Cruising

A friend went on a river cruise and I thought that sounded fun. So I did some looking up. They’re not cheap at over £400 day, the Danube is more expensive than the Rhine; some prices exclude the journey there and back. Food and drink is often included, but they have several ways of getting more money from you, a single’s supplement and room size being the obvious ones. One week is cheaper than two. 😆 This is going to have to wait.

Saga suggested their river cruises, one in particular took my notice, partly becasue of the price. It is called A taste of the Rhine, from Mainz to Cologne and back seems quite good, but,

1. How much day time cruising is there? There are two day time cruising sessions, on Day 2, from 10:00 to 12:00, and on day 3 from 9:00 – 13:00. On Day 5, from Cologne to Mainz, one arrives at Mainz at 14:00. Do we pass the Loreli rock during the day time?
2. What does the drinks package buy? Beer, Wine, local spirits and some cocktails
3. The boat is the Spirit of the Moselle, their balcony rooms look nice, and here is a deck plan.
4. Is there a dress code? Will I find the entertainment oppressive?
5. They do not offer an option to travel independently.
6. There will be a single person supplement, like all cruise boats below the waterline is cheaper. Need to check prices!

The Guardian holidays suggest an alternative from Riviera, which is three days only, allows train travel, and is advertised as much cheaper, partly because it’s only three days. Actually, pretty poor when one pays the single traveller supplement.

Originally written in 2022, more generic items, I searched for a bunch of providers with various options.

1. Rhine River Cruises from Viking; they changed their site for 2023
2. The Rhine from Avalon in  2023, £2,117 for 8 nights plus travel.
3. River cruise price comparisons from River Cruise Advisor, still waiting for 2023 prices
4. I watched a couple of videos and learnt the following things, they can be very active, particularly if the excursions are included, Viking is 5*. Avalaon has good cabins, or Croisie Europe, a French company although their travel is unbundled. Top tip, the lower cabin deck is on the waterline and only has porthole windows, no sitting on a balcony sipping cold whites while the river goes past.
5. Or Riviera Travel, who offer Rhine & Moselle, Rhine, Strasbourg & Hiedleberg, and Cologne to Basel, with a coach trip to Lucerne and back via the Bernese Oberland, all 8 days, all 2023, includes travel, by train, and discounted upgrades and in some dates with no singles supplement. They advertise their boats on their site.

Or I could consider canal rental,

1. In France, with Le Boat, they have a number of bases, including the Camargue and Alsace
2. And https://www.locaboat.com/en/boating-holidays/france/, similar locations.

A Eurostar to Amsterdam in Nov 2022, cost about £275, £215 by plane from LCY, 7 days in a month, on inter-rail, , £265.