German Castle along the Rhine
River // (c) Ben Visbeek |
As river cruising excursions continue to gain in popularity, increased offerings have become available, running the gamut of length and price point and often including pre- and post-cruise hotel stays, and in exotic locations usually packaged in with land tours. Most cruise lines also offer opportunities for city extensions before or after the cruise. Below are a few of the choices available in 2009.
Rhine
Avalon Waterways offers an eight-day Romantic Rhine cruise between Amsterdam and Basel on the company’s recently built Affinity, Creativity and Tapestry. Sailing from the end of April through early November, the cruise is priced from $1,989.
www.avalonwaterways.com
Viking River Cruises’ new hybrid ship, Viking Legend, will join Viking Pride and Viking Spirit on the May-November departures of the 15-day Grand European Tour between Amsterdam and Budapest along the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, the company’s most popular itinerary. Offering highlights of Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, the cruise offers guests entree into Viennese cafes, the ancient art of glassblowing, the music of Mozart and more. Pricing is from $2,799.
www.vikingrivers.com
Danube
Uniworld’s new River Beatrice with French balconies on 80 percent of the staterooms offers nine-day Holiday Markets cruises between Passau and Budapest Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, 13 and 20 through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany, priced from $1,999. They visit the large Christmas markets of Vienna and the more intimate ones of Bratislava, Passau, and Salzburg. Music aficionados will enjoy a classical concert in Vienna, a children’s choir in Salzburg and an exclusive organ recital at Gottweig Abbey and shoppers can load the crafts and collectables. From the end of March through the end of October Beatrice sails a similar itinerary, “Enchanting Danube,” starting at $1,949. Extended stays can be booked with Uniworld: three days in Budapest or four days in Prague.
www.uniworld.com
AMA Waterways offers a 15-day Black Sea itinerary between Budapest and Istanbul with two nights in Budapest, a seven-night cruise to Bulgaria and an overnight there, plus three nights in Istanbul. Departures April 17 through March 27 aboard the Amalyra, Amacallo and Amadante are priced from $4,219.
www.amawaterways.com
Tauck’s 12-day Blue Danube itinerary is offered on Swiss Emerald, Swiss Sapphire or the new Swiss Jewel. Guests see the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, enjoying an Imperial evening with dinner and music in Vienna and a wine tasting in Durnstein; they visit Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg and Prague, the Wachau Valley and Schonbrunn Palace. The trip includes two nights each in Budapest and Prague in five-star hotels, priced from $3,990.
www.tauck.com
Seine
Peter Deilmann’s seven-day spring and fall cruises between Paris and Rouen start at $1,700 and include visits to Versailles, Monet’s home at Giverny, Honfleur and more.
www.deilmann-cruises.com
Rhone
Avalon Waterways offers a 12-day Flavors of Burgundy and Provence cruise with departures from early April to early December from $2,209. It includes two nights in Paris and one in Nice, framing the seven-day cruise, which sails from Chalon-sur-Saone to Arles. Features include a Burgundy wine-tasting in medieval Beaune and sightseeing with local guides in Avignon, Arles and Lyon.
www.avalonwaterways.com
AMA’s 15-day Provence and Spain cruise aboard Swiss Pearl has departures scheduled May 5-Oct. 20, priced from $4,519. Guests spend three nights in Paris, travel by high-speed TGV train to Lyon, then take a seven-night cruise through Provence, ending with a three-night stay in Barcelona.
www.amawaterways.com
Yangtze
A four-day Yangtze cruise aboard Victoria Cruises’ new Victoria Jenna from Chongqing to Yichang is included in Tauck’s 16-day China, the Yangtze and Hong Kong tour, traveling from Hong Kong to Shanghai. Pricing is from $4,630 and it is offered April 17 and 24. A 13-night version from Beijing to Shanghai is priced from $3, 630 and small group departures limited to 26 guests are scheduled May 1, June 5 and 26, July 17, Sept. 11 and Oct. 2 and 16 from $6,130. The cruise is the classic Three Gorges itinerary and the tour includes Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong; a sampan cruise through a Hong Kong harbor; a boat ride at the Summer Palace; a walk on the Great Wall; a visit to the Terra Cotta Warriors; and much more.
www.tauck.com
Abercrombie & Kent’s all-balcony 124-passenger Yangzi Explorer sails April to November downstream from Chongqing to Yichang (three nights) and upstream from Yichang to Chongqing (four nights), with shore excursions at Fengdu, Shennong Stream and the Three Gorges Dam Project. Prices start at $6,415.
www.abercrombiekent.com
Nile
Uniworld will debut the new luxurious 42-suite River Tosca in 2009 and one of her itineraries is the roundtrip Cairo 13-day Splendors of Egypt and the Nile, with a seven-night cruise and four nights in Cairo, where guests visit the Egyptian Museum to see the treasures recovered from the tomb of King Tut, the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Pricing is from $3,799.
www.uniworld.com
Volga
Viking River Cruises’ 13-day Waterways of the Czars, priced from $2,299, is offered from May to mid-October aboard the Viking Surkov, Viking Kirov and Viking Pakhomov. The cruise includes ancient villages like Yaroslavl, Uglich and Goritzy. Moscow’s Kremlin and Red Square and St. Petersburg’s Pushkin, Peter & Paul Fortress and the Hermitage. Guests spend four days in St. Petersburg and three in Moscow aboard the floating hotel. Extensions are available in the Baltic, ranging from three nights in Helsinki to seven nights in Helsinki, Vilnius, Riga and Talinn.
www.vikingrivercruises.com
Columbia and Snake
American Safari Cruises operates the eight-night Rivers of the West between Astoria and Lewiston on the 12-guest Safari Spirit Sept. 22-Nov. 1 from $5,195. Passengers explore the area by jet boat, kayak and inflatable skiff and by transiting through eight mammoth dams and hear local specialists tell stories of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
www.amsafari.com
Cruise West is offering a new summer itinerary, the Northwest Passage, roundtrip Portland from $3,399 aboard the Spirit of ’98, with extensions available in Portland and Seattle. The cruise offers a jet boat ride into Hells Canyon, visits to boutique wineries and new excursions to Mount St. Helens, the Pendleton Underground Tour and the museum at the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute.
www.cruisewest.com
