Tips for River Cruising
Expert Journey Advisor has been reminiscing this week about our favorite journeys. On any list we make, river cruising floats to the top.
Of course, river cruisers are quite different from sea-going cruise ships. River vessels keep a low profile, stay close to shore, travel at just a few knots. And they carry far fewer passengers aboard which makes it easy to meet your fellow travelers. In our experience, you’re more likely to be surrounded by an international mix of people on a riverboat, which we find hard to resist.
While there are no Broadway reviews or poolside conga lines on river cruises (partly because there are no long hours of sea travel to fill), there is the considerable convenience of having your hotel room and restaurant travel with you.
Travel on a river, and you find that you dock right into the heart of town. You’re "there" as soon as you step off the gangway. That's something any traveler can appreciate.
We've rarely found the same pairing of relaxation and cultural discovery in other forms of travel. And yet, there are a several practical things we wish friends had told us before taking our first river cruise:
1. It's important to choose a top vessel. First, the difference between deluxe river cruisers and mid-range vessels is substantial—in personal accommodations, in service, and in dining. Second, since one buys the entire package in U.S. dollars, deluxe river cruises are already an excellent value, particularly if you compare them to the same trip by other means of transportation. The river cruiser is not the place to skimp. (Our first trip was on a middle-category vessel; our second was on a top-of-the-line cruiser. We'll never go back.)
2. Take your best camera. The one with the good lenses. Your vantage point from the river is the best you're likely to get, so capture it well. Remember, rivers were yesterday’s highways, so all the grand architecture and finest city features face the river, putting them right smack in front of you. (Our best camera is quite heavy, so we use it on deck, then stow it in our stateroom. We tuck a light-weight camera into a pocket when we go ashore.)
3. Invest in supportive, comfortable walking shoes. This sounds obvious, but on our first trip, we took shoes that seemed just fine at home, not realizing we had never spent a full day in them. That was a mistake. Our feet were much happier once we purchased a better pair in France, but we'd rather have had the right footwear from the outset. Remember, too, that many old cities and towns are paved in cobblestones, so your shoes of choice should have traction on uneven, sometimes slick surfaces.
4. If you require a special diet, communicate it well in advance. River cruise chefs plan meals according to what's fresh along the route, and this may not comport with your list of what you must, or must not, eat. However, provide enough advanced notice, and the kitchen can cook you almost anything. (On one of our trips, a vegetarian couple who had not made prior arrangements were forced to compromise for the first few meals. But once the chef had an opportunity to shop for them in the local market, they dined as well as the rest of us.)