brochures are not clear on this point.

I wondered where you were, Greatnan; in fact I was going to post a 'where is she thread'.

Good to see you had an enjoyable holiday, Greatnan. Luxembourg is a very interesting place, isn't it? I'm glad you got to go there.

I'm glad you had such a lovely holiday with your sister Greatnan. I enjoyed your informative description of it as well as DH and I would like to do something similar.
Are you going to fit in the Douro cruise before you settle in New Zealand?

Sounds as if you had a lovely holiday Greatnan

I returned today from a very relaxing week on the River Moselle in Germany - the only drawback being the 760 kms journey home to France! My sister and I sailed on the mps Amsterdam with Diamond Line and were very happy with the food, accommodation and service.
As we were joining at the port, instead of coming from England by coach, we stayed the night before sailing at the Park Hotel in Andernach, which I highly recommend. Our room had a view of the Rhine and it was fascinating to watch the many different types of vessels using the river - from huge cargo carriers to luxury cruise ships. The food at the hotel was superb and the twin-bedded room was very well furnished, with a minibar, TV, and phone. The manager very kindly let me leave my car in their garage for the week at no charge.
The cabins on the Amsterdam are small, but adequate. There were two single beds, one of which converted to a settee by day, but I chose to have it left as a bed. There was ample storage, large underbed drawers, cupboards and a wardrobe. Both beds had excellent reading lights above them. The shower was the 'wet room' type with no cubicle, but to my surprise it did not wet the whole floor if the curtain was drawn.
I went up to the main deck at 6 a.m. and took my sister a cup of tea in the cabin, as she likes to take her time getting ready. Breakfast was served from 7 a.m. until 9.30 - a choice of cereals, fresh fruit salad and yoghurt,orange juice , several different types of bread, bacon, sausage, scrambled egg and baked beans, with as much tea and coffee as we liked.
The ship got under way at 6 or 7 a.m. and cruised through some very gentle, rolling countryside for about 5 hours. The river flows through the Rhineland vineyards - the vines are planted on some impossibly steep slopes and stretch almost down to the water. Round each bend was another view, of castles and medieval villages with half timbered houses.
Lunch was served at noon - three courses every day.
In the afternoon, there were optional excursions, to visit the historic villages, or a castle, or for a wine tasting. As my sister cannot walk very far, she stayed on board, read a book from the small library, or had a snooze. I went on every excursion, for £74 in total.
One day we went to Luxembourg and had a wonderful guided tour. It was one of the only two countries in Western Europe which I had not visited (the other is Lichenstein) and I found the information about the Ducal family fascinating. The country has only some 500,000 inhabitants and about one fifth are immigrants, many working at the various departments of the EU in the city.
Dinner was served at 7 pm. - always four courses, including soup, and the food was of a very high standard. It was amazing to see 90 passengers all getting their meals within a few minutes of each other, with quite a small staff.
The only thing not included the price, apart from excursions, were drinks, but the bar prices were very reasonable - €3.50 for a glass of decent wine.
After dinner, there was entertainment in the comfortable saloon from a very talented musician. He knew his target audience and played and sang all the songs we used to dance to in the 70s and 80s - including my favourite, 'I will survive'. I bought a CD of his songs for €10 and we played it in the car on the way home. I thought my bopping days were over, but there were some very lively ladies about my age (one was 82 and a great dancer!) and I was soon on the dance floor reliving my nights in singles discos, to the best of Abba!
Most passengers were couples in the 50 - 80 age range, very friendly and sociable. I met some other unaccompanied women on the excursions and the couple who shared our table in the dining room took my sister under their wings as they did not want to go on the excursions either. Several people had some difficulty in walking but there was a stair-lift up to the large, open top deck.
We were lucky with the weather, with just a few showers of rain but mostly sunny days. It was very hot, but the air conditioning worked well.
I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday - it was so nice for me not to have to drive or navigate as my sister can't do either of them and it is quite difficult to do both! I think that next year I will take the Danube cruise on my own.

Thank you, everyone, I am really very keen now, and I think I would like to fit in both the Rhine and the Danube before I leave Europe. I will have to book with a French or German company as I won't be starting from England, but there are plenty on line.

I have just listed a few pros and cons about Germany to friends in the US and thought you might be interested.
Our friends are a couple in their 80s and they need a relaxing holiday.

OH used the river Danube 50 years ago, when it was a transport possibility for cyclists and students who were holidaying in Austria. They slept on deck!

He says the river is most picturesque from Passau to Vienna. He thinks that further to Budapest is only worth doing if you want to see Budapest itself. It is mostly flat once you have left Vienna and the mountains in the background. You shouldn't forget that the river is a working river.

For a longer journey with something to see everyday, the Rhine is the best choice. Of course the hills are not mountains .
You could perhaps chose to go from Passau - Vienna, stay there in a hotel, and then return to Passau which will take longer I think.

OH loves Vienna and discussing it made me think we could do it ourselves!

Croisieurope is the best too! I use it because the travellers are a great mix of nationalities. It's also a little less expensive but top class food etc. Off in May with them. They also have single cabins but book early. Enjoy!

I am also interested in river cruises, particularly Germany which I have only driven through and looks spectacular, I would like to do the Rhine and Danube this way. I have rather neglected middle and northern Europe having concentrated on the southern Mediterranean countries. I have a brochure for Viking River Cruises it looks very tempting I think it would be a nice way to see a country, driving can be very tiring at times.

Enjoy the rest of your NZ holiday Greatnan.

Thanks you, Micelf - I have considered the Portugal one for some time. I would not mind driving from my home in France, stopping for one night en route, as I love the 'Green Coast' of Spain. The Rhine/Moselle one sounds just right, so I will do some research.
Kittylester - I once spent ten days with a man friend on a self-drive cruise along the Canal du Midi from Narbonne to Beaucaire, before I actually went to live near Perpignan where I bought my first house in France. I now drive frequently into Switzerland (mainly to stay with Juragran) and we had a lovely short holiday together in a tiny village up the Rhine valley.
There are so many lovely places to see in Europe and I want to visit as many as I can before I start on the next stage of my life, which will include exploring Cambodia, Japan, China, Australia, and snorkeling on the coral reefs of the South Pacific.

We've done the Riviera one on the Rhine to Switzerland and had a fabulous time. We hope to do the Danube one at some point so would be interested to see what anyone else thinks of it.

Riviera Travel and Jules Verne both do good river cruises. The food is superb, but you wouldn't much more than a week of such luxury! They include daily excursions, and the German one we went on last year began in Koblenz and sailed up and back along the Rhine and Moselle.

But the very best river cruise we ever did was from Oporto to Salamanca. It was a tiny Portuguese company called Portugala, the boat was small and the trip was totally wonderful. It's a long way for you to go from where you are but one day perhaps..