I'll be reading this thread with interest. I got the same deep sigh of longing from my DH last week.

We did 2 river cruises with tauck. They are more expensive than viking, but not if you figure that tauck includes EVERYTHING in their price, even tips for the directors whereas viking hits you up for side trips, tips, etc. Also, all the boats are exactly the same size on the exterior, so it's how they carve them up inside that's different. Tauck's have fewer passengers, fewer cabins, so the cabins are larger than on viking.

We went to paris, then took a high speed train to Lyon and then cruised down and up the rhone to Arles. It was really nice.

But we much preferred the danube cruise which started in Prague then went to germany and down the danube to austria, slovakia and hungary. It was really fabulous.

It is on our bucket list to do some day after we retire and can spend 2-3 weeks in Europe. We get the Viking mailings on a regular basis. Given what is included I think this is a reasonably priced way to get a short stay in several places. The problem is that we have been to many of the major cities (such a problem....). Friends just took a barge tour starting in Brugge and loved it. You bike about 18 miles a day. That appeals to us now-we enjoy bike riding long distances. When we aren't as active we think a river cruise would suit our needs.

We have done ocean cruises on the Meditteranean and have really enjoy them.

Let us know what you decide. Planning is so much fun!

I think it was a previous post of Annie's about that river cruise of hers that immediately made me put it on my bucket list. I'm anxious to hear more info here. BTW, Annie, after your thread, I looked into Tauck and have been drooling over their catalogs ever since. The latest arrived just the other day.

We cruised the Seine (Normandy to Paris) eight years ago with Grand Circle. It was a fantastic trip and I would travel with them again in a heartbeat.

On our bucket list also. Try going to the website Cruise Critic, and visiting their Boards (the link is at the very top of the home page, over towards the right a bit). Scroll down and they have a whole section on River Cruising - - enough to keep you occupied for hours at a time. Trust me. ;)

My DH has been takng about a river cruise too. My first reacton was no way, but I'm at least considering the idea. I like the fact that motion sickness would be less of an issue (I hope), but I don't like the idea of just having a stop here or a stop there and getting to see only what is close and fits a short time window. Maybe I don't know how the schedules work, but I like wandering places, including ordinary places like the markets the locals shop. Those are generally more interesting to me than souvenier shops. Maybe I should do some reading.

lascatx, definitely read up on the river cruises. I struggle with motion sickness and had no problem whatsoever on our ship. Also, our itinerary didn't take us to places where there were "souvenir shops". The guided tours were so interesting and much more fun than just roaming around and window shopping. The guided tours were voluntary, so you could go out on your own if desired. Our trip scheduled in time to go to the markets as well.

My father has traveled extensively with Tauck. He enjoyed the cruise Annie went on, and another favorite was their Baltic Cruise (St Petersburg/Baltic Sea). fwiw, he has also traveled with a smaller group/aka more expensive company, but always went back to Tauck.

My husband and I just returned from a 10 day Viking River Cruise, Bavaria to Budapest, along the beautiful Danube and, if possible, would do it all over again tomorrow! We had absolutely the most fabulous time. Air fare was only $100 round trip for both of us, from Savannah to Nuremberg - Budapest to Savannah. While we did have to pay additional for some of the more luxurious optional tours, each day featured an inclusive tour that was just as entertaining as the optional ones also offered. I loved that everything was included, three meals per day, with excellent dining on board and gourmet dinners, entertainment in the lounge each night, and lovely cities to explore, (Nuremberg, Passau, Salzburg, Vienna, Regensburg, Budapest).

The tour was the middle of August, and the weather was glorious. High 70’s, sunny, and no humidity to speak of. It rained one day, and temps went down low enough at night to wear a light sweater or jacket if you were outside.

We were able to walk from the ship into town on all but one of the docking locations. We loved being only two of 190 passengers, because of the smaller numbers you quickly got to know many of the other passengers, and we made good friends with several people. The ship was immaculate, and the buses we used for some of the longer tours were immaculate as well. Guides were very personable and knowledgeable for each location we toured. There was plenty of time at each location to do a tour, and then have a full morning or afternoon free to do whatever we wanted to do - go back into the markets in town, shop, or stay on board and read on deck. Many people even took trains from some locations to other towns or cities that they wanted to see along the way.

I should note that my husband had to be talked into this tour. Initially he wasn’t interested at all, but saw some photos of Budapest that intrigued him, so finally agreed to go. Now he’s already planning another Viking trip for next summer!

My husband also would enjoy one of these (and I would too). My question is, would these be at all suitable for a family? We have a 5 year old and I question whether we would fit in or whether we would annoy the other cruisers. I mean he's a good boy, but he is 5! We seem to have inherited receiving the Viking catalog from my mother and I enjoy perusing it, but the clientele that is pictured in the catalogs look to be on the other side of child-rearing. Love the idea of having my hotel come with me.

Hmmmm, I wouldn't think that a 5 year old would enjoy this type of trip. I was probably one of the youngest on my trip, and it was my 50th birthday! Most of the folks on our ship were in the 50+ range, many retired teachers, some folks still working, but mostly singles and couples.

On our cruise, aside from two couples in their early 30’s, every one else was probably late 40’s or older. DH and I are both 65. There were no children whatsoever, and the places we toured weren’t places a child would have any interest in.

Yes, at this impressionable age he's still pretty content to tag along with whatever Mom and Dad are doing, but it definitely sounds like it's not geared toward us. Something to look forward to later, I guess!

We went on a cruise with Uniworld last year. Probably between Tauk and Viking pricewise, but everything was included except two of the outside excursions that included a long bus ride. My DH loved that his hotel went along with him. No motion sickness worries, you can hardly feel the boat move. We went from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam. If you want to do something on your own, extend the trip and do your own thing either before or after the cruise. We spent an extra day in Basel before, and 2 days in Amsterdam and then went to Britain for another week.

Read up on all the details and check on exactly what is and is not included (drinks, tips, transfers, tours, etc). They sometimes have sales for early booking, or for last minute bookings, depending on what fits your schedule. We used a travel agent at AAA and she was able to help us find a good airline and with some other details.

We booked one of the cheaper cabins that does not have the big windows, but smaller windows just above the water line. We found it perfectly fine, as the room had good ventilation and we didn't spend a lot of time there other than relaxing at night.

We found we liked the more intimate atmosphere of the river cruise, and didn't feel like we were on a floating city like some of the ocean cruises. We're thinking about doing another one in a year or two.

hvhay...

Disney sails the coastline of Europe. It's not a river cruise but it would be a great kid friendly compromise. My dh dragged me on a Disney cruise with our kids and we all had a great time.

Tauck runs tours and cruises that are called "Bridges" which are geared toward families and children rather than couples.

I am interested in this topic. DH and I will celebrate 45 years next year so are looking at maybe one of these trips. I was actually born in Budapest and have only been back once, Would love for DH to see it. Do you get to see much of the cities?

Yes, esp the cities at the beginning and end of the tour where you can choose to stay over extra night(s). We spent an extra day in Prague, and our tour ended in Budapest, so some folks did stay longer there.

We did a Danube cruise with Avalon a couple of years ago. It was a brand new boat/ship. We went from Nuremberg to Budapest. They are much smaller, about 150-ish passengers. The neat thing is that they "park" like a car parallel parking. We just parked on the Danube and walked off. And surprisingly, no security.

The only scary thing, which we did not know--is that if the Danube is too high or too low, the boat cannot get through and they will bus you to the next stop. It did not happen to us but it does happen if there is a lot of rain or a drought. Since most people book 6+ months in advance, there is no way to plan for this.

We did "double park" in Budapest and had to walk through a Viking ship to walk to shore. Since our ship was new, the Viking ship (for the 30 seconds I walked through it) seemed dated.

Almost everything is included. I was definitely one of the younger people on it. Kids would be bored to death. I was at times. We went mid-May and it often was too cold to be outside for very long.

Two years ago, I went on a Grand Circle Danube cruise with my cousin. We had a great time. Again, small ship, around 100+- iirc. The food was fabulous as were the ports. We went from Budapest to Germany. We tacked on a 5 day extension in Germany, mainly Berlin.

We arrived a few days early in Budapest and stayed at the K and K hotel near the opera. The absolute highlight of the trip for me was finding the actual house/apartment of my Budapest born mother. I had a copy of the ship's manifest when she left in 1921. On the manifest, was her street address in her home country. We hired a guide in Budapest for the day, $240 (Andrew?), and he found her apartment building and described the living conditions of the time. (where the horses were, the shops, etc.,) It is now a public housing building in a great neighborhood. I shared photos and crappy video with my cousins all over the US.

Some friends had been on this cruise a year earlier and described the average age of the passengers as "deceased". We didn't find this on our trip. There were only a couple of canes but those peeps went out exploring every day. Yes, most were seniors but mostly fit, upper middle and middle, just what you'd expect on a multi thousand dollar vacation. Our cabin, a cheapie, was very comfortable with a large shower and beds that were sofas during the day. And comfy for sleeping, too. Perhaps half of the time there were evening activities but after a full, say from 9 am, day of exploring old European cities with miles of walking, I was pooped. I remember a lovely concert in a concert hall somewhere, native dancers on the ship, very nice stuff. I had only been on one cruise before, with 3 teenage girls, yuk. Dh abhors the idea of cruises.

So just how deep do I have to sigh for my spouse to make it happen? Suddenly our Princess Caribbean cruises have lost their sparkle :/

European river cruise sounds totally charming but I don't think I can sigh that deep (;

monica, if you can't sigh deeper, sigh more often! It's really worth every penny.

I'm sure it's worth it. We'd both love to be able to go but if I sighed that quickly/often I'd hyperventilate!

I heartily echo all the positive comments! I went with five other women on an AMA Danube cruise a few years ago, and two friends have recently gone on similar Viking cruises. Everything was wonderful, food, wine, tour guides. I would recommend the extra days in Prague and Budapest. And, as another poster mentioned, I have read of having to be bused which would not be nice. There is a website--CruiseCritcs--which has a section on river cruises. Read up on it there. Also, be sure that your cruise has the wireless headphones so that you can easily hear your guide. Have fun! I would go again.

Thanks all! I'm off to look at cruise critic!

Second the suggestion to visit www.cruisecritic.com, a great site. Today we received the latest Tauck River Cruise brochure and a travel calendar to plan our travel for 2017. I have one trip planned so far!

"So just how deep do I have to sigh for my spouse to make it happen?"

Don't wait for your spouse to make it happen; YOU can!!

bonnie ann, which one are you taking?

I'm using the Tauck calendar to plan our land travel for 2017, which will be a vacation in Europe. No river cruises (sigh) are planned until we are both retired. I should probably ask both Tauck and Viking to stop the regular mailings.

Sighing for my spouse to make it happen is something I can't relate to. For better or for worse, I make it happen. So far (40 years) it has worked for us. YMMV!

Had a really good laugh a couple of nights ago my husband literally made "the sigh" during a river cruise commercial. Then he went on to let me know we should consider a European river cruise. I remembered this thread and truly would never would have guessed that this would be something he would chose. Probably a few years away but is now on our list of possible future trips.

Too funny jill!

I'm with bonnie ann. If I waited for DH to ever decide on a vacation, we'd never leave home. I decide and then drag him along. Fortunately, he's pretty cooperative. He hates going, hates the idea of going, but whenever we arrive home after the trip, he always says that was good, that he enjoyed himself, he learned a lot and that he was glad he went.

I didn't think of going on one till my SIL said she and her husband were going. I said that it sounded like fun and she invited us to come along. Surprisingly, DH said OK so off we went and had a fabulous time.

Some of our DH's must be brothers. Unless HE thinks it's a good idea or I drag him along, he's not for it. But like Annie's DH, he always has a good time and talks it up after we get back. Just a couple of weeks ago a buddy of his was talking about what a fabulous time they had on a river cruise, and he sort of mentioned going on one in passing one day. Imagine my shock! Even though he's been lukewarm to my ideas on it, I now have hope!! And I'm on it!

Last weekend I booked an ocean cruise for February school vacation, from San Juan to the Southern Caribbean. I gave DH 2 choices-itinerary a or itinerary b! He loves to cruise and we both need to get out of New England in the winter. We will go to Europe in spring or summer, TBD. What is funny among our friends is that many of them simply will not plan a vacation on their own, but will gladly go along if someone else plans it! Have fun annac54!