Comparing ocean cruise lines is easy.  For example, if you’re choosing between Carnival and Holland America, you’ll be really happy on one of those cruise lines and extremely unhappy on the other (depending on your age, and what you want to get out of the trip).

River cruise lines are far less differentiated – so the conversation is less definitive.

All the river cruise lines we work with provide an elevated level of food quality, service, and amenities.  In many regards, they are all very similar.  However, there is certainly differentiation amongst them, so here’s a crack at defining what is different about the river cruise lines our clients book most frequently.

Note that ALL these cruise lines include a shore excursion in each port of call, beer/wine with meals, and wifi on the ship.  Additional inclusions are noted under each.

AMA WATERWAYS

• A Wellness Coordinator offering fitness and yoga classes, more active shore excursions.
• Happy Hour where your drinks are included every night for an hour or so before dinner.
• A choice of several included Shore Excursions at each port.
• Gym and pool on board the ship.
• Trip Extensions – AMA offers some unusual extensions, and the cruise manager from the ship also travels with you pre/post cruise.
• Final payment due 90 days prior to departure.
• More on AMA: https://pamperedcruiser.com/ama-waterways-pay-for-your-river-cruise-90-days-before-departing/ 

IF YOU WANT TO TRAVEL IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS IN EUROPE, AMA HAS SOME APPEALING FARES WITH EXTRA PERKS.  CONTACT US FOR MORE DETAILS. 

UNIQUE ITINERARIES:

COLUMBIA: Barranquilla to Cartagena for 7-nights departing June 11

• Visit a Carnaval celebration, take a stilt-house Village tour, enjoy a Jazz street performance,  and San Felipe Castle and Walled city tour.  Enjoy the latin music, sample the famous coffee, and take in the tropical rainforest.
• Pre/post available to Medellin and/or Panama.
• Fares from $3755

SOUTHERN AFRICA:  

• Start in Capetown for 3-nights, then board your ship, and spend the next 4 days on Safari both by riverboat and 4 X 4.  Spend 2 nights in Victoria Falls, before finishing in Johannesburg for the trip home. 
• Fares from $12,045 with departures March through November. 

AVALON

• Rooms – Avalon orients the beds to face out the window.
• Shorter itineraries – Avalon is the only one of these cruise lines to offer itineraries of less than a week.  This could work well if you want to combine a river cruise with another vacation in Europe. 
• Land tours – Avalon is part of the Globus family of brands, so it’s easy to connect a river cruise to a Globus or Monograms trip. 

UNIQUE ITINERARIES:

Oltenita to Vilshofen for 16-days

• Board in Oltenita (Romania), and make daily port stops while travelling through Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, then finishing in Bavaria.
• Depart May 29 or October 26 from $8398

Budapest to Vienna (6 days)

• Visit Budapest (overnight), Bratislava, Melk, Vienna (overnight)
• Depart November or December 2025 from $2149

TAUCK RIVER CRUISES

• Land extensions – Tauck is originally a luxury land-tour operator and have only gotten into the River Cruise business with their own ships in the past few years.  If you’re looking for high-end land tours, Tauck certainly offers this.
• Inclusions – Tauck has all the standard river cruise inclusions and also include beverages at ALL times, as well as gratuities for both onboard staff and local guides.
• Exclusive experiences – Tauck puts their extensive experience on land to good use when planning exclusive shore events for river boat guests.
• Family Departures.  During school breaks, there are designated voyages if you want to take children or grandchildren on a river cruise in Europe with shore excursions and activities designed for younger people. 

UNIQUE ITINERARIES:

Montreux to Brussels for 11-days

• Visit Geneva, Montreux, Lavaux Vineyards, Glacier 3000, Basel, Strasbourg, Middle Rhine Valley, Dusseldorf, Gorinchem, Antwerp, Brussels
• Departures April through October from $7990

Family Bridges Travel for 8-days during school holidays

• Amsterdam to Basel from $5690
• Budapest to Vienna from $5190
• Paris to Normandy from $5490
• Paris to Marseille from $5590

UNIWORLD BOUTIQUE RIVER COLLECTION

• Boutique ships – Uniworld positions itself as a floating boutique hotel.  Each ship is unique and decorated to reflect the region in which it sails.  The Tollman family’s personal art collection is on board the ships as well, so each river boat is a bit like a floating museum.
• Trains – on some voyages, Uniworld allows guests to do pre/post trips by luxury train.  There are some very interesting itinerary options.  
• Inclusions – Much like Tauck, everything is included in the fare (open bar, all gratuities)
• “Other” Rivers – Uniworld operates on all the standard European rivers, and also travels to a few spots others don’t go: The Venetian Lagoon in Northern Italy; the Ganges River in India; and the Amazon headwaters in Peru (with extensions to Machu Picchu).  
• There is gym and a spa on board Uniworld ships 
• More info on Uniworld: https://pamperedcruiser.com/who-is-uniworld-and-why-sail-with-them/ 

UNIQUE ITINERARIES:

VENICE & Northern Italy for 7-nights

• Visit Venice (several spots), Mazzorbo, Burano, Chioggia.
• Departs every Sunday from April – October from $3509.  This is far more cost-effective than staying in a hotel in Venice for a week.

There are a number of add-ons you can make to this cruise: 

• ADD: 2-nights in Milan to see Davinci’s Last Supper (after hours access), and a City Tour of Milan.  Stop in Verona and Valpolicella Wine Cellar en route to Venice.
• ADD:  Lugano (Switzerland)  & Lake Como
• ADD: Train to Istanbul.  If you want to add to your country-count, then transfer from the ship to board the train in Venice and stop in Trieste, Ljubljana (Capital of Slovenia), Belgrade (Capital of Serbia), Montenegro (beaches every bit as spectacular as Greece, but undiscovered), Bulgaria, and 2 nights in Istanbul.
• ADD: Rome 3-nights.  Includes a city tour, and a tour of the Vatican.
• ADD:  Train from Budapest.  Board in Budapest, then visit Vienna, Innsbruck, Zurich, Lake Como, Verona, Trieste, Lake Bled, Ljubljana, then disembark train in Venice to board  the ship. 

Here’s a link to our video blog when we did this cruise: https://youtu.be/QRIHi6SED6g?si=IJvnYEJlqJt_iV4n 

INDIA:  Ganges River Cruise for 13-days between New Delhi and Kolkata

• Few countries simultaneously fascinate and frighten travellers as much as India, so why not visit it in comfort while still being exposed to the things that make this country so unique.
• Visit New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra (Taj Mahal), Kolkata, Cruise the Ganges, Kalna, Matairi, Murshidabad, Baranagar, Khusbagh,, Mayapur, Chandannagar.
• Includes 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and internal flights. 
• Depart January 13 for $6559.  Depart October or November from $7379

VIKING RIVER CRUISES

• Scale – Viking is larger than everyone else combined, and in many cases this gives them a price/cost advantage. 
• Air Program – Viking’s extensive air program makes the value that much more compelling.  The air add-ons give people cost certainty for air travel – a big advantage.
• Departure Dates – Viking has about 80 ships in Europe, so on many itineraries, there are more than 20 departures per month.  If your dates are tight, Viking probably has a sailing within a day or two of your preferred departure.

UNIQUE ITINERARIES:

BERLIN TO PRAGUE for 10-days on the Elbe River

• Visit Berlin (overnight), Potsdam, Wittenberg (overnight), Meissen, Dresden, Bad Schandau, Decin, Prague (2-nights).
• Departures March through November from $3499

MISSISSIPPI RIVER from New Orleans to Memphis for 8-days

• Visit New Orleans, Darrow, St. Francisville, Baton Rouge, Natchez, Vicksburg, Greenville, Memphis
• Departures January through June from $3799.  October to December from $3999

The above river cruise lines account for the majority of the North American market, but there are several other more minor players out there as well.  The biggest mistake people make when assessing a river cruise line is comparing to their ocean cruise experiences – the two have very little in common.  

Today’s Other Travel Opportunities

If you’re not in the market for a river cruise, here’s a few Ocean Voyages from Silversea:

ALASKA: Anchorage to Vancouver departing May 15, 2025 for 7-days

• Visit Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Hubbard Glacier,  and the Inside Passage. 
• Fares from $4100

AUSTRALIA & NZ: Auckland to Sydney departing January 5, 2025 for 14-days

• Visit Napier (overnight), Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hobart (overnight), Eden, Sydney (overnight)
• Fares from $4950

PACIFIC ASIA: Singapore to Tokyo departing March 6, 2025 for 16 days

• Visit Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City (2 nights), Hong Kong, Jeju (South Korea), Seoul (overnight), Kagoshima, Tokyo.
• Fares from $7150

In Case You Missed It:

Vietnam & the Mekong River.  This destination in East Asia continues to attract a wide variety of travellers that have already been to Europe a few times:

https://pamperedcruiser.com/vietnam-cambodia-destination-focus/

Our Backstory.  Around this time last year, we ended up on board a ship with some of our clients, and based on the questions they were asking, it inspired me to write a bit about our background: https://pamperedcruiser.com/our-clients-and-our-backstory/

Recently booked a Viking Cruise?

Viking makes it really easy to book direct, either online, by phone, or on board.  Our clients worry that if they book on-line (or on board), that they’re cutting us out, but if you let us know after you’ve booked, then we can still help you with your reservation.

We’ll check over your reservation to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal, and we will also add some onboard credits that are not available on direct bookings.

We can add at least $100 per person onboard credit to any direct Viking reservation made in the last 60 days.

There is never a situation where you’ll get a better deal by booking directly with Viking (or any other cruise line).

If you recently booked a Viking Cruise, please let us know as soon as possible.

Latest YOUTUBE Post:  TAHITI

We were in Tahiti with WINDSTAR earlier this year.  Here’s a link to our Video Blog: https://youtu.be/ctytpPPx1tM

Have something to say about this?

Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/pfbid0FBoC2PVYRjFXGFmceQdChv4cuUQo1gnC4itrXkQP8tTqsGXMbgGFAsvVptEGd32Fl?rdid=eIqjUHrvIQRdhnFg

If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley