River cruising popularity soars
Imagine being on a boat, floating through the Netherlands with windmills dotting the landscape just beyond your shipboard cabin window. Or enjoying an informal dinner outside on the top deck while drifting past a panoramic and continually changing view of the German countryside. A castle dating to the 1400s slowly comes into view, nestled into the hillside high above a medieval village surrounded by a stone wall. Soon the scene gives way to a parade of steep hillsides blanketed in vineyards.
The experience of floating on rivers through countries in Europe, Asia, Russia and even on the Nile River in Egypt or the Amazon River in South America, is being discovered by a rapidly increasing number of tourists.
Oliver Freytag is the cruise director on the Vili, a 200-passenger, 300-foot longboat of the Viking Cruise Line sailing on a two-week Grand European Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. “Viking began in 1997 with four ships navigating Russian waterways. Today we have 64 boats on rivers around the world,” he says. “In response to the increasing demand we launched 10 boats in 2013, 14 more in 2014 and 8 additional in 2015.”
Lisa Norton, a spokeswoman for Emerald Waterways, says her firm had no boats in the water five years ago, and now has six plying the rivers of Europe and Asia. ”I would estimate the passenger count for river cruise vacations has gone from 250,000 to 500,000 over the past five years,” she says.
There are many reasons for the exponential growth. Foremost is a segment of the American and Canadian baby boomer generation made up of 60-plus-year-olds who have already traveled extensively. Now they are interested in new destinations.
St. Louis travel agent Lois Lefton has been selling travel the past 30 years for TravelPlex, and reports one out of four trips sold in her office is a river cruise for the baby boomers. On Viking’s Grand European Cruise the demographic comprises 95 percent of Vili’s passengers, which are 60 percent American, 30 percent Canadian and a few other nationalities.
“Out of the 186 passengers on board, only 21 have been on a river cruise before,” Freytag says, emphasizing the fact this is a new experience for most.
There are additional reasons river cruising is so attractive. “It is similar to traveling on a back road through small towns,” says Norton. “The scenery changes minute by minute. The boat usually docks at the town dock or very near an attraction to be visited and passengers can walk into town.”
Vili’s itinerary includes stops in 13 different ports over 14 days. In addition to major cities like Amsterdam (Netherlands), Cologne (Germany), Vienna (Austria) and Budapest (Hungary,) several smaller towns were on the schedule, such as Melk (Austria) and Bamberg (Germany.)
In Wurzburg, Germany, the ship docked a few hundred yards from the historic town square. Just after breakfast a guided walking tour of the village commenced and included the Bishop’s Residence, one of Germany’s largest and most ornate palaces and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The boat was still in port at 4 p.m. when passengers joined local citizens for the evening tradition of having a glass of wine on a statue-bedecked walking bridge leading into town as the sun set.
In Vienna, Austria, after the customary morning walking tour, the schedule allowed passengers to explore museums and shops at their own pace. After dinner on board, passengers were taken by bus to a classical concert at a historic opera house.
“Guests also enjoy unpacking only once, and that sea sicknesses is a nonissue,” Freytag says. “Passengers can meet most fellow travelers on board if they want. Most river cruises carry no more than 200 guests, so you are a name, not a cabin number on board a 3,000-passenger ship sailing the ocean.”
Extended European river vacations became possible in 1992 with the opening of the Main-Danube Canal, which had been built over the prior 32 years. The 106-mile canal connects 16 nations and 2,200 miles of waterways, permitting passage from the North Sea to the Black Sea. Tributaries and smaller rivers flowing into the Danube and Rhine allow vessels to reach deep into the heart of the continent.
Newly launched river longboats feature unexpected amenities. Viking ships have cabins with heated bathroom floors. Outside staterooms include a sliding glass window door and balcony with two deck chairs. Some Emerald ships have outdoor heated swimming pools where the water is drained at night, the floor is raised, and the space is converted to a movie theater.
Most ships have large flat-screen televisions with up to 100 first-run movie choices, Wi-Fi, and 110-volt electric receptacles, eliminating what can be a confusing choice of converters and adaptors.
River cruises can be adversely affected by weather. Flooding, or low water, can result in a boat being unable to sail. Then it is used as a hotel with bus transfers to attractions. Or, passengers may be transferred to another boat to continue a trip.
As yet river excursions are not necessarily family-oriented, but Lefton says a few cruise lines are beginning to offer family-themed trips. On some Tauck European sailings there is a family program for children 8 and above that includes medieval games, dinners in a castle, chocolate tasting parties, bicycle rides, hikes and scavenger hunts, she reports. Uniworld introduced a collection of family-oriented cruises in Europe for 2016 with dedicated family hosts for junior cruisers 4-11 and 12-18. Onboard visits by local children in ports where the ships dock are part of the program.
Also, most ships are not outfitted for passengers with disabilities, and itineraries may not be suitable for those who cannot walk for an extended period. Passengers with disabilities should carefully review the cruise itinerary and cabin accommodations.
Comparing the pricing between cruises can be confusing. Promotions may or may not include tours in every port, free airfare or “two-for-one” pricing, a liquor package, or end-of-trip gratuities for ship staff. Fares also depend on the season with lower per cabin rates offered in early spring and late fall and higher fares May to September.
A good travel agent can help navigate the myriad of choices. “Expect to pay a minimum of $300 to $500 per person per day for a cruise, not including airfare,” Lefton says.
The popularity of river cruising reached the United States a few years ago when the American Queen Steamship Co. and American Cruise Lines separately introduced paddlewheel steamboats on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers after an absence of several years. In 2017 those boats will be joined by two European-style longboats currently under construction by Viking in New Orleans. Four more Viking boats will be added shortly thereafter.
MORE INFO
Visit the websites below to see the itineraries and promotions for these river cruise lines:
AMA Waterways • AMAWaterways.com
Avalon Waterways • AvalonWaterways.com
Tauck • tauck.com/river-cruises.aspx
Emerald • Emeraldwaterways.com
Uniworld • Uniworld.rivercruise.com
Viking • Vikingrivercruises.com
For more information on river cruising, visit:
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