Part 1: Top Things to Know About River Cruising

Maybe it's your first time on a river cruise, second or sixth. Whether you're new to this form of small ship cruising and want to learn more about what it's like to cruise on this type of vessel, or a seasoned pro who wants to reminisce and laugh along with us, Dan and Mikkel, as we recall recent river cruise trip, we invite you to join us as we discuss the Top Things to Know about River Cruising. 

Find out what a typical river cruise ship layout is like and how many decks there are, if there's a workout room on these ships, or what to expect in terms of a spa. 

Is your cabin location important? What are the dining options, or what can you expect in terms of entertainment onboard? 

We answer all this and more in this two-part episode. 

You may find these articles helpful, which we mention in the episode: 

• Read the Things to Know Your First Time on a River Cruise, which complements this episode.  
• Did you know that cruises that start in one city but end in another have a name? Check out the Complete Guide to Closed-Loop Cruises (and Open Jaw Itineraries)
• If you're wondering how to remember the port or starboard side of the ship, listen to the episode because we have a tip for you! But if you want more info, read this: Port vs. Starboard: Cruises Ship Left and Right Sides
• It's more likely to experience motion sickness during a winding bus ride during a river cruise vacation than it is on the ship! We always travel with Anti-Nausea Medication and Other Sea Sickness Solutions just in case, no matter the situation. "Better to have and not need," as Dan says.

Chapters

• 1:35 Introduction to River Cruising
• 1:44 Layout of River Cruise Ships
• 7:06 Choosing Your Cabin: Views and Locations
• 10:08 Docking Dynamics: Sharing Space with Other Ships
• 12:51 Navigating Water Levels
• 14:41 Is Motion Sickness an Issue on River Cruises?
• 16:19 Surprising Amount of River Cruise Lines
• 17:15 River Cruise Pricing and Inclusions
• 18:52 Onboard Amenities and Entertainment
• 21:33 Dining Experiences on River Cruises
• 23:18 River Cruise Ship Name Themes and Ship Design
• 25:12 Embarkation Ease and Accessibility

Transcript

Dan (00:35)
And we're back for episode four of the podcast. So in this episode, we're going to dive into the top things you need to know about river cruises. There's a lot you need to know. So this is going to be two episodes.

Mikkel (00:51)
And Dan, before we get into it, I just want to give a little shout out. We launched our these episodes. We came out of the gate with episodes one through three, and we had over 100 downloads within the first 36 hours. It wasn't even 48 hours of our podcast being out before we got to 100 downloads. So we just want to say thank you so much to you, our listener.

are so happy that we have had awesome feedback. We are here for all the constructive feedback, so don't be shy in reaching out. You can do that through any of our social channels, which are listed in the episode notes. So again, thank you so much. And let's get into it. As Dan said, this is about top things to know about river cruising. All right, where should we start, sir?

Dan (01:44)
I would say my very first river cruise, the first thing that was surprising to me was just the layout of the ship itself. When you think of cruising and especially people that are new to river cruising, you think of, just automatically think of big ocean vessels. And then to find out there's only three decks and...

not a lot of ship to explore, but there's plenty to keep you busy, you know? Right, yeah. So, and then I think really what it was is there's a lot to explore and there's a lot of little Easter eggs around, especially up on the top deck.

Mikkel Woodruff (02:09)
Small but mighty, one might say. What do you mean by Easter eggs on the top deck?

Dan (02:24)
Like, we saw some herb gardens on Viking. We saw that. On Ama we saw pickleball court and there's usually a jogging or a running track up there much like the bigger ships, the pool, hot tub... sometimes that's on the roof, you know

Mikkel (02:31)
Mm-hmm.

love a pool or hot tub on the roof. Even when it's cold and we can't go inside or don't bring a bathing suit because it's a little off season. There's nothing like a stunning pool on top. We had that recently on Viking on Viking Torgil, in the Douro River Valley in Porto in Portugal. And we also had it on AmaMagna, which you had mentioned the pickleball court and that is the ship that is extra wide so the width can accommodate a pickleball court and then some. And it's not that the smaller ones can't accommodate a pickleball court, but it would take up too much of the real estate there so... Yeah, okay all great things. Love this.

And there's plenty of lounge space. There's always plenty of lounge space, chairs, lounge chairs to enjoy the views from the top deck, whether the crew puts out blankets, because maybe it's a little chilly, or it's summer and are in the high of France's heat wave, we've experienced both. No matter what, it's a great place to be. 

Mikkel (03:29)

So the layout of the ship: There's usually three decks and the Easter eggs on the top deck, which are always really cool to see. What about decks one and two if we're going to call... Oh no, you know what? I would say it's three decks plus the top deck, which I'm pretty sure is how you worded it. So, it's three decks plus the fourth, which would be the top Sun Deck. What about decks two and three, which is kind of where the main things happen. But what about the decks that we've stayed on and the lounges and everything?

Dan (04:04)
think of almost like center ship being the cabins. Right? The main hallway is where your room is going to be. But then in the front and then the back you've got the amenities. So maybe there's the lounge, the restaurants are usually on

And in the back you have - well, not always, but sometimes - you have the gym or the spa or other amenities back there. So it kind of varies, but think of it as your living space is in the middle of the ship with a grand entryway, usually in the middle of the ship. And then the amenities are on the front and the back.

Mikkel (04:42)
I like that you said that about the gym because something that we always tell people when they're asking us advice about what river cruise line to take is that if fitness is important to you, realize that not every ship has a gym on board or some sort of fitness area. So if that is important to you, as Dan said, there is a gym on some ships, not all ships. So when we're talking about the top things to know about river cruising and the layout of the ship, that is something to look for. Viking doesn't have fitness rooms, and AmaWaterways does. Riverside does. Emerald does. 

So something layout-wise, if that's important to you, definitely look out for that. Another thing to go with fitness and well-being, know that the spa could vary as well. But generally speaking, would you agree that there's usually, two treatment rooms?

Dan (05:38)
definitely would agree that there's usually something.

When you're comparing to different companies and you're comparing different rivers even, no ships, are probably going to be the same.

You're gonna have some sort of spa. You're gonna have dining. You're gonna have a top deck and some meeting places around the ship. It's not like a one size fits all.

Mikkel (05:57)
By meeting places, you mean lounge - bar areas. Not like a conference room, just to clarify, especially for our listeners who have never been on a river cruise that are interested in it. Meeting places, kind like a public space. Viking also has libraries, which is kind of cool on their long ships in Europe. But on a smaller ship like in the Douro in Portugal, there's no room for a library, so it doesn't exist.

Dan (06:03)
Correct.

Mikkel Woodruff (06:20)
was a space two desktops for computer use.

Dan (06:25)
Right, yes, so that's where you build your PowerPoint for the meeting room.

Mikkel (06:26)
which was really cool.

That's where you build your PowerPoint for the meeting you're not gonna have, hopefully, 'cause you're on vacation.

Dan (06:33)
Yeah.

Mikkel (06:35)
I love it. Also, to clarify about the spa - it's not like on a big ship. We had, in episode three, Ocean vs. River Cruises. The spa is nothing like on big ships. So we're talking two treatment rooms. And (if you want to include this under the spa category) sometimes, but not always, a ship will have a salon of some sort that you can get your nails done or your hair done according to the itinerary and if there is somebody on board who can do those kind of things on the crew.

Let's move on to the topic of having a view from your cabin or not. Sometimes people say to us, "Well, what side of the ship should I book my stateroom?" And our answer is, "It doesn't matter."

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter like it does on a big ship going to have a river view on either side. And you could be going east on the river and then the boat turns around because you have a closed jaw itinerary which means that you start and end in the same city as opposed to an open jaw that you start in one city and end in a different. 

So maybe you start in Amsterdam and you end in Basel, Switzerland or you start in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and you end there. So that's a closed jaw as opposed to open - start and end in two different areas. So it's very possible that if you're on the starboard side - which is the right side of the ship - you might always be looking at the south side of a river if you're going, very simple terms, west to east. Or if you're returning to the place you were, you're going to turn around and have the opposite side view. It's also unlikely that you're going to sail the same portion at the same time of the day.  But the thing to know about river cruising is even if you want to see the port side, the left side of the ship, when you're cruising and your room is facing the starboard side at the time, all you have to do is walk out into the lounge area and look out the other windows or go on the top deck and look at the scenery around you. It's not like a big ship that you're like, "Ugh, God. I'm going to have to like fight with people for the elevator. Then I'm going to have to get up to deck 12. Then I'm going to have to fight with people to see glaciers in Alaska." It's nothing like that.

So in summation, it doesn't matter what side you are on in the ship because you'll have a good view no matter what. So that's an important thing to know. Don't stress over the exact stateroom you have. I would say it's more important that you like the category. And there aren't as many categories necessarily of suites versus not suites, versus an Owner's Suite. There are all those things, but you're not going to have obstructed view, non obstructed view, you know, like a big ship. 

So just know that it's more important to focus on the square footage of your cabin, which usually translates to the category that you are in, not necessarily your view and whether you're on the starboard or port side of the ship. 

Fun fact, Dan. Okay, this is how I like to tell people to remember what side of the ship is port for everybody listening that does not know or easily forgets. Port has four letters just like "left." And then the way I remember the light color on the ship - because one side's red and one side's green - is that port is like port wine, which is red.

Dan (10:04)
That makes sense. Yeah.

Mikkel (10:06)
Mic drop.

Dan (10:08)
Moving on to something else that may surprise you is

Mikkel (10:09)
Besides my facts, okay.

Dan (10:16)
A river cruise - quite possible your ship is going to be docked right up against another ship and you may have to walk through that ship to get to land.

There's a limited amount of space, especially we're talking Europe. There's just a limited amount of space. There's a limited amount of dock space and ships have to double or triple up. And the guests simply visit another ship on your way to port.

Mikkel (10:43)
Yeah, I love that. It's kind of like the buddy system when you are kayaking, let's say, and you grab the oar of the person next to you. So if you are envisioning three kayaks in a row, you're all holding onto each other's oars, and that's how you're attached. Well, take that concept and then make it bigger into river cruises. 

They literally tie up against each other. And Dan, one of my favorite things is when we get to walk through another cruise ship and see the interior and compare and contrast it to the ship we're on. Ooooh...is it better? Is it worse? Is this a cruise line we want to check out in the future? I love that.

Dan (11:24)
One of my favorite things is watching the people passing through the ship that I'm on, completely confused and not knowing where their cabin is.

Dan (11:32)
They're supposed to be on a Viking ship and they're currently on an Ama ship. Like, "This doesn't look right."

Mikkel (11:38)
You bring up a good point because sometimes - we had this happen recently - but we stayed on the ship so we weren't confused. But we saw many people, like you said, come on the ship, "Oh my gosh, how do I get to my ship?" So confused. And the front desk was saying, "Are you on Viking? Okay, that's next to us." Because we were on AmaWaterways. So they had to not only share that their ship had repositioned itself while they were on the excursion or on land, but they also had to direct them because they didn't know the layout of our ship of how to get there. 

So if you've never been on a river cruise, it might be really surprising that they do this. It is kind fun thing, but it's very surprising when your ship is docked against another river cruise ship that you could open your curtains and - surprise! - there's somebody in the river cruise next to you and you can see each other through the windows.

Dan (12:35)
Yes, keep your blinds closed. Close your blinds before you go and take a shower. That's a pro tip.

Mikkel (12:37)
Close your blinds before you go and take a shower and Winnie the Pooh-style out of the bathroom into your bedroom. I love it.

Mikkel (12:51)
Something else that's really interesting about river cruising, and we see this mentioned a lot as a concern of people who have not river cruised or people that have heard something about they are considering, and that is the water levels. So if the water is too low or if the water is too high, you might not actually be able to river cruise. And the reason is because river cruise ships are made to very specific dimensions so they can fit under bridges, so they can fit around river bends. So if the water level is too the flat bottom boat might not be able to cruise so well. And if it's too high, it's not gonna clear the bridge that it is going under. And another interesting thing is Dan's really tall.

I'm short, so not as interesting, but Dan's really tall. And every time you're on the top deck and it's going to go under a bridge - and again, this could be according to the water level of the river at the time that you are cruising - if they need to lower the bridge where the captain and the crew are bridge is made to kind of sink into the river cruise ship so it can accommodate the rising or falling levels of the river.

And also they might have to take down the railings. So a lot of the crew needs to collapse the railings so the ship can fit under a bridge, they'll close the top deck. Not always, because sometimes they can still safely have passengers up there to see the view and pass under. But once in a while, they will put those railings down and then they just pop them back up when we pass under the bridge.

Dan (14:33)
Right, yeah, there's been a few times I've been asked to go to a lower deck when I was standing on the top deck and we were about to go under a low clearance bridge.

Something else that's interesting about river cruising is you're very unlikely to get motion sickness. So this is near and dear to my heart because on ocean and open water ships, I get seasick and I get seasick very quickly.

I've never experienced it on a river cruise. Like Mikkel just said, flat bottom boats, you're not gonna feel a lot of motion or bobbing or anything like that. Sure, it can get rough and choppy a little bit when other boats pass by, but for the most part, you're not gonna feel the motion of the ship. people like me, that's a big relief and it's a way to enjoy cruising and not have to worry about how much drugs or homeopathic or home remedies you need to pack to combat motion sickness.

Mikkel (15:27)
Mm-hmm.

Right, so whereas on a big ship or an expedition ship even that's small, I mean, we've been on yacht cruises that are as few as 18 passengers and we need the motion sickness patches, the Reliefband, the Blisslets - these are all, things that help with nausea. On the ships on the rivers, you really don't need that. 

We've actually experienced that sometimes if you're in a wine region especially, and you're going to go on buses that kind of wind through the valleys, that you might need the motion sickness medication depending on how sensitive you are to car movement, so to speak. It's on coach buses in this case, but you might need a little bit of Dramamine for that. And if that is the case, we do recommend non-drowsy so you don't sleep through the excursion.

Dan (16:19)
You also may be shocked at how many river cruises actually exist. When you get out on the river, you're going to see a bunch of cruise lines that you've never heard of. So for example, when you're traveling through Europe,

Mikkel (16:25)
Mm-hmm.

Dan (16:34)
There's a lot of ships that have European clientele. Maybe the entire cruise is only in German. Be prepared for seeing a lot of traffic on the rivers and a lot of different cruise lines that you've never heard of.

Mikkel (16:48)
That's true. And A-Rosa, for example, largely targets an audience in the UK. Croisi-Europe, very European. It's astounding that when you go on a river cruise, all these cruise lines pass you and you're like, "What's that?" "What's that?" Especially the first few that we were on, I was constantly the ship was, what cruise line it was. You're kind of zooming in on your camera to see the name on the side of the ship.

And speaking of looking things up, another top thing to know is that river cruises include Wi-Fi. So let's briefly touch on price. 

We won't get into this too much. In a future episode we're going to do a little cost comparison of small ship cruises. Generally speaking, a river cruise starts at around $3,000, give or take a couple hundred dollars. Totally depends on the cruise line. Completely depends on the time of year. Depends on the itinerary. 

But that is a good baseline. It starts around $3,000 and it includes so much. It includes Wi-Fi. It usually includes beer and wine with lunch and dinner. I can't think of a ship that doesn't include that or a cruise line that doesn't include that as a baseline.

It includes excursions - at least one excursion in every port. So specifically talking about the Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi is included on the ship. Now, once you get off the ship, we are going to talk about how we connect to Wi-Fi when we travel abroad, again, in a future episode as a little teaser because we have a very specific way we do it. And we use a hotspot device, very specific one that we completely love. But know that Wi-Fi is included in river cruises. I can't think of a single one that doesn't include it. Now, whether or not the signal is very strong, you can stream Netflix on your iPad, or you can with your grandkids at home, what have you, varies. Again, depending on the cruise line, depending on their technology, depending on exactly where your ship is located at the time. But they do include Wi-Fi.

Let's talk a little bit about the onboard entertainment, especially in the evening because a lot of people ask us about that as well. And I always joke that one of the reasons we love river cruising is because we like to have a great dinner. We like to have a good drink after dinner and maybe listen to a little piano from the onboard musician, maybe whatever the show is that night or the performance and then go to bed. 

We wake up early in the morning and we are excited to explore the port or whatever scenic sailing we're doing in the morning. We're not partiers. We don't need a casino. So the onboard evening entertainment is really limited, but when they do have it, it's enriching and enjoyable. Although we have been on one or two cruises that kind of have a little disco dancing at night. The onboard entertainment staff is really good about playing DJ. On a recent cruise, we had a they were an engaged couple - shoutout to Richard and Anna on AmaMagna! Such a talented singer and he was such a talented pianist. And they also were kind of DJ and hype dancer at night for certain nights that we had a little disco party.

Other entertainment we've had at night - one of your favorites I know of - is in the Mekong River. There was a band that came on board, a very typical traditional Southeast Asian, Cambodian and Vietnamese band. Actually, I think, was that two different nights? Two different bands? There were two different instruments.

Dan (20:20)
Yeah. There was a Cambodian band and then a Vietnamese band that came on.

Mikkel (20:27)
That was great. They even had a talent show one night that we talked a little bit about in the Ocean vs. River cruising episode. That was really fun. We've had flamenco dancers come on board. We've had brass bands in Germany and Austria come on board.

Definitely a nice focus on enriching entertainment that's very local to wherever you are visiting. We do not sugarcoat it. If you are somebody that needs a lot of entertainment at night, you might want to look for things to do in the city that you're docked in overnight. If you are docked overnight, generally speaking, you can for sure get off the ship. You can even have dinner off the ship if you want at your own expense. You can go to a bar. You can find whatever entertainment you want.

Otherwise, if you're on the ship and it's sailing at night or you can't get off because you're not docked overnight, you are welcome to enjoy the lounge, enjoy the bar, enjoy whatever hour of onboard entertainment they have brought on for a little bit. And uhh, you know, there's nothing wrong with going to bed early or enjoying your stateroom, checking out what's on the television.

Dan (21:33)
So we talked about entertainment after dinner. Well, let's talk about your dining options. On a river cruise, you typically have one, two, maybe even three restaurants. You're not going to have a large selection of 10 or more that you would have on ocean.

You always have a main dining room. Sometimes you have other smaller dining facilities. And then on some lines, they actually have a chef's table or a specialty dining area. So this may be inside of what looks like the wine room or it may be tucked away in a corner or something like that. And those you would have to reserve and some there's an extra charge for that.

But overall, you only have a few options for dining. And actually, we find that makes decisions a lot easier.

Mikkel (22:21)
And I want to piggyback off what you said with the dining experiences that cost a little more. It's not as common to have that on a river cruise ship. There are definitely instances that the experience is an additional charge.

We were on Riverside Luxury Cruises. They have a ship named Mozart. Actually, all their ships are named after composers. I will come back to this after I finish this thought! But Mozart has some dining experiences at night that are an additional charge. Now, you don't have to eat at these places and you're still going to have phenomenal food. 

One of the highlights of Riverside Luxury Cruises overall is their phenomenal culinary program. But on a ship like AmaWaterways, the chef's table experience is included in everybody's fare. So you're not going to have to pay an upcharge for that. Everybody gets to eat there at least once a cruise.

Coming back to the ship names... kind of a fun thing to know about river cruising. Usually all of the ship names have a theme within the cruise line. So for AmaWaterways, it's always Ama - "A-m-a something," fill in the blank. So Amadara, Amaviola, AmaKristina, et cetera, et cetera.

For Riverside Luxury Cruises, as I said before: all named after composers. For Viking, all the ships are named after Norse gods. Just a fun side note! Pay attention to your favorite cruise line's theme.

And another thing to know, and this is true of cruising overall - and you kind of touched on it before - is that river cruising, there are sister ships, which means they're architecturally the same as others. So an example is on the Douro River. We were on Viking Torgil, but it's one of five ships that Viking has sailing the Douro.

And the only thing that's different about those ships is the name. So if we went on a different ship with Viking on the Douro River, we would have had deja vu. Maybe we will in the future because the ship's exactly the same. It's just the name and the ship that you're getting on. Of course, you want to get on the right itinerary, the right day, the right ship. But just like in other cruising, just like Disney has the Fantasy. And the Dream that are identical ships, the interiors are a little different, but they're architecturally sister ships. 

So river cruising has the same thing. It's very likely you could be on one ship going to Bordeaux, let's say, and then you get on a ship going to Provence. And you're like, I think I've seen the ship before, because it's very likely that the river cruise you were on before, architecturally, it was a sister ship in its design. All right.

Let's get back to the task at hand.

So embarking on your cruise is one of my favorite things about small ship cruising.

Embarking on your cruise takes minutes, not hours. And this is also because the gangway is really only takes seconds to get on or off the ship. But let's kind of close it out with this thought for part one of our two-part series for things to know about river cruising.

Embarking on your ship takes minutes, not hours. And along with that is because the gangway is really short.

You don't have to go through security every time you get on and off the ship, which you mentioned that it's kind of like checking into a hotel in previous episodes. And I love that analogy 'cause it is. You don't go through security when you go to most hotels. You just kind of say you're there at the front desk. The first time you check in, you get your key. And also with embarkation and debarkation, you are scanning your own key to get on and off of your river cruise.

I would say when you're kind of going out for an excursion in the morning, there is somebody there to scan your key card, somebody from the crew and kind of say well wishes for a good excursion. But it's such a nice thing about river cruising: the ease of getting on and off the ship like butter.

Dan (26:23)
It makes everything really accessible and it also makes the port itself very accessible.

Mikkel (26:29)
Okay, so be sure to tune in next week when we talk about Part two of Top Things to Know about River Cruising. We could go on and on for days, but we are gonna cut it there. We have an article associated with this on our website, sometimessailing.com that I am gonna link up in the description or show notes - whatever term you prefer. But that is going to be in the episode information wherever you are tuning into podcasts. 

If you enjoyed this and you learned something new or found value in this, we would love if you could share this with a family member, a friend, even a coworker. Just forward them a link to this episode and tell them you think they would enjoy this. Also, I cannot wait to start reading five-star reviews on our podcast. So if you feel so inclined, please give us a rating and let us know what you think.

Dan (27:22)
We will see you in episode five, part two of this topic as we dive into more of the things you need to know about river cruising.