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River Cruising Wasn't What I Expected. Here’s Why
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Jan 28, 2025
European River Cruising Wasn't What I Expected. I had not expected European River Cruising to be full of so many differences to any other form of cruising I had been on. Discover why, and what you need to know if you are thinking of going on a river cruise in Europe. ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 85 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ——————————————— TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
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when a friend told me he was thinking of
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trying a european river cruise instead
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of his usual ocean cruise i had to sit
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him down and running through the series
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of things that had thrown surprise and i
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had really not been ready for when i've
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been river cruising things that i want
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to share with you
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as so many people i meet on river
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cruises come up against these same
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issues and so it's worth knowing about
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them too if you're new here welcome
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aboard i'm gary bembridge and it's my
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goal to make it fun and easy to discover
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plan and enjoy unforgettable cruise
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vacations very quickly once i was on my
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first river cruise i realized it had
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very little in common with ocean
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cruising it was much more like escorted
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bus tours that i've been on for example
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around florida or even around tanzania a
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river cruise feels much more like
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escorted touring by river than cruising
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on a river
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why is it so similar to escort touring
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well first of all size it's a smaller
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more intimate group you have a hundred
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maybe up to maximum of 200 or so
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passengers everyone gets to know who you
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are everyone gets to know you as you
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would on an escorted tour so it's
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definitely less good if you want to be
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left alone or don't really like mixing
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that much the format and structure are
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reminiscent of escorted tours that i've
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been on it's regimented there's a strict
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fixed daily schedule with kind of narrow
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windows of time to do everything
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and limited choices everyone does the
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same thing at the same time eating
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tours briefing and so on let me run you
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through a typical river cruise day to
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illustrate you have an announcement in
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the morning to get you up and that can
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be early around 7 30 to 8 in the morning
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so it's not particularly good if you're
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a late riser
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you then have about an hour or so for
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breakfast and then you're off on your
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first included morning tour
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there may be a choice of tours by the
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way and you normally split into groups
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there'll be a slow walk option and so on
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you then head back to the ship for lunch
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which you then have about an hour to do
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as well and then you then sail for the
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to the next port or you'll go off on
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another tour or you're simply just
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sailing
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then in the evening before dinner you
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have a briefing session on what's going
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to happen on the next day
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you then of course have dinner and there
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may be some local entertainment board on
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board or more normally you just got the
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onboard pianist playing a couple of
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tunes
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and you then basically repeat that whole
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process some days it could be a full-day
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tour so for example when i was on a
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viking danube cruise who went to brazil
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that was a whole day tour because it's
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kind of far away from where we were
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docked on an ocean cruise you're free to
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plan and do what you want when you want
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there are of course options and choices
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in a daily program on an ocean cruise
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which is packed full of activities with
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lots of choice throughout the day you
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can opt out you can opt in but on a
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river you don't have that degree of
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choice there are very limited things to
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do on ocean cruise you don't have to
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stick to the dining schedule for example
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on a river there's usually only one
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dining venue there may be
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a restaurant for example and some sort
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of informal option for example in the
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bar there might be a light lunch served
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there for you to take advantage of
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food though is only available on a river
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cruise at these dining times there is no
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room service so for example i got a
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complaint just this week from someone
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who'd done many ocean cruises now she
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went on a river cruise and was so
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frustrated to find that she could only
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get food at those set periods of time
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breakfast lunch and a dinner there was
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no way of getting food outside of those
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times of course on a river cruise you
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could self-explore if you want to but
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it's not very common to do so so for
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example i decided i wasn't going to go
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on one of the tours when i was on an
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avalon brine cruise they actually came
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to find me to find out why i wasn't
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going on that included tour you go on a
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river cruise to be part of the program
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part of the group so the first
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realization i had was that river cruise
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is not cruising as i knew it it's an
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escorted tour that happens to be on a
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river rather than on the road
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there are a couple of other key
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differences to ocean cruising i
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discovered through river cruising that i
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hadn't thought about enough
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nor probably the consequences of them
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some of the differences are pluses so
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for example embarking and disembarking
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on a river cruise is really simple it's
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fast it's easy unlike when you go on an
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ocean trip it's pretty much like
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checking in and out of a hotel really
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fast there are no lines there's no
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check-in hoo-ha
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it's much more flexible in terms of the
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time you need to arrive and so on of
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course a new river cruise ship is
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dramatically smaller than an ocean
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cruise ship but i hadn't fully
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appreciated the knock-on effects that
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come with that
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unlike ocean ships all river cruise
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ships are basically the same
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and they all have the same limited
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facilities they are the same size and
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shape first of all because they're
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constrained by the height of bridges
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they need to go under and the width
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because they need to go through the
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locks along the river once you're inside
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they're all basically the same too
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unlike on an ocean ship where there's
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lots of variety lots of differences in
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decor and layout on a river cruise ship
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you have a lounge or a bar area where
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you have your drinks and your briefings
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that i was talking about earlier you
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have the restaurant which i mentioned
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earlier which can seat everybody at one
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time you're going to have a little
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reception desk then you have a sun deck
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which may have a hot tub or a plunge
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pool in many cases
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there are no entertainment facilities
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like a casino
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shops no specialty dining venue no
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choice of bars no production show area
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or theater there's not entertainment
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every night
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i like to work out but found that most
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didn't even have a fitness room or if
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they did it was tiny with a bike a
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treadmill and a rowing machine they
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don't have a spa though some actually do
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have a little massage room
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so that was the big shock the
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realization having been cruising
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that i was used to all these facilities
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all that choice which you won't have and
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don't have on a river cruise cabin
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choices are also limited basically it's
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all about location you either go under
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the water line
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or above the water line under the water
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line is the lowest level of cabins and
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you have a window about three quarters
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of the way up which is just above the
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water level they are my favorite cabins
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because i found them a little bit noisy
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when sailing and they felt a little bit
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enclosed to me
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if you have a cabin above the waterline
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with beautiful windows or a balcony
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because the rivers are busy and they all
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call in the same places river cruise
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ships dock parallel to each other
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so even if you have paid that extra to
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have one of those above those line
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cabins you may find it can suddenly get
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dark and a few feet away from you is
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another ship with somebody basically
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staring back at you the rhythm of
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sailing is very different to the ocean
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ocean ships tend to sell at night and
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spend the whole day in port on a river
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cruise it's pretty different there's no
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set pattern like that some days you may
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call on two places and sail some of the
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day others you will stay in one place
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all day some days you'll sail at night
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and some you don't it's more port
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intensive and so you often call on two
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or even three places in one day on the
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plus side there is scenery all the time
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you're sailing unlike at sea
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and you dark in the heart of the places
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you're calling on so you can basically
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walk right off into the action in that
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village or town or city the distance you
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cover is so much less than my ocean
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it's an intensive look at a region i
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realized just how short the distances
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were where my last viking and emerald
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cruises the tour bus and the drivers and
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the guides were the same at every stop
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but they would actually be going home
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each night and then just driving to join
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us each morning on an avalon ryan cruz i
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had the choice of cycling between the
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two places where the ship was selling
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that day because it was only around 15
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miles away i read on cruise critic that
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a riverboat might need up to 12 hours to
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sell along a distance of a river
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a journey that would only take you two
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hours if you're going there by bus
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on the plus side unlike ocean cruise
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there's no chance of getting seasick
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there's barely any emotion and movement
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on the rivers so for the first time i
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could entice my father-in-law who's
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really obsessed with getting sick onto a
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cruise a river cruise talking about
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sickness there's no medical center
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unlike on ocean cruise ships i actually
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fell ill on an emerald waterways cruise
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between bucharest and budapest and i
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kind of needed to see a doctor i
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discovered the lines though no there are
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no medical centers there are no local
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doctors along the route so they took me
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there and i got sorted out quite quickly
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but on ocean cruise of course if you
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feel ill you have the medical center to
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go to
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all of these i realized
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and all these differences and things
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that make a river cruise difference very
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different to an ocean cruise experience
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also has a massive
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big impact on who goes on a river cruise
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despite where river cruise line ads
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suggests it's still a traditional crowd
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who go river cruising
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the rivers where the bulk of european
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river cruising happens like the rhine
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the danube and associated rivers are
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peppered with old historic towns and
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places
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and the tours in these places are very
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culturally focused and usually our
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walking tours through the town they
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focus on the history the culture
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and often the cathedrals lots of
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cathedrals but all of the stuff appeals
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to that audience much more there is some
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change underway and on more recent river
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cruises i'm seeing more for example food
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and wine tours for example on my last
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crusty europe lua cruz we had much more
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of these included and we also visited
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more chateaus for example on ammo waters
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in avalon i had more active hiking and
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bike tour options and on viking we went
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to see performances in the evening of a
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small kind of opera group in vienna so
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there is change however the places river
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cruises go means they call on historic
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cultural places it's more laid back and
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it of course therefore attracts people
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who who are interested in that
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it's not going to attract young families
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or young couples who want to go out
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partying although some lines like
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uniworld and our trace are trying to
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attract that crowd but it does tend to
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be a slightly older
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more calm crowd separate to age the
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nature of river cruising will
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based on what i've experienced
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always though appeal to a specific type
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of traveler no matter their age when i
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chat to people on river cruises they
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tell me the format of river cruising
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suits them because they like that it's a
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curated highly organized tour all they
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have to do is decide which river they
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want to go on
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when they want to go and which cruise
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line they want to go on and then that's
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the last decision they have to make
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because the rest of the program is
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sorted in great detail for them every
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meal every tour any entertainment entry
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into into attractions it's all planned
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it's sorted out for them river cruises
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as i told my friend are costly
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especially when you compare the day cost
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of a river cruise versus the day cost of
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an ocean cruise now admittedly there's a
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few reasons for that the ships are
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smaller than ocean ships and they can't
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amortize the cost as much and you're
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paying to have a more intimate
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experience and then there are lots more
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inclusions in addition to your cabin and
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all your meals many have some or drinks
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included most will include beer and wine
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at your meal at lunch and at dinner for
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example as a minimum excursions are
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included wi-fi is included often
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transfers to and from the ship are
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included
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i do like to have the flexibility when
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on a vacation and so i find river
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cruising probably a little bit more
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restrictive than often i like and
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although i've enjoyed doing them i don't
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think i would repeat many of the cruises
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i've been on because i found for example
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when it went on my second danube trip
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and my second ryan trip it was a little
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bit too familiar we called on the same
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places the tours were the same we were
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seeing the same things and there wasn't
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as much opportunity to do and look at
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things in a different way
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so though i'm not sure i'd repeat the
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route i would say to you and i'd say to
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my friend it is a fantastic way for
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seeing the interior of europe in an
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intensive and a simple way because it's
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curated
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and certainly for me therefore trying
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new rivers appeals to me i found this
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for example when i tried to trip on
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emerald which went from bucharest to
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budapest i got to see all the former
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eastern european countries that have
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made up czechoslovakia
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and hear their stories find out about
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the history i saw the places that would
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have been much much more challenging to
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do if i'd done a land-based tour it'd be
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much more complicated to see so much so
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quickly
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there are also some themed river cruises
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that appeal to me like the christmas
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markets which are exciting because you
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go right into the heart of all the key
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christmas markets so i look at river
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cruising when i'm looking for something
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very specific like that and i don't want
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to spend much effort planning i just
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want to give that to somebody else to do
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i'm prepared to be scheduled organized
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and make very few decisions and that's
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my advice to my friend considering
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trying one out
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think about if that's what you want now
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to find out what the best river cruises
13:15
to do and lines to go with watch this
13:18
short playlist of two videos where i
13:20
reveal the master river cruise trips in
13:22
europe starting with the best first and
13:24
second clues to do and which lines to do
13:27
them with
13:28
see you over there
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