Reliable River Cruise Review Sources
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist
I often try to tell you that we have one of the best websites to review river cruise lines available as a credible source. (OK, I think we are the best, but I’m probably a little biased!).
So, I decided to research online and see the results on how we rank compared to other sources.
I thought it was important to establish a little evaluation criteria and AI helped me come up with some good ideas in this regard—it is time to use our critical thinking skills. I also added some information about each source so you could know more about who rates river cruise and how reliable they are for your search in order to learn more about which route and cruises you should take for your vacation.
Tips for Using River Cruise Reviews
Look for patterns: Pay attention to recurring themes in reviews, whether positive or negative. Consistent feedback across multiple reviews indicates reliability.
Consider the source: Different platforms may attract different types of travelers. Consider the demographic and interests of the reviewers when evaluating their feedback and ensure their travel style matches your travel style.
Focus on relevant criteria: Prioritize reviews that address factors important to you, such as the quality of food, excursions, cabins, or service.
Read recent reviews: River cruise companies may change their offerings or quality over time. Focus on up-to-date reviews to ensure the information is relevant.
Here is What the AI Summary Posted:
AI stated the summary with these sentences. “Several resources offer reliable and comprehensive river cruise reviews, helping travelers make informed decisions. These include dedicated cruise review websites, travel magazines and forums, and even YouTube channels focusing on river cruising”.
1. Cruise Critic is a cruise ship review site. Annually in December, it publishes the Cruise Critic Editors’ Picks Awards, which recognize the best cruise lines of the year in various categories. It is owned by TripAdvisor. Cruise Critic is focused on cruising, so it does have some value as a source. It is hard to determine how much expertise the author has, and it is often hard to find a specific answer to the information you seek. When I ask for reviews on Europe River Cruises, only 2 out of the top 10 reviews were actually about river cruising; the other 8 were about ocean cruises.
Here is what AI said about Cruise Critic.
“Cruise Critic is a well-established and widely recognized platform for cruise reviews, including a dedicated section for river cruises”. (When I searched for a dedicated river section, the reply was there was not a dedicated section in cruise critic—sorry AI, you misled us!).
“It features reviews from members and editors, discussion forums, and detailed information about cruise lines, ships, and itineraries.”
My evaluation is that it is a weak source.
2. Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. While widely recognized as a good source of information, I have criticized the results in several blogs, as the rankings of the best river cruise lines has little meaning if it does not match your desired travel style. Here is what AI said about this source:
“Travel + Leisure conducts annual surveys to determine readers' favorite river cruise lines, offering valuable insights into passenger satisfaction.”
“Their "World's Best Awards" identify top-rated companies based on criteria such as cabins, service, and itineraries.”
Despite my criticism, it has to be consider a highly reliable source but remember the readers are at the very high end of the cruising public, so factor that in when reading their recommendations.
3. TourRadar is a privately held global company headquartered in Vienna, Austria that operates an online marketplace and internet booking engine specializing in multi-day tours. Since it is a booking site that compares river cruises based on verified traveler reviews, it is difficult to evaluate their reliability, but most evaluation sources say they are fairly reliable. TourRadar did have a rating scale from 1-5 for what they considered the 10 Best River Cruise Companies, and they did take it a step further with breaking down their ratings according to price (comfort $$; Premium $$$ and Luxury $$$$). Here is what AI said about this source:
“TourRadar provides a platform to compare river cruise companies with reviews and ratings from travelers.”
“It allows users to filter by price, duration, destinations, and other criteria, making it easier to find a suitable cruise.”
It sure requires a lot of individual effort on your part to read enough reviews to get a balanced opinion, in my view.
4. TripAdvisor is an American company that operates online travel agencies, comparison shopping websites, and mobile apps with user-generated content. There is a lot of controversy about the accuracy of reviews, some claim they are accurate, while others bitterly complain about the accuracy of the reviews to include made up reviews. Since they cover so many areas concerning travel, I think other sources might be more beneficial as a top river cruise source. TripAdvisor allows you to filter your desired results and when I ask for 7 Night Cruise to Europe and then selected a deal, it rolled me out to an online booking site. Here is what AI said about this source:
“TripAdvisor is a popular website for travel reviews, including a section specifically for river cruises.”
“It offers a vast database of user-generated content, covering various aspects of the cruise experience, such as accommodations, dining, and excursions.”
It is very hard in my opinion to see a whole lot of value, except price comparisons.
Specialized Sources
In my humble opinion, these are the 3 best sources to help you evaluate which river cruise might be right for your vacation.
River Cruise Advisor: River Cruise Advisor, a website operated by Ralph Grizzle and Britton Frost, offers news, reviews, and articles about river cruising. The site features information on cruise lines like Viking Cruises, AmaWaterways, and Tauck, with content covering ship design, local guides, itineraries, and amenities. It also provides destination guides, savings advice, and comparisons of cruise experiences. The website is considered a good resource for planning river cruises.
This website has a good, up-to-date comparison list of river cruise companies. There is no doubt they have traveled on more river cruise lines than other travel writers, but they usually are traveling for free, as they are sponsored and invited to experience different river company products and services. My only criticism of their information is that it tends to be very positive in almost all regards. Here is what AI said about this source:
“This website, though based in America, is mentioned as having a good, up-to-date comparison list of river cruise companies”.
The River Cruise Lady: Linda May Dinsmore is “The River Cruise Lady.” As she posted on her website, “why not let my years of experience plus personal knowledge of all the companies and destinations to help you plan your next unique small ship experience”. I have talked with her on a river cruise sailing, and she is the real deal. Based in Canada, we refer clients to her, as we cannot book Canadian citizens.
Her site offers comparisons of different river cruise lines, and she has a good blog. Here is what AI said about this source:
“This site offers comparisons of different river cruise lines”.
Dream Destinations: At the risk of repetition, we offer a lot more in-depth information than others.
In short, no other website that we are aware of has all these answers in the comprehensive and accurate fashion as our website has—we are content on steroids, and others are not even close!
Consider these facts:
While there are some good comparison charts on several websites, nothing compares to our eighty-slide pdf PowerPoint Europe River Cruise Company Comparisons. We currently rank #2 on Google and we completely compare the main river cruise companies marketing to the US consumers. It is an in-depth look at the advantages and disadvantages of these lines; it has 17 comparison charts and explains what to expect during your cruise should you choose one of the 8 companies we follow.
Our site has 140+ blogs about every facet of river cruises—according to a Google search we are cited as the top resource for comprehensive and accurate river cruise information for river cruise blogging.
Complete information about specific river routes—our Best River Cruise Routes Guide ranks either 1st or 2nd on Google. When you combine these considerations with 162+ day-by-day routes with our personal pictures of the port stops from the 8 different river cruise lines we follow, there is simply nothing else on the web to compare with our route coverage.
Here is what AI said about us:
“This website provides comparisons of different river cruise lines, such as AmaWaterways, Avalon, Emerald, Riverside, Scenic, Tauck, Uniworld, and Viking, highlighting their unique features”.
Here are our personal ratings of river cruise lines, which is part of the 17 comparison slides in our Europe River Cruise Company Comparisons. As I always say, these really do not matter much if they do not match your personal travel sytle and requirements.
We have been on 28 river cruise trips. Here we are on one of these trips on an AmaWaterways cruise.
When you consider the other sources, which often require previous knowledge to be effective, we take a different approach by spending time teaching you about all facets of river cruising and learning about what you like and dislike. Once we have determined the best fit for your desired travel style, then we search for the best possible match. It sure is a better way than trying to wade through the on-line booking sites mentioned above.
Our Final Thoughts
I think we stack very well, especially when you consider how large some of the review sources are compared to us. By leveraging these resources and following these tips, you can effectively navigate the world of river cruise reviews and select the perfect cruise for your next adventure.
We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts. We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe. We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you. We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.
When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip. You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience. And, you want someone who can help you with the decision-making process. We think we have all these qualities.
Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@visitdd.com . We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
ANNE has earned a degree from the University of Houston in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Serving as the President of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC, since 2016, she is uniquely experienced professional travel advisor with over 26 years’ experience in the travel industry. Among her numerous certifications, she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) by the Travel Institute, considered the gold standard in travel agent certification and she is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), as well Luxury Cruise Specialist also from CLIA. Having traveled often to Europe since 1989, she has expanded on her certification as a Destination Specialist in Western Europe (DS) with extensive first-hand experience in luxury vacations. She holds numerous other specialty designations from individual vendors. An expert photographer, she delights in capturing the true essence of destinations to share with all.
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 53 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Riverside Luxury Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Brit Agent
