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The River Cruise Lady

River cruising and small ship luxury cruising

AmaWaterways River Cruises

How to pack a carry on suitcase for a 3 week trip

November 21, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

When I met my travelling companion before the start of our Rhine river cruise and she showed up with this small carry on bag and backpack, was thinking that wow she’ll be wearing the same clothes every day. Well was I wrong and you can see in the video how much stuff she actually fits into this carry on. I was so amazed that I had to share this with to show you that it can be done and I’m going to try her ideas when packing for my next trip. Enjoy !

Filed Under: AMA Waterways, Avalon Waterways, Danube River, Europe, Featured Post, packing a suitcase, Rhine River, Rhone River, River Cruise Lady, Scenic Tours River Cruises, Seine River, Tauck Tours, Uniworld, Viking River Cruises

Which is the best River Cruise Company for Europe ?

September 6, 2013 by Linda 6 Comments

This is a question I get from my clients all the time and to answer it would be like choosing which child was the best of your children!

They all have their redeeming qualities and differences and it could really depend on ones own preferences as to the outcome. Let me give you an example – Uniworld River Cruises  www.uniworld.com has announced that they are going totally all inclusive for their 2014 European River Cruises (which means they will include unlimited beverages onboard including wine, beer, spirits, cocktails, soft drinks, juices, plus all shore excursions) which sounds the best except for the non-drinker who ends up paying more for their river cruise for those beverages they won’t consume. These people might think its best to choose Avalon Waterways www.avalonwaterways.com who only provide wine, beer and soft drinks at dinner which is reflected in the price.

Another example is with Viking River Cruises  www.vikingrivercruises.com and all their brand new “longships” that they have recently christened.  While it is so nice to be able to travel in the comfort of a new ship, in order to keep their pricing competitive, they made the decision to put in more staterooms which in turn hold more people.  All river cruise ships that travel on the Danube are regulated and cannot be longer than 443 feet.  The new Viking ships have 95 staterooms or 190 passengers where if you compare that to AMA Waterways www.amawaterways.com whose new ships are the same size, they only have 82 staterooms holding 164 passengers.  So Viking River might have the best pricing, but AMA Waterways have more public space onboard.

Talking about having more space onboard brings me to Tauck River Cruising  www.tauck.com/river-cruises  as they step it up a notch with their new ships having larger rooms, more dining options and capping the passengers at 130 in 67 cabins to get the best space ratio category. They include all beverages, the gratuties, a signature special experience and all shore excursions.

Unique for 2014 is Scenic River Cruise www.us.scenictours.com introduction of their new lower priced line Emerald Waterways www.emeraldwaterways.com which will be a first in the industry where one company has two distinct types of river cruises to choose from.  Scenic Tours originated in Australia selling package tours and is still privately owned there. Scenic also  offers the all inclusive concept but Emerald will only have wine and beer with lunch and dinner. Their aim with the new Emerald line is to target a younger demographic with their two ships having swimming pools that inventively convert into a cinema and their open-air balcon system that allows you to enjoy it no matter what the weather.

A new player in the North American market is A-Rosa Cruises www.arosacruises.com which has been operating in Europe for years but has now picked a few of their departures to cater exclusively to English speaking passengers. It will be interesting to see if they are able to keep up with the other big operators.

So you can see that its tough to pick the “best” one as each has their own unique benefits.  Viking River claims to have the “greenest” ships featuring diesel-electric hybrid engines specially designed for low vibration and minimal environmental impact. AMA Waterways is famous for their fresh food brought on from local ports. Avalon Waterways have the most innovative design in their cabins where they’ve turned the bed to face the french balcony sliding glass doors. Uniworld offers an interesting mix of programs for their shore excursions including Go Active, Gentle Walking, Do as the Locals Do and Village Day.

If you would like some additional information on any of these companies, ships or their itineraries, please feel free to drop me an email.  If you’ve already sailed on any of them – which one was your favourite and why ?

RiverCruiseLadyLinda

linda@therivercruiselady.com

 

Filed Under: A-Rosa River Cruises, AMA Waterways, Avalon Waterways, Cruises, Danube River, Elbe River, Europe, Mosel River, Rhine River, Rhone River, River Cruise Lady, River Cruises, River Cruising, Scenic Tours River Cruises, Seine River, Tauck Tours, Uniworld, Viking River Cruises

Scenic Tours Launches Emerald Waterways

August 19, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

Scenic Tours announced the launch of a new premium river cruise line called Emerald Waterways, which will debut two new ships in early 2014 and is aimed at attracting a younger audience. The 182-passenger, 443-foot long sister ships Emerald Sky and Emerald Star, will debut in spring of 2014 and will cruise 7 to 14 night itineraries on the Rhine, Danube, Main and Mosel rivers.

 

Managing Director for Scenic Tours and Emerald Waterways, Chris Townson said “We believe we can attract a younger demographic, too, with value for money as the emphasis”, although he stressed the line would not be actively marketing to families.

 

Townson also said Emerald Waterways is positioning itself as a competitor to brands such as Viking Cruises and Avalon Waterways. He said the line would be competitive within the four-star range of cruise products while also boasting a handful of innovative design touches and nearly all-inclusive pricing. The most innovative new bit of design planned for the twin ships is a dual-purpose area at the aft of the ship that transforms from an indoor, heated pool with retractable roof during the day to a cinema at night. The rest of the ships’ new features have become standard, these include: good-sized suites, balconies in a majority of cabins and an open-air alternative dining space.

 

Emerald Waterways will include beer, wine and soft drinks at meals, shore excursions, transfers and tips within the cost of the overall fare, as does Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. Additionally, the line will offer free return flights to U.K. passengers traveling from London’s Heathrow airport and other regional airports. For passengers traveling from cities and countries outside the U.K., a spokesperson for the line said: “We can arrange flights for guests on a case by-case basis — however if the cost of the flight from a country other than the U.K. goes over an allocated budget, we would charge the guest extra. Or they can take the cruise as a ‘cruise only’ and book their own flights.”

 

Filed Under: Avalon Waterways, Castles, Cruises, Danube River, Europe, Mosel River, Quaint Villages, Rhine River, Rhone River, River Cruise Lady, Scenic Tours River Cruises, Viking River Cruises, Wine

River views right from your bed

July 8, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

It’s amazing to see how the river cruise companies come up with such innovative ways to design their staterooms. You’ll see in the video below how Avalon Waterways changed the configuration of the cabin and now have the bed facing the window – genius idea !

(I joked that maybe it was designed by a woman because the old way used to face the TV and now it faces the spectacular scenery going by)

Filed Under: Avalon Waterways, Cruises, Danube River, Elbe River, Europe, Rhine River, Rhone River, River Cruise Lady, River Cruises, Seine River

Do all river cruise companies have bikes onboard ?

July 2, 2013 by Linda 2 Comments

This is popular question that I get asked when clients are inquiring about European river cruising so thought I would post the answer here for others to benefit from.

 

No, all of the river cruise companies do not have bikes onboard in Europe so if this is important to you, then you’ll want to look at:

 

1) AMA Waterways
2) A-Rosa
3) Scenic Tours
4) Tauck Tours
5) Uniworld

 

Avalon Waterways and Viking River Cruises are the two that do not have bikes onboard.

 

Happy sailing and cycling !

 

RiverCruiseLadyLinda
www.therivercruiselady.com

Bicycles on river cruises

Bicycles on river cruises

Filed Under: A-Rosa River Cruises, AMA Waterways, Avalon Waterways, Cruises, Danube River, Elbe River, Europe, Rhine River, Rhone River, River Cruise Lady, Scenic Tours River Cruises, Seine River, Tauck Tours, Uniworld, Viking River Cruises

Do you like Wine ? Castles ? Quaint Villages ?

June 28, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

Great news because you can do all three when you take a wine-themed river cruise with AMA Waterways in Europe !

You can sail on the Rhine River, the Danube River or take a quick look at their cruise along the Rhone River in the video below

 

Filed Under: AMA Waterways, Castles, Cruises, Danube River, Quaint Villages, Rhine River, Rhone River, River Cruise Lady, River Cruises, Wine

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As our world is opening up again, why not take a b As our world is opening up again, why not take a bucket-list river cruise along the Nile. You’ll get to see Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza which is not only the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but the only one that has survived all the way to modern times. Constructed between 2560 and 2540 BCE, the pyramid was built for Pharaoh Kufu – the second pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty. It is the largest of all the tombs built in the ancient world and has towered over the West Bank of the Nile River for more than 4,000 years. 
#rivercruiselady #nilerivercruise #amawaterways #rivercruise #bucketlist #travel #pyramids
If your passport is tucked away waiting for the wo If your passport is tucked away waiting for the world to reopen, it would be a great time to find it and check the expiry date. 
You wouldn’t want to be rivercruise-ready only to find out you’re not passport-ready!! (besides, it has probably missed you 😉)
#rivercruiselady 
#rivercruise 
#rivercruiseready
#travelready 
#passportready 
#countingdownthedays
Out for a nature walk near a small #river like slo Out for a nature walk near a small #river like slough & this beauty tentatively strolled past 😍 
#nature #walk #rivercruiselady #deer #notafraid #beautiful
I have a favor to ask of you out there, my RiverCr I have a favor to ask of you out there, my RiverCruiseLady YouTube page needs 1000 subscribers before I can access some extra benefits and I’m at 850 now so hoping there might be 150 of you out there who could subscribe and put me over! 
If you click on the link below, hopefully it will go to the page but if not, may have to search TheRiverCruiseLady & that would be so appreciated ❣️ 

https://youtube.com/c/Therivercruiselady

#rivercruiselady #rivercruise #thanksforyoursupport
Cheers to every woman on International Women’s D Cheers to every woman on International Women’s Day! 
#internationalwomensday #iwd #rivercruiselady
In less than 3 weeks now, I will be sharing the de In less than 3 weeks now, I will be sharing the details of a brand new Seven River Journey through 14 countries in Europe happening in 2023 - it will be a once in a lifetime event so stay tuned for more information !! #rivercruiselady #rivercruise #sevenrivers #staytuned
Happy World Rivers Day! Once we can start travell Happy World Rivers Day!  Once we can start travelling on them again, which one are you looking forward to the most? #danube #rhine #seine #rhone #douro #mississippi #columbia #snakeriver #mekong or ??? 
⚓️ #rivercruiselady #rivercruise
#rivercruiselady #dreamingoftravel #brighterdaysah #rivercruiselady #dreamingoftravel #brighterdaysahead
Would have been a ‘cruising down the river’ da Would have been a ‘cruising down the river’ day on my @uniworldcruises Nile Cruise Egypt itinerary so looking at the intriguing landscape until I can get there again one day. ⚓️
#rivercruiselady #rivercruise #nilecruise #dreamingoftravel #staysafe
It’s Ama-zing what you find when you’re quaran It’s Ama-zing what you find when you’re quaran-cleaning!  I remember celebrating with @amawaterways & blue champagne when we reached the highest point of the Main-Danube canal 10 years ago (did not recall getting this certificate though 😏) ⚓️ #rivercruiselady #rivercruise #amawaterways #danube #river #covidcleaning #rivercruiseladylinda
Feeling sad for all the river cruisers who plans h Feeling sad for all the river cruisers who plans have been postponed & hope they can rebook for the future & while on a walk yesterday, realized the only one who isn’t sad is Mother Nature as she continues to blossom just like this beautiful tree I saw ⚓️ #rivercruiselady #travel #rivercruise #future #mothernature #blossom #wewillgetthroughthis
In honor/honour of International Women’s Day, I In honor/honour of International Women’s Day, I am striking the pose #eachforequal and so proud of how far we’ve come but realize we’ve still got a long way to go!  Wearing my @amawaterways scarf that I received as a gift on my #rivercruise because #amameanslove which is spread throughout their company by their ama-zing leader & co-owner Kristin Karst ❣️ Kudos to all the other women  in executive positions in the #rivercruising (or any other) industry 👏🏼
⚓️ #internationalwomensday #rivercruiselady #womensupportingwomen #womeninbusiness
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River Cruise Lady Linda

6 months ago

River Cruise Lady Linda
As our world is opening up again, why not take a bucket-list river cruise along the Nile. You’ll get to see Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza which is not only the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but the only one that has survived all the way to modern times. Constructed between 2560 and 2540 BCE, the pyramid was built for Pharaoh Kufu – the second pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty. It is the largest of all the tombs built in the ancient world and has towered over the West Bank of the Nile River for more than 4,000 years. #rivercruiselady #nilerivercruise #amawaterways #rivercruise #bucketlist #travel #pyramids ... See MoreSee Less
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River Cruise Lady Linda

1 years ago

River Cruise Lady Linda
I have a favor to ask of you out there, my RiverCruiseLady YouTube page needs 1000 subscribers before I can access some extra benefits and I’m at 850 now so hoping there might be 150 of you out there who could subscribe and put me over! If you search RiverCruiseLady & here is what my page looks like, that would be so appreciated ❣️youtube.com/c/Therivercruiselady#rivercruiselady #rivercruise #thanksforyoursupport ... See MoreSee Less
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River Cruise Lady Linda

1 years ago

River Cruise Lady Linda
Cheers to every woman on International Women’s Day! #internationalwomensday #iwd #rivercruiselady ... See MoreSee Less
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River Cruise Lady Linda

1 years ago

River Cruise Lady Linda
In less than 3 weeks now, I will be sharing the details of a brand new Seven River Journey through 14 countries in Europe happening in 2023 - it will be a once in a lifetime event so stay tuned for more information !! #rivercruiselady #rivercruise #SevenRivers #staytuned ... See MoreSee Less
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