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European River Cruise Pros and Cons: Should You Do One?
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Jan 28, 2025
What are the main pros and biggest cons of European River cruising? What are the best and worst things about doing a river cruise in Europe. In this I delve into, and show you, both sides of European river cruises to help you better understand river cruising and what to expect. These are, in my view, the 5 pros and 5 cons of European river cruising. This should help you decide if a river cruise in Europe is a cruising vacation for you. SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY: Buying my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore Booking your next cruise with CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise WATCH THESE POPULAR RECENT VIDEOS: 10 Cabins to Avoid: https://youtu.be/PgTGLma919A European River Cruise Watch-Outs: https://youtu.be/oqhz54wStyk 5 Cruises To Avoid: https://youtu.be/CNiPzK4IRWA Alaska Cruise Need-to-Knows: https://youtu.be/Tn7dpNw5kSI Things Cruise Lines Don’t Want You to Know: https://youtu.be/cs5UKha9ALc Rules Passengers Break Most: https://youtu.be/djZLZ3XV_f0 Things You Can’t Do On A Cruise Any More: https://youtu.be/zas6F4wMD0Q Should You Pay Cruise Gratuities: https://youtu.be/QBYzqxXjEXQ Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 78 cruises at time of making this video. Follow Tips For Travellers on: - Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge
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What are the biggest pros and cons, the good and bad, of European river cruising
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I'm Gary Bambidge. This is another of my cruising tips for travellers. I want to take another look at European river cruising
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And I want to talk about the five biggest pros, the good things about it, and the five biggest cons, perhaps the downs of the downs
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So let's start by taking a look at the positives, the pros. Probably one of the biggest pros of European river cruising is the amount of choice
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There is enormous amount of choice. So first of all, you have a choice of rivers
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There are loads and loads of rivers, pretty much any of the major rivers within continental Europe you can cruise on
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So you can cruise on the Rhine, the Rhine, the Danube, the Loire, the Seine, the Elbe, the Duaro
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just goes on and on and on. And some cruise lines will give you the choice of cruising on pretty much any of those rivers
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The second great thing is you have an enormous amount of choice in cruise lines
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So certainly offhand, I could think of at least 14 or 15 cruise lines and there are many, many more that I've seen on the rivers that I just can't remember
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So you have names like Arosa, Amurwaterways, Amadeus, Avalon, Crystal, Crossy Europe, Phoenix Reison, Nico, Kadi Cruises, Scenic, APT, Viking, Tauk and just many, many more
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What's really important with that is you have a lot of choice. So you have value lines at the one end, so you might have lines like Riviera or Crossy Europe, which are more value for money
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right through to really plush and expensive and five, six star cruise lines on the rivers like
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Crystal or UniWorld. So you have a huge amount of choice. You also have a lot of choice in terms
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of the type of experience that you want. So you'll find some will create a very multilingual
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European experience like across Europe. Some will even be more German-focused or Swiss-focused
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You'll find that some are even more targeting the UK travellers like Riviera or Fred Olsen
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or saga, they all offer cruises which are very UK traveller focused. And then some have a more
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American feel to them. So, Amber Waterways, Avalon, those kind of lines. And then you'll find
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some even have a slightly more even Australian twinge them like APT, scenic, maybe even Emerald
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So you'll certainly find there's a huge amount of choice of rivers, of different cruise lines
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and of types of experience. So choice is definitely a big pro. You're going to find hopefully
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a river cruise line and a river that meets what you're looking for. I think the second
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The second biggest pro is it's a pretty immersive and in-depth way of seeing a region
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So if you're cruising along the Danube, for example, you're going to get to go through a number of different countries
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you're going to be going through lots of beautiful scenery, you're going to be seeing lots of big towns
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you're going to be seeing lots of little towns, and you're going to get really, really close to the culture
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I think what's great about a river cruise is, first of all, you normally will go to some big iconic town
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So again, using an example of the Danube, you're probably going to go to things like
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Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna. On the Rhine you're going to go through big major cities as well
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So you're going to go and see the big iconic cities. You're also probably going to go and see therefore some of the big iconic and famous sites. But also because of the nature of the river
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and cruising through, you're also going to stop at very out-of-the-way little villages
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or perhaps places that were really big in the medieval times and they have a historic castle there
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or you're going to stop because there's some significant agricultural, wine making or some
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chateaus. So you definitely get a huge cross-section of big iconic, big bustling towns
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down to sleepy little villages. So it's a very immersive way of seeing a particular part
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of the world Also what the cruise lines try to do to make it more immersive is you find they cater to the onboard experience to give you a more experience You find that the food for example on European Rivercruise as you cruise the different countries will serve traditional dishes They also have wine from that
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particular country. They'll also bring on board perhaps dancers or singers, musicians or speakers
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to give you more of an immersion into the culture and the history of that particular region
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So it's quite an immersive experience. So I really like that you see a part of the world
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in a pretty in-depth way. That for me is a big pro. Another big pro is unlike ocean cruising
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where often you have the fair and you have lots and lots and lots and lots of add-ons. What's great
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about European river cruising is pretty much all of the cruise lines on the European rivers have
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largely all-inclusive fares. So there's very little or very few extras that you're going to have
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once you're on the ship. The key inclusions normally are of course your accommodation or your dining
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is included. Also your excursions are included. So depending on the cruise line, you'll either
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get one set excursion every place you stop or sometimes you'll have a choice of those
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some of they might be more active something more cultural and you will normally then have of course
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all your onboard entertainment Wi-Fi is normally included and most cruise lines will include some
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drinks so it might be just drinks with lunch and dinner some will include all of the time
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so very all-inclusive fairs the extras that you have some cruise lines will have gratuities obviously
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they're optional as extra some will include drinks depending on whether they've included all the
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or not and depending on the cruise line and where you book transfers so flights
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obviously into Europe and getting to and from the ship now many cruise lines will
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depending on where you're buying will sell the whole package some of those you have to buy the cruise and then work with your agent to yourself to build the
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various packages pre-stays post stays transfers that kind of thing that tends to
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be extra because obviously you're probably going to tailor that more so the fares are largely inclusive I found when I've been on river cruising I have had
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bills of almost nothing and perhaps there's been some cash I've got
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given full gratuities. The great thing is the fair is the fair. You're not going to have lots and lots of
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extras. Another great pro is river cruising is incredibly hassle-free. It's even more so, I think
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more hassle-free, less stress-free than ocean cruising. On a river cruise, everything is pretty much
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decided for you. Once you've booked the cruise and the destination, you have to worry about nothing because you arrive, you unpack, of course it becomes your sailing hotel, you then pack
6:03
at the end. But everything is decided for you, so your meals are all set for you. You'll
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your excursions are set for you or your briefings are set for your transportation
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Everything's arranged for you. You literally decide the it's attenary, decide where you want to go and you pitch up and you have to make very
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very few decisions. So it's very hassle-free. It's a great easy way of
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traveling through Europe. So if you wanted to go through three or four countries, which some of these river cruises do, if you were
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having to get on trains or planes there's a lot of downtime, a lot of hassle
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a lot of stress, all of that's gone because it's really, really quite a
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curated and you're kind of shepherded and looked after and all the decision-making is done for you
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So that's definitely a big plus I think it's a very hassle-free, easy, simple way of seeing Europe
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Another really great plus a pro is the fact that it's a much smaller intimate experience
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Obviously if you've got on an ocean cruise ship you could have up to thousands of guests or even
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if you're going to some of the smaller you're going to have a couple of hundred guests. River cruise ships in Europe are probably going to be between about 15, 200 guests
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So it's quite a small experience. Also, it means that you're going to get to know the crew very well
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You're going to find you have 30 or 40 crew on those ships, so you also get to know the crew incredibly well
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So it's a much more intimate, much more, it's easier to meet people, you get to know everybody on the ship
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and so it definitely a very different experience Of course if you want to be anonymous you probably not going to find that on a river cruise because everyone going to get to know you Those of me are the big pros the big pluses of river cruising
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So what are the downs of the cons of river cruising? Probably one of the cons of river cruising in Europe is just how popular it's becoming
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So as I already mentioned, there are lots and lots of river cruise lines and more and more people are coming onto the rivers all the time
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So the places are getting more and more busy because obviously there's only a certain amount of rivers
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They all tend to go to the same places because that's what people want to see
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So you start to finding that some ports and some itineries are getting really busy
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you may find, for example, that when you dock in a place, you have ships either side of you
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and you have to go through or over ships to get there. Out in the places, particularly some of the smaller places, you can find it gets really busy
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because you've got lots of tour parties, excursions heading out from all the different river cruise boats there
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So it's almost a victim of its own success. It's getting really, really busy. And I think one of the things that river cruising is starting to do is to find ways of alleviating that
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So you're going to find there's more and more excursions which take you further afield. There's more active excursions, things like bicycles, heading off on bicycles and stuff like that to try and disperse people much more
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But I think that's one of the probably downsides. It's getting really, really busy
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The second possible con for some people is the ships are small and you're not going to have lots of choice
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So if you're used to ocean cruising, you're used to lots of choice of dining venues, gyms, big production shows, lots going on
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That's not the case on a river cruise ship. They have to be a certain size and a certain height to be able to navigate the rivers
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So you'll find on a typical European river cruise boat, you're going to have one dining room
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which is where you're going to have all of your meals. A few do have a second dining option, but generally speaking, it's one dining room
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You're going to have one lounge and bar where you have your briefings, drinks, all that kind of stuff
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Up on the sun deck, you might have, depending on the ship, you might just have places to sit
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Some of them might have a little crazy golf course, or they might have a plunge pool
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Some of them will have a small fitness center or a massage room, but it's very, very small
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So you don't have loads and loads of options. You don't have lots of shops, that kind of stuff
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So certainly if you're the person who likes lots of choice, lots of options, then river cruising is probably a downside for you
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You do, of course, within those ships have everything you need. You've got a place to each. You've got a place to relax
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You've got a place to sun yourself. So there is, although there's not lots of choice, you do have all of the key things that you need
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Also, because the ships have to be a certain size, you'll find, generally speaking, the cabins are relatively small and will normally only have a shower room and a pretty small
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shower room at that. So the cabins do tend to be a little bit on the smaller side just because
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they have to be. Another possible con of European river cruising, particularly if you're the
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sort of travel that likes to be incredibly independent and do your own thing, is the whole river cruising process is relatively regimented. So I see it a lot similar to perhaps going on
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an escorted tour because it has a lot of the same attributes to it. So you'll find the day is pretty
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laid out with relatively few options. Of course you can just decide not to do some things
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but bear mind you will have already paid for those things. So you'll find you'll normally have
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some sort of announcement getting up because breakfast is at a certain time. You'll then head off
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on your different excursions. You might have to be back at a certain time because the ship's moving
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a little bit further on the river to the next port. On the excursions, you'll find they're pretty
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curated. Then normally walking tours, there might be, as I said, some active tours. You'll come
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back. You'll have lunch at the same time. There'll be kind of a set time to have your meal
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they might have a briefing or whatever you'll head off on another excursion, might be sailing, you'll then have the daily briefing for the next day where you're told what's going to happen
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the various options. You'll have dinner which you have at a set time, again not initially with
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lots of choices of other places to eat And every day on a European river cruise is relatively set curated and there not necessarily lots of opportunity to flex that Of course you could skip some exclusions go and explore yourself On the plus side a lot of the times you find you are perhaps doctor overnight so you can then head out into
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towns. But it is a relatively regimented set day and a set way of doing things because of
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the nature of European river cruising. So if you're a very independent traveller and you like to
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do things more on a whim you might see that as more of a con. On the plus side of course it does
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means that everything's organized, every sort of, and you do, and they do make sure that you make
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the most of your day on the river and in the places you call on. The next possible con depends a little
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bit on the type of traveler you are. I would say river cruising at the moment in Europe
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mostly caters for couples and it does tend to be a little bit on the older side, so 50, 60s, 70s
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and even older than that is really still the core of the traveler on European river cruising
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If you're a solar traveler for example, you'll find that it's a pretty expensive way of traveling
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because you normally are going to have to pay for double occupancy of a cabin. What a lot of cruise lines do, particularly in the shoulder seasons, is they might do some solar
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travel deals, but you won't find lots of solar cabins and things like that
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Also, if you are a person of limited mobility, river cruising in Europe is also a challenge
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not only because the ships don't always have all the facilities, but the places you call on are not great
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So some of the ships will have, for example, an elevator between the floors, not all of them will have it
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They won't always have accessible cabins, some will have them. challenges particularly if the ships are not next to each other moving through
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the ships is could be a potential challenge but also just the nature of the places
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you call on very old you have cobbled streets you have steep banks that kind of
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thing so it's not ideal if you want to go river cruising with your family it's still
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kind of mix more and more cruise lines are trying to attract more families so for example
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ama waterways have got more interconnecting doors they've launched amma maga with
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amma magna which is a bigger ship some of the cruise lines are trying to at score
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holiday time building more stuff for kids, particularly try and attract more multi-generational
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but really at its heart, it's still very much a couple's experience. And I've been on quite a few
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river cruises as a solo traveler and of course you get to meet people and of course you're very
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welcome. But it is an expensive way of cruising unless you can find those particular deals
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Another possible con of river cruising is water levels. So if you're on ocean cruising, of course
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you could have weather, wind particular could be the thing that disrupts, you're getting
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and out of port swells, that kind of stuff. In Europe it is water levels, so the water being too high
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or too low. And it can go through various times of the year where you have a real problem
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So for example, a couple of years ago in Europe there wasn't a lot of rain. It was almost a drought
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situation so the rivers got very low and that meant that the ships were very restricted
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So for example, I was on a Danube cruise and we can only get as far as Vienna because the water
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was just too low after that. In other years the water's too high and they can't get under the bridges
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So of course you need to be flexible and understand that you may have that as a potential downside
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The same as if you go ocean cruising, you can't predict whether you're going to have swells or winds or whatever and miss ports for that reason
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But do bear in mind, water levels is quite a hot topic and could be an issue within European river cruising
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On the plus side or the good side of that is sometimes the distance you travel are not that huge
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So what the lines will either do is that are the bus you to place because you might find it's only an hour's driveway to get to that particular excursion, bring you back to the show
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or what they've even done in some cases is they've moved people from one ship up to another ship further along the river and then carried on
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River cruising in Europe is a great experience. It's a great immersive way of seeing a region. Like everything, there's pros and there's cons and for some people. Some of those cons are pros and vice versa. I hope you found that interesting. I have loads more videos about European river cruising, ocean cruising. So why did you watch another one of those right now
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