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River Cruise Lines Everyone Is Raving About RIGHT NOW (And Why)
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Oct 8, 2024
I decided to see how today’s travellers spending their own hard-earned money river cruising in Europe are rating the lines on review sites. I quickly discovered the rankings were not as I expected them to be and were different to those of the magazines and sites. So, I let you in on the top 8 traveller best rated river cruise lines right now, and why. Videos referred to: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1AxASH8RN8 @PopularCruising - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Hq7eu3ZYQ&t=10s @ScenicLuxuryCruises - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7rpuXE8M38&t=4s @InTheLoopTravel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DZrFC_D9Jk @CruiseandTravelBP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpa-mWN-uEg @InTheLoopTravel For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: ---------------------------------------------------
View Video Transcript
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I'm skeptical when travel magazines or cruise sites list their rankings of the best European
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river cruise lines. Why? Because I feel rightly or wrongly, there is a link between the amount
0:10
each lines spent advertising in those publications and those rankings. So I decided to see how
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today's travelers spending their own hard-earned money river cruising are actually rating the
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lines on review sites. I quickly discovered the rankings were not as I expected them to be
0:27
and were different to those of the magazines and the sites. So I'll let you in on the top eight traveller best rated river cruise lines right now and why
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Why should these ratings matter so much to you when considering river cruising
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Well, first of all, it's really expensive to river cruise, so the cost to you of choosing the wrong line is very high
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There are three broad classes, value, premium and luxury. But even value lines can cost from $250, that's £200 per person
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per night and luxury lines start from around $450, that's £350 per person per night
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As all European river cruising ships on the surface look the same, as the locks and bridges
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mean they are all the same width and height. They sell the same rivers like the Danube, the Rhine, the Rhine and the Seine, and they
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stop at all the same places and visit the same sites, it means that the less visible
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differences that these real cruises have experienced and rated, like the cabins, the service
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the menus, the itineries, the excursions and who each is best suited for, rarely, really
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really count. Now I've travelled on most of these cruise lines too, so I'll also give you my perspective
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as well as what other travellers are saying. Let's start at the bottom of the eight and work up
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to the top rated. The line I've cruised on multiple times and currently are ranked eighth best
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with a score of 4.1 out of 5 is Crossy Europe. There are a well-established line launching in
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1976 by a Mr. Gerard Schmitter and are still owned and operated by the family. They have 32 ships
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and they seem to cover more rivers than any line in this list. Cross Europe is also the only
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value line in the top eight and unlike the other lines they have different classes of ships
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within their fleet which they bill as three, four and five stars, each with slightly
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different experiences. The ships overall tend to be a little bit more basic than others in the
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list and tend to be mostly French or European guests. I've been on crossy Europe trips where there are just two other English speakers, for example
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They serve good French food but have smaller menus than the other lines that cost more
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But overall, it's a really good value option. Cruise critic also agree with my assessment, by the way, because they ranked crossy Europe
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as the best river line for unique itineries The next line in the ranking is almost the opposite of Crossy Europe And that is Unewald Boutique River Cruises with a slightly higher 4 out of 5 rating
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They are at the top end of the luxury category. But like Cross Europe are one of the oldest
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river cruise lines, also launching in 1976. At time of recording, they have 13 ships. I've
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cruised them several times and I do find their ships rather kind of blingy and glitly. daycare wise for my taste. They do though have very high level of service which they call
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six star service and I do think they have the best service of any line that I've been on along
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with excellent food and wines. Next up is only one of two lines in the ranking that I've not
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cruised with yet. And that is scenic river cruises that just missed out on being in the top five
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with a 4.4 out of 5 rating. They're part of the scenic group and are in the luxury
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River Cruise category. While their sister-lined, Emerald is in the premium category, more on them
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shortly. Scenic promises a luxurious experience and have 12 contemporary-looking ships with what they
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claim have some of the largest sweets on the rivers. As I said, I've not cruised scenic, but I've
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toured their ships and they are very beautiful ships. Their sister-line, though, just pips them in the
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ratings. Emerald River Cruises gets a strong 4.5 out of five rating. There are a strong 4.5 out of five rating. There are
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smallish line with just eight ships at the time of recording. I cruised them only once so far on
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their Danube enchantment of Eastern Europe cruise between Bucharest Romania to Budapest, Hungary
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They have three standout features on their ships. They have spacious feeling cabins. Instead of
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balconies, they have more cabin space with panoramic windows which slide down to let in fresh air
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at the scenic viewing. They have many active excursions, unlike many other lines, and I felt they were
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trying to appeal to a younger, more active traveller. At the rear of the ships is a unique space
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which during the day is an indoor plunge pool and in the evening gets covered over and becomes
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a cinema or hosts different kind of social events. Due to having fewer ships than most of the
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other higher-ranked lines, they offer less diverse itineries and they do tend to stick to the
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major rivers like the Rhine and the Danube. I see them as particularly good for people who are looking
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for a more youthful vibe with more active excursions. The next line got the same 4.5 out of 5 rating
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assembled, which really surprised me because it's one of my favourite river cruise lines and I think
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it deserves to be higher on the list. That line is Amma AutoAes, which were founded in 2002 by a
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group of friends Rudy Shryor Jimmy Murphy and Kirsten Kast They have 24 European River Cruise ships at the time recording including the unique Amma Magna which is double the width of regular river cruise ships
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They're in a luxury category so a bit higher end than the Emeralds. I think their ships are
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beautiful inside, and they have really, really good food with large menu choices. And on most of the
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ships, there's a second, more fine dining option called the Chef's Table, where you can watch
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the chefs prepare the very fine food. I like that their cabins have both a Juliet balcony
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and a regular balcony. Having the Juliet balcony makes the cabs a little bit bigger, but there's still
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the ability to sit out on a balcony watching the scenery pass by. They're leaning into wellness
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with a dedicated wellness person on board who runs classes and active and wellness excursions
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They also have bikes on board for free use in ports, which is a really great plus
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Amber Waterways is one of my favorite lines because of that, mix of great cabins, food and emphasis on that wellness side. Cruise critic, by the way
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recently rated them as the best line for cuisine and best for range and choice of features
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on the Amma Magna. The next line up in the rankings is a totally new line that only came
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into service in 2023, but already is the third highest rated. Riverside River Cruises
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is currently getting a generous 4.6 out of 5 rating and is only one of the top
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five that I have not cruised on yet. The line was created after the owners purchased Crystal River
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cruise ships when Crystal went bust. Their ships are the Mozart, Ravel and Debussy. Like
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Unewild, they are very much at the top end of the luxury category. I think they're one of the
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only river cruise lines that have butlers. The cabins are plush and fancy with a focus on fine
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dining and a high degree of being pampered. They are very costly but seem to be the fanciest
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plushest of all of the river cruise lines. The line that came second in the rankings also
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kind of surprised me not being number one, as it is the biggest and best known of all of the river
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cruise lines in Europe. Viking river cruises win many industry awards and did get a strong 4.6
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out of 5 rating like Riverside. They have, by my calculation, the biggest fleet of European
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rivers ships with 54 operating on the main central European rivers, four on the Duro
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two on the Elba and four on the River Seine. Most of their ships are called long ships, holding up to 190 guests
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The ships have a clean and bright scanner naming decor with light, woods and colours
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They are much more on the traditional side. So unlike say Amur Waterways for example they don have a fitness centre or bicycles on board and tend to aim and attract a traditional and slightly older crowd They are by the way the only of the lines on this list that currently you have to be 18 or over to cruise on
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The Cates are probably better than most of the other cruise lines, I feel also though, for people with more limited mobility from what I could see
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They do have some active excursions, so I have been on bike excursions, for example, but there are much more around the onboard experience like dining and enrichment and the history and culture of
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of the ports. One of the big pluses of Viking is because they have so many ships, they offer a wide
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range of itineries and length of cruises. The food is pretty good and consistent, that some of the
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other lines in my experience have slightly better food. But it's a good, solid cruise line
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which is why I think it comes in second. Cruise critic, by the way, picks them as the best
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river cruise line choice for first timers, and I think that's also probably right just because
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they have so much choice and they are just so reliable and consistent. Now the last
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line which comes in at number one, I did not predict before doing this. Because personally
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while I've had great times on board, I probably rate some of the other lines, as you've heard
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a little bit higher. But most travelers clearly disagree with me on this one. With a massive rating
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of 4.7 out of 5 is Avalon Waterways. Avalon is part of the Globus Travel Group, which includes
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Globus and Cosmos Escorted Tour Companies, and so they're really well connected in the ports for
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excursions and tour guides. They do take. tend to be really strong on the excursion side. They launched in 2004 and at the time of
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recording have 14 ships and are in the luxury category of river cruising. I've cruised with them
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on the Rhine and the Danube and I like that they are focused more on fitness and wellness
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with fitness people on board, active excursion options like hiking and biking and many wellness
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food options are appearing on their menus. They argue that one of their key advantages and
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differences though are what they call their Avalon suite ships featuring the Avalon Panorama
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suites. They say these are 30% larger than the industry standard cabin, and like Emerald have
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those wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling panorine windows. By the way, the beds face the river
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and it's surprising how unique it is having a bed facing the river on such scenic roots
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It's just really unusual. This is kind of a plus, but they do have that. I think they're
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great for people looking for a more active river cruising experience, and so it wasn't
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surprised to see that cruise critic named them as their best river cruise line for active travelers
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Fans of some lines may be shocked to hear that their favorites, particularly lines like
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Taulk, are not currently rated amongst the top eight lines right now. So join me over in this
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video where I look at the lines that river cruise travelers are not currently raving about and why. See you
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over there
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