Hank Schrader

March 28, 2024

River Cruise Comparisons

The 4 Types of River Cruise Staterooms on 135 Meter Longships

Hank Schrader

March 28, 2024

River Cruise Comparisons

The 4 Types of River Cruise Staterooms on 135 Meter Longships

by Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

Most river cruise companies have 4 types of staterooms on their long ships. They usually are identified by these terms: Riverview (fixed window); French Balcony (sliding glass window); balcony; and suites.

One feature that sometimes surprises folks new to river cruising is there are no inside staterooms—most river cruise ships only have room for 2 staterooms and a hallways on the deck levels. This is a result of lock restrictions which can accommodate 135 meters long (443 feet) and 11.58 meters (38 feet) wide.

It can sometimes be very confusing trying to figure out the different approaches to staterooms by various river cruise lines.

Balconies or lack of balconies is often one of the keys defining differences between river cruise lines in stateroom cabin accommodations. This blog should help you understand each line’s approach to staterooms and should help you evaluate whether a fixed window, a balcony, and what type of balcony, or a suite would be best for your river cruise.

On river cruise ships, there are 6 possible views from your river cruise cabin stateroom. They are: 1) a small window, 2) a large window, 3) a French balcony (a sliding glass door), 4) a balcony with a window that opens halfway, 5) an outside balcony, and 6) a twin balcony. Suites can be a combination of balconies, with walk-out access, just larger French balconies or balconies and fixed windows combined.

Deck Designs of a River Cruise Ship

River cruise ships have 4 decks, but the upper deck, often called the sun or sky deck, is just a roof. There are guest cabins on the remaining 3 decks.

Deck 1 (the lowest deck) is for crew, with some guest staterooms and may have some public areas. Decks 2 and 3 have guest cabins and other public areas. Balcony cabins are only allowed on the upper two decks (2 & 3) of a river cruise ship.

Balcony cabins are always more expensive than window cabins. On the first deck, nearest to the river line, all cabins only have small or large windows, but most only have the small windows. There is a very good safety reason that only windows are allowed on Deck 1, as the windows are just a few feet from the water line. The cabins with only small windows are usually the least expensive cabins on each ship.

Suites, with their larger space, are always the most expensive staterooms on a rivership.

My best guess is that it costs at least 32 million dollars to build a 135-meter river cruise ship today. The costs really vary depending upon the interior design and features. The trend is toward more elegant staterooms and higher costs..

I also have read that the Viking ships that sail on the Mississippi cost from 90 to 100 million dollars to build but these ships do not have the height and length restrictions as do European 135-meter ships.

So, with that background, let’s explore river cruise cabin staterooms on the 135-meter cruise ships that are the most common ships in Europe.

What are the 7 Major River Cruise Companies that Market to US Travelers?

There are currently 7 companies who are the primary suppliers of river cruises to the US market. They are 1) AmaWaterways, 2) Avalon, 3) Emerald, 4) Scenic, 5) Tauck, 6) Uniworld, and 7) Viking. Each of these companies usually have different approaches to their staterooms on their river cruise ships.

AmaWaterways (78--81 Cabins)

AmaWaterways has 15 fixed windows staterooms on their long ships. They vary between 160 square feet to 170 square feet in size. Here are some pictures of these staterooms:

Fixed Windows StateroomPhoto AmaWaterways

Since 2009, when we took our first cruise on AmaWaterways, we have watched balcony cabins evolve on our favorite river cruise line. At first, they only had French balconies on all cabins in the upper two decks.

In 2010, starting with the AmaBella, they introduced the concept of twin balconies— ½ French balcony inside and ½ balcony outside. Since that time, all 135 m river ships on AmaWaterways use the twin balcony concept. No other river cruise line at present uses this concept for most of their upper deck cabins, although Viking does use twin balconies on a limited number of their suites.

Inside View Twin Balcony Stateroom Photo Anne Schrader

Twin balconies really are the best of both worlds—outside when the weather is good or inside with the sliding glass doors of the French balcony at other times. While there are a few French balconies on the upper two decks of their 135 m longships (they call them Cat C cabins), all the remaining 49 have the twin balconies. 65 of the 81 cabins on the 135 m long ships have balconies. Here are some pictures of the twin balconies and French balconies we have taken on various cruises:

Twin Balcony Bathroom Photo Anne Schrader

Suites are 2 rooms in one cabin on the 135-meter ships. There are either 3 or 4 suites on the 135-meter ships and they are either 300 sq feet or 350 sq. feet. Enjoy our pictures here:

AmaSiena Suite Bedroom Photo Anne Schrader

AmaSeina Suite Bathroom Photo Anne Schrader

This suite has a bathtub—a rare luxury on a River Cruise ship Photo Anne Schrader

Avalon (83 Cabins)

Avalon has 16 fixed window staterooms that are 172 sq. feet. Each has two small windows.

Avalon uses French Balconies only. They call their concept an Open-Air Balcony. This concept is that the whole stateroom is the balcony, with the bed facing the window and it has larger windows of 11 feet in the Panorama suites. They heavily promote the “wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling” windows of their staterooms. 68 of the 84 cabins on their longships have the Open-Air Balcony concept.

An important part of their Open-Air concept is that this preserves cabin space, as an actual walk out balcony takes living space from the cabin.

A good view of the total 11 foot balcony stateroom

There are 2 suites on their longships at 300 sq. feet.

Emerald (91 Cabins)

Emerald has 19 fixed window staterooms on the first deck. They are 162 square feet.

Fixed window stateroom Photo Anne Schrader

All Emerald ships on the 2 upper levels have balconies. They call their balconies an open-air system and it uses a button to lower the window horizontally halfway down from the closed position. 72 of their 91 cabins on their 135 m longships have the open-air system. Here are some pictures of the Emerald Sun balconies from a ship inspection we did in 2015:

Panorama Balcony Stateroom between 160 square feet and 180 square feet Photo Anne Schrader

Emerald has staterooms that they call suites that range from 180 square feet (23 cabins) and 210 square feet (7 cabins) and 4 true suites at 315 square feet (using comparable suite classifications used by most river cruise lines). They are on the top deck called the Horizon Deck.

Grand Balcony Suite 210 sq feet Photo Anne Schrader

Scenic (80-82 Cabins)

There are 11 fixed window staterooms on the 3 types of Scenic 135-m ships. They are all 160 square feet.

Scenic features a balcony they call the Sun Lounge—at a push of a button, the glass enclosed lounge converts to an open-air balcony by going horizontally down halfway—it is awesome! All cabin categories on the upper two decks have full balconies with the Sun Lounge. 68 of the 81 cabins on their 135 m longships have the Sun Lounge (the suites may have a slightly different set up). Here are some pictures of the Sun Lounge from our 2015 Scenic Opal cruise:

There is one Royal Owner’s suites midship at a whopping 520 square feet. There other large suites include the Royal Panorama Suite, most of which are 325 square feet (2 are 475 square feet) and a Royal Balcony Suite at 315 square feet (5 ships have one stateroom this size; 3 ships have 3 staterooms this size).

Tauck (67 Cabins)

The Tauck Treasures Rivership. It is clear from this photo there are no outside balconies on this ship Photo Hank Schrader

The some of the fixed window cabins on Tauck are different and unique than other river cruise lines. It has 8 cabins that are called loft cabins—they have a sitting area loft that is raised up from the rest of the cabin area and extends from the first deck to the second deck (they are 225 square feet and listed as category 3). There are 6 fixed windows at 150 square feet that are the more traditional fixed windows without the loft concept. All of these are on deck 1, called the Emerald deck.

Tauck river cruise ships have only French Balconies. 55 of the 67 cabins on their 135 m long ships have balconies. 23 of these cabins are on deck 2, which they call the Ruby deck, and most are 225 square feet.

22 of the 67 cabins are 300 sq feet (they call them category 7 staterooms)—they are on deck 3 which they call the Diamond deck and have 2 French Balconies. 8 of the 10 category 5 are 225 square feet (the other 2 are 190 square feet).

Uniworld (75 or 76 or 79 cabins on the true 443 ft ships; 64 on the 410 ft ship)

Uniworld, with its elaborately decorated boutique river ships, really has different staterooms sizes on each ship. Each stateroom is different.

Uniworld also has made 2 significant changes to its fleet. They have sold their 2 black A and B riverboats which were designed to appeal to a younger crowd.

Uniworld has sold their A and B Black ships Photo Anne Schrader

They also have leased 2 of the elegant former Crystal riverships from Riverside. It is my understanding that one will be in service this year (2024)with minimal changes from the Crystal brand and I just don’t have enough information to properly tell you about this 135-meter ship.

The fixed window cabins measure 162 or 163 square feet and there are 9 or 10 on most ships.

There are 4 ships that are longships—4 at 443 feet and 1 at 410 feet. The larger 135 m longships have French balconies on the second deck and the upper deck. On their 135 m ships 62 (68 if you count the suites) of the 77 staterooms have French balconies only (sliding door that must be opened manually).

The 6 suites include one at 415 square feet (the Grand Suite) and 5 suites at 305 square feet on the SS Catherine; two Grand Suites. The suites have a system similar to Avalon, that can open the French Balcony with a button control.

Viking (95 cabins)

Front view of a Viking Ship in port in Cologne.

A good view of the Balcony Staterooms on a Viking Longship. The bottom row of fixed windows on deck 1 are the fixed window staterooms. Photo Anne Schrader

The Viking Jarl. This shows clearly the French Balcony side of the Viking Longship Design Photo Anne Schrader

Viking on its 70 longships in Europe at present (they have total fleet of over 100 river and ocean cruise ships) use a patented off-center deck on their upper two decks of their riverboats. This allows for one side of the ship to have verandas (outside balconies) and the opposite side has French balconies.

Not to be satisfied with their numbers of longships, I understand they plan to add 5 more in 2025 and another 5 more in 2026 in Europe. This will just expand their dominance on the rivers, as they now have at least 25% of all river cruise ships in Europe. Currently there are over 350 river cruise ships in Europe operated by 27 different companies, according to CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association)—I got this from taking their new online class about river cruising.

There are 25 standard cabins with fixed windows on the main deck that are 150 square feet.

39 state rooms (205 sq ft) have outside verandas.

39 staterooms have 205 sq ft outside verandas Diagram from Viking River Cruises

22 staterooms (135 sq ft) have French balconies.

70 of the 95 staterooms have balconies. The outside balconies have 2 mesh chairs and a small drink table.

There are 2 large Explorer suites (445 sq ft) at the aft end of the ship that have wrap around balconies and 7 veranda suites (275 sq ft) with an outside balcony and a French balcony on the upper deck.

Varanda Suite Diagram from Viking River Cruises.

How To Decide If a Balcony is Important for your Cruise Experience.

Most river cruise guests spend most of their waking hours outside their cabins either in the main lounge or on the top deck, when they are not eating, or on tour. While a private balcony of any type is cool and a great luxury, we have seldom spent more than an hour on any of our balconies during any cruising day (24 river cruises).

I will admit, though, it is tough to beat having a bottle of wine together on your private balcony—a great escape and some quality together time. That alone, makes a balcony important to us—it really doesn’t matter if it is a French Balcony or an outside veranda or a twin balcony—it all is good (but we lean to the outside balcony)!

It is important to realize due to limited docking space, river ships often raft, or tie up next to each other, so your wonderful view now becomes a view into someone else’s cabin. Also, in some ports, the docking location has walls that may obscure views. There is also no view during time in a lock except to look at the concrete lock walls.

3 AmaWaterways Ships rafted in Vienna Photo Anne Schrader

A final point to consider is that sailing often is done at night (except in Portugal where sailing is only during daylight hours), so tours can take advantage of daylight hours, and this limits what you are able to see from your balcony during some sailing times. Even with these limitations, we always prefer a balcony of some type.

Our Final Thoughts--Should you get a Stateroom with a Balcony?

In my opinion yes! One of the best things about river cruising is the constant views along the banks of the river and the more you get to see, the better! We always recommend a cabin on the upper 2 decks for that reason. Another point to consider is that cabins on the river line deck with small windows often only are accessible by stairs and can feel cramped with the limited light from the small window.

We hope this has helped understand more about fixed window staterooms, and balconies that are offered on the various river cruise lines. With these interesting, ever changing views, it is easy to see what a great way a river cruise is to explore Europe!

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@dreamdestinations.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 50+ 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
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

February 21, 2024

River Cruise Comparisons

Comparing Day-by-Day Itineraries on 7 River Cruise Lines--Over 100 Routes

Hank Schrader

February 21, 2024

River Cruise Comparisons

Comparing Day-By-Day Itineraries on 7 River Cruise Lines—Over 100 Routes!

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

For the past year or so, I have been adding to our website dozens of day-by-day itineraries of the 7 cruise lines we follow. To say the least, this is a massive undertaking, as at each port stop, we add our pictures of what you should see at that stop.

This is truly unique resource, as most digital posts use the vendor pictures or cover only a few itineraries. In the brochures, you might see 3 or 4 pictures along with the written descriptions.

By my count, we will have over 100 itineraries currently posted on our website (the actual number is 103) and by the time you read this, we will continue to add new cruise routes as time allows until we have every route completed.

The lines covered are (in alphabetical order) AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways. Emerald Waterways, Scenic Waterways, Tauck River Cruises, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, and Viking.

While is really hard to determine the exact number of itineraries offered, since many lines take the same route, add a feature or two or include the land extensions, my best guess is that are about 191 various itineraries. So, our main effort is to catch the most important routes first and add other routes later on. It is also not uncommon for lines to combine two routes, to make an extended route and give it a new title. We may have the 2 separate routes completed but not yet combined the two or three routes yet.

So, why should you care about this? —we believe this is the most honest way to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the destinations you may want to see by rivership and what exactly the port stops and excursions are for each line. It also is all together in one source and doesn’t require you to visit 7 different vendor websites to learn about their cruise routes.

Also, we believe it is unbiased as possible, as we always say, every river cruise vacation is an excellent vacation, there are no bad river cruises in Europe, but there are important distinctions between lines and these day-by-day routes offer you a wealth of information that is difficult to find at best. By using the vendor’s description of their routes, enhanced by our pictures, it should provide a complete picture of the best option for your voyage and trip.

How the Pages Are Set Up

Each page on site covers some brief information about what each line considers the most important characteristics of their product and their philosophy about river cruising.

Then there is information about their fleet and on 5 of the 7 lines, we have a presentation with our pictures of the ship on-board facilities and staterooms.

Next, the route itineraries offered by each river cruise company are listed by the major river systems. These are day-by-day excursions and experiences. Many of these presentations have over 50 slides and are very helpful to get an exact summary of the cruise and land experience.

I am unaware of any other single site that covers these lines in depth and such a way that you can determine which would be best for your vacation on the rivers.

Since these are so detailed, sometimes they are slow to load but trust me, it will be worth this small annoying factor.

AmaWaterways

It is probably no surprise that this is the most complete page of the 7 cruises lines we have posted on our website, as it is our preferred line.

AmaWaterways has 26 total ships and 20 sail in Europe by our count. 13 are longships of 135-meters. 4 are 110-meter ships. 2 ships are available for cruising on the Douro. AmaWaterways is unique, as it has one of the two double wide ships on the Danube, the spectacular AmaMagna. The remaining ships sail in Africa (3), the Mekong and two new ships in Columbia. Here are 2 tours of these ships:

6 135-Meter AmaWaterways ships

The AmaMagna

There are 33 different cruise routes on our page, and we have presentations on 29 of these. Some routes will not begin until 2025 and have not been completed yet. Here is a good sample of one of my favorite routes offered by AmaWaterways.

Grand Danube

If you would like to see other AmaWaterways Routes, here is the link to our website

AmaWaterways

Avalon Waterways

Avalon has 14 ships sailing in Europe. Eight are 135-meter ships and five are 110-meter ships. In 2024, the Avalon Alegria will start sailing on the Douro River. Here is a tour of one of their 135-meter ships.

Avalon Longships

By our count there are 36 routes available to choose from this company. Many routes include their normal offerings and then they provide special Active and Discovery Options to the same routes with special dates. At present we have 7 routes up on the website with the day-to-day itineraries. Here is a sample route:

Magnificent Rivers of Europe

If you would like to see any of the other route guides, here is our website page

Avalon Waterways River Cruises

Emerald Waterways

With only 8 ships and 7 that sail in Europe, this line delivers a quality product. We have an excellent ship tour of the Emerald Sun, one of their five 135-meter longships. Here is the tour if you would like to learn more about one of their longships:

The Emerald sun tour

By my count, Emerald offers 22 cruise itineraries in Europe. On our website, we have 14 of the 22 cruises day-by-day routes completed.

6 of the remaining routes are on the Douro (2 routes) and their Christmas Markets cruises (4 routes). The other 2 routes are their long 15 Day Discover the Rivers of France and Portugal, which is a combination of the Secrets of the Douro and Sensations of Lyon and Provence and their 15 Day Rhine and Rhone routes which combines their Jewels of the Rhine and Sensations of Lyon and Provence.

Here is a good sample route for you to see quality of these presentations:

Holland and Beligium in Bloom

To Learn about other routes on Emerald Waterways, here is the link to our website page

Emerald Waterways River Cruises

Scenic River Cruises

Scenic has an exceptional product and cruise line. It is an all-inclusive line. They have 11 ships in their river cruise fleet and 9 are 135-meter class ships. The other 2 are specialized ships—The Gem sails on the Seine River and the Azure sails on the Douro. Here is a good look at the Scenic Opal, one of their 135-meter ships.

The Scenic Opal Ship Tour

By our count, there are 22 different sailing routes offered by Scenic. We have route information on 16 of these 22. The 6 presentations not completed yet are the 2 Douro routes and the 4 Christmas cruises. He is a good sample of what you could expect on a Scenic River cruise:

Iconic Danube with prague

You can see other Scenic River Cruises on this link in our Website

Scenic River Cruises

Tauck River Cruises

Also, an all-inclusive river cruise line, Tauck has some very interesting additions to the traditional port stops of most lines. Tauck has 9 ships sailing in Europe. Four are 135-meter ships and another four are 110-meter class ships. In 2024 they have added sailing on the Douro with their newest ship, the Andorinha.

Tauck offers 30 cruises by our count. We have not yet completed their 2 cruises on the Douro, their 3 cruises during the holiday seasons and 6 family cruises. We still have to do 3 of the 5 French River cruises, the longer 25-day Grand Europe Cruise and the specialized Autumn Along the Rhine: Munich’s Oktoberfest. We have 15 routes completed. Here is a good sample of their cruise routes:

Danube Kingdoms: Bavaria, Austria and Hungary

You can visit more Tauck River Cruises using this link

Tauck River Cruises

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises

With each ship having a different design and proper English Butlers, a lot of the Uniworld river cruise experience is about the on-board ship experience. Uniworld is a mostly all-inclusive line, but still manages to charge extra for some cruise excursions, much to our displeasure!

The Uniworld fleet has 12 ships that sail in Europe. There are five that are considered 135-meters ships, and five that are in the 110-meter class. The two remaining ships sail on specialized routes—the Po (which we do not recommend for the short cruise time on the water and constant bus tours) and one ship on the Douro.

There are 23 sailing routes in Europe offered by Uniworld. We only have 6 of the 23 completed at this time. Here is a sample route:

Castles Along the rhine

Here is the link to learn about other Uniworld River Cruise Routes

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises

Viking River Cruises

With 64 ships sailing in Europe, Viking is the Big Boy on the Block. 54 are longships (135 meters). In addition to their longships, they have 4 ships sailing on the Douro, 2 ships on the Elbe and 4 ships on the Seine. To learn more about their longships (the pride themselves on identical ships, so there is very little difference between their longships), here is a tour of one of them:

Viking Longships

Viking has 18 sailing routes and 6 Christmas Cruises, excluding their Elbe route (we do not recommend this route due to almost constant low water situations). We have route information on 16 of the 18 regular routes. As with all lines we cover, the Christmas themed routes will be added in the future. Here is the most popular route on Viking:

Grand european tour

Here is the link to view our presentations about the Viking River Cruise Routes

Viking River Cruises

Our Final Thoughts

This is truly a labor of love and a unique resource available for you. It really would not be possible to attempt this type of information and then post it on our website without our extensive knowledge and experience by taking 24 different river cruises.

It has always been our goal to match you with the best line for your vacation, and now you can have the benefit of our specialized knowledge. We hope you appreciate this opportunity to learn about the wonders of river cruising in Europe and after reading this, place your trust in us to help you find the perfect cruise just for you.

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!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 52 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
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

October 26, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Another River Cruise Rating Article--No Wonder There is So Much Confusion!

Hank Schrader

October 26, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Another River Cruise Rating Article—No Wonder There is So Much Confusion!

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

Another river cruise rating article was recently published—this time it is in the respected Conde Nast Traveler. The Conde Nast readers ranked the best small cruises with 500 or fewer passengers in their 2023 Reader’s Choice Awards. The 3 categories were 1) The Best Small Cruises, 2) The Best River Cruises and 3) The Best Expedition Cruises.

According to the survey and Conde Nast, this is the longest-running recognition awards in the travel industry. There are so many categories in their survey that it is hard to tell how many people voted in the small ship category, so the number of 526,000 voting certainly does not mean that many voted in these 3 categories. In fact, one source said only 27% of the readers went on a cruise last year.

I will only share with you the results of The Best River Cruises and my opinion of these choices—I did not vote in this survey, but I am going to vote my rankings for the 7 lines we follow. If I don’t give the line a max score in the categories, I will explain my reason for the less than perfect score. If I also don’t have personal knowledge of a category, I gave them an excellent score (5) and provided a reason for this rating.

The Citeria for the Cruise Category

There were 5 areas the readers voted on in this survey. Each of the five areas were rated on a five-point scale that was then converted to a percentage. The scale was excellent (5), very good (4), good (3), fair (2) and poor (1).

To be listed in the awards, each line had to receive a minimum number of responses and a minimum overall score to be listed in the rankings. The exact number of responses needed is not disclosed by Conde Nast in each category. Another interesting fact is that this survey is often used in mathematic classes to assess the reliability of the data and to calculate the standard deviation of responses, but I will leave that to others with far more mathematics ability than I to evaluate the responses and data.

Since I don’t have a copy of the questions, I must rely on what others have reported about the rating areas used and even if they are not correct, they will prove useful to understand the methodology used. The five categories are cabins/facilities; food; itineraries/destinations; excursions/activities and value.

The Best River Cruises Ranking

The Reader Choice Awards top 5 results are 1) Viking (97.32); 2) American Cruise Lines (96.66); 3) Tauck River Cruising (96.14); 4) Oberoi (95.91); and Les Bateaux Belmond (95.90). Other lines we follow received this rating 8) Uniworld (93.24); 10) AmaWaterways (93.09); 11) Scenic (90.09); 13) Avalon Waterways (88.09) and 14) Emerald (86.54).

Since some categories on the list had only 3 or 4 winners and 16 were listed in the best river cruise rankings, tells me how close the voting was and the small differences between the listed lines. My guess is the cut off was 70% or higher to be listed. No real surprise for me—river cruising is often one of the best vacations available for our clients and the large number of different lines receiving votes supports our thoughts about the overall value of this great vacation.

Viking (97.32)

As the largest river cruise company that sails in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America, it is easy to see why most readers would select Viking just based on their sheer size. Viking has close to 100 total ships sailing in the expedition, ocean, and river cruise types of vacations. About 70 ships are on the rivers and they have the largest footprint in Europe.

Using the max 30 points. Viking had to score at least 29 points, with a lot of perfect scores. I’m not sure how you could max them out in cabins (45 of the 95 are between 135 sq. feet or at the waterline and they carry 190 passengers on their longships—maybe Conde Nast folks only sail in their larger staterooms). I’ll provide you with more thoughts later on this line.

It is also possible that people who voted for Viking had done another cruise on Viking (either ocean and expedition) and assumed the river cruises would be as good--brands tend to influence responses.

American Cruise Lines (96.66)

American Cruise Line has 35 US river cruises on the Mississippi, Columbia & Snake Rivers. It also sails in New England and Alaska. They have 17 ships, but one was recently damaged due to a generator fire, so I believe only 16 are currently in service. It is unfair for me to evaluate this line, as we have never sold it and it does not operate in Europe.

Tauck River Cruising (96.14)

With its cult like following, very small passenger counts (often 130 or less), this is a quality river cruise line. Again, to get this high a ranking, Tauck would have to get a little less 29 total points (okay for all you math folks 28.84 points)

Oberoi Hotels & Resorts (95.91)

Oberoi is a luxury hotel operator with 32 luxury hotels and 2 river ships. Both ships, the Zahra (27 cabins) and the Philae (22 cabins) sail only on the Nile River. It is hard for me to believe that with only 2 ships and limited staterooms, that many folks would rate it so high—makes you wonder how many votes it would require to be considered.

I don’t doubt it is luxury, but most newly built Egyptian River ships are equally luxurious, and these ships were built in 1996 and refurbished in 2015. I’m not exactly sure of how many newer ships have been added to the Nile River fleets of other lines, but it is more than 4—AmaWaterways and Viking have newer ships in service since 2015.

Les Bateaux Belmond (95.90)

This is a barge company that ranges from 4 to 12 passengers. It has 7 barges—6 are available as private charters and only one, the Nepoleon, allows you to book an individual cabin. They sail only in France.

Again, it is hard to understand how there could be so many folks taking barge trips, so they meet the minimum required submissions—even if Conde Nast are very high-end travelers.

As my lovely wife Anne pointed out to me, many could have voted for this company based on reading about them—since barge cruises are almost exclusively charter operations, these become tailored vacations, with itineraries decided by the guests and even meals are customizable—I can really understand how that would appeal to the readers of Conde Nast for their upscale vacations, and they could have received votes based upon reading about these experiences.

Now My Ratings

To make this clear, I will list what Conde Nast readers rated the 7 lines we follow and then provide my rating using the 5 to 1 scale reported earlier in this blog post.

Viking—Conde Nast Score 97.32

My Viking Score 76.00 (19/25) cabins/facilities (3); food (4); itineraries/destinations (5); excursions/activities (3) and value (4).

With 190 passengers, many small staterooms I can’t go higher than 3 (good) for cabins/facilities. Having eaten on a Viking ship, can’t go higher than 4 (very good, especially if you consider wine in this category). For excursions/activities, there are too many extra cost excursions that are limited or unknown until after booking your cruise—3 (good) is generous, but reasonable as some routes have excellent included excursions. Unless you get a great sale, I have a hard time rating the value much above a 3 (good)—almost everyone spends more on-board than they expected—sometimes as much as $1,500 to $2,000 more.

A good look at the balcony staterooms on a Viking longship. The port side (this view) is the larger Veranda Staterooms (205 square feet)

This is a picture of the small 135 square feet French Balcony (sliding glass window) stateroom. There are 22 of these staterooms on the 95 cabins on a Viking longship.

A chef makes carbonara on a Viking longship in March of 2023. I love this dish and am sad to tell you it was just so-so at best. This is one reason I cut them a point on food. I also don’t like the lower quality wines included in the basic fare—you have to buy a silver beverage package to get better drinks.

Tauck—Conde Nast Score 96.14

My Tauck Score 88.00 (22/25) cabins/facilities (5); food (5); itineraries/destinations (4); excursions/activities (4) and value (4).

Having never sailed on a Tauck ship, but with extensive knowledge of their cabin/facilities, I rated them with an excellent (5) due to the fewer passenger cabins and the most innovative water-line deck loft cabins, which are the best water-line cabins in the industry. I rated Tauck excellent for food (5) but I have never eaten on their ships and I was influenced by the fact that they are all-inclusive with drinks. I rated itineraries very good (4) since there is a small number of ships compared to other lines. Perhaps the most interesting cut from excellent (5) to very good (4) is the on-board tour guides—I like locals, who often have more in-depth knowledge, but many disagree with my thoughts. The value cut to very good (4) is the price for cruises—with 130 passengers, Tauck is often the most expensive river cruise line when comparing identical routes.

The Tauck Treasures rivership sailing on the Danube.

The Reception Area on the Tauck Emerald while ported on the Saone River

Uniworld—Conde Nast Score 93.24

My Uniworld Score 84 (21/25) cabins/facilities (4); food (5); itineraries/destinations (5); excursions/activities (3) and value (4).

I can’t go higher than a 4 (very good) for the overdone cabins—you either love them or detest them. I have never eaten on Uniworld but gave them an excellent rating (5) since they are all inclusive and most alcoholic drinks are included. My biggest problem with Uniworld—claiming to be all-inclusive, there are still some excursions that require an extra charge, so they only earned a 3 (good) from me. These 2 reasons cause me to lessen the overall value of this cruise to a 4 (very good).

The Uniworld River Royal ported in Bordeaux.

AmaWaterways—Conde Nast Score 93.09

My AmaWaterways Score 100 (25/25) cabins/facilities (5); food (5); itineraries/destinations (5); excursions/activities (5) and value (5).

Compared to the other lines we follow, 5 are justified in each category –all excellent!

The AmaCerto ported on the Rhine River at Basel.

An Amawaterways Balcony stateroom. This is 235 square foot stateroom.

A great desert to finish the meal—the food is the best of all other river cruise lines we rate.

Anne and I enjoying a great meal on AmaWaterways

Scenic—Conde Nast Score 90.09

My Scenic Score 92.00 (23/25) cabins/facilities (5); food (4); itineraries/destinations (5); excursions/activities (5) and value (4).

While most meals are great, they sometimes just don’t have consistent food. Also, one of their specialty dining is not sperate from the rest of the main dining room. For those two reasons, I rated the food very good (4). We find it very expensive unless you hit a sale and often pay a year early while other lines have a 90-day final payment as their standard practice, so they earned a very good rating (4) from me.

The seafood buffet was wonderful but they lost a point from me as next night’s dinner was not as good—others told us the meal just wasn’t as good as other days, so the lost one point from me when I rated the food.

Avalon—Conde Nast Score 88.09

My Avalon Score 84.00 (21/25) cabins/facilities (5); food (2); itineraries/destinations (5); excursions/activities (5) and value (4).

The food just doesn’t match the other lines—can’t go higher than 2 (fair), even though they have a very good vegetarian food program. I debated in my mind to take one point from either excursions/activities category for the cost of some extras, but I like their variety and active & discovery options, so I took the point off for the value from excellent to very good (4).

The Avalon Impressions ported in Vienna.

Here is the lunch meal buffet we ate in March of 2023 in Budapest during the ASTA River Cruise Expo. The carving station meats were good but the rest of the meal was not up to other river cruise company standards in both food quality and selection. This was my lowest score of all of the 7 ships we rated—I gave it a fair rating for 2 points in the food category..

Emerald—Conde Nast Score 86.54

My Emerald Score 88.00 (22/25) cabins/facilities (4); food (4); itineraries/destinations (4); excursions/activities (5) and value (5).

While not the flashiest cabins, they are modern and sleek, but it only cost them one point from excellent to very good (4) and they do have a covered pool that converts to a movie theater at night. The food is better than Viking in my judgement, so it only lost a point from excellent to very good (4). The small number of ships (9) was the reason for the one point cut in itineraries/destinations to very good (4).

This is the awesome covered pool that converts to a movie theater at night—How cool is that!

This is stateroom 318, a Panoramic Suite on the Emerald Sun. The size of the cabin is 180 sq. feet.

Here is the Recap with my Scores—AmaWaterways 100; Scenic 92, Tauck 88, Emerald 88, Uniworld 84, Avalon 84 and Viking 76.

Our Final Thoughts

Isn’t amazing how different I perceive these lines compared to the readers of Conde Nast. Part of the problem is that all river cruises are good vacations, and readers often only have the chance to sail on one line and tend to rate it highly as a result. The other problem is that Conde Nast are the high-end travel folks, who favor all-inclusive products.

This just goes to show how little value these ratings have for us—it is so much better to match your travel style to the vendors—don’t be swayed by these reports. We hope you enjoyed this report—it was fun and challenging writing it.

Even cruise lines and vacation recommendations from friends and family should not be your sole reason to choose a certain line—everyone has certain travel expectations and just because they enjoyed it, you may not. You should use a seasoned travel professional like us, with in-depth knowledge to help you find the right cruise for you that matches your travel style.

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!

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

August 24, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Rhine and Moselle Castles You Can Tour While on a River Cruise

Hank Schrader

August 24, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Rhine and Moselle Castles You Can Tour While on A River Cruise

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

One of the questions often asked us is: “Can I tour inside a castle on a river cruise on the Rhine?”

There are 5 good castles you can visit near Koblenz Germany and this report will identify which river cruise companies provide tour excursions to the castles as part of their itinerary.

One of the reasons you may want to consider using a river cruise instead of trying to visit on your own is the ease of getting to the castles. We used public transportation (trains and buses) to explore on our own to 3 of these castles. When combined with sometimes a long hike or steep climb up a hillside, which 10 years ago was quite fun and adventurous but required a lot of planning on our part and active hiking to visit these castles, this may not be the best option for you.

Koblenz is located at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine Rivers. It is a great base to explore parts of nearby castles and quaint towns—we used it as a base of operations and enjoyed it very much during a trip in 2013 to three of these castles on a land tour we organized for ourselves. We visited the other two while on a river cruise.

It is one of the oldest towns in Germany and its strategic location had two different influences upon its history—it was a great place to collect tolls from river traffic and both Germany and France wanted to control these valuable waterways and the land near it.

So, castles and fortresses were built to defend these waterways by the Germans. Later France attacked and destroyed and burned most of these defensive positions and structures as they vied for control of the area.

I decided to organize this blog by listing the strongpoints alphabetically, so not to show any favoritism towards any line and describe the castle or stronghold first and then the river cruise line that best allows you see them. A word of caution—routes change and we may have missed a route change that would present another opportunity, so please use this as a good starting point only.

So, let’s explore together and learn about 5 great castles and 1 fortress in this area and how you can tour inside these strong points while on a river cruise.

Burg Eltz is located in Moselkern, near Cochem: Its multiple turrets and towers, which rise amid a thick forest near the Mosel River, evoke the chivalry and poetry of the Middle Ages. This is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Germany.

Burg Eltz is a beautifully preserved castle, with towers, half-timbered walls, and it is seemingly in the middle of nowhere—Anne and I hiked 3 miles from the Mosel River in early March one year to visit. The family who owns this castle still lives here and has done so for 850 years in their ancestral home.

There are 2 places to visit here—the Treasury (pictures allowed) with a great display of precious items and tour of select rooms (no pictures) which takes about an hour or less. 3 families owned this castle, and each has built separate wings.

The tour includes an entrance way decorated with weapons, various gathering rooms, bedrooms, and the kitchen—all very authentic and used by the families for over 33 generations.

Perhaps the most famous room of the castle is the Knight’s room, where the 3 different families met to celebrate and work out any conflicts that might arise. It is famous for the wall decorations, which served as a reminder to the 3 families about cooperation—a jester mask (representing freedom of speech) and a large rose (representing a code of silence—items discussed in the room need to stay there).

How to Tour on a River Cruise—to my knowledge only Scenic includes this castle. It is on their “Charming Castles & Vineyards of the Rhine & Moselle” route which is available as a 7-day cruise or a 12-day version with tours of Switzerland.

Fortress Ehrenbreitstein--The Fortress rises 118 meters above the Rhine and dates back to the year 1000. Over the centuries the building was extended by the Electors of Trier. After its destruction through the French, the Prussians rebuilt the fortifications and the result, one of Germany's strongest fortresses, is today open to the public. It is the second largest fortress in Europe (Gibraltar is larger). It is directly across the Rhine from Koblenz.

To reach the fortress, make the one-way passage across the river from the main Rhine dock. Ferries operate mid-March to late November daily 9am to 5:15pm.

You can also take the Koblenz Cable Car and get a ride that takes you 367 feet above the Rhine and the ride is about 3000 feet. The more adventurous might want a car with a glass bottom. The chairlift operates daily from April to October from 9:30am to 4:30pm. Most river cruise companies use the cable car system, which for many is a plus with amazing views, but for others, not so fun an experience.

How to Tour on a River Cruise—several river cruise companies have tours to the fortress.

AmaWaterways visits the fortress on the Rhine & Moselle Fairytales

Avalon visits the fortress on its Active & Discovery on the Rhine

Emerald visits on its Jewels of the Rhine; the Legendary Rhine & Mosel and on The Majestic Rhine

Lahneck Castle

This is a great castle to tour, as combines medieval fortifications, and great interiors. It was built in 1244 and destroyed in the Thirty Years War (1633). In 1852, it was rebuilt and finally fully restored in 1937.

It is a very interesting and pretty residential castle. The stained-glass windows of the chapel date to the 1400s.

There is even a portrait of Queen Victoria, painted in 1840.

It is full of fine furniture, porcelain, ceramics, a 15th century kitchen complex and a fully furnished 3-story doll house.

How to Tour on a River Cruise—This is an exclusive tour from AmaWaterways. There are 2 routes: The Enchanting Rhine; Vineyards of the Rhine & Moselle; Rhine & Moselle Fairytales and The Treasures of the Main & Rhine routes, that include an exclusive Lahneck Castle tour.

Marksburg Castle is the only castle that never was sacked or ruined among the 40 some odd castles along the Rhine Gorge stretch from Koblenz to Rüdesheim. It is above the town of Braubach. Marksburg was built and served as primarily a fort and often these countryside castles lacked the grandeur of royal palaces. The white pained castle with red trim is distinctive and has a butter-churn keep tower, as the lower parts of the tower are wider than the upper parts and it resembles a butter-churn devise.

The construction of Marksburg was intended to defend the town and after entering the castle the first area in the Great Battery with its firing positions designed to protect the Rhine and town from enemies.

The gothic Hall was the kitchen area of the castle fort.

The next area on the tour is the wine cellar.

The next area was the sleeping area.

Next is the Chapel

Now the Armory Museum, called the Gimbel collection, uses life-sized figurines to show the changes in armor and weaponry through the ages.

Finally, the Horse Stables, which also was used as a prison complete with torture devices.

How to Tour on a River Cruise—here are the companies we found that tour Marksburg.

Scenic offers tours of Marksburg on the following routes: Jewels of Europe; Romantic Rhine & Moselle; and on 3 Christmas Markets Cruises on the Rhine.

Viking offers this as an included tour on these routes: Grand European Tour; European Sojourn but charges extra on some of the other Rhine cruises.

Reichsburg (also known as Cochem Castle) also deserves a tour. Standing on a hill 300 feet above the town of Cochem, this elaborately restored castle (it was destroyed by the French in 1689 by the Soldiers of King Louis XIV). It is a fun and interesting visit. It is the largest castle on the Moselle.

Many river cruise companies visit this castle. The original castle, whose first purpose like many others on the rivers of Germany was to collect tolls, was rebuilt from 1868 to 1890.

While not authentic, it is still cool—great vistas, interesting rooms, perhaps most importantly, at first glance, it is an impressive structure and I enjoyed visiting it. My favorite rooms were the Dining Hall, the Knight’s Room, and the Trophy Room.

How to Tour on a River Cruise—this is the one castle that has the best options among river cruise lines that either port in Koblenz or sail on the Moselle.

AmaWaterways tours this castle on its Europe’s Rivers & Castles; Rhine & Moselle Splendors; Rhine & Moselle Delights; Rhine & Moselle Fairytales; and Vineyards of the Rhine & Moselle.

Avalon tours the castle on its Active & Discovery on the Moselle; The Rhine & Moselle route.

Emerald tours the castle for an extra charge on the Jewels of the Rhine and The Majestic Rhine as optional tours but it is included on the Legendary Rhine & Moselle and the Tulips & the Rhine routes.

Scenic offers the tour on these routes: Romantic Rhine and Moselle; Charming Castles & Vineyards of the Rhine & Moselle; Rhine Highlights and on their Christmas Markets cruises.

Tauck offers this tour on its Rhine & Moselle route.

Uniworld offers this tour on its Magnificent Moselle & Rhine route.

Viking offers this tour on its Cities of Light; and Paris to the Swiss Alps.

Schloss Stolzenfels—the castle is located approx. 5 km to the south of Koblenz, which was originally built as a customs fortress and was destroyed by the French in 1689 in the Palatine War of Succession. It was rebuilt according to the plans of the Berlin master builder Schinkel and is now open to the public. It houses a number of valuable furniture pieces and a collection of armor and weapons. Here are some pictures:

How to Tour on a River Cruise

Avalon used to do a guided walk here but I was unable to find the exact cruise route in their Active & Discovery cruises.

Our Final Thoughts

I have always loved castles and like to see how these stark defensive structures were transformed into more comfortable living spaces. They offer a unique look into the past.

We hope you have enjoyed this report. Perhaps now you see the added value we bring to helping you match your desired experiences with the offerings of the various cruise lines we follow. I am certain our research into the available options is very unique, as I am unable to find as detailed a report as is contained in this blog post.

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.

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

April 6, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Dinners on 3 Riverships in 2023

Hank Schrader

April 6, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Dinners on 3 Riverships

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

This is a report of our experiences having lunch on 3 different riverships during the ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) River Cruise Expo in Budapest in March of 2023.

This is our 24th Europe River Cruise. We have just returned back from the Danube and it is wonderful as always. River cruising just never gets old, each day and season is different.

We had a rare opportunity to report on dinners from 3 different lines—AmaWaterways, Riverside and Scenic Cruises.

So, let’s explore together and learn about these meals on 3 different river cruise lines.

Overview

The design of the River Cruise Expo was to visit the ships to see their staterooms and on-board facilities, and to have a chance to eat either lunch or dinner on the different line that participated in the event. We got to eat lunch on AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, and Viking River Cruises. We got the chance to savor the cuisine offered for dinner on AmaWaterways, Riverside Cruises and Scenic Cruises.

To try to be as fair as possible, we decided only meals served during the ASTA River Cruise Expo could be compared and when possible, select an entre that was the same. Since almost everyone in the industry offers a steak, we used that as a good comparison point. Even though we sailed on the AmaMagna, after the Expo, we felt the AmaMagna had a little of an unfair advantage with its 4 restaurants, so the Expo meal we chose was on the AmaVerde.

I just couldn’t resist a couple of teaser pictures about our sailing on the AmaMagna and how lovely Anne looks in her drindl—the traditional dress worn in the German-speaking areras of the Alps. Enjoy!

Here is our report about these culinary experiences. We will first show you the exact menu we were provided and then pictures and descriptions of each dish served to us.

AmaWaterways

Since we have sailed so many times on Ama, it would be easy to be a little biased, but I think the typical offerings will provide you with a clear picture why almost every serious travel writer and industry experts rate the food on AmaWaterways as the best.

Even the best laid plans sometimes go awry—I forgot to take a picture of the menu.

2 excellent wines for us to choose for our meal

An excellent corn soup—AmaWaterways just seems to have the best soups on the river consistantly.

A stuffed chicken breast main course—I liked it very much!

Anne’s steak—the winner of the 3 we tried on each ship.

A serving of fries—most lines use these type of baskets to serve their fries.

Riverside

We had dinner on the Riverside Mozart.

According to an interview I read in Travel Weekly, Gregor Gerlach, the co-owner of Riverside Luxury Cruises, said “Food is the most important thing for us…Riverside aims to provide the best cuisine and wine cellar on the water and will place an emphasis on freshness and quailty of all ingredients onboard.”

While this was a good meal, they certainly have some work to do—some agents said their food was cold and service slow. To be fair, they are just restarting, so I expect things to improve.

Anne ready for our meal on the Riverside Mozart

Donny was our waiter—he had sailed previously with Crystal who has been very successful bring back their ols crew.

The shrimp coxktail was my favorite dish—it had a fresh shrimp paired with smaller shrimps and pineapple mixture,

i had a small pasta dish it was very good.

Anne’s Steak. It was vey tough and disappointing.

The cooper designed wine display for the meals

A protriat at the entrance of the dining room

Scenic Cruises

We ate on the Scenic Jasper and the quality of the meal was very similar to our experiences sailing on the Scenic Opal in 2015.

Scenic has consistently good food.

Gruner Veltliner is an Austrian White Wine—it is excellent!

Forest Mushroom Essence—a puff pastry dish—very tasty

Our Final Thoughts.

This was a fun and eye-opening experience. In our previous comparisons reports, we have voiced our opinions about the differences of the on-board food and our previous reporting is very, very accurate. We hope you enjoyed this report.

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 50 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
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

March 23, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Lunches on 3 Riverships in 2023

Hank Schrader

March 23, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Lunches on 3 Riverships

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

This is a report of our experiences having lunch on 3 different riverships during the ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) River Cruise Expo in Budapest in March of 2023.

This is our 24th Europe River Cruise. We are back on the Danube currently, and it is wonderful as always. River cruising just never gets old, each day and season is different.

We had a rare opportunity to report on lunches from 3 different lines—AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways and Viking River Cruises.

So, let’s explore together and learn about lunches on 3 different river cruise lines.

Overview

The design of the River Cruise Expo was to visit the ships to see their staterooms and on-board facilities, and to have a chance to eat either lunch or dinner on the different line that participated in the event. We got to eat lunch on AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, and Viking River Cruises. We also got the chance to savor the cuisine offered for dinner on AmaWaterways, Riverside Cruises and Scenic Cruises.

Here is our report about these culinary experiences. We will first show you the exact menu we were provided and then pictures and descriptions of each dish served to us.

AmaWaterways

Another picture of the dining room on the AmaMagna

The lunch menu. This typical of ever day for lunch. It is far more extensive that most other river cruise lines. It is a four course meal or you can have a sandwich if you desire less food.

Here is the appetizer for this lunch. We had Buffalo Chicken wings/Olive Spread/Potatoe Cakes/Artichoke Salad

There were 2 soup choices. I decided on the Chicken Consommé. My other choice was Creamy Cauliflower Soup. Anne and I find that AmaWaterways has exce;llent soups.

The main course was a good selection. We could have had a Sandwich of the Day wich was a Tuna Melt. We also could have chosen Bouillabasisse a la Chef or Egg Plant Curry.

Te next course was from the Front Cooking Station. This is the Tandoori Chicken Curry. I could have selected theThai Shrimp Curry.

Anne really liked the Bread and Butter Pudding

AmaWaterways pairs the wines to the meals but you can always request any of their 14 different wines.

Avalon Waterways

We had a good lunch on the Avalon Envision.

At the entrance to the main dining room, this is the wine display.

This is how the main dining room is set up for lunch

Avalon does not have an extensive printed lunch menu. The printed lunch menu is to order from the menu with the wait staff. Most guests will visit the buffet.

Here is the lunch menu. As with all lines, they also offer their menu on line to save on paper waste.

The sausage front cooking station had excellent sausages. which we both enjoyed

the sausage was excellent but I did not care for the pasta.

This is the hamburger which you can order every day at lunch.

Viking River Cruise

We ate lunch on the Viking Vali, and it also good.

This is a picture of the main dining room.

Here is the lunch menu. On this day, we had one choice for soup, 4 choices for a main course and 2 choices for dessert.

At the front cooking station, the chef prepared spaghetti a aa Carbonera. While this was good, I prefer a little less creamy sauce.

Another picture of the front cooking station

Our Final Thoughts.

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 51+ 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
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

March 2, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Alternative Dining on 7 River Cruise Lines

Hank Schrader

March 2, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71. Europe Destination Specialist and Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

One of the biggest changes lately on many river cruise lines is an added emphasis on alternative dining. There are several innovative changes to rivership cuisine, so here is a good update of the recent changes.

Before we start, here is a general overview. Riverboats have small galleys and little storage space. Each of the 7 lines described here uses a buffet for breakfast and lunch (some lines are doing away with buffets due to health concerns and to provide a more upscale experience) and a sit down meal for dinner—usually 3, 4 or more courses.

Most have at least one or two special meals per cruise, with enhanced food offerings. Despite the claims of 5 or more dining spaces on some lines, some of these are just small buffet style venues, usually added to the main lounge area. There is just not space for large alternative dining spaces—two distinct dining spaces is about all the size limitations on riverships can accommodate.

The exception to this is the AmaMagna, which is double wide and has 4 dining venues.

AmaWaterways Galley. We were escorted by Miguel, the Hotel Manager

Now, let’s examine food and beverage offerings of each of the 7 major river cruise lines that market to US customers and highlight the alternative dining options for each line..

AmaWaterways

Cuisine has always been very important to AmaWaterways. They consistently are cited in the travel media as having great food or the best food in the industry (they get my vote). Perhaps the biggest change is the elimination of most buffets at meal times for both health reasons and to provide a more elegant feel at meals.

The main dining room serves most of the meals you will eat on board this river ship. Breakfast and lunch used to be buffet style with options to order off the menu, but now all items are served to guests except for a few items at breakfast.

Most days I select the Eggs Benedict along with complimentary unlimited sparkling wine and fresh juices to start my day. All breads are freshly baked every day and they even make homemade ice cream for dessert at lunch.

Every evening on the dinner menu (a 4-course affair of an appetizer, a soup or salad course, a main course and dessert), there are 3 Entrée’s choices—usually a meat dish, a fish dish, and a vegetarian option—all are excellent! Here are some of our meals—they were impressive!

There is an Always Available Menu that features a steak, a grilled chicken breast, and a vegetarian or pasta option.

The lunch and dinner meals feature a white and red wine from the region you are sailing thru, and they change daily (not every river cruise lines changes wines every day or offers included wine and beer). There is also beer and other beverages.

In Europe, each AMA ship has the chef’s table specialty restaurant. This program began in 2012. This small dining venue (usually no more than 28 guests) features a kitchen where your meal is prepared right in front of you. This unique tasting style menu is paired with carefully selected fine wines. It is truly a great experience. I wrote a whole blog about the experience and it changes every year and by region, so the experience is seldom the samr.

Dessert to finish off a great meal at the Chef’s Table

AmaWaterways spends more than most other river cruise lines on the food and wines, and it shows, especially in this unique dining venue. We always go during our cruises and always arrange for the groups we led to dine together—it’s always a superb experience!

AmaWaterways is the first river cruise line member of the invitation-only La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, one of the world’s most prestigious culinary organizations.

Avalon

Some Avalon riverships have alternative dining area called the Sky Bistro. It offers a choice of grill fare on the Sky Deck (weather permitting). You can also have light lunch in the Panorama Lounge.

Avalon is adding Avalon Fresh, which is locally sourced vegetarian cuisine. The additional dishes are the creation of Austrian chefs and brothers Karl and Leo Wrenkh. These chefs are emphasizing fun and tasty food that is both fresh and healthy. These new dishes will be added to the regular entrees for the evening meal and will be featured on the menu with a special Avalon Fresh logo.

Avalon usually gets the poorest marks for cuisine by reviewers, so maybe this new approach will improve their ratings.

Emerald

The main restaurant is called the Reflections Restaurant. They use buffets for all meals. You can also order off the menu on an a la cart menu.

You can enjoy breakfast and a light lunch on the Terrace.

In Avignon they have a special meal prepared by Fabian Morreale, a finalist from the French culinary competition . The meal is an authentic menu highlighting the tastes of the region.

Tauck

Tauck is changing its onboard menu to add healthier choices to all meals and upgrading the wine selections. They have a shore dining option offering guests the chance to enjoy regional cuisine at local restaurants and this has become a very popular feature on Tauck cruises. Some are at spectacular venues like castles and palaces. For example, on the “A Taste of France” itinerary on the Rhone, Tauck takes guests to Abbaye de Collonges, the restaurant of Michelin-starred chef Paul Bocuse.

Tauck also has its Arthur’s dining venue, a more causal alternative to the more formal cuisine in the main restaurant. In conversations with another river cruise industry expert, he told me that Arthur’s had an excellent steak dinner. This restaurant features more American fare than European style cuisine, so those looking for a more European experience may be a little disappointed in this approach.

Scenic

Other dining venues include the River Café (a casual all-day dining place), Portobellos and the Table La Rive. Portobellos Restaurant is for 32 guests at one nightly seating, and reservations are necessary, but each guest is given at least one chance to dine there during a 7 day cruise. We thought the five course Italian meal that was paired with Tuscan wines was excellent and a special feature of the cruise.

Portobellos Chef prepares our 5 course meal on the Scenic Opal 2015

Dessert at Portobello’s on the Scenic Jasper

You can also get room service from your butler, certainly not a standard feature on most river cruise lines. During good weather there sometimes are special meals served on the Sun Deck area. Some guests, on the upper diamond deck, can have a special dining experience at the Table La Rive (they have changed this option for only 10 night or longer cruises but we got to sample this on our 7-night cruise). My problem with this, is the dinner occurs in the same dining room as the other guests.

With superb dining (based on our 2015 cruise) and fine wines, Scenic has gone a step further and is introducing an on board cooking school on their French sailing ships, the Scenic Sapphire and the Scenic Diamond. This new space will be called “Scenic Culinaire”. The school will feature cooking stations and the lessons will center on the regional cuisine of the areas of France the rivership is sailing. This is an excellent addition!

Uniworld

Along with the main dining room, some ships have a Sky Lounge, glass-enclosed Lounge or have dinner on deck under the stars. There are special dinners on select riverships such as on the S.S. Maria Theresa, in the Leopard Bar. The bar converts to a special dining room that holds up to 20 guests on select nights during the cruise. I talked with a highly respected river cruise advisor, who told me the 5-course meal was excellent and one of his favorite among river cruise lines.

Uniworld’s has an “Epicurean Adventure” program on select European itineraries, that includes wine tastings, culinary demonstrations, and special dinners.

Uniworld continues to upgrade its cuisine. This will be especially true on its newer ship, the S. S. Joie de Vivre (joy of life), that will cruise on the Seine starting next month. This new rivership will have 2 dining rooms, and both will emphasize French Cuisine. Along with the main restaurant, called Le Restaurant Pigalle, there will be a private dining area featuring wines.

Uinworld’s food is inspired by Bea Tollman, whose cookbook, A Life in Food, contains many recipes used onboard. They are also featuring a wider variety of vegetarian options and a Traveling Lite menu that features the flavors of the traditional menu but with fewer calories.

Viking

Viking has an outdoor venue called the Aquavit Terrace in addition to its main dining room. It is a combination indoor-outdoor dining area. It is a more casual meal with a lighter fare. Sometimes they also serve on the upper deck (called the sun deck).

For breakfast on the Aquavit Terrace they offer a typical breakfast you might get on land in most smaller B & B places in Europe—sliced meats, cheeses, and breads. You can also order egg dishes.

Viking also has on shore dining experiences but they usually come with an extra cost. I recently wrote about some of these experiences in our blog about comparing river cruise companies on the Rhine River. Having visited many of these ports beforehand, I can promise you you can often replicate the same experience for far less cost. A great example might be flammenkuchen in Strasbourg. Not only is it easy to find in the numerous small bistros, you can control you exact cost.

flammenkuchen in Strasbourg we bought without an excursion

Our Final Thoughts

There sure are some good food on river cruises and I think all are trying to improve. The trend is towards better dining options. Food and wine are generally very important to our guests and we see improvements everywhere.

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

February 22, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Understanding Extra Charges on 7 River Cruise Lines

Hank Schrader

February 22, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Understanding Extra Charges on 7 River Cruise Lines

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

One of the most confusing items in river cruising is understanding what the extra charges are for a river cruise. For some, it is all about price. However, for us, it is always about value.

Although it is sometimes difficult to understand the different pricing methods of each line, without a doubt, there is so much more included in a river cruise by almost all companies as compared to most ocean cruises, that river cruising is an excellent overall value.

I will be first to admit that advertised prices sometimes do not reflect the reality of what the actual end charges will be on the final bill. Since this may cause confusion, I will attempt to explain the extra charges on each line and provide our opinion on which charges are the most aggravating to us.

This blog does not address incentive offers, which often add great value to cruises or optional pre and post land tours.

So, let’s explore together and learn pricing methods and charges on the 7 river cruise lines we follow.

How Base Prices are Determined on each River Cruise Line

All 7 lines we follow (AmaWaterways, Avalon, Emerald, Scenic, Tauck, Uniworld and Viking) list their starting price at the lowest priced stateroom. For all, this means a cabin with a fixed window on the first level of the 3-level rivership. With the exception of Tauck, which has an innovative loft stateroom on some of their ships, it is a smaller stateroom with a fixed window space that varies in size. It is on the same level as the crew quarters, and usually has the fewest number of staterooms on each ship.

Most riverships are designed to hold 2 persons per stateroom. There are few single passenger staterooms. Some of the large staterooms can hold 3 passengers. Single cruisers often pay a supplement for their stateroom.

The prices increases on the top two decks for staterooms. These may or may not include a balcony or French balcony, but even some older ships have fixed windows on the top levels. River cruise ships, for the most part come in 2 similar sizes—a 135 meter ship (443 feet) and a 110 m ship (336 feet). The size limitations are due to the constraints of the lock system on most European rivers.

So, the most significant cost increase for most when taking a river cruise is their stateroom choice. It is not uncommon to see a price range of $8,000 or less for 2 at the lowest priced stateroom to $15,000 or more for the largest stateroom.

Those new to river cruising might be shocked by these prices, but included are meals, excursions, free wi-fi, beverages, and the luxury of packing and unpacking once. The transportation feature is the key—we have arranged many land trips and train and plane costs are expensive. It is a hassle-free vacation which maximizes your opportunity to experience Europe with sights you could seldom visit easily on your own (or may even not know about) in the most efficient manner possible,

So, with this basic starting point, I will now explain charges by each river cruise company and start with the charges I find most aggravating.

Excursion Extra Charges

To me, this is a charge that should be included in the fare, although some charges are understandable and reasonable, in my humble opinion. Only Scenic and Tauck do not charge for any tours available to their guests. AmaWaterways only charges for the Vienna concert (I was told that they were losing money by making reservations for the night time concert when too many folks decided not to attend after signing up to go either from being too tired or having a bit too much to drink with dinner). To me, that is reasonable. These 3 companies get our best rating for quality and quantity of excursions.

While not a subject of this blog, the quality of the excursions offered and the quantity at each port is also a key factor in selecting your river cruise company and is also as important as the price. When you see charges that seem high for more exciting tours, it causes one to muse that the price is not what it seems to be on the advertised cruise fare,

Uniworld and Viking make my worse offenders list. Uniworld, which promotes itself as an all-inclusive line, has some significant charges on its Rhine Route for example, but at least they are up front and specify the charges online.

Viking, however, is the worse offender in my opinion—on each cruise they include only 6 excursions and the rest result in extra charges. To make matters worse, it is extremely difficult to ferret out these charges early—most guests receive a printed sheet in their stateroom of the optional charges which can add as much as 500 to 1000 euros to a fare.

Avalon and Emerald do charge extra for some tours, but most seem reasonable if you accept the fact that they will charge extra instead of including them in the fare. On Avalon for example, I read an article in Travel Weekly that there were 31 options and 23 were included on a Rhone River Cruise and they were priced between $58-$69. They seem very strong in Active and Discovery tour offerings.

Emerald charges extra for their DiscoverMore program. Some may have to be pre-booked prior to departure on the cruise. Examples are a beer festival in Passau, a guided tour to Pont du Gard or a concert in Vienna.

Beverages

During mealtimes, all lines offer complimentary soft drinks, their specialty coffees and beer and wine. Beverages are included on Scenic, Tauck and Uniworld all the time, but even these lines sometimes have a higher level package of premium drinks that are usually very high end.

AmaWaterways has a “Sip-n-Sail” cocktail hour that includes most drinks and features the drink of the day. Every day on your cruise with Amawaterways they offer 2 different wines, a red and white, that are from the region you are sailing through for lunch and dinner . There are 2 special wines are included with the Chef’s Table are excellent which is complimentary on every cruise in Europe.

Wine offerings on our Gems of SE Asia river cruise on AmaWaterways

Pouring the Chef’s Table Wine AmaWaterways

Avalon has recently added a free cocktail hour which will start in 2023.

Viking has a Silver Spirt package that costs 300 Euros per cabin. They often use the same 2 wines for the entire cruise. Beer and wine are included at meals.

One could easily argue that beverages should not be the second most problematic extra charge, but for most of our clients the quality of food and wine is extremely important.

Gratuities

Emerald, Scenic, Tauck, and Uniworld include their gratuities in the fare price

AmaWaterways, Avalon and Viking do not include gratuities.

Some clients are very worried about the extra cost of gratuities, but for us this is a not an issue. Our experience on river cruises, is that the crew earns their gratuities, and we always tend to pay the suggested amount and provide a little extra to folks that we have multiple contacts with such as the bar staff and waiters. I like to say the crew becomes your friends and you will want to take them home with you.

Port Charges

This is pretty straight forward. Emerald, Scenic, Tauck and Viking include port charges in their fares.

AmaWaterways, Avalon and Uniworld do not include port charges in the basic advertised cruise fares. One item to note—port charges are per person, not per stateroom.

All river cruise companies have expenses to use the locks and ports. We don’t see this as much of a big deal.

Laundry, Massage and Hairdressing Services

If available onboard, all lines charge extra for Massage and Hairdressing services.

Laundry is a great perk. Free laundry is offered in some of the higher cost staterooms on each line.

AmaWaterways, Avalon, Emerald, Tauck and Viking all charge for laundry service.

Scenic, in their staterooms that have Butler service, has a one-time 2-pound courtesy laundry service. Some Uniworld ships have free washers and dryers, as does the AmaMagna from AmaWaterways.

For us, the laundry service is reasonable and welcome—I use it to help reduce the amount of clothes I bring and Anne loves the fact that when we come home, it reduces the amount of washing we need to do after the trip.

In the laundry room on AmaWaterways—I’m holding my laundry request and this is the laundry guy between Anne and me

Our Final Thoughts

Money, Money, Money—we all want the best value we can get for the price we pay.

We hope you enjoyed this report and it sheds some light on our most frequently asked questions about costs.

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

February 15, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Comparing Rhine River Cruise Itineraries

Hank Schrader

February 15, 2023

River Cruise Comparisons

Comparing Rhine River Cruise Itineraries

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

We always say that the most important reason to go on a river cruise is what you get to see and experience. The Rhine River Route from Amsterdam to Basel or the reverse is the second most popular route for US guests. The route allows guests to see 4 different countries and many of the cruise companies stop at common ports.

There is a significant difference between company offerings, when you consider what tours are included in the cruise fare and which lines charge for optional tours.

So, let’s explore together to compare the offering of various lines and learn about tours on the Rhine River.

Rhine River Overview

Born in the heart of the Alps, the mighty Rhine flows through 4 countries—Switzerland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. On this amazing journey, you will travel through the famous Alsace region of wine and quaint villages, sail the stunning Rhine River Gorge to view the 40 castles that dot the hillsides, and port in both Cologne and Amsterdam.

River Cruise Ports and Sights on the Rhine

To name the ports, I have decided to sail from north to south for most of these Rhine cruises. Here is a list of prime ports:

Amsterdam, Cologne, Koblenz, Rhine Gorge, Rüdesheim, Mainz, Speyer, Strasbourg, and Basel are actually on the Rhine or very close like Strasbourg.

There are several sights that are near some of the ports that can enhance your trip. Stops like Lahneck Castle, Cochem Castle and Marksburg Castle have tours of some very interesting fortifications that you can visit inside the castle. There are tours to Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Riquewihr, a visit to the Black Forest and Frieberg.

Note that not every port is available on every sailing, as a few sailing trips are themed cruises.

The offerings are also changing due to weather conditions, water levels, and other factors.

For each line, I have provided a Day-by-Day Route Summary with our Port Pictures. This should make the comparisons far more meaningful.

AmaWaterways

The two routes are called the Captivating Rhine (north to south) and Enchanting Rhine (south to north). AmaWaterways does not charge extra for any tours on these 2 routes. Ports are Amsterdam, Cologne, Rhine Gorge, Rüdesheim, Speyer, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Riquewihr, Freiburg and Basel (only tours on the Enchanting Rhine route of Basel). On the Enchanting Rhine there is an exclusive Lahneck Castle tour.

Most stops offer 3 tour options at each port. They are particularly strong in active bike and hiking tours and are the only cruise line with a dedicated wellness host who conducts daily classes and escorts the hiking and biking tours.

Amawaterways also has themed cruises on this route. Our favorite is wine themed cruises that have a onboard wine host who offers tastings and usually a wine pairing dinner.

There are pre and post tours. They include Amsterdam. Lucerne, Zurich and Lake Como on the Rhine Castles and Swiss Alps itinerary.

The Captivating Rhine

Avalon

The most booked route on the Rhine River offered by Avalon is named the Romantic Rhine.

The ports visited are Amsterdam, Cologne, Rhine Gorge, Rüdesheim, Mainz, Strasbourg, Briesach (gateway to the Black forest and the route ends in Basel).

Avalon has 3 types of tours. They are Classic, Discovery, and Active. They also have themed cruises on this route.

There are some optional tours that require an extra charge. During the spring, they offer a Kurkenhof gardens tour.

Romantic Rhine

Emerald Waterways

Jewels of the Rhine is the route that goes from Basel to Amsterdam. There are 5 included tours, 3 active tours and 2 Emerald Plus tours included in the fare. Tours to Freiburg, Heidelberg, Koblenz, Cologne city tour and extra cooking demonstration tour) and Amsterdam.

Extra charge tours include Riquewihr, and Cochem Castle.

The Jewels of the Rhine

Scenic

There are 20 included tours in the Rhine Highlights itinerary. In Amsterdam there are 3 tours—city tour or ,canal cruise or bike tour and excursion to Edam and Volendam. There are 3 tours offered in Cologne. Also 3 tours in Koblenz include a visit to Cochem Castle. In Heidelberg you can visit the castle or tour the old town, that night there is a special private evening concert at the Baroque Palace of Rastatt. At the Baden-Baden port stop, you can visit the famous spa town, or take an active hike or visit the Mercedes-Benz factory. In Strasbourg, you can tour the old town or go on a wine tasting Mittelbergheim in the Alsace and sample some of the best wines the region has to offer or tour the Black Forest. Your final port of Basel is just to disembark.

There are no extra charges or optional tours—all tours are included with Scenic.

Rhine Highlites

Tauck

Tauck’s route is called the Romantic Rhine. The tour in Amsterdam starts with a city drive, then a canal boat tour and a visit to the world famous Rijksmuseum. Next, in Cologne, you will visit the old town by bus and take a walking tour of this unique city. That evening there will be a Tauck Exclusive private evening featuring a cocktail reception, dinner and entertainment at Schloss Ehreshoven. In Koblenz, you can either take a bike tour or a tour of the old city. You have 2 great choices in your next port—Speyer or Heidelberg. In Strasbourg, you will have a morning tour of the old town, In the afternoon you can stay in Strasbourg or visit the spa town of Baden-Baden. On your last day of touring, you will have the choice of visiting Lucerne and Mt. Pilatus or you can take a wine tasting at Château Haut-Koenigsbourg along the Alsace Wine Route.

There are no optional tours or extra charges on your Tauck cruise.

The Romantic Rhine—Amsterdam to Basel

Uniworld

The Castles Along the Rhine is the name of the route offered by Uniworld. Your tour starts in Cologne with a walking tour of the old town. There are 3 choices in Boppard for Day 3 of the cruise. They are Koblenz walking tour; Marksburg Castle Visit; and a Boppard Village Stroll. On Day 4, after sailing on the Rhine Gorge, you have a Castle Vollrads wine tasting. Day 5 is their signature visit to the Weinessiggut Doktorenhof estate for a special vinegar tasting in their Make Travel Matters program. Day 6 is a walking tour of Strasbourg. Day 7 is a tour of Freiberg or a visit to the village of Kaysersberg. The tour ends in Basel where you disembark.

There is a special Generations program focusing on families on this route and have special tours.

There are optional tours that require an extra charge. There is a Gourmet Vinegar Cooking Class and a Romantic Heidelberg tour choices on Day 5. On Day 6 there is a Natural Beauty and Living History which includes a walking tour of the Vogtsbauernhof outdoor museum.

Castles Along the rhine

Viking

The Viking route is called the Rhine Getaway. As with the other lines it covers 4 countries. Viking only has 6 included tours—the other tours require an extra charge. Day 2 is a visit to the famous windmills at Kinderdijk. On Day 3, you will arrive in Cologne and the included tour is a guided visit to the Old town On Day 4, you will have a walking tour of Koblenz in the morning or a chance to see Marksburg Castle. Later in the day, after sailing through the Rhine Gorge, you will have free time or optional tours in Rüdesheim. The Day 5 tour is a tour of Speyer. Day 6 is a guided tour of Strasbourg. Day 7 is a tour of the Black Forest.

On this route, it is quite possible to get per person charges of more than 500 Euros per person, depending on your choices.

Rhine Getaway

Our Final Thoughts

This may be an excellent start to understanding the difference offered between the 7 companies we follow.

I think you can see why we are in the business—it just is awesome to help folks have a great vacation. We hope you enjoyed this report.

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

July 7, 2022

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Wellness Programs in 2022

Hank Schrader

July 7, 2022

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Wellness Programs in 2022

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

There seems to be a lot going on in the river cruise world in fitness and wellness.

So, let’s explore together and learn about the wellness programs on 7 river cruise lines we follow in 2022.

AmaWaterways

AmaWaterways has the best Wellness Program on the rivers of Europe. We got an early look at the program in the winter of 2017 with the onboard wellness host, Selena on the AmaKristina. It was very good—as I have earned a master’s Degree in Physical Fitness, I think I have the credentials to properly evaluate the program.

Let me be clear—it is robust, fun and I was taken back about how many different activities were offered—it by far is the best fitness program on the Europe rivers by any company!

Among the features: They offer stretching, yoga, resistance bands, core exercises, bike tours and jogging tours. All are professionally led.

Here is another experience during our many river cruises with AmaWaterways--Marcello, from Portugal, was our onboard wellness host and he did an outstanding job on the AmaKristina in 2019! I participated in one fitness session onboard and our other members of the group did a couple of bike rides.

Marcello, the wellness host (in yellow) after our workout session—in front Hank, on the left Jerry and on the right Len

Selena, now the overall director of the program, has created a wonderful addition to Europe River cruising—well done! Here is a sample of another great off board program that I had previously written about:

Go for a Hike. The beauty of Europe doesn’t just lie in its architecture and landmarks – there are also great views to see and unique experiences when you venture out into nature.

AmaWaterways has designed special hikes that will take you a bit off the beaten path in some very beautiful destinations. Examples include making your way up to Dürnstein Fortress (great views of the Wachau Valley) or walking the Philosopher’s Path in Heidelberg (an optional tour around the famous castle area).

Most AmaWaterways ships have swimming pools on the top deck (some older ships have only whirlpools) a modest fitness room and a walking track on the top deck.

An early whirlpool tube on an AmaWaterways ship.

Resistance training machine on the AmaKristina.

Explore on Two Wheels. AmaWaterways carries a fleet of bicycles on board (they are free of charge), so you can see Europe’s enchanting scenery on riverside pathways while getting some exercise. They were the first line to carry complimentary bikes onboard. They dock close to many city centers and small towns, where you can ride along the locals. Options are to ride on your own, which has always been available since we started cruising in 2009, or join one of their exclusive guided tours, like a trek along the beautiful Danube River in Austria’s Wachau Valley.

Folks on an AmaWaterways bike excursion in the Wachua Valley in 2018 waving to us on the rivership as we cruise by on one of the best cycle routes in all Europe. Shorty afterwrd they link up with our ship.

AmaWaterways bikes at the ready for guest use.

This guided tour concept is new, and we have had clients who love these tours (an update, these are now led by the on-board wellness host and have 2 guides).

We have had clients take a ride along the scenic shores of the Inn River in Passau and along the banks of the Mosel around Cochem. Both reported, it was fun and a great experience. We also rode into Wurzburg on our own and really enjoyed our short ride—the bikes are very good, and it was fun.

Jane and Len ready for a bike excursion in 2019 on a cruise we led.

The AmaMagna, the double wide rivership, has expanded fitness programs, which include spinning classes onboard with the dedicated wellness/fitness host.

Healthy eating is also a priority, as the line only uses fresh food, that is locally sourced. On every menu there is a vegetarian option. There is a beauty and spa facility onboard, where guests can get treatments and a massage for an extra fee.

Avalon

There seems to be some interesting developments in Avalon—especially their new tour offerings—the trend is to more active tours.

Avalon has enhanced their Active and Discovery itinerates. Tours named “tourapalooza”—how about a wine tasting in a cave, or a medieval ghost tour in Viviers or cycling past French flamingos in the Camargue—all are offered on their Rhône River cruise sailings.

There may be a charge for some of the tours. For example, 23 of the 31 tours were included at no extra charge on the Rhône River route I used as an example in this section.

Avalon carries bikes on board their ships. There are many good reports of their cycling program for other industry observers. They also have a fitness room and have a hair & beauty salon as part of their facilities on the ship.

A bike ready for use for an Avalon guest.

Bike storge area on an Avalon rivership.

Avalon has an excellent vegetarian program on their ships call “Avalon Fresh”. Most industry observers cite this as the best among the river cruise lines.

Emerald

Emerald has a good program. On each of their riverships they have a dedicated Activity Manager.

The Activity Manager has the responsibility to support and conduct the cruise lines EmeraldACTIVE programs and shore excursions. These activities include daily wellness and fitness classes onboard the ship; guided bike tours; hiking tours and even canoeing/kayak trips. This is not a dedicated, full time fitness person—they have several other duties including entertainment and often are the performers during the cruise.

For the fitness class onboard, there are yoga and Pilates classes, one mile walks on the sun deck and my personal favorite—water aerobics in their heated indoor pool.

This is the covered pool that is available during the daytime hours and used for water aerobics. At night it becomes a movie theater, complete with popcorn.

There is a gym on board and the ships have a hair and spa facility.

On their daily menu, they always offer a vegetarian option clearly marked with a (V).

Scenic

Scenic has e-bikes onboard. They offer some guided tours or let guests explore on their own, using their Scenic Tailormade GPS system to help guide you.

They offer daily scheduled fitness activities. These include two specialized yoga programs--a program called Sun Salutations (a specific yoga program) and a signature fitness program called the “Five Tibetan Rites” (another 5-exercise yoga program), which they tout as a fountain of youth exercise program.

It also has a fitness facility and spa and beauty facilities. It is also unique that it offers a Salt Therapy Lounge. The idea behind this treatment is to promote healing, improve your respiration function and provide a boast to your immune system.

They also cater to any dietary restrictions and offer vegetarian options.

Tauck

Tauck has a fitness center on each vessel. They have yoga programs and carry 10 bikes onboard. There are no guided bike tours. There are hiking trips included in the tour options.

They have a fitness center and hair salon and massage on board and either a hot tub or pool on their ships.

On the far left side of this picture, on the top deck, is where the hot tub is located on the Tauck Treasures rivership.

There are vegetarian options at the meals.

Uniworld

Uniworld has certified instructors onboard, who lead fitness classes.

Uniworld has developed a “Let’s Go” excursions program. Some of activities include guided hiking, cycling, kayaking, and golf tours.

They have a Traveling Lite menu, which offers a healthier dining option with fewer calories. There are vegan and vegetarian dining options also available.

Uniworld does have wellness themed cruises, but most focus on including land spa tours to routes in places such as Baden-Baden.

Viking

Viking does not have a dedicated wellness program from an activity standpoint, other than to arrange bike tours for guests in port, as they do not carry bikes on their riverships. The only onboard activity is a walking track on the top deck.

They believe the walking on the tours is enough fitness activities for their guests. They do offer healthy meal options, including vegan and vegetarian meals.

My Final Thoughts

Fitness and wellness are increasingly important to river cruisers. We hope you enjoyed this report. We will try to keep you updated as these programs change or expand.

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

April 28, 2022

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Balcony Comparisons in 2022--What View Do You Want?

Hank Schrader

April 28, 2022

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Balcony Comparisons—What View Do You Want?

by Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

“What type of balcony is best for my river cruise?” We are often asked this question. It can be very confusing trying to figure out the different approaches to balconies by various river cruise lines

Balconies or lack of balconies is often one of the keys defining differences between river cruise lines in stateroom cabin accommodations. This blog should help you understand each line’s approach to balconies and should help you evaluate whether a balcony, and what type of balcony, would be best for your river cruise.

On river cruise ships, there are 6 possible views from your river cruise cabin stateroom. They are:

a small window,
a large window,
a French balcony (a sliding glass door),
a balcony with a window that opens halfway
an outside balcony,
a twin balcony.

Deck Designs of a River Cruise Ship

River cruise ships have 4 decks, but the upper deck, often called the sun or sky deck, is just a roof. There are guest cabins on the remaining 3 decks.

Deck 1 (the lowest deck) is for crew, with some guest staterroms and may have some public areas. Decks 2 and 3 have guest cabins and other public areas. Balcony cabins are only allowed on the upper two decks (2 & 3) of a river cruise ship.

Balcony cabins are always more expensive than window cabins. On the first deck, nearest to the river line, all cabins only have small or large windows, but most only have the small windows. There is a very good safety reason that only fixed windows that do not open are allowed on Deck 1, as the windows are just a few feet from the water line. The cabins with only small windows are usually the least expensive cabins on each ship.

So, with that background, let’s explore river cruise cabin balconies on the upper two decks of the cruise ships except for the Douro River which has special designed ships for their smaller locks on that unique river.

What are the 7 Major River Cruise Companies that Market to US Travelers?

Although beyond the scope of this blog, if you would like a detailed comparison of these 7 river cruise lines, please click this link,

Learn more—our 2022-2023 Europe River Cruise Comparisons

AmaWaterways

Twin balconies really are the best of both worlds—outside when the weather is good or inside with the sliding glass doors of the French balcony at other times. While there are a few French balconies on the upper two decks of their 135 m longships (they call them Cat C cabins), all the remaining 49 have the twin balconies. 65 of the 82 cabins on the 135 m long ships have balconies. Here are some pictures of the twin balconies and French balconies we have taken on various cruises:

A view of the twin balconies from inside our cabin. On the left is the outside balcony. Inside is the French Balcony which has the small glass table and two inside chairs for a seating area. Photo Anne Schrader.

The French Balcony cabin on our first river cruise in 2009

Avalon

In their newest ship, the Avalon View, they have replaced the railway with a clear safety divider, so there is nothing obstructing the view.

A photo from Avalon Waterways showing their Open-Air concept. Used by their permission.

Emerald

All Emerald ships on the 2 upper levels have balconies. They call their balconies an open-air system and it uses a button to lower the window horizontally halfway down from the closed position. 72 of their 90 cabins on their 135 m longships have the open-air system. Here is a picture of the Emerald Sun balconies from a ship inspection we did in 2015:

Scenic

Scenic features a balcony they call the Sun Lounge—at a push of a button, the glass enclosed lounge converts to an open-air balcony by going horizontally down halfway—it is awesome! All cabin categories on the upper two decks have full balconies with the Sun Lounge. 68 of the 81 cabins on their 135 m longships have the Sun Lounge. Here is a picture of the Sun Lounge from our 2015 Scenic Opal cruise:

Tauck

Tauck river cruise ships have only French Balconies. 55 of the 67 cabins on their 135 m long ships have balconies. Tauck is unique in its approach to some of their river line cabins. It has 8 cabins that are called loft cabins—they have a sitting area loft that is raised up from the rest of the cabin area and extends from the first deck to the second deck.

The loft cabin. This picture is from Tauck and used by permission.

Uniworld

Uniworld, with its elaborately decorated boutique river ships, has 2 types of balconies. They have different style ships, so it is hard to give exact information about each ship, but the newest have French balconies on the 2nd level deck and on the upper level deck have open-air balconies, that at a touch of a button, can open or close . The larger 135 m longships have French balconies on the second deck and outside cabins on the upper deck. On their 135 m ships 62 of the 77 staterooms have balconies.

The River Riyale in port. Although not perfect, you can see the French Balcony cabins on this ship.

Viking

Viking on its 53+ longships at present, use a patented off-center deck on their upper two decks. This allows for one side of the ship to have verandas (outside balconies) and the opposite side has French balconies.

There are 2 large suites (445 sq ft) at the aft end of the ship that have wrap around balconies and 7 veranda suites (225 sq ft) with an outside balcony and a French balcony. 39 state rooms (205 sq ft) have outside verandas. 22 staterooms (135 sq ft) have French balconies. 69 of the 94 staterooms have balconies. The outside balconies have 2 mesh chairs and a small drink table.

This is the Viking Baldar in port. It really shows clearly the difference between the small windows on the first deck at the water line and the balcony cabins above. Photo Anne Schrader

A French Balcony Stateroom. on a Viking Ship. Photo from Viking and used by permission.

How To Decide If a Balcony is Important for your Cruise Experience.

It is important to realize due to limited docking space, river ships often raft, or tie up next to each other, so your wonderful view now becomes a view into someone else’s cabin. Also, in some ports, the docking location has walls to obscure views. There is also no view during time in a lock except to look at the concrete lock walls.

A final point to consider is that sailing often is done at night, so tours can take advantage of daylight hours, and this limits what you are able to see from your balcony during some sailing times. Even with these limitations, we always prefer a balcony of some type.

Our Final Thoughts--Should you get a Stateroom with a Balcony?

We hope this has helped you understand more about balconies that are offered on the various river cruise lines. With these great views, it is easy to see what a great way a river cruise is to explore Europe!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 50+ 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
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

April 13, 2022

River Cruise Comparisons

Opinion: The Best Features and Vibes of 7 European River Cruise Lines

Hank Schrader

April 13, 2022

River Cruise Comparisons

Opinion: The Best Features and Vibes of 7 European Cruise Lines

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

I always tell folks that a river cruise in Europe is a great vacation—probably the best value for most leisure travelers who want to see a lot in a short time yet get close to the way most actually live in Europe. Europe grew up around the rivers and this history is reflected in both the small villages, trading centers and even capital cities you might be able to see and experience.

There is a lot of confusion, in my opinion, among the consumers and even good travel agents, about the differences between lines. We seem to be obsessed with finding the one best line, like a magic pill that will make our travel experiences perfect. Searches on the internet bear this out, as many want reliable info on lines and want accurate comparisons. Even experts disagree on which line is best and all seem to have won a travel award as the best river cruise line.

Somehow in all this, I am concerned that some are searching for the best river cruise line instead of matching their style of travel to the available vendors—the best just doesn’t exist, since all of us have different ideas of the travel experience that we want for our trip—no one line is best for each person.

This doesn’t mean this quest is not valuable. We are well known for our river cruise comparisons that is on page one of Google—last year 8,367 folks opened our 87-slide presentation and already 3,308 have opened it in 2022 (I have just updated it recently, since Crystal is no longer sailing and made some comparison slides easier to read).

Here it is, if you want a more in-depth look at this topic:

Read our Complete 2022-2023 Europe River Cruise Lines comparisons

I just want those who are searching for the best line stop this fruitless search and should instead look for the features that best match their desired travel expectations.

I have always been the guy with the glass half full, not half empty and each line offers a great vacation experience, so today I thought I’d tell you about the best features of each line, accentuating the positive, and a little what it is like to sail on them.

I do want you to know, we have not sailed on every line in this opinion piece and have always paid for our trips and never gone for free from any of these cited lines. While a lot of this comes from first hand experience, some is just by research, cruise line certifications and interactions with industry officials. We have always believed transparency is the best policy and we strive to be as accurate as possible in our opinions and articles.

All the photos in this blog were taken by Anne.

Please join me on this journey—I hope I am up to the challenge!

AmaWaterways

The best features of AmaWaterways are:

Best food & fine regional wines that change daily—added free cocktail hour—included Chef’s Table—best in the industry in our opinion
Best Active line—added wellness instructor
Good tours—usually 3 groups & at least 2 options—sometimes more
Crew becomes your friends—service is excellent & consistently high standards
Slow, steady growth—new ships have high staff standards
Owners are hands on—they read every critique—always improving
Great Cruise Managers go the extra mile for your trip
Great Partners with Ancestry, Backroads (bike touring) & Disney
Their wine themed cruises are the best in the industry

To me, the vibe of AmaWaterways is that you are part of the family, and they want you back. They are just the right blend of great tour options, wonderful food and wine, with comfortable staterooms and a staff only too willing to please. This vibe just resonates with us and has made us consistently pick them as our favorite line and many of our clients agree. Talking with one of the owners, Kristin Karst, she told me “we try to under promise and over deliver”—that certainly is our experience. AmaWaterways seems always to be in the forefront of upgrades, new ideas and innovation in European River Cruising—they never disappoint.

Avalon

The best features on Avalon are:

They deliver a good product at a fair price.
Since they are owned by Globus Corporation (tour company), they have good tours.
They claim to have the newest fleet in Europe market—oldest ship built in 2008 but with Scenic & Emerald no longer true.
Cabin bed faces window—has larger windows & French balconies compared to others that open to create patio stateroom
Added more active options during shore visits called Active Discovery
Have great vegetarian option call “Avalon Fresh”

The vibe of Avalon is options, flexibility, and views. They have a new marketing program called “Cruising Elevated”. I learned about this in an interview published on Travel Weekly magazine. Here is what it said: “There are three elements that signify luxury in today's cruising world," Steve Born (chief marketing officer of Avalon) said. "One is the ships themselves -- the hardware. Do they provide an environment that makes the most of the cruise experience -- enough space and room? The second element is hospitality - cruise service, how guests are treated, the food. And the third would be the choice of included excursions and variety." I think this is a pretty accurate vibe and the direction Avalon is headed.

Emerald

The best features on Emerald are:

Very good quality cruise at a good price.
Gratuities included.
2 upper decks on most ships have ½ window balcony that opens with touch of a button.
Pool has retractable roof & converts into evening cinema—it is awesome!
Even with higher guest capacity (182), it has bikes, spa & fitness area—Viking (190) does not—it does not feel crowded on their ships.

The vibe on Emerald is contemporary but a solid value. The owner, Glen Moroney, likes to call it a four-star experience on a 5-star ship. The tag line “Exceptional Emerald Value”, to me is quite accurate—it is inviting, contemporary, and a great value. It is a fun ship experience—who could not like a glass enclosed swimming pool for daytime use that converts to a movie theater at night (it even has popcorn)?

Here is a photo of the pool that converts into a movie theater at night

Scenic

The best features on Scenic are:

All inclusive—all is included—most guests will not pay anything more unless they get a massage or use the hairdresser.
Onshore tours are awesome—includes Scenic Enrich (exclusive experiences) & Sundowner (hosted cocktails in Europe’s most beautiful locations).
Seafood buffet is excellent!
Offers 6 red & 6 white wines at dinner for free.
Suites have butler service, which varies by stateroom category
Suites have a balcony that converts into an open-air balcony with a touch of a button
Has partnered with National Geographic with lectures and photography lessons on some sailings.

The vibe on upscale, yet modern, contemporary elegance. The Space Ships are well designed, have a mini-bar, and are luxurious. Scenic is the big brother of Emerald and a definitive step up in class and amenities. The Aussie flair is quite evident on board and the elegance is tempered with these fun-loving folks who make up as much as 45% of the guests on a typical sailing. We enjoyed sailing on this line and highly recommend them.

Tauck

The best features on Tauck are:

All-inclusive
Generally fewest passengers on Tauck ships as compared to other river cruise companies.
Many feel they offer the best tours & on-shore experiences—in large part due to 4 onboard staff members who lead all tours—others disagree, like using only local guides
Generally, has more large sized staterooms than others but only French Balconies. Has best window first deck staterooms
Has a good family program called Tauck Bridges

The vibe on Tauck is twofold in my opinion—they work hard to be Distinctively Inclusive and want their guests to Travel Beyond Ordinary. It is a relaxed, elegant vibe combined with Uncommon Access to exclusive venues, events, and experiences due to their past connections as an outstanding tour company. The 4 on board staff Tauck tour staff seem to work seamlessly with the crew, who are not Tauck employees, and guests benefit from this arrangement. Tauck devotees just can’t stop talking about how good this line is and we agree it has a lot to offer.

Uniworld

The best features on Uniworld are:

All-inclusive
Each ship is different—big emphasis on boutique aspect for the client
Only cruise line on the Po River (Italy) & has a Burgundy region cruise
Rate very high on most comparison lists—a lot to like about their product & service.
Excellent Butler Service

The vibe on Uniworld comes from their roots in old world sophistication of Carnation Boutique Hotel chain, yet in a modern world—elegant, opulent, different décor in each stateroom, with butler service. Each ship has different theme and feel but the all-inclusive amenities on each ship remain up to the same high standards from vessel to vessel. They like to say in their promotional material that “no request is too large; no detail is too small” and they very much have created that vibe on their ships. This is a very good choice, especially if you like the boutique ambiance and the accompanying vibe.

U by Uniworld

The best features on U by Uniworld are:

Overnight stays in some ports to experience the nightlife
Fun, unpretentious, very modern and hip

The vibe is young, rocking, and different than any other cruise offering in Europe. With only 2 ships, all painted black, it is the most unique offering on Europe’s Rivers.

Viking

The best features on Viking are:

Sometimes best pricing but often requires full payment at booking while other river cruise companies allow deposit + 90 days prior to departure for final payment.
Only company that cruises Elbe (special shallow water design)
Herb garden; solar panels (most green ships)
Since long ships are identical; in low water situations; Viking has been able to switch ships to avoid extended bus tours—generally successful but does not always work
Has best port docking locations

The vibe on Viking is consistency—each longship is the same, and by my count, there are a lot sailing in Europe--53. It is a Scandinavian designed ship, minimal décor yet nice touches like a heated floor in the bathrooms and large print on shampoo bottles. There are no extras here—the focus of these cruises is on the destination. The emphasis onboard is comfort and not a splashy experience. Viking put Europe River Cruising in the minds of most Americans and must be considered the base line for how good a river cruise vacation is—they set the standard. Viking really does let you explore the world in comfort.

Our Final Thoughts

We hope you enjoyed this report. Perhaps it will help you match a line to your travel style and not worry about which line is best. As you can see, all have features and vibes that make them unique. We can help sort all this out when you are ready to try this great vacation or to go again.

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

December 17, 2020

River Cruise Comparisons

AmaWaterways Wins 5 Readers Choice Awards from TravelAge West Magazine

Hank Schrader

December 17, 2020

River Cruise Comparisons

AmaWaterways Wins 5 Readers Choice WAVE Awards from TravelAge West Magazine

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

I guess it is no surprise to me that AmaWaterways is in the winner’s circle again—we consider them the best river cruise company among a lot of good choices for European river cruises.

If you have read our 2020-2021 company comparisons, there are many factors that make AmaWaterways a special company and they deserve the recognition from these awards.

This is the real deal folks—there are many good options and 5 worthy contenders in each category, yet AmaWaterways is consistently voted the best by travel agents during the Wave (Western Agents’ Votes of Excellence) Awards.

We know a lot about how hard these awards are to win—we won a Trendsetters Runner-Up Wave Award for Best Targeted Marketing Idea in 2018.

Here are the categories they won, based on voting by travel agents—the folks who are the most knowledgeable about the best river cruise companies:

River Cruise Line with the Highest Client Satisfaction

Best New Ship (River Cruise) AmaMagna

Best Onboard Dining (River Cruise)

Best River Cruise Line for Families

River Cruise Line Providing the Best Travel Advisor Support

**This slide was created by AmaWaterways and they kindly gave us permission to use it in this blog**

Ready?—let’s go together and learn all about the awards.

River Cruise Line with the Highest Client Satisfaction

We all know how much satisfied customers means to any business and AmaWaterways excels consistently with guests.

Basically, this means that the products and services of AmaWaterways meets or exceeds customer expectation.

Our clients often feel the same way—it is one reason so many of our river cruise clients chose to sail with AmaWaterways.

Best New Ship (River Cruise)—the AmaMagna

There is only one true Giant on the Danube—the AmaMagna, the ultimate European river cruise ship. She sails the upper and lower Danube River routes.

Built in 2019, the magnificent AmaMagna has 96 staterooms and carries 196 passengers. She is a long ship (443 ft long or 110 meter) but double wide at 72 ft—most other river cruise ships are only 38 ft wide. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, she will not carry a full 196 passengers.

It is the largest river cruise ship in Europe.

Here is a quick summary of the dining options:

There are 4 dining options—the main dining room, Jimmy’s Wine Bar, the Al Fresco dining area and the chef’s table.

**Al Fresco Dining Area. Photo from AmaWaterways**

•Regionally inspired cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients

•The Chef’s Table specialty restaurant

•Welcome Cocktail, Welcome Dinner, Captain's Cocktail and Gala Dinner

•La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs exclusive dining experience

•Unlimited fine wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner

•Unlimited sparkling wine and fresh juice with breakfast

•Sip & Sail Cocktail Hour with complimentary wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks

•Tapas, sandwiches, snacks and refreshments served daily in the Main Lounge

There is a lot of personal space, as the suites range from 355 sq ft to 710 sq ft, most featuring full balconies.

Other onboard features include an upper and lower lounges (with intimate pockets to relax unhindered); a water sports platform (it has a Sundowner vessel for an excursion at no extra charge); a Zen wellness studio with fitness center offering exercise classes led by a professional wellness host, 2 massage rooms plus manicure and pedicure services; and an expansive sun deck with a large heated pool and a pop-up sky bar.

Trust me—there is nothing like this sailing on any European Rivers by any other river cruise company.

Best Onboard Dining (River Cruise)

After sailing on AmaWaterways 17 times, we agree wholeheartedly with this award. There is no extra charge for all these options, so this makes it even a better deal.

Here is a sample lunch menu (quite an impressive selection, in my opinion):

Every evening on the dinner menu (a 4 course affair of an appetizer, a soup or salad course, a main course and dessert), there are 3 Entrée’s choices—usually a meat dish, a fish dish and a vegetarian option.—all are excellent! Here are some of our meals—they were awesome!

There is an Always Available Menu that features a steak, a grilled chicken breast, and a vegetarian or pasta option.

The lunch and dinner meals feature a white and red wine from the region you are sailing thru and they change daily (not every river cruise lines changes wines every day or offers included wine and beer). There is also beer and other beverages.

One item of note—portions are slightly smaller in recent sailings and for the baby boomers of our generation, this is a smart move. You can always have more food, but even for big eaters like me, the portions were properly sized.

I do have to point out that on the Always Available Menu, I usually get the steak once during the cruise. It always is large, and very tasty. Here is a photo—looks very good, doesn’t it!

The Chef’s Table. In Europe, each AmaWaterways ship has the chef’s table specialty restaurant. This small dining venue (usually no more than 28 guests) features a kitchen where your meal is prepared right in front of you. This unique menu is paired with carefully selected fine wines. It is truly a great experience. At least each year the menu changes, so we will look forward to our next sailing to see what great new features will be added to this fun dining experience. Here are some pictures from our past Chef’s Table experiences:

AMA spends more than most other river cruise lines on the food and wines and it shows, especially in this unique dining venue. We always go during our cruises and always arrange for the groups we led to dine together—it’s always a superb experience!

But that is not the only culinary achievement—they are the only river cruise line inducted into the La Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a prestigious international gastronomic society dedicated to fine cuisine.

The entire European fleet and President Rudi Schreiner were honored. According to the AmaWaterways website, the society was

“Founded in Paris in 1950 to honor the royal Guild of Goose Roasters (whose origins date back to the 13th century), it is the oldest and largest food and wine society in the world. Membership to La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is by invitation only and is extended to those possessing world-class culinary acumen.”

If you want good food and wine on a river cruise, go on AmaWaterways—it seems a lot of other travel advisors share our opinion! Pretty easy to see why the won the Best Onboard Dining Wave Award for River Cruising in 2020.

Best River Cruise Line for Families

We have seen first-hand how well AmaWaterways helps families have superior vacations.

Here is just a partial list:

Flexibility—multiple tour and activity options help make all ages enjoy the trip-it could be active with the bikes or hiking, seeing and touring castles, a wine tasting for adults, seeing sights you have only read about in in a safe, organized tour. Multi-generational family members do their own thing yet get to share the overall experience.

Wellness--Almost all raters of Europe river cruising companies, cite AmaWaterways for their active and wellness program. All European riverships have a wellness host—leading exercise classes, bike tours and hikes—we have seen this program in action and it is excellent.

Adjoining accommodations—since 2016 several staterooms have these adjoining staterooms—sure makes easy to travel with the family.

Hassle free—unpack once for 7 days and spend your time having fun—meals, tours are included.

Here are 4 great ideas from AmaWaterways for family friendly cruises (these 4 slides are from AmaWaterways and we were given permission to include them in this blog):

River Cruise Line Providing the Best Travel Advisor Support

Again, with our great partnership with AmaWaterways has helped our customers have the best possible vacations.

I just can’t say enough how all are always ready to go the extra mile for our clients—the can do friendly spirit is always there in all our dealings.

It starts with my group coordinator’s—Kristie, Jennifer (my two past group coordinators) and now Brandon and the highly responsive groups department—you folks rock!

Our Business Development Manager, Sheila, is a gem—fully of energy, great ideas and suggestions—makes our business better with every idea and actions on our behalf.

The responsive Marketing Department helps us tell the AmaWaterways story properly.

Upper level managers Janet, Alex and co-owners Gary and Kristin (one of the co-founders with Rudi) have created a company our clients want to sail on and a company all can be proud about.

In all our dealings with AmaWaterways, even if we only sold one or two river cruises at first, we were and continue to be treated like we are the most important partner in whole world. Believe me, not all vendors treat us this way.

No wonder they are voted the best at providing support to the travel age community.

How these Awards help you decide on the Right Vendor for your next River Cruise Vacation

There are a lot of good options for a river cruise vacation but knowing who does it best helps you make good decisions and add value to your vacation purchase by spending your dollars wisely.

AmaWaterways business culture benefits you, our clients and potential clients—they have the right product for you in most cases and now, since you are the right person to take a river cruise, we just have to figure out when the time is right for your vacation.

And, here is a quick reminder—along with the right company, we are the right folks to help you—please just read our qualifications in the next paragraph.

Our Primary Specialty--Are We the Right Folks to Plan your Next European River Cruise?

Our knowledge of Europe river cruises is exceptional. We are primarily partnered with AmaWaterways because they usually provide the best option for our customers.

We have been on 18 Europe river cruises, written over 60 blogs about all aspects of Europe river cruises, have 3 items on the first page of Google, we have 51 port guides (they are free) for you, and we have helped dozens enjoy river cruising in Europe.

And if that we not enough, we have 50 free guides to most Europe Cities you might want to visit before or after your Europe river cruise.

My Final Thoughts

Wow! What great travel partners—AmaWaterways and us—Visit Dream Destinations, LLC!

Why don’t you give us a call today—let’s start planning your river cruise in 2021 or 2022 now!

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise experts, 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. As you can see, our full service agency can get you to almost anywhere you desire to travel and provide you a great experience and vacation.

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.

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 48+ 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
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

Hank Schrader

April 18, 2019

River Cruise Comparisons

Luxury Europe River Cruises

Hank Schrader

April 18, 2019

River Cruise Comparisons

Luxury Europe River Cruising

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

This is an important look at luxury Europe river cruising. It is an update of a blog I first wrote in November of 2016. My central theme of this blog is the answer to the question “What is luxury in Europe River Cruising?

A couple of years ago, the Editor-in-Chief of Travel Age West Magazine, a publication for travel professionals, posed this question to his readers and asked for comments from the field. He basically challenged us to explain how we explain “luxury” river cruising to clients. He also asked if we have any amenities that we feel are mandatory to classify a river cruise line as “luxury”.

Before we begin, it is important to decide what luxury is. The American Heritage Dictionary defines luxury as: “1) Something that is not essential but is conductive to pleasure and comfort. 2) Something that is expensive or hard to obtain. 3) Sumptuous living or surroundings.”

But, as my lovely wife Anne points out, we all have different ideas of what luxury is.

I’m sure long time readers of this blog know Anne and I are up for this challenge, so here goes—let’s explore Europe Luxury River Cruising together!

Hank Schrader

March 7, 2019

River Cruise Comparisons

What is the Best Europe River Cruise Company?

Hank Schrader

March 7, 2019

River Cruise Comparisons

What is the Best Europe River Cruise Company?

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

Perhaps the most often asked question from our clients about Europe river cruising is “What is the best Europe River Cruise Line? It is almost always followed by: Why is it the best?

So, I googled best Europe river cruise company and got some really interesting results. The results were all over the place—incomplete lists, reader polls, cruise critic best list(s), and two good river cruise authorities who have some well-reasoned lists.

Why such varied results? I just don’t think you can factor a best list without categories. I also think you have to look for how objective these lists are—the source, their qualifications to review river cruise lines and their reasons to rank on line over another.

Another key factor, in my opinion, is that all river cruises are good vacations and how valid is a best company list?—Does it have any real meaning?

Here is a key fact to support that argument—all of the 8 major lines I cover have good accommodations, free Wi-Fi, wine & beer with lunch and dinner, limited entertainment and tours included in their base fare.

At the very least, all river cruise companies are on par with premium ocean cruise companies and with a few exceptions include more than the ocean cruise lines. And, when you read my top 10 list below, you will see each of the 8 major lines I cover has at least one win somewhere on my list.

So, let’s examine my 10 best list and let me defend my selections.

Hank Schrader

February 28, 2019

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Vibes--What It's Really Like on 8 River Cruise Lines!

Hank Schrader

February 28, 2019

River Cruise Comparisons

River Cruise Vibes—What It’s Really Like on 8 River Cruise Lines!

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

I am amazed at how much the Europe river cruise industry has changed when I originally wrote only a little less than 2 years ago. Since 2009, I have studied Europe River cruising to learn all I could about the river cruise industry. A few industry experts have tried to make comprehensive comparisons of the different lines. Each has a slightly different approach.

We have taken a unique approach by creating a PowerPoint presentation. Our 86 slide 2019 Comparison Guide is very good but even that lacks one factor—the vibe of the line and its ships.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines vibe as “the feeling that someone or something gives you.” Basically, for this blog, it is the atmosphere, the conditions, the emotional connection you can expect on each line if you were to cruise on that line.

So, here goes—my evaluation of the vibe or feeling you will get on these 8 river cruise lines.

AmaWaterways

Avalon Waterways

Emerald Waterways

Scenic River Cruises

Scenic River Cruises

Tauck River Cruises

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises

Viking River Cruises

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