TOT: Rhine river cruises

[stuart noble]

:-)

[tim.....]

And what's the "tipping" policy on river cruises. On some sea cruised they can add 20% to the bill

tim

[tim.....]

It actually took me some time to find it:

Is there a special dress code on the ship? No. We also recommend to have smart casual clothes for the welcome cocktail and captain farewell dinner. Please also note that during some excursions you will be taken to the active churches and monasteries where strict dress code rules apply. You won't be allowed to enter in shorts, women must have a scarf to cover their heads

So I can wear my jeans all week then! (nearly)

tim

[charles]

Viking say - no tipping is needed.

[charles]

she wouldn't allow you to do that, would she?

[Nightjar]

Around 90% of those on the cruise we did were rich Americans, which suggests that Viking probably advertise over there too.

I did wonder afterwards whether we would have done better to look at somebody like Saga.

[charles]

we on;y had 60%.

Saga are cheaper, but...

[alan_m]

And the £500 tip for the overly attentive staff.

Would they actually throw you off the cruise if you turned up in jeans and t-shirts?

I once went to a company (internal) awards event where the dress code was suit and tie. During the event they showed a video of the USA branch awards where even the senior staff presenting the awards where in jeans and American football/baseball shirts.

[Nightjar]

The staff generally wouldn't have known whether we were booked into the best suites or were down in the bilges.

The excessive level of service is why I generally avoid five star hotels. A superior room in a four star hotel seems to suit us best as a balance between comfort and service; helpful staff who are there when you need them but not when you don't.

[Nightjar]

They then give you a couple of envelopes at the end, one for the tour manager's tip and one for tips for the rest of the staff, along with guidelines for the level of tip. I don't recall what they suggested, although they did say you didn't need to tip, but it would have been quite a lot had I followed the guidelines. They simply got the Forints I had left over, as it was easier than bringing them back to Britain to exchange.

[Nightjar]

I wore my usual outfit of a long sleeved traditional shirt, without a tie, dark trousers and a lightweight jacket and often felt over dressed. I think sea cruises have a more formal approach.

[stuart noble]

I remember watching a cruise ship pulling into Santorini. A bit like sailing a housing estate into a small village.

[tim.....]

but what?

tim

[tim.....]

I personally never expected jeans to be a problem, except for formal dining events. The problem is knowing the frequency of such. If it's every day you're stuck. If it just once per voyage, you can take the decision to just go hungry that evening.

And it isn't that I don't like dressing up in top hat and tails, it's that I like to take the smallest amount of luggage necessary when I go away and packing a formal suit to use once is flipping inconvenient. Even if it's an unpack at the start and pack again at the end trip, I still have the problem of schlepping it to/from the airport (a three legged train/tube journey). The people who make these silly rules should really consider this problem

T-shirts, on the other hand, can be a no-no in many of the places that the tours might take you, as per my other post

I have a friend who used to do a job that "expected" a shirt and tie. He used to wear his at half mast - not just slightly loose at the top, bur undone right down to his belly.

I asked him if he thought that this "appearance" was better than not wearing a tie at all, and he sincerely answered "yes" - go figure

tim

[tim.....]

OK, I just didn't know if there was a different lounge that you were entitled to use, just like there is (or used to be) on the longer ferry routes.

The most pointless additional service that I encountered was a man whose job it was to push the lift call button for you.

But he didn't do it as he saw someone approaching from (say) 30 yards away so that the lift would called with a chance of it having arrived, ready for you. Nope, he waiting until you arrived by the lift doors before he pressed the button, and I though "what's the flipping point of that"? (a 4* BTW)

tim

[tim.....]

Hm, when I was there they anchored in the middle of the caldera and tendered the pax to shore.

and the cliffs are so flipping high there that they towered above even the largest boat

are you sure you aren't thinking of somewhere else?

[DerbyBorn]

"tim....." wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I absolutely share your views on the inconvenience of having to take extra clothes just for one or two occassions. Shoes as well. It makes the journey a real bind.

[charles]

nothing like the quality. I think you get what you pay for,

[charles]

That sounds like Soviet "jobs for everybody" mentality

[Roger Mills]

We've done a couple of river cruises - the most recent of which was in August 2013. We booked quite late, and all the Viking cruises in which we may have been interested were fully booked. The agent we were dealing with found us a cruise with Avalon Waterways - a company we hadn't heard of because they don't seem to advertise much in the UK. It was superb.

It was a 15 day cruise, starting at Budapest and ending at Amsterdam - so it went up the Danube, along the Danube/Main Canal, down the Main to where it joins the Rhine, and then down the Rhine for the rest of the way (give or take a few canals on the approach to Amsterdam).

Because we booked late, we didn't have a choice of cabin (sorry "State Room"!)- and had to have one on the lowest level - which was partly below the water line - so no French door or balcony! [The cabins on the higher decks had balconies]. But there was a fair sized window (non-opening) which you could look out of if you stood up. That appeared to be an advantage, because some passengers with balconies complained of lots of insects coming in. We didn't have that!

The beds were superbly comfortable, and the food was excellent - with free seating in the restaurant, so you didn't always have to sit on the same table or with the same other passengers. Wine and beer was included with the evening meal, and gratuities were included - in the form of vouchers, to be put into the provided envelopes at the end of the cruise. There was only one "class" of dining, so it didn't matter what class of cabin you were in - you all got the same food selection.

It wasn't cheap, but the price included flights, transfers and a number of excursions (although there were, of course, additional optional excursions available).

Most of the travelling was done overnight - with some in the daytime in particularly 'scenic' areas. Despite being low down, were were not aware of any engine noise during the night - except for the odd occasion when the side thrusters were used when manoeuvring into locks.

I mentioned that Avalon don't advertise here very much - but they *do* advertise heavily in the antipodes - so the vast majority of passengers on our cruise came from Australia or New Zealand - infinitely preferable to Yanks!

A couple of years earlier, we did a cruise with Saga - up the Rhine and Moselle from Cologne, and then back to Cologne. That was only a week and was a *lot* cheaper, but the boat was a lot more basic - as was the food. It was certainly OK, but it didn't compare with the Avalon cruise

- I guess it depends on how much you want to pay.