I still need help on river boat tours in Europe.

I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.

I asked about tipping and someone indicated that he had tipped about
300 dollars for a river boat tour which was at the low end of the
operators recommended amount. This unleashed a great deal of
discussion from which I gleaned that the tour boat management was way
out of line with their recommendations. Now i intend to not let myself
be intimidated by recommendations. What do you think of a general tip
of 10 dollars or euros a day? Is that appropriate? I ask about a
daily amount because we are not yet sure of the length of river boat
tour that we will take.

I got good feedback regarding not taking the cabins at the water level.
Now I want to ask about the size of the cabins. For those having
taken a river tour are you always out doing tours at each stop, and
only sleeping in the cabin, or did you find that you need your space
there? I'm sure that the cabins are pretty small. Are the cabins too
small to relax there, or is a suite worth the extra money?

Do you get a small refrigerator or microwave in your cabins? If you
want to pick up a couple of bottles for nightcaps or sherry prior to
dinner, is there space to keep them out of sight? If you want to have
soft drinks in your cabin, is ice available or must you go to the
lounge and request it. If you have to request it, that would get to be
old after once or twice. Obviously, i would prefer to hear that they
have small refrigerators.

We usually travel in Europe with about five days of clothing, then find
a laundromat. Is there a laundry available in these boats or must you
give everything to the steward and pay excessive laundry and dry
cleaning charges?

Is a jacket mandatory for dinner? Someone indicated that neither
jackets or ties were necessary, yet I don't want to be the only one
showing up as ultra-casual. Although we traveled in Europe for many
years, taking a jacket and tie along, after about 15 years we smartened
up, figuring that if I needed either, it would be easier to just
purchase one. Still, I would prefer not to take excessive baggage. I
know that one dresses for dinner on an ocean cruise, but how about
river cruises.

We find smoking quite offensive, but have been told that the cruise
lines are variable in their approach to this. I cannot imagine
spending 10-14 days in a cabin if the people ahead had smoked there. I
want to be sure that the boat is non-smoking and will check this before
making a reservation, but want to be sure that the crew also cannot
smoke in their rooms, allowing the smell to waft through the
ventilation system.

I asked about the internet service. While i got comments about leaving
the laptop at home and enjoying the vacation, I still intend to take
mine with me. Someone has suggested that internet cafe's are available
at every stop. This is a good thought and may do, but i would still
prefer to have a laptop. Do you know if there are cruise boats with
internet service to the individual cabins? If there are not, do you
know of cruise boats with wi-fi?

We don't know what length of tour we want, but have considered between
10 and 14 days. Do these cruises get boring after a certain period?
We think that the continually changing scenery and daily stops would
prevent this, but are not sure. What is your thought on the length?

I asked about which rivers to cruise, and got variable response.
Someone suggested other river tours than the ones we are considering,
but for first timers, we would probably opt for what is comfortable and
well known to many. Right now we are thinking about Amsterdam to
Vienna available by Uniworld. Are there thoughts on the wisdom of
this?

We would really like to hear from people who have done river tours. We
would like to avoid mistakes, or hear of things which might be
encouraged to make the best use of our time. Please do not feel any
recommendations you might have would be too simplistic.

Thanks in advance.

JFK

maybe this helps: http://www.ddsg-blue-danube.at/en_index.asp

jfk wrote:
I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.

I asked about tipping and someone indicated that he had tipped about
300 dollars for a river boat tour which was at the low end of the
operators recommended amount. This unleashed a great deal of
discussion from which I gleaned that the tour boat management was way
out of line with their recommendations. Now i intend to not let myself
be intimidated by recommendations. What do you think of a general tip
of 10 dollars or euros a day? Is that appropriate? I ask about a
daily amount because we are not yet sure of the length of river boat
tour that we will take.

There is recommended tips, but we did not follow it. You are given
envelops so no one knows how much you tip. We gave some directly to
our waiter, we did not tip the tour director. It's up to you what you
want to tip.


I got good feedback regarding not taking the cabins at the water level.
Now I want to ask about the size of the cabins. For those having
taken a river tour are you always out doing tours at each stop, and
only sleeping in the cabin, or did you find that you need your space
there? I'm sure that the cabins are pretty small. Are the cabins too
small to relax there, or is a suite worth the extra money?


It depends on the boat. We took a Denube cruise and the cabins were
good sized, fitting in two twin beds. Then there was this Russian
river cruise where the cabin was not bigger than our closet at home.

Some days there were really nothing much to do but float down the
river. You'll need your space during those days, unless you want to
just sit at the bar and drink.

Do you get a small refrigerator or microwave in your cabins? If you
want to pick up a couple of bottles for nightcaps or sherry prior to
dinner, is there space to keep them out of sight? If you want to have
soft drinks in your cabin, is ice available or must you go to the
lounge and request it. If you have to request it, that would get to be
old after once or twice. Obviously, i would prefer to hear that they
have small refrigerators.


Again it depends. On one boat we had a fridge, on another no.

We usually travel in Europe with about five days of clothing, then find
a laundromat. Is there a laundry available in these boats or must you
give everything to the steward and pay excessive laundry and dry
cleaning charges?


Again depending on the boat. On one there was a small laundromat which
got really heavy use. On another there wasn't any facility.

Is a jacket mandatory for dinner? Someone indicated that neither
jackets or ties were necessary, yet I don't want to be the only one
showing up as ultra-casual. Although we traveled in Europe for many
years, taking a jacket and tie along, after about 15 years we smartened
up, figuring that if I needed either, it would be easier to just
purchase one. Still, I would prefer not to take excessive baggage. I
know that one dresses for dinner on an ocean cruise, but how about
river cruises.


No not necessary. There was this one captain's night. Don't show up
in cut offs, but shirt and slacks are fine.

We find smoking quite offensive, but have been told that the cruise
lines are variable in their approach to this. I cannot imagine
spending 10-14 days in a cabin if the people ahead had smoked there. I
want to be sure that the boat is non-smoking and will check this before
making a reservation, but want to be sure that the crew also cannot
smoke in their rooms, allowing the smell to waft through the
ventilation system.


Both river tours we took were non-smoking, except up in the open deck.

I asked about the internet service. While i got comments about leaving
the laptop at home and enjoying the vacation, I still intend to take
mine with me. Someone has suggested that internet cafe's are available
at every stop. This is a good thought and may do, but i would still
prefer to have a laptop. Do you know if there are cruise boats with
internet service to the individual cabins? If there are not, do you
know of cruise boats with wi-fi?

Yes and they really charge you an arm and a leg for it. On many stops
you can get to internet cafe's. Others, esp in smaller towns, no. And
sometimes you'd be touring all day so really no time. A laptop would
be a total waste since you have no Wifi except using the boat's
computers. Bring lots of $$$$ if you want access. On our Russian
cruise there was one computer with very intermittent access, and very
slow connections. Again a laptop would not work at all (unless you
have satellite access).



We don't know what length of tour we want, but have considered between
10 and 14 days. Do these cruises get boring after a certain period?
We think that the continually changing scenery and daily stops would
prevent this, but are not sure. What is your thought on the length?


They don't have the kind of entertainment the big boats do, so yes
there were days that were boring. There is no continually changing
scenery, as one river bank looks the same as any other.

I asked about which rivers to cruise, and got variable response.
Someone suggested other river tours than the ones we are considering,
but for first timers, we would probably opt for what is comfortable and
well known to many. Right now we are thinking about Amsterdam to
Vienna available by Uniworld. Are there thoughts on the wisdom of
this?


We took Uniworld from Prague to Budapest, The tour was great, good
food, good service. We also took Uniworld for Russia, very different
boat, not too good food, but still great service.

We would really like to hear from people who have done river tours. We
would like to avoid mistakes, or hear of things which might be
encouraged to make the best use of our time. Please do not feel any
recommendations you might have would be too simplistic.


Don't worry about it. It's nothing much like the big cruise ships. So
bring a couple of books. It's much more relaxed.

Thanks in advance.

JFK

On 22 Nov 2006 14:15:49 -0800, "jfk" wrote:

I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.

I asked about tipping and someone indicated that he had tipped about
300 dollars for a river boat tour which was at the low end of the
operators recommended amount. This unleashed a great deal of
discussion from which I gleaned that the tour boat management was way
out of line with their recommendations. Now i intend to not let myself
be intimidated by recommendations. What do you think of a general tip
of 10 dollars or euros a day? Is that appropriate? I ask about a
daily amount because we are not yet sure of the length of river boat
tour that we will take.

I got good feedback regarding not taking the cabins at the water level.
Now I want to ask about the size of the cabins. For those having
taken a river tour are you always out doing tours at each stop, and
only sleeping in the cabin, or did you find that you need your space
there? I'm sure that the cabins are pretty small. Are the cabins too
small to relax there, or is a suite worth the extra money?

Do you get a small refrigerator or microwave in your cabins? If you
want to pick up a couple of bottles for nightcaps or sherry prior to
dinner, is there space to keep them out of sight? If you want to have
soft drinks in your cabin, is ice available or must you go to the
lounge and request it. If you have to request it, that would get to be
old after once or twice. Obviously, i would prefer to hear that they
have small refrigerators.

We usually travel in Europe with about five days of clothing, then find
a laundromat. Is there a laundry available in these boats or must you
give everything to the steward and pay excessive laundry and dry
cleaning charges?

Is a jacket mandatory for dinner? Someone indicated that neither
jackets or ties were necessary, yet I don't want to be the only one
showing up as ultra-casual. Although we traveled in Europe for many
years, taking a jacket and tie along, after about 15 years we smartened
up, figuring that if I needed either, it would be easier to just
purchase one. Still, I would prefer not to take excessive baggage. I
know that one dresses for dinner on an ocean cruise, but how about
river cruises.

We find smoking quite offensive, but have been told that the cruise
lines are variable in their approach to this. I cannot imagine
spending 10-14 days in a cabin if the people ahead had smoked there. I
want to be sure that the boat is non-smoking and will check this before
making a reservation, but want to be sure that the crew also cannot
smoke in their rooms, allowing the smell to waft through the
ventilation system.

I asked about the internet service. While i got comments about leaving
the laptop at home and enjoying the vacation, I still intend to take
mine with me. Someone has suggested that internet cafe's are available
at every stop. This is a good thought and may do, but i would still
prefer to have a laptop. Do you know if there are cruise boats with
internet service to the individual cabins? If there are not, do you
know of cruise boats with wi-fi?

We don't know what length of tour we want, but have considered between
10 and 14 days. Do these cruises get boring after a certain period?
We think that the continually changing scenery and daily stops would
prevent this, but are not sure. What is your thought on the length?

I asked about which rivers to cruise, and got variable response.
Someone suggested other river tours than the ones we are considering,
but for first timers, we would probably opt for what is comfortable and
well known to many. Right now we are thinking about Amsterdam to
Vienna available by Uniworld. Are there thoughts on the wisdom of
this?

We would really like to hear from people who have done river tours. We
would like to avoid mistakes, or hear of things which might be
encouraged to make the best use of our time. Please do not feel any
recommendations you might have would be too simplistic.

Thanks in advance.

JFK

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On 22 Nov 2006 14:15:49 -0800, "jfk" wrote:

I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.

Why don't you crosspost this to rec.travel.cruises? You will probably
get a lot more responses. Most of the regular posters on this group
don't usually take such tours. (Some of them never even leave home.)

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On 22 Nov 2006 14:15:49 -0800, "jfk" wrote:

I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.

I asked about tipping and someone indicated that he had tipped about
300 dollars for a river boat tour which was at the low end of the
operators recommended amount. This unleashed a great deal of
discussion from which I gleaned that the tour boat management was way
out of line with their recommendations. Now i intend to not let myself
be intimidated by recommendations. What do you think of a general tip
of 10 dollars or euros a day? Is that appropriate? I ask about a
daily amount because we are not yet sure of the length of river boat
tour that we will take.

If you're a European, that would be regarded as very generous - as per
previous replies, it seems that a different tipping culture exists in
the US.

I got good feedback regarding not taking the cabins at the water level.
Now I want to ask about the size of the cabins. For those having
taken a river tour are you always out doing tours at each stop, and
only sleeping in the cabin, or did you find that you need your space
there? I'm sure that the cabins are pretty small. Are the cabins too
small to relax there, or is a suite worth the extra money?

Depends on the itnierary how much time you spend in your cabin, and
how well you get on with other people. Obviously, if you're
socialising and chatting a lot, you'll spend more time in the
bar/lounge than in your cabin.

Similarly, if you're moored up at a riverside location, you'll
probably be exploring what's on shore and having a beer at a local bar
or café rather than spending time in your cabin.

Cabins are generally small, but often well-designed so that there'll
at least be a table and a couple of chairs in them.

(Cabin size is limited by the fact that ships have to negotiate locks
- on the Mosel/Moselle the locks are 12m wide. The ship I work on -
the Serenade 1 - is 11.45 m wide) It's unusual in that all cabins are
equipped with bath + shower. Many ships have showers only. Pictures
he

http://www.euroshipping-voyages.com/Serenade1.php

NOTE: If you go for a suite, make sure it's not above the engines!!!!!
Cabins towards the rear are always more noisy!



Do you get a small refrigerator or microwave in your cabins?

The Serenade 1 has mini-bars in the cabin - you could shove your own
bottles in to keep them cool. There are also hair-dryers and electric
kettles for making a cup of tea - but no microwaves. (You should be
fed well enough on board no to need one anyway!) Due to the nature of
the power-supply on board, passengers are asked not to use electric
appliances of their own as they could be a fire hazard. Electric
shavers and mobile phone chargers are an exception.

If you
want to pick up a couple of bottles for nightcaps or sherry prior to
dinner, is there space to keep them out of sight?

See above. Room enough in your wardrobe for a bottle or two.

If you want to have
soft drinks in your cabin, is ice available or must you go to the
lounge and request it.

The Serenade 1 has an ice machine next to a coffee machine - available
24/7.

If you have to request it, that would get to be
old after once or twice. Obviously, i would prefer to hear that they
have small refrigerators.

See above. Better - and cheaper - to buy your own soft drinks on
shore. The Serenade 1 provides large bottles of mineral water, but
better choice on shore.

We usually travel in Europe with about five days of clothing, then find
a laundromat. Is there a laundry available in these boats or must you
give everything to the steward and pay excessive laundry and dry
cleaning charges?

They can do laundry on board (at a price) but not dry cleaning.

Is a jacket mandatory for dinner? Someone indicated that neither
jackets or ties were necessary, yet I don't want to be the only one
showing up as ultra-casual. Although we traveled in Europe for many
years, taking a jacket and tie along, after about 15 years we smartened
up, figuring that if I needed either, it would be easier to just
purchase one. Still, I would prefer not to take excessive baggage. I
know that one dresses for dinner on an ocean cruise, but how about
river cruises.

The rule seems to be "smart casual". For dinner, quite a few people
wear jacket and tie, and always for welcome dinners and farewell
dinners, but river cruising is much more informal than deep-sea
cruising.

No shorts in the restaurant, though! That's health and safety as much
as anything else: hot soup and bare legs don't go well together!

We find smoking quite offensive, but have been told that the cruise
lines are variable in their approach to this. I cannot imagine
spending 10-14 days in a cabin if the people ahead had smoked there. I
want to be sure that the boat is non-smoking and will check this before
making a reservation, but want to be sure that the crew also cannot
smoke in their rooms, allowing the smell to waft through the
ventilation system.

On the ships I've worked on, no smoking is allowed in passenger or
crew cabins. The crew have a mess-room where they can smoke, but it's
right at the back of the ship well away from passenger cabins.

Otherwise, smoking is OK on the sun-deck and nowhere else.

There is a small area at the back of the lounge where passengers are
allowed to smoke, but it's enclosed by glass doors. I understand that
a lot of ships have a total smoking ban.



I asked about the internet service. While i got comments about leaving
the laptop at home and enjoying the vacation, I still intend to take
mine with me.

I'd still recommend that you leave it at home.

Someone has suggested that internet cafe's are available
at every stop

Depends where you stop. In small villages, forget it.

This is a good thought and may do, but i would still
prefer to have a laptop. Do you know if there are cruise boats with
internet service to the individual cabins? If there are not, do you
know of cruise boats with wi-fi?

Don't know of any wi-fi connected ships.

In any case, the satellite internet connection is intermittent,
especially when sailing. The satellite connection, anyway has
extortionate costs associated with it.

We don't know what length of tour we want, but have considered between
10 and 14 days. Do these cruises get boring after a certain period?
We think that the continually changing scenery and daily stops would
prevent this, but are not sure. What is your thought on the length?

10 days should be enough. Not all sections of the river system are
scenic - to be honest, some are quite boring. The Rhine between Mainz
and Basel is not that pretty, but excursions to Heidelberg, the Black
Forest and the Bernese Oberland make up for that.


I asked about which rivers to cruise, and got variable response.
Someone suggested other river tours than the ones we are considering,
but for first timers, we would probably opt for what is comfortable and
well known to many. Right now we are thinking about Amsterdam to
Vienna available by Uniworld. Are there thoughts on the wisdom of
this?

Good itinerary. You'll see the Rhine Gorge, and the River Main itself
is scenically beautiful in many places. Passau - Linz on the Danube is
nice, and the Wachau district is terrific - hope you stop at somewhere
like Dürnstein!

Just check the detailed itinerary, though, to make sure that you don't
sail through a lot of nice places overnight!

We would really like to hear from people who have done river tours. We
would like to avoid mistakes, or hear of things which might be
encouraged to make the best use of our time. Please do not feel any
recommendations you might have would be too simplistic.

Thanks in advance.

JFK

Hope that the above helps!



Keith, Bristol, UK

Email: usenet[dot]20[dot]keefy[at]spamgourmet[dot]com

A spamtrap - but I'll get your mail

On 22 Nov 2006 14:15:49 -0800, "jfk" wrote:

I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.

I've just compared my answer to your post with Peter L's, and noticed
the similarities.

The perfect river -cruise probably doesn't exist, unless you have your
own ship and lots of time to explore. There will always be things that
are missed out because of the sailing schedule.

My recommendation would be to ask Uniworld for a day-to-day breakdown
of your cruise itinerary including timings and stopping points, and to
ask them (or any other tour-operator you might choose) about the
on-board facilities, i.e. ice-machines, internet/wi-fi access,
laundry, cabin size etc, because the answers will always be different
for different tour-operators/ships.

Whilst some parts of the river system are more scenic than others, as
someone who has worked on river ships for a number of years I've never
got bored. I love working with the sailing staff, and have learned a
great deal about things from captains and first officers. The river
and inland waterway system is quite friendly - captains know other
captains and there's quite a bit of socialising and nattering on the
radio systems. Then again there's the changing face of the rivers
through the seasons - the sparkling green of the vineyards in spring
to the awesome colours of autumn, seeing the ducklings and cygnets in
spring and watching them being brought up to fend for themselves by
the parent birds.

From the point of view of a guide, river-cruising is terrific. The
pace is slow enough so that I can give a proper commentary about the
sights, but also lots of time to let people just enjoy the scenery.
That's why I've been on the ships (although not full time) since 1998.

If your tour-manager is interested in his/her job and gets on well
with the on-board staff, you should have a great experience.


Keith, Bristol, UK

Email: usenet[dot]20[dot]keefy[at]spamgourmet[dot]com

A spamtrap - but I'll get your mail

"jfk" wrote in message
ups.com...
I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

snip

You might get more response from rec.travel.cruises.

Marianne

B Vaughan wrote:

On 22 Nov 2006 14:15:49 -0800, "jfk" wrote:


I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.


Why don't you crosspost this to rec.travel.cruises? You will probably
get a lot more responses. Most of the regular posters on this group
don't usually take such tours. (Some of them never even leave home.)


Actually, I've seen more discussion of river boats here than on Rec.t.
cruises. They tend to only think of large boats.

jfk wrote:

I still need advice on river boat tours in Europe. I got some good web
sites from my last post, and thank those who contributed.

I posted some questions, and will review some of them which I hope will
still be covered.

I asked about tipping and someone indicated that he had tipped about
300 dollars for a river boat tour which was at the low end of the
operators recommended amount. This unleashed a great deal of
discussion from which I gleaned that the tour boat management was way
out of line with their recommendations. Now i intend to not let myself
be intimidated by recommendations. What do you think of a general tip
of 10 dollars or euros a day? Is that appropriate? I ask about a
daily amount because we are not yet sure of the length of river boat
tour that we will take.

I tend to consider the annual take if everyone gives the amount. Even
if there is only a minimal salary I find the recommendations result in
exceptional incomes. I tend to tip better for the boat staff than the
cruise director.

Don't forget the tips you will be expected to provide for local guides
and drivers.

I got good feedback regarding not taking the cabins at the water level.
Now I want to ask about the size of the cabins. For those having
taken a river tour are you always out doing tours at each stop, and
only sleeping in the cabin, or did you find that you need your space
there? I'm sure that the cabins are pretty small. Are the cabins too
small to relax there, or is a suite worth the extra money?

The cabins are small but reasonable for relaxation. I must admit that I
tend to spend more time on deck or in the lounges. Unlike larger ships
the balconies are minimal and the balcony space is taken from the room
space. Perhaps balcony cabins would be cramped.

Do you get a small refrigerator or microwave in your cabins? If you
want to pick up a couple of bottles for nightcaps or sherry prior to
dinner, is there space to keep them out of sight? If you want to have
soft drinks in your cabin, is ice available or must you go to the
lounge and request it. If you have to request it, that would get to be
old after once or twice. Obviously, i would prefer to hear that they
have small refrigerators.

The ships that i have been on did not have fridges. There is reasonable
space for storing sherry.

We usually travel in Europe with about five days of clothing, then find
a laundromat. Is there a laundry available in these boats or must you
give everything to the steward and pay excessive laundry and dry
cleaning charges?

I would recommend not expecting laundry. The ships are small and rarely
linger enough for local services.

Is a jacket mandatory for dinner? Someone indicated that neither
jackets or ties were necessary, yet I don't want to be the only one
showing up as ultra-casual. Although we traveled in Europe for many
years, taking a jacket and tie along, after about 15 years we smartened
up, figuring that if I needed either, it would be easier to just
purchase one. Still, I would prefer not to take excessive baggage. I
know that one dresses for dinner on an ocean cruise, but how about
river cruises.

Neither would be useful on the ships that I have used.

We find smoking quite offensive, but have been told that the cruise
lines are variable in their approach to this. I cannot imagine
spending 10-14 days in a cabin if the people ahead had smoked there. I
want to be sure that the boat is non-smoking and will check this before
making a reservation, but want to be sure that the crew also cannot
smoke in their rooms, allowing the smell to waft through the
ventilation system.

There usually are restrictions but enforcement is erratic. The ship
staff hates to bother customers. I suppose it would come down to which
side makes more trouble.

I asked about the internet service. While i got comments about leaving
the laptop at home and enjoying the vacation, I still intend to take
mine with me. Someone has suggested that internet cafe's are available
at every stop. This is a good thought and may do, but i would still
prefer to have a laptop. Do you know if there are cruise boats with
internet service to the individual cabins? If there are not, do you
know of cruise boats with wi-fi?

I haven't seen it. Wi-fi or cabin service is uncommon even on larger boats.

We don't know what length of tour we want, but have considered between
10 and 14 days. Do these cruises get boring after a certain period?
We think that the continually changing scenery and daily stops would
prevent this, but are not sure. What is your thought on the length?

I have never had a problem. I like to watch scenery though.

I asked about which rivers to cruise, and got variable response.
Someone suggested other river tours than the ones we are considering,
but for first timers, we would probably opt for what is comfortable and
well known to many. Right now we are thinking about Amsterdam to
Vienna available by Uniworld. Are there thoughts on the wisdom of
this?

It's a good area although probably pushing your time limits.

We would really like to hear from people who have done river tours. We
would like to avoid mistakes, or hear of things which might be
encouraged to make the best use of our time. Please do not feel any
recommendations you might have would be too simplistic.

One mistake is not paying attention to what is happening in the town
when you stop for the night. If I had not been watching advertisements
we would have missed a wonderful organ concert in the cathedral in
Passau one December night. The cruise staff often do not pay proper
attention to one off events which simply happen to match your time in town.

Thanks in advance.

JFK