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I have found that a river cruise is not for everyone, but it is a great option for some. So let me explain who I believe it is and isn’t for. It could save you a lot of money, or lead you to one of your best vacations ever
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0:00
i found a river cruise is not for
0:02
everyone but it is an option for some so
0:04
let me explain who i believe it is and
0:07
isn't for this could save you a lot of
0:09
money or perhaps lead you to one of your
0:12
best vacations ever if you're new here
0:15
welcome aboard i'm gary bembridge and
0:16
it's my goal to make it fun and easy to
0:18
discover plan and enjoy unforgettable
0:21
cruise vacations river cruise is a great
0:23
way of seeing a region in an immersive
0:26
and intensive way whether that's europe
0:28
vietnam cambodia the nile or parts of
0:31
the united states but this comes with
0:33
some catches river cruises do not travel
0:37
large distances across the day slowly
0:39
they work their way along the river when
0:41
i'm on ocean cruise i usually travel
0:44
many hundreds of miles every day and
0:45
visit multiple countries river cruises
0:48
i've been on often travel just 20 to 50
0:51
miles a day stopping frequently at
0:53
places along the way and often i've
0:55
called in at multiple places in one day
0:59
unlike on an ocean cruise river ships
1:01
are always close to land the banks are
1:03
just a few meters away so i get to
1:05
observe for every minute of the cruise
1:07
the landscapes the towns the sites the
1:10
lifestyle along the route thus giving me
1:12
a much more intensive in-depth look at a
1:14
country or region for example
1:17
my rhine river cruises have explored
1:19
various areas of germany with iconic
1:21
castles historic towns and cities like
1:24
cologne passau urushima heidelberg my
1:27
classic danube river cruises have
1:29
immersed me into austrian history
1:31
visiting places like linz krems and then
1:33
three capital cities vienna bratislava
1:36
and slovakia and budapest hungary
1:39
when i wanted to explore french
1:40
countryside and chateaus my loire river
1:43
cruise did that for me my mekong river
1:45
crews showed me vietnam and cambodian
1:48
both rural and city life it remains one
1:50
of the most fascinating cruises i've
1:53
ever done as i said the distances
1:55
traveled on river cruises are not vast
1:57
and you get to explore in a more
1:59
intensive way than you would ever on an
2:02
ocean cruise those they tend to flip
2:04
quickly from place to place each day
2:06
often calling on a new country or island
2:08
every single day broad and brief
2:11
tastes of a wide geography is what ocean
2:13
cruises are much more about but what's
2:15
important to note is that river cruise
2:17
programs tend to focus on four key
2:20
aspects of each region the history
2:23
religious side culture and food and
2:25
drink they also do it at a gentler pace
2:27
once they call into a stop with
2:29
panoramic bus and leisurely walking
2:31
tours though some are now offering more
2:33
active bike and hiking options so
2:35
there's some other things that you need
2:36
to consider particularly this one river
2:38
cruise is a great idea if you want to go
2:40
on a vacation which is totally and
2:43
utterly organized with very few
2:45
decisions or options that you yourself
2:47
have to juggle all you need to do is
2:49
decide when you want to go broadly where
2:51
you want to go which cruise line you
2:53
want to go with and then everything else
2:55
is done for you the great thing about a
2:57
river cruise is it's very stress and
3:00
hassle free because you don't have to
3:02
make lots of decisions it's all done for
3:04
you the excursions dining drinks
3:06
entertainment and so on it's all curated
3:08
and sorted you don't have to make lots
3:11
of decisions once you go on a river
3:12
cruise in my experience river cruising
3:15
is by nature much closer to an escorted
3:18
tour than it is to an ocean cruise the
3:20
daily activities and program are tightly
3:23
organized with no or much fewer choices
3:26
than you would have on an ocean cruise
3:28
for example it's a much more curated
3:30
experience and everyone on the trip has
3:32
the same shared program and experience
3:35
and do the same things at the same time
3:38
you don't necessarily have to go on all
3:40
the included excursions but you should
3:42
expect less choice and options and a
3:45
less individually tailored cruise
3:47
experience than when ocean cruising
3:49
which of course prides itself on the
3:51
increasingly wide range of choice
3:53
available if having a shared communal
3:55
experience with everyone on the trip and
3:57
the ability to just go with the flow and
4:00
not have to make decisions and wrestle
4:02
with choices and options appeals then
4:05
river cruising is for you if you like a
4:08
more individually tailored freewheeling
4:10
and independent cruise experience then
4:13
consider this option much more
4:15
cautiously
4:16
unless of course you have the next
4:19
overriding issue and concern that trumps
4:22
this totally river cruising is a great
4:25
idea if you're concerned in any way
4:28
about motion sickness as it's pretty
4:30
much impossible to emotion sick on a
4:33
river
4:34
though that too comes with a catch as i
4:36
will explain shortly i've been on river
4:39
cruises with people who get seasick and
4:41
even the thought of going on a rowboat
4:44
on a lake like my father-in-law but
4:46
seriously the chance of getting seasick
4:48
honor of a cruise is pretty much
4:50
impossible it's smooth sailing literally
4:54
your biggest water related concern about
4:56
a river cruise is not about being
4:58
seasick it's about water levels
5:01
and that is one of the key risks with
5:04
river cruise
5:05
there may be too much water so the ships
5:07
can't get under the bridges and
5:09
therefore get trapped in a certain
5:11
section of the river or the other
5:13
extreme the water levels are too low and
5:15
the ships can't travel further and
5:17
further down the river
5:19
i've been on various cruises where both
5:21
of these things has actually happened to
5:24
me for example on one danube cruise we
5:26
ended up only being able to travel as
5:28
far as vienna because the ships couldn't
5:30
get any further down towards budapest
5:33
because of higher water levels we ended
5:35
up having to go on various bus
5:36
excursions because we couldn't go any
5:39
further on the ship meanwhile on my
5:42
mekong river cruise the tunnel sap lake
5:45
was too low for the ship to go so we had
5:47
to be driven many many hours around the
5:50
lake to get us to our end of cruise
5:51
destination at seam rep to be able to
5:53
visit the incredible anchor watt ruins
5:56
if you look online discussions about
5:58
river cruises water levels are one of
6:00
the main things that has disappointed
6:03
river cruise passengers
6:05
because they've been stuck in one place
6:07
and bust on excursions or even had to
6:09
pack up and move to a different ship
6:11
further up or down the river
6:13
of course it doesn't happen every year
6:15
but when planning keep an eye on water
6:17
levels in any season to make sure you
6:19
are going to make the most of your river
6:21
cruise and know what to expect
6:22
but consider
6:24
though there is another big upside
6:26
despite all of this that may make this
6:28
particular risk worthwhile if you find
6:31
big ocean ships turn off or even smaller
6:34
ocean ships a turn off for that matter
6:36
river cruising is much more likely to be
6:38
for you
6:40
river cruise ships will have under 200
6:42
guests on board in fact many will be
6:44
much much smaller and closer to a
6:46
hundred guests that's certainly possible
6:48
in europe it's true in the mekong going
6:50
down the mississippi or the now it's a
6:52
much more intimate experience
6:55
if you like the idea of traveling with
6:57
much fewer people you want to be
7:00
in a much more intimate experience this
7:02
is for you
7:03
you want to get to know the passengers
7:06
you're cruising with it becomes much
7:07
easier because you're mixing with the
7:09
same people all the time river cruising
7:11
is then a great idea if this appeals to
7:14
you of course that intimate experience
7:16
comes with some compromise
7:19
on a river cruise ship you will have
7:21
limited options
7:22
and definitely fewer facilities
7:25
usually there's only one restaurant and
7:27
one key lounge kind of bar area some
7:30
will have a small plunge pool some might
7:32
have a hot tub
7:34
not all have a gym on board you're going
7:36
to have much of your grades of cabins to
7:39
choose from and so on but
7:42
you will have a much more intimate
7:45
experience and you will have good food a
7:48
friendly lounge to mix with guests and a
7:50
good comfortable cabin and an open
7:52
sundeck to enjoy the scenery and to
7:55
relax as you go cruising
7:57
if you won't miss all the bells and
7:58
whistles and attractions ocean cruising
8:00
serves up because a more intimate
8:03
experience is more important to you then
8:05
river cruising is something that you
8:07
should absolutely consider especially
8:10
if another feature of ocean cruising
8:12
drives you crazy like it does me if
8:15
you're like me and want to know when you
8:17
book a cruise what it's going to cost
8:19
you in its entirety and not have lots of
8:22
add-ons and nickel and diming then this
8:24
could also be for you river cruising is
8:26
a much
8:28
more all-inclusive experience there are
8:30
a few examples where some river cruise
8:32
lines are breaking out from this but
8:34
largely speaking today river cruising is
8:36
an all included vacation
8:39
all your food is included all your
8:41
excursions are included wi-fi is
8:43
included and some or all your drinks are
8:45
thrown in and our many gratuities are
8:47
also included transfers are also often
8:50
included to and from the airport i found
8:53
it's really really difficult to spend
8:54
money when i'm on board a river cruise
8:57
because everything on the cruise has
8:58
been covered for me the only things that
9:00
i've been out of pocket for is if i
9:03
perhaps give any extra gratuities or if
9:05
i bought things along the way in the
9:06
various different stops that we've been
9:08
on it's important to note though that
9:10
river cruising is a more expensive
9:13
option per day
9:15
than ocean cruising is partly because so
9:17
much more is included and also it's a
9:18
smaller ship
9:20
one thing to consider
9:21
is as i said most lines include
9:24
excursions in the fare and if you want
9:26
to be more independent and you don't
9:28
want to go on the included excursions
9:29
and you want to head off out on your own
9:31
you are paying a premium for something
9:33
that you will not be using
9:36
there is some hope though for you if you
9:39
want to go river cruising and you're
9:40
this type of traveler because some
9:41
cruise lines on the rivers are moving
9:44
away from this to give a slightly more
9:46
fluid approach not many but for example
9:48
across europe is offering packages in
9:50
some countries which do not include
9:52
excursions and you can then buy the
9:54
excursions as a package add-on or ad hoc
9:57
as you want them one by one but overall
9:59
if you like to know once you've paid for
10:01
your vacation that everything's included
10:03
river cruising is definitely a really
10:06
great option but is it really really
10:08
limited when it comes to your various
10:11
vacation options although on border
10:14
river cruise there is relatively limited
10:16
choice of facilities there is a huge
10:18
choice in terms of the number of rivers
10:21
you can cruise on and areas of the world
10:23
you can do too and also in the number of
10:26
cruise lines that you can choose to go
10:27
cruising with europe is probably the
10:30
most developed in terms of river
10:32
cruising and across continental europe
10:34
there is an enormous enormous choice of
10:37
rivers the most popular include the
10:38
rhine the rhone the danube the duara the
10:41
seine the loire the elb the mizell
10:44
volga and on and on in the united states
10:47
there's less choice with the great lakes
10:48
area and mississippi being the key areas
10:50
in africa you're going to be able to go
10:53
down the nile and there's some limited
10:55
river cruising in southern africa around
10:57
that includes the kariba dam in asia
11:00
there is opportunity to cruise through
11:01
india the yangtze river in china and
11:04
vietnam and cambodia along the mekong
11:06
river cruising is constantly expanding
11:09
and going to be more and more places
11:11
coming on board so there is a lot of
11:12
choice now and there's going to be more
11:14
choice to come there's also an enormous
11:16
range of cruise lines the largest choice
11:19
is again within europe and there are
11:21
dozens of cruise lines those that cater
11:24
mostly for english speakers there's
11:25
probably about 20 that i've counted and
11:27
then maybe more that i because i've
11:29
missed some you've got everything from
11:30
the ultra luxury lines like crystal and
11:32
uniworld five-star lines like ammo
11:34
waterways scenic viking talc four-star
11:37
lines like avalon emerald apt three-star
11:40
lines like crossy europe nico if you're
11:43
a non-english speaker and you speak
11:45
french or german you have even more
11:47
choice because there are even more lines
11:49
on top of that like a rosa collettes
11:51
crucimondo
11:53
luftna
11:54
as you can see just so many cruise lines
11:56
if you think a river cruise is for you
11:59
and want to know which cruise to start
12:00
with then watch this video where i give
12:02
you the best river cruises to do and why
12:05
starting with the absolute must do first
12:08
time river cruise see you over there
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