So who is my River Cruising ‘Top of the Pops’?

Now that is the $64 million question isn’t it. Selling as many river cruises as I do and being something of a River Cruise Specialist, which of these lines would I chose to sail with if I was making the booking for myself? Avalon, Viking, AmaWaterway’s, APT, the four main contenders when it comes to river cruising and yours truly is lucky enough to have sampled them all. Forget the destination, the river, let’s just concentrate on which cruise line offers the best river cruise experience for now.

The ships, longships, are essentially almost identical except for decor. Three decks, central atrium, restaurant forward on middle deck and lounge forward on the upper deck which allows passengers to make the most of the scenery. On the lower deck are cabins with two small windows and the other two decks house the French Balconies and Twin Balcony cabins. Nothing to choose between the lines really on this front although all the lines except for Viking do have a small gym and beauty/ salon on board.

Dining is a really pleasurable experience on a river cruise! Breakfast and lunch are buffet style with many, many options to choose from while dinner is always waiter service with several options. The food is excellent on all of the lines although for variety and choice at breakfast and lunch I would have to say that Avalon has the edge. I even had sprouts with my Hungarian Meatloaf, what more could a girl ask for? Good regional specialities were on offer every lunchtime and regional wines were offered with dinner every evening. On Viking we had the choice of the same red and white wine every evening all week! AmaWaterways have a speciality restaurant on most of their ships, Chef’s Table, seating 24 people at the rear of the ship. Passengers will all have the chance to dine in here at least one evening on a seven night cruise. I have done it and it was a lovely experience with superb food. Viking River Cruises new longships offer an outdoor dining experience on the Aquavit Terrace towards the front of the ship. A buffet style, relaxed dining experience to be much enjoyed during the summer months. A point of note, all the lines are brilliant with special dietary needs and requests. On my Avalon cruise a party of Chinese people had traditional Chinese food prepared and cooked for them each evening and on my Viking cruise my friend Victoria’s garlic allergy was extremely well catered for. Each morning the Head Waiter went through the days menu with her and ensured that her chosen dishes were individually prepared with not a clove in sight.

Entertainment is traditionally low key on river cruises, usually a keyboard player, and how much more entertainment you get depends very much on that individual. Some will just sit and play the keyboard every night, others will play a bit of music of the disco variety through a laptop and some will encourage a bit of karaoke. Other entertainment is provided by locals coming on board to sing or play instruments and quizzes and themed nights have been known. My money would be with Ama for evening entertainment as it was pitched just right by the young entertainment guy. A bit of something for everyone and his 60’s night went down a storm.

Cruise Directors can make or break your river cruise experience although that said I have never come across a bad one yet. My best by a mile so far was Karolin, a lovely Dutch lady with tremendous personality and a great sense of humour, on my Avalon cruise. Talk about going the extra mile! Her organizational skills and enthusiasm were second to none, and I took my hat off to her when she sat at the front of the Sun Deck (outdoors) for three hours in very cold temperatures giving us a running commentary of the Wachau Valley and surrounding areas.

Excursions are all included on a river cruise and all of the lines offer identical excursions as they all use the same local guides, and boy do these guides know their stuff! You will be provided with a headset so that you don’t miss a thing. Make sure you are wearing comfortable footwear and take a bottle of water with you and enjoy!

Staff on board are always friendly and offer excellent service, all drinks are included with lunch and dinner, and there is tea, coffee and hot chocolate along with bottled water available all day long on all lines. Viking River Cruises offer a very reasonably priced all-inclusive drinks package too which is well worth purchasing if you like a tipple. See the Cruise Director once on board to arrange this.

A lovely feature on my Ama cruise was a splash pool on the Sun Deck with a swim up bar. Perfect for cruising in the warmer months and most welcome after doing a shore excursion on a hot day I have to say. I made good use of it! I was surprised that the new Viking long ships did not feature this, nor a gym or hair salon though I do wonder how much use the latter two actually get.

All in all I think it is safe to say that which ever river line you chose from these four you will have a wonderful cruise experience. None of them will disappoint, and remember another factor which can make such a difference to your cruise is the people you will meet on board. Some of the nicest people I have ever met have been river cruisers. If I had to chose I think I would most certainly book with………….. (drum roll)……… AmaWaterways. The food overall and the evening entertainment just had the edge over the other lines for me, although Viking came a very close second. At the end of the day I always say just stick me on a river and I am happy.

For more info on river cruises please just give me a call on 0330 303 8184, anytime!