European river cruises — how do they measure up?

by Paula Prindle, Orient, OH

Lobby/reception area of Grand Circle Travel’s River Harmony.

Between October ’03 and March ’06, my husband and I took five European river cruises. Although we are not experts, we are often asked our opinion of them. To be honest, we have to admit that WE LOVE THEM!

Choosing to cruise

Before discovering river cruising, we would only travel independently. We loved the freedom of our own itinerary, our own schedule and our own rental car — not to mention our own company.

We had taken our share of group tours. In fact, I had chaperoned student tours to Europe for 25 years and was thoroughly “toured” out. Sure, we ran into problems traveling on our own — lodgings we had carefully chosen were not always what we expected, driving time was often longer than we had anticipated, airline connections and lost luggage were our problems alone, and hunting for a nice, inexpensive place to eat sometimes seemed a chore rather than a pleasure — but, all in all, we continued to opt for independent travel, enjoying the planning as much as the traveling.

River cruising kind of sneaked up on us. I became interested in May ’03, when I read in Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel that Viking River Cruises was running a big sale. I was finishing up my last year of teaching and, unfortunately, couldn’t travel on the sale dates, but I did subscribe to Viking’s special-offers newsletter. In addition, I swore in the teachers’ lunchroom that if a sale date came up after my Aug. 1 retirement, I was gone!

I received a second sale offer from Viking, but the dates still didn’t work. The third time was indeed the charm.

On Aug. 7, the same special offer, a 7-day cruise through southern France for $599, appeared in my in-box. I booked it the next day.

Lobby area of Viking River Cruises’ Neptune.

The pluses of river cruising

My husband was a little overwhelmed and not sure he wanted to go on a cruise. After all, we’d be traveling with 138 other people, sticking to schedules, getting herded into buses and dressing for dinner! Who needs it?

However, he started to smile before we stepped onto the boat and he never stopped.

What do we like about river cruising? Unpacking only once tops the list. It is comforting to put things in drawers and closets (tiny though they may be) knowing that you’ll be returning to the same place every night — kind of like carrying your home with you.

The food is another plus. The meals are long and leisurely (no need to bolt your food before the bus leaves) and the cuisine is top-notch. Generally, there are two menu choices every day and several alternates in case the main selections don’t tempt you. You can order as much or as little as you want.

I love the luxury of just walking into a beautiful dining room instead of checking the menu posted on the window of every restaurant in town after a busy day of sightseeing. And you don’t have to dress for dinner! You can get by without a jacket or tie, even at the captain’s dinner. Tuxedo? Fuhgeddaboutit.

Paula Prindle enjoying Glühwein in Munich

“No sore-butt-itis” comes next on my list. Since most of the traveling is done on the water, bus rides are short. Many days we didn’t need buses at all, as we docked within walking distance of the towns/sites we were to see. Oftentimes we were able to stroll into town after dinner, walking off the two desserts we couldn’t choose between.

The next “pro” came as a surprise. We actually enjoyed the camaraderie of the other passengers. (Could the honeymoon be over?) We’ve found that most European river cruise passengers are well traveled, with interesting tales to tell. We have made great friends on our cruises and have traveled with several of them since. We even spent a week sharing a house with past cruisemates on a mini cruise reunion.

Last but not least, it is nice to be pampered. We are strictly budget travelers who enjoy getting the best value for our money. This does not often include good service, but we’ve discovered that good service is a hallmark of river cruising. Yes, a tip is asked for at the end of the trip, but that tip is deserved; in our experience, the crew members worked very hard at pampering even those of us on the lowest deck.

Comparing companies

Our five river cruises, with two different companies, have taken us to five countries. Which company was better? Which country was best? Well, those are good questions; I wish I had good answers.

The two companies we have cruised with are Viking River Cruises (Woodland Hills, CA; phone 877/668-4546, www.vikingrivercruises.com), with whom we’ve traveled three times, and Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/959-0405, www. gct.com), whom we’ve used twice. It would be very difficult for us to say that one is better than the other, but there are differences.

Grand Circle bundles the airfare in with the cruise. This often makes for a better overall deal money-wise, but it cuts down on the freedom to extend your trip — unless you choose to add Grand Circle’s trip extensions. You can opt not to take the airfare offered by Grand Circle, but that is not cost effective.

Lower deck cabins on the Viking Spirit

One fellow traveler said that it is possible to “break away” on your own before or after the cruise for a nominal price, but we have not seen that listed in Grand Circle’s catalog.

Viking’s base price does not include airfare. You can purchase the cruise with add-on airfare, but we have found that we are able to book the airfare ourselves for less. They also offer trip extensions.

Always traveling on the lowest (cheapest) deck, we have found that we have had more room and more storage space in our Grand Circle cabins. Their brochure says cabins measure 150 square feet or larger. The cabins on the lowest deck of our three Viking ships measured 120 square feet. (However, the upper decks on some Viking ships seem to offer more “hotel-style” beds instead of fold-down bunks.)

The multilevel dining rooms of the Grand Circle ships, with their cushy armchairs, are a little classier than the dining rooms of the Viking ships.

Lower deck cabins on the River Harmony

Overall, the Grand Circle ships we sailed on were more luxurious. There also was a large fitness room on each ship with several machines, a sauna and a hot tub. And I must confess that we enjoyed the complimentary wine with dinner on the Grand Circle cruises.

Other points to consider

While Viking gives a very good tour, Grand Circle tries to show you a bit more of the local culture. It is rare to see the inside of a home when visiting a foreign country, whether you are on your own or in a tour group, but Grand Circle sets up home-hosted events. We enjoyed two: one, a snack with coffee in a local home built in 1630, the other, a full-fledged dinner for eight, complete with family pets.

Discussions ranged from the Winter of Starvation (1944-45), when the Dutch were reduced to eating tulip bulbs, to the weight problems of today’s young Europeans due to increasing numbers of fast-food franchises.

Both cruise lines offer incentives. Grand Circle offers many small perks after three cruises, such as private parties on board, clothing, totes, etc. Many Grand Circle passengers are repeat passengers.

They also offer a discount of 5% of the cost of your last trip if you take another trip within 12 months. That is reduced to 3% if you travel within 24 months. You can also get a discount of up to 10% for early payment.

Referring other travelers is another way to get travel credit: $100 for each person you refer who takes a trip. Each first-time passenger you refer also gets a $50 discount.

Dining room of the Viking Neptune.

Viking’s past-passenger discount is a straight $100 per person. For the last several years, paying for a trip by Oct. 31 of the preceding year netted another $350 off, and paying by Dec. 31 was worth $250. I see that this year they have moved the date up to July 31 for a whopping $450 off. Add the past-passenger discount, and you have just taken $1,100 per couple off the total trip price.

Be aware, though, that the cost of the cruises has increased along with their popularity. You won’t find yourself cruising through Provence for $599 anymore.

I guess it all boils down to cost, for us. We’ve traveled more often with Viking in the past because they had better sales, but Grand Circle has had better prices more recently.

Best country to cruise?

We have now cruised through southern France in the fall, Holland and Belgium in the spring, Germany and Austria for the Christmas markets and on the Rhine River in early March. Each country and each time of year is unique and we have enjoyed them all.

That said, our favorite trip was our first river cruise, a Viking cruise through southern France (see June ’04, pg. 6). This is somewhat surprising, since it was my 24th trip to France and I had been to many of the places we toured. Maybe it was because it was our first cruise, maybe it was because we docked in the center of every town we visited, maybe it was the French cuisine — whatever it was, it encouraged us to cruise again, and we have never been disappointed.

We have been asked about the age factor since many of the pictures in the cruise brochures show older folks. We’ve found that not all cruisers are elderly.

My husband and I are in our mid-fifties, and we are usually among the younger members of the group but never the youngest. Grand Circle used to be known for senior-citizen trips, but they have added adventure travel.

So why do we like river cruises? Because at the end of our vacation, we actually feel as if we have taken a vacation.