River cruises - experiences, please!

Please try it! We have travelled on the Danube with Uniworld/Titan travel who pick you up from outside the front door and carry your bags and had a wonderful week. Unpack once and arrive somewhere new every day, bliss. We have also travelled with Viking to Russia, a wonderful cruise with lots of contrasts. Both had great food, easy travelling and would highly recommend. Both companies provide all excursions and wine/coffee included so no nasty surprises.

We did an Irrawaddy cruise in 2006 as part of a "once in a lifetime" trip to Burma to retrace my father;s escape route in WW2. The cruise on the Pandaw was simply wonderful, sheer luxury.

We also spent our Silver Wedding day on a week's cruise on the Rhone - weather not too good but made up for by the wine, as we stopped off everyday at vineyards!

The Danube may be our next river cruise. We have been on several cruises in the eastern Med., but all before the troubles began, though we nearly got caught in riots in Nazareth on a coach trip from the ship. When on a previous cruise we were disembarking in Syria, travelling by coach around, then embarking in Lebanon. DH managed to wander off the ship with no passport, which caused massive problems at the frontier and came home with mega pages of Arabic attached to his passport!

I did a Rhine cruise a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Never fancied ocean cruising for reasons stated above by other people. We have booked a Danube cruise for October with Saga, so I wonder if anyone else has experience of these?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

First and foremost, you need to get the help of a reputable cruise specialist. Their services are free to use and they have a wealth of information that will help you narrow down the multitude of options available. They can definitely make it much easier on you and save you a lot of hassle.Now, with that said, every cruise line out there has their fans and their critics, so you'll get as many different viewpoints as there are people. Keep in mind that like I always say, 'what one person loves, another will hate', so just because someone thinks a particular cruise line is wonderful, it may not be suitable you you. We have been to only one cruise with blountadventures www.blountsmallshipadventures.com/where-we-go/ . Being our first cruise trip this tops our list.

The dress code on a river cruise is very informal. Just changing into something smarter in the evenings. Ours both had one evening of more formal wear - The Captain's Dinner, but nothing over the top. The Rhine has a fabulous lock!

which cruise lines, don't want to fly but find ocean cruising a huge bore punctuated by too much food, silly dressing up, & days at sea! River sounds good, at least one can see interesting things without being piled on and off buses. Anyone done canals?

Thanks sherish - that's helpful. I'll pass it on to my sister.

Thanks, Gagagran, I'd just got round to wondering about the clothes. What a relief! Thank you everyone who gave information, very helpful. I don't think our first attempt will be the Mekong. The Rhine sounds good.

When we went on the Rhine cruise it was quite informal and we wore what we would have staying in an hotel. Casual during the day and changed for dinner in the evening just something smarter. DH just wore a shirt and smart trousers. It's a lot more casual than a big cruise. It makes it more enjoyable too.

Bump again. Would appreciate some advice re dress code!

We did Basel to Amsterdam over seven days. Lovely way to see everything and only unpacking once.

My sister is doing a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest in July and is unsure about the dress code - is it informal dining or do people "dress up"?

Bump

Cruised the Mekong and also the Irrawaddy .i would like to cruise the Chindwin but I think it's only possible in September .the two were wonderful beyond belief.would go again on either.

We have been on a Rhine Cruise which we thoroughly enjoyed and the Dutch one which we hated. We are trying to decide whether to go on the Seine next or the Danube.

We don't fancy Ocean Cruising either but would recommend river cruising.

We did a 5 day one in Holland a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lots of food(!) and interesting stops - Gouda, Arnhem and Keukenhof (for the bulb fields)

DH wouldn't contemplate an ocean cruise but I'm sure he'd happily do a river cruise again. Something like the Rhine or the Danube would be good.

Go for it!

One of my French friends went on a Rhine cruise last year. They had one day of cruising, then there was too much water and they moored up and spent the rest of the holiday on coaches. Another acquaintance went later in the year and apparently there wasn't enough water so they didn't get very far either.
I quite fancied it before that.

We have had a couple of Rhine cruises and a very special Danube one for our Ruby Wedding. They were wonderful. It is great to sit up on deck and look at all the scenery as you glide slowy by. Have never fancied big ocean cruises - too many people for me! The river cruises have been great and will certainly do more of them. I would say "go for it".

Sherish we also did one of those cruises many years ago . Really had a good time , I don"t fancy any other sort of cruise , not really our bag !

We've done that one too, and really enjoyed it, but the very best was from Oporto to Salamanca. It's quite short in distance and the stops on the way were wonderful with excellent guides. The boats are fairly small and the atmosphere relaxed.

We went on a Rhine river cruise in 2002 after I had had breast cancer. It was very relaxing and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We visited some lovely places along the Rhine and Moselle in Germany. I don't really fancy a big cruise but for us and in the circumstances it was perfect. Probably a good taster if you are considering a big cruise in the future.