River Cruise Convention 2013.

If you have been following my traveling  facebook status’s this weekend you will have seen that  I was invited to the 3rd Annual River Cruise Convention in the Beautiful city of Cologne in Germany.

River cruising is very new to me, but I was very interested find out what else there was beyond ocean cruising, and I was not disappointed. During the weekend I met various River cruise companies including Titan, The River cruise Line, Riviera and not forgetting APT who were our hosts for the weekend.

Jessica and Angela from APT were amazing, great fun and obviously very passionate about their product.  Their hospitality  this weekend was fantastic, we experienced the authentic German night out, and  real life Chocolate factory. But read more about this next week.

During the  weekend our group was split into three so we could all experience a different River cruise vessels and really  get a feel of what River cruising can offer. Myself and my colleague Alison shown to the “Luftner Amadeus Princess”

Amadeus Princess

The Amadeus Princess is one of a fleet of 11 ships owned by Lüftner Cruises and with 80 cabins the guest list will typically be 150-160 people. Most european river cruise ships have the intimate atmosphere of a small hotel, and the Amadeus Princess was a good example of this. Everything was  on the compact side as the boats is restricted in height and width so that it can fit through the locks and under the bridges as they pass down narrow rivers.

Although smaller in size compared to a Ocean cruise liner, they still managed to fit on a good amount of amenities that you would expect from cruising, including outstanding wellness area with fitness room and Vital Club, elegant dinning room, 24- hour reception, on board shop and  Panorama Bar where you can enjoy pre and post dinner drinks and cocktails. The Panorama Bar also doubles up as a day time meeting point where you can find out about your day time excursion or enjoy afternoon tea.

Our cabin was on the highest of the  levels on  “Mozart Deck” and we had a twin with French balcony which I loved however I would have been equally happy to have a cabin on the “Strauss deck” below, which were slightly lower in price with just a large window instead of the French balcony , although the few cabins on the lowest Hayden deck had smaller windows which were at eye level with the river water line.  The first thing I noticed from our cabin before anything else was the view. Usually when you look out of your balcony in port your met with just that “The Port” but on this River cruise we were met by Cologne and all its glory.

Our 161 sqft cabin was light and spacious, bigger than I expected with the ship being so narrow. Amenities included twins beds, TV, shower/WC, cabinet, telephone, chair, desk, table, safe and lots of cupboard space without tripping over suitcases.

I found the quality of the food on board the Amadeus Princess very good. We were offered a great selection of choice. Our menu was a fish entrée and soup course followed by a meat dish of Surf and Turf or alternatively a fish or vegetarian option finished with a delicious Crème Brule and Belgium Waffle, fresh fruit or cheese platter.  All the food was hot and  beautifully presented and the service was excellent with the competent waiters. Red and white wine was served throughout meal times.

One of the highlight that stood out for me on the quaint ship was the upper sun deck which stretched the whole length of the ship with plenty of chairs to sit outside, and space to play games such as chess.  you can enjoy the fresh and open space, which I can imagine is a wonderful way to see the local scenery as you sail the waterways with a panoramic view of the each destination.

This past weekend was amazing and I really enjoyed exploring these amazing vessels. River cruising is set to be a big market in 2014, with River cruise companies all competing to be top dog, having the best itineraries and prices.

So if you would like to  find out more about River cruising or interested in some of the package we have to offer please contact me directly on 0800 408 6160 or email me directly on [email protected].

Also if you would like to know more about my weekend and find out what Cologne has to offer please keep an eye out for next week blog where I will share the rest of my photos and trip.