River Cruising - Is it worth a try?
Now that I have experienced river cruising I can say that it is a unique voyage which I found thoroughly enjoyable and very relaxing. Anyone interested in seeing cultural sights, and experiencing the essence of Europe in a relatively unhurried way would find river cruising to be the perfect choice of travel to the myriad of countries that boast river cruises.
River cruising is an intimate experience and one must be independent enough to make the best of it. Typically there are just one hundred guests onboard - so you will see the same people during excursions, dining, lectures, and relaxing in public spaces. Each and everyone I happened to meet were extremely nice and well traveled. It was fun to hear about all the unique and different travel adventures as well as amazing life stories everyone had lived - conversations were entertaining and quite lively to say the least. On the particular ship we sailed on, the majority of clientele were Americans, but with just over 100 passengers we did have a diverse group representing eight countries.
A typical day consisted of breakfast, followed by a day tour, followed by free time with the option to eat lunch in the village cafes or dine onboard. The ship most often set sail by 5:30PM, so you could go on deck and catch the sunset before the evening excursion talk, which was followed by dinner, and entertainment. However, on our 14 day journey we stayed in several ports through the evening leaving us more time to explore the pubs and nightlife of the quaint villages. If you didn't want to partake in the daily shore excursion, which is included in your package, you could go on a bike ride (also included with the package price), go on hikes or stroll around the charming villages. Each and every town we came to had miles of walking and bike paths all situated along the river, leading every so often back to town. And because of the excellent transportation throughout Europe you can easily go on day trips and explore on your own (my sister Pat and I actually went on an amazing adventure which I will write about in the January newsletter).
Each room had fluffy down comforters, feather pillows, flat screen TV's with two movie channels plus news, music channel and local stations. Umbrellas were in each room; there was a safe, temperature control in each stateroom, ample closet and drawer space as well as a good size bathroom. We were given two large complimentary bottles of water that were refilled twice a day. The interior of each room was quite adequate, plus all staterooms have large windows - I would highly recommend getting a stateroom with floor to ceiling windows such as I had.
In regards to meals there was always tea, coffee, hot chocolate and lattes via the wonderful Espresso machine - free of charge 24/7 (important to me!). Breakfast and lunch had an option of buffet or made to order specialties. Prior to dinner there was high tea with tasty European pastries. Dinner was menu only; wine was always included with the evening meal. The food was quite good, and towards the end of the cruise we were all commenting on how much we would miss the service, meals, and the fact that we didn't have to clean up after ourselves but soon would be!
River cruising is not for everyone. I personally would not recommend river cruising for younger families. I have traveled many places with my children, so they are quite well traveled and I know for a fact they would not have appreciated all the aspects of what makes river cruising a fabulous travel option for older, more experienced travelers. However, if there was a large family gathering traveling together then river cruising would be fine as the ship would cater to the needs of your group.
All in all I believe this type of travel experience is best suited for the well seasoned traveler who would prefer traveling with a smaller contingency of guests, would choose an environment that is intimate and relaxing over high energy with throngs of people, who are interested in learning about the unique aspects of the charming towns throughout Europe rather than going to the larger more well known cities - which quite frankly you can do as well on your own!
To be honest, with the state of the economy ANYONE seriously thinking about a European vacation should add river cruising to their list of considerations - it is by far the BEST value out there and I guarantee with my experience I could create an Incredible Journey that you would remember for a lifetime!
For more information please email me at jc@incrediblejourney.net or call me toll free at 888-729-6899.
Joyce Craddock
