Rhine river cruise - Europe

[Freaky]

Wife and I are thinking about doing a Viking Rhine River Cruise this upcoming March...........8 days from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland (more precisely this one https://www.riuscruises.com/river-cruise/rhine-discovery-from-amsterdam-to-basel-1084.html).We've never been "cruise people", that is we've never taken a cruise before, either ocean or river.

All comments are appreciated about doing this.......the good things and the things to watch out for.....the weather on the Rhine river in December........etc.

[Jan115]

Good questions! Unfortunately, your link doesn't work, but I think you mean Viking's "Rhine Getaway": http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/rhine-getaway/2016-amsterdam-basel/index.html

There are a few questions to ask yourself to determine whether or not a river cruise would appeal to you. Would you feel comfortable on a ship of about 180 people, averaging in age of 50 and over? Does the idea of mingling and getting to know your shipmates in a small intimate environment appeal to you? Will be you comfortable with group tours in each city or town on the itinerary? River cruising is meandering down a river with little in the way of activity except for the company of your shipmates and the views of impressive European beauty and culture along the way - would this appeal to you? Viking cruises include an excursion at every port, all meals, snacks, wine and beer and lunch and dinner, enrichment talks, entertainment (a string quartet or pianist, for example, local cuisine, and more. How does that sound?

If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, you will love a Viking river cruise.

Weather in March along the Rhine, generally speaking, will still be cool, especially the beginning of the month, and warms up the further you get into spring. It's hard to predict the weather and amount of rain - wear layers and be prepared for anything.

It's hard to say whether or not you are "cruise people" if you've never cruised. Ocean cruising differs in many ways from river cruises. Besides the obvious of being on the open ocean waves on a big ship, ocean cruises draw a wide variety of ages and personality types from a variety of economic backgrounds - especially the main stream lines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian). Unlike River cruises of less than 200 people, ocean ships hold thousands.

One important thing to note, though, is that river cruises typically attract seasoned cruisers and folks who have done a few ocean cruises who might be looking for something different.

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will offer their views, as well. Good luck, whatever you decide!

[Freaky]

Hi Sunluva

thank you for the reply. I dont know why the link does not work, I meant this one https://www.riuscruises.com/river-cruise/rhine-discovery-from-amsterdam-to-basel-1084.html. Can you open it now?

Well, after seeing your questions ... hmm. Are there perhaps some shorter cruises you could recommen for a newbie like me? So I can, sort of "test the water" ... When I think about it, it would be very uncomfortable if I get stuck with some annoying folks for 8 days on a river in an unknown country :).

[Jan115]

Thanks - think worked that time! I didn't mean to dissuade you from a river cruise. I am sure there are people who hate the ocean who would be more than happy with a river as their first cruise. However, I find that most first-time cruisers choose a 4 or 5 day Caribbean cruise as a way to test the waters. The Caribbean seas are generally calm and the itineraries not as port intensive as a Europe cruise. A combination of 2 sea days and 2 port days is a good way to get a feeling of cruising without committing to an entire week.

[DebbieandJerry]

Our first cruise was a 4 day out of Los Angeles. The food offered was the best of the best - I'm sure to get you hooked (which worked in our case). We chose this because of the cost and proximity to our home.

The next shortest cruise that we took was a 5 day out of Seattle. It was to Victoria and Vancouver. I keep looking for that cruise to come back because I would repeat it over and over. We have never been on anything but an ocean cruise. I almost align this to being at camp. Lots of activities to do if you want. Or you can just lounge around and relax. My husband and I have very different activity tastes and it is kind of fun to do something out of the box and then report back to him what I did.

The intimacy of a river cruise is appealing to us; however, we haven't ventured in that direction - mainly because of cost. The WindJammer cruise (where you get to do some of the sailing, etc) is truly up my alley - but not my husband's. So I guess in my next life ...

Give us ideas of what itineraries you and thinking about and I'm sure any of us can weigh in.