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This coastal city at the mouth of the Columbia River is known for its Victorian homes, wineries, brew pubs, and Lewis and Clark heritage. Next, from Kalama, Washington, you can join an excursion to visit the remnants of the area around Mount St. Helens, which suffered a devastating eruption in 1980. For those watching their pennies, Emerald is the best of the budget-priced ships.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises Announces New Riverboat for 2026
I have tried to cut to the chase and show you what the experience is like on board certain ships on certain rivers. You’ll have success finding the review you want if you answer one of the following three questions. The company lets you personalize your experience down to the kind of pillows you prefer. All ships have a fitness room and fleet of bikes for tours in places such as Amsterdam and Cochem, Germany. The ships traverse waterways that include the Seine, Rhine, Danube, Douro, Main, Moselle, Rhone, Saone and Mekong. Sleek ships with marble lobbies, mid-century furnishings and impressive art collections mark the Australian-owned Scenic as all about luxurious, high-end river cruising.
American Queen Steamboat Company
Bordeaux serves up the opportunity to sip Medoc, Margaux, Saint-Emilion, Pomerol and Sauternes wines as you expand your wine education. Your cruise line might even host a dinner at a wine estate one evening. If you plan your cruise for September or October, you'll be able to admire the grape harvest. The French city of Strasbourg, with its famous Gothic cathedral and robust Alsatian culinary scene, is often a favorite stop on Rhine itineraries, with other highlights including Heidelberg, Germany, and its imposing castle.
Best river cruise companies
These cruises offer 25% off the fare for travelers 4 to 17 years old when traveling with an adult (suites excluded). A river cruise is kind of like a floating hotel, except you'll visit a variety of places but only have to unpack once. In addition to food and drink — with carefully curated cuisine reflective of the areas being visited — many river cruises include land excursions, which is a huge advantage that adds tremendous value.
Companies such as CroisiEurope and A-ROSA package their fares to include wine, beer and soft drinks, so finding a largely all-inclusive cruise at the price point is possible. River ships dock near key attractions and feature mostly-inclusive pricing; fares include such perks as basic daily walking tours and wine and beer at meals. One person's idea of a great vacation may be extraordinary excursions such as an exclusive dinner in a chateau, while others may want spacious cabins or as much foie gras and French cheese as you can possibly eat. And some river cruises are much more active than others with, for instance, biking and hiking tours. American Cruise Lines offers cruises on more U.S. waterways than any other river line. Of course, the company's fleet of U.S.-flagged 100- to 190-passenger river ships (including authentic paddlewheelers) travels the popular Mississippi and Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest.
Best and worst river cruise lines
Your visit there and to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, as well as other memorials and monuments to the fallen, is a poignant experience (one that requires a two-hour bus ride from your ship, however). Avalon Waterways brings a World War II expert on board to add insight on select sailings. The seven-night river cruise takes you through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. The most beautiful stretch of the river is a 62-mile passage through a gorge between the Balkan and Carpathian Mountains.

Colombia's Magdalena River with Amawaterways
The journey from Arles to Lyon will include stops in Avignon, Viviers, Tournon, and Vienne. After arriving in Lyon, passengers will stay in Paris for an exclusive guided tour showcasing jazz, food, and wine, all while shining a light on Black heritage. Leading luxury tour operator Tauck has its own fleet of award-winning 84- to 130-passenger river ships cruising the Danube, Douro, Rhine, Rhone and Seine. The big selling point here is that a Tauck tour director and three Tauck cruise directors are on board all departures, assuring that guests are catered to. Nearly 165,000 T+L readers completed the 2023 survey, an increase of nearly 25 percent over pre-pandemic voting levels. A total of more than 685,000 votes were cast across over 8,500 unique properties (hotels, cities, cruise lines, etc.).
Viking Jarl Cruise Reviews (2023 UPDATED): Ratings of Viking Jarl - Cruise Critic
Viking Jarl Cruise Reviews (2023 UPDATED): Ratings of Viking Jarl.
Posted: Thu, 21 Sep 2023 03:00:18 GMT [source]
best US river cruises
The Danube Explorer includes stops in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. While the Jewels of the Rhine explores the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland. If you've never visited New Orleans, or it's been a while, take a Mississippi River cruise that sails round-trip from the Big Easy. They offer time before or after the cruise to enjoy the city's food, music and iconic architecture — plus the ease of a round-trip flight booking.
India’s Golden Triangle aboard Uniworld
As well as standard European itineraries, this all-inclusive line has a raft of special-interest cruises catering for music fans, foodies and photographers. Jules Verne earned a solid four stars almost across the board and five for its excursions, which ‘all flowed seamlessly’ and ‘catered for everyone’. Its péniche (barge) tours in France carry 20 or so guests around Provence, Bourgogne and Alsace, while its Danube cruise is on a plush 16-cabin boat that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip sailed on. River cruises get you straight to city centres, so there’s more time for sightseeing and excursions.
Multi-state trips via the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers round out the offerings. Part of tour company Grand Circle Travel, this line is a popular affordable choice for travelers age 55-plus in Europe. The fleet of 46- to 140-passenger ships cruises waterways that include the Seine, Rhine, Mosel, Main, Danube and Rhone.
Immerse yourself in India’s “Golden Triangle”—Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra. The 10-day itinerary features visits to the Taj Mahal, Rajbari temple complex, and Mother Teresea’s home. Emerald is opening up two of its Europe river itineraries to younger guests, with kid-friendly menus and exciting onboard activities such as video games, movies, and tournaments. Children must be 10 years old or older to take part in Emerald’s kid-friendly voyages. Both itineraries have been modified and feature destinations the whole family can enjoy.
Pricing on this line is middle of the road, with everything comfortable, reliable and not overly fussy. That said, on the company's sleek, 166-passenger Suite Ships, you can splurge on a Panorama Suite with sitting areas and glass doors that open to bring the fresh air in. In addition to the major rivers of Europe, Uniworld cruises the less-traversed Po River in Italy (from Venice) and has ships on the Nile and Mekong as well as the Ganges in India. Onboard, the 128-passenger Avalon Imagery II (built in 2016) offers 172-square-foot Deluxe Staterooms, 200-square-foot Panorama Suites (Avalon’s signature accommodation type) and two 300-square-foot Royal Suites. There are no single staterooms on the Imagery II, but Avalon waives the single supplement on a limited number of first-come, first-served bookings.
Sailings are available from late September to early November 2024, 2025 and 2026. The hand-held, everything-taken-care-of luxury experience that Tauck provides is hard to beat. When it comes to an active, contemporary, luxury experience, Scenic is at the top.
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