River Cruising

[Kate Ashlock]

Hi all,

I'm giving thought to a European river cruise in 2007. Though I believe I realize the differences between Ocean/River cruising, the port intensive itinerary, included excursions and chance to see some lesser visited ports appeal to me.

I'm curious if anyone has had any recent experiences with Vantage or Viking? Even on this board, the last post was in 2004 and all the reviews I can find online are generally 2-3 years old.

Any info would be appreciated.

[Oggy Boy]

Kate, good question. I just got a review of the Viking Sun a couple of days ago and need to update the Viking River Cruise web. I will see if I can get it done this week end.

I thought I would not like river cruising and ended up loving it. The perception is that they are totally structured (which I dislike) but we had a wonderful time and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. In fact, we are looking forward to it.

The company I would look closely at is Avalon Waterways. They are a U.S. based comapny with three brand new ships offering cruises throughout Europe, Russia and China. Having been built for the American market, all announcements are in English and they offer larger than normal river boat cabins.

I have heard nothing but great things about them.

What itinerary are you looking at?

Tom