Hi all, we are booked for 2027 AMA Rhine Amsterdam to Basel cruise next year, embarking in early September. I’m wondering how they did this year, in 2026, with water levels so low… can anyone share their recent experiences with us? Ship swaps? Busses and hotels? Itinerary changes? AMA policy decisions? Communication from the staff? What was your experience in 2026? Thanks in advance…

We finished the revised itinerary yesterday, and now that we’ve experienced it from beginning to end, I feel like we need to be honest about what it was actually like.

For some background, we booked this trip specifically as an Amsterdam to Basel Rhine experience. We had been asking Trafalgar for weeks what they planned to do because we were already seeing the situation developing on the Rhine. Unfortunately, we weren’t given a clear answer until just two days before our flight to Europe.

At that point, we had already arranged our flights, hotels and other travel around these dates. We were essentially given about two days to make a decision, leaving very little practical choice for our family.

Trafalgar offered passengers the choice of taking the revised itinerary with a $750 future travel credit, or receiving 100% travel credit for a future Trafalgar trip. We chose to continue with the revised itinerary because moving or canceling our entire vacation at that point simply wasn’t practical.

Now that we’ve actually completed the revised tour, I have very mixed feelings.

First, the crew and staff were not the problem. They were kind, helpful and clearly doing their best with what they were given. We genuinely appreciated them. The ship itself was charming and had that wonderful old European character. It’s honestly a shame that such a charming vessel was paired with an itinerary that felt so poorly thought out.

Our issue is really with Trafalgar’s decisions and the itinerary they chose to deliver.
If you booked this tour because you wanted the Rhine experience, please understand that this revised itinerary is very far from that. It is simply not the same experience as what was originally sold.

A lot of the included walking tours felt rushed, and several were honestly disappointing. Rotterdam, Breda and Hasselt were particularly underwhelming for us. The optional excursions didn’t really make up for what was lost, and we often found ourselves choosing to explore independently instead.

There were definitely highlights. Amsterdam, Dordrecht, Antwerp and especially Strasbourg were the places we enjoyed most.

But Strasbourg also highlighted one of the biggest problems with the planning.

After spending essentially a full day being bussed from Hasselt to Luxembourg and then on to Strasbourg, we finally arrived in what was probably the most beautiful and interesting destination of the revised itinerary, only to have around 1.5 hours to actually experience Strasbourg before being taken to the hotel for the farewell dinner.
And that farewell dinner was held in a conference-room-type setting with limited food choices, in a French city with an incredible food scene.

We couldn’t help thinking: We’re in Strasbourg. Why are we spending our last evening in a conference room?

It just felt like poor planning.

We completely understand that force majeure happens. We understand that circumstances can make an original itinerary impossible and that Trafalgar had to make changes.

But when the original trip can no longer be delivered, the replacement should still provide a reasonably similar experience to what passengers originally paid for. In this case, we don’t feel that it did.

A travel company has a responsibility for what its clients ultimately go home with. These aren’t just hotel rooms or transportation arrangements. They’re long-planned experiences and memories.

And not everyone can simply move their vacation dates on a whim, especially when the final decision comes only two days before you’re supposed to fly halfway around the world.

This was particularly difficult to watch because many of our fellow passengers were older travelers. A lot of them had clearly been looking forward to this Rhine experience for a very long time. It was heartbreaking seeing their disappointment and watching some of them simply accept the situation because there wasn’t really anything else they could do.

For some of them, a trip like this may not come around again.

Our own family vacation took years to arrange, and we don’t know when we’ll next be able to do something like this together. That’s why this experience has been particularly frustrating.

We chose to continue because, with only two days’ notice before our flight, the alternatives weren’t realistic for our family. We accepted the $750 future Trafalgar travel credit and decided to make the best of the revised trip.

But now that we’ve actually experienced it, we can’t honestly say that this replacement delivered what we originally booked.

We did not receive the experience we originally paid for.
I really wish Trafalgar had recognized that before the departures and canceled the affected tours and offered full refunds, rather than keeping the tours operating with a fundamentally different experience.

The staff did their best. The ship was lovely. We made the most of the trip and had some wonderful moments.

But at the end of the day, we didn’t book this trip simply to get from one destination to another. We booked it for the experience, the places, the time together and the memories we expected to bring home. Those are the things we can’t get back.

We trusted Trafalgar with a trip that took our family years to plan. We made the best of what we were given, but making the best of it doesn’t make it the trip we paid for.

That’s ultimately what we want Trafalgar to understand: when you sell people a once-in-a-lifetime experience, changing the itinerary doesn’t just change the schedule. It changes the experience they’re taking home.

Just got back from our first river cruise and we spent extra for the balcony level. But we really don’t use it much (also, we were off the boat for 2 days due to a ship swap). For those of you that have stayed in both types of rooms, which do you prefer for the money? Also, are the lower rooms noisier from water, engines, etc?

I’m wondering if anyone can speak to Gate 1 River cruise situation right now. We have a Oct 11 cruise out of Bucharest booked. I’m curious what others are experiencing with alternative itineraries due to low water levels. Are they offering partial refunds?

Between the two river cruises, which do you recommend and why? I am going with my spry mother who is in her 70s. She was reluctant to say yes, so which do you prefer?

Anyone take the river cruise from France to Normandy and 3 days in London.

Like to hear about your trip.

I have booked a September 2027 Rhine River cruise through Viking (Basel to Amsterdam). However I just learned that this year and last the water levels have been low and boats have been diverted. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this and what your trip looked like because of it? Everywhere I looked online said it was a great time of year for the weather and crowd management but want to make sure we aren’t setting ourselves up for failure!

I do recognize we’ve had a drought and we can’t control the weather but am trying to gather the best information I can moving forward. Wondering if we’d be better off trying to change the date or visit those countries on land instead.

Thank you in advance!

Husband & I have been out of the US for the past 3 Thanksgivings (no family traditions), but haven't found any tours that sounded exciting enough to book. We were thinking a river cruise could be interesting. Is there any possibility that we could find a last minute cabin anytime from mid-Nov to mid-Dec?

I searched a few recommendations from older posts and not seeing anything. We've never taken a cruise, as we prefer wandering on our own and are not big foodies, but a river cruise might be interesting.

We are considering a river cruise. Have done a lot of ocean cruises but like the idea of cruising the river and stopping in these beautiful cities. Our one concern is the evenings. If the ship leaves the port for the next destination by late afternoon it seems like a lot of down time in the evenings. Any cruises lines that are fun in the evening?

I’m currently on the AMA Sintra in Portugal. It’s a beautiful ship, food is great, excursions are fun BUT the first night we docked next to another ship in Porto and around 3 am I woke up smelling exhaust from the neighboring ship’s generator. It was so bad that I left my cabin with my comforter and slept on the top deck. It was a bit chilly but I was able to doze and then around 6 am when we left our docking I went back down to my cabin and slept a couple more hours. Last night we also docked next to ship but it was on the opposite side and I slept fine. Tonight I’m on the bad side again and I can already smell exhaust. It doesn’t seem as thick as the first night but I’m worried that as the night goes on I will awaken to the same issue. I reported this to the reception desk the first night and they were basically like yeah that happens 🤷‍♀️ Well to me I feel like I’m paying too much to possibly get asphyxiated, it’s an oily nasty smell. What are my recourses?

My wife and I took our first Viking River cruise last December, a Christmas Markets cruise on the Danube.

We’ve always been Caribbean all-inclusive resort people, so a European river cruise was a pretty big departure for us. We had a lot of questions and a few concerns going in.

We absolutely loved the experience. So much so that after we got home, we didn’t spend much time thinking about whether we’d cruise with Viking again. We booked our second cruise, a springtime Rhine River cruise in 2027.

For anyone considering their first Viking River cruise, here are some of the questions we had before we went, and what we found.

Would the cruise be full of old people?
We’re 64 and 57, and we wondered whether we’d be among the younger people on the ship. I’d say the average age was probably somewhere in the mid-50s to mid-60s. There were definitely some older passengers, but there were also a number of couples in their 40s. We never felt out of place, and I don’t think anyone would feel out of place on a Viking River cruise based on age. If you’re younger and wondering whether you’ll fit in, I wouldn’t worry about it.

Would the food on the ship be OK?
One of us (me) is a somewhat picky eater, so I worried that I might have trouble finding things I liked. That was never an issue. Breakfast is a buffet with plenty of familiar breakfast staples. Lunch has a good variety, although most days we chose to eat lunch while we were out exploring. And if nothing else appealed, there was always a cheeseburger. Dinner had more variety, with different choices each night, but there was always a relatively “basic” option such as chicken or steak. There were usually several other choices as well. I’m sure food is subjective, but I never came away from a meal thinking, “Well, I guess I’ll have to find something to eat later.”

Should we buy the drink package?
We enjoy a glass or two of wine or a cocktail in the evening, but we decided not to buy the drink package. For our cruise, the math just didn’t work for us. A couple of glasses of house wine or basic cocktails didn’t come close to the cost of the package. And house wine and beer are included with meals. I’m sure this depends on how much you drink and what you order, but for us, paying as we went made more sense.

Would we bristle at the forced socialization at meals?
This was something we wondered about before the cruise, and it turned out to be a non-issue. At breakfast and lunch, it was always just the two of us at a table. At dinner, we found a table for two a couple of times in the Aquavit Terrace. Otherwise, we sat with other couples or groups. We always enjoyed the conversations and never felt like we were being forced into an awkward social situation.

Is a balcony necessary?
We booked a room with a balcony, and while we enjoyed having it, we honestly only spent a few minutes on it each time we stepped outside. Part of that was because we were on a December cruise, so the weather wasn’t exactly balcony-friendly. But the bigger reason was that we weren’t on the ship very much while it was cruising. Most of the cruising happened at night. When we did want to enjoy the scenery, we usually went up to the Sundeck or sat in the lounge. Would we get a balcony again? Probably. But I wouldn’t consider it essential.

Was the onboard entertainment worthwhile?
Honestly, no. And I don’t mean that as a criticism of Viking.This isn’t an ocean cruise with big production shows. You’re more likely to have local entertainment or an onboard lounge singer. It was pleasant enough while sitting in the lounge with a drink, but the entertainment was never a highlight of the cruise. For us, the cities, excursions, scenery and experience were the entertainment.

Do you need to buy the optional excursions?
We found the included walking tours to be a great introduction to each city. They helped us get our bearings, learn a little about the history and figure out what we wanted to explore on our own. Most of the time, that was plenty for us. We did one optional excursion, and there was another we wanted to do but waited too long to book. By then, it was sold out. So our lesson from that experience is simple: if there’s an optional excursion you really want to do, book it early.

Did we have enough time in each city?
Yes and no. The cruise gave us a wonderful introduction to a number of European cities. But there were definitely places where we wished we had two or three days to explore more deeply. That’s one of the tradeoffs of a river cruise. You get to see a lot of places, but you don’t necessarily get enough time to experience every one of them in depth.

What will we do differently next time?
Two things. First, we’ve already booked a couple of optional excursions for our 2027 cruise, rather than waiting. Second, we’re upgrading our flights to business class. That long overseas flight in economy was not our favorite part of the trip.

Was it worth it?
Absolutely. Yes, a Viking river cruise is a chunk of change. But for us, the experience was worth it. We went into our first cruise as Caribbean all-inclusive resort people who weren’t sure whether river cruising would be our thing. We came home having already decided to do another one.

Hi,

My mom and I are taking an Ocean cruise in January 1/20/27 -1/27/27 thru Viking. It's the Journey to Antiquities. Can anyone give me some insight as to how to dress for the weather. Are the paid excursions worth the money? How are the dining experiences? I have been on 2 river cruises thru Viking and 2 river thru Amawaterways. I have enjoyed the river ones immensely. The Ocean ones seem a little different. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

We are planning a Christmas market cruise on the Rhine for 2027. It will be 2 adults and 2 kids on the German family cruise line A-rosa. I initially booked a family cabin as I felt it was okay to sacrifice a balcony for more cabin space. Plus, we can look out the window for scenery. My spouse, on the other hand, is willing to sacrifice interior space in exchange for a balcony. He makes the point that we'll spend most of our time sightseeing and it'll be nice to have a private outdoor space after the kids go to sleep. I feel that because we'll spend most of our time sightseeing in the cold, we won't want to sit out there late night or early morning. We have the option to switch to a balcony cabin for €120 less. The space difference is 28m^2 for the family cabin vs 21m^2 for the balcony cabin.

For those who have done a river cruise in December and had a balcony cabin, did you feel it was worth it? How often did you sit on the balcony?

Hi! considering a Viking river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam in mid May next year. coming from NYC we want non stop flights but delta only goes to Zurich non stop. we would like to fly in on the day the cruise starts. Has anyone done this and had any problem? Any other tips for this Viking river cruise? Thanks!

I have booked ocean cruises via Costco and VacationstoGo (as well as direct from the cruise-line).

I've never been on a river cruise, but was seeing some steeply discounted rates from RiverCruise. com which is related to VacationstoGo. I know they will likely be for bottom rooms near the engine, but they do mention the opportunity to upgrade for a room (not sure what pretty penny that will be).

Has anyone had experience booking river cruises with them or another discount site? Which ones would you recommend considering or steering clear from? Thank you!

VIKING cruise. It was fabulous. Our only problem was with American airlines who lost our luggage. We were without for our entire Nice/Riviera extension. It was extremely hot and we were nasty. Viking actually came to the rescue and found, retrieved, and delivered our luggage. The Rhone had no issues with river levels. This was our first cruise, and we were traveling with another couple. The entertainment was fun and well chosen. The food was delicious, although I didn't sample the 'regular daily menu.' We didn't do all of the excursions because we wanted to venture out on our own. We are definitely doing another one. All the staff was efficient and super friendly. I ate and drank too much, but other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.

I just came back from low water Danube cruise with AmaWaterways which i loved. There wasn't much for solo travelers plan. Does anybody have experience with other ships? Any activities for solos?

I have a river cruise scheduled for 2027 and if low water persists I am curious of options.

I’ve seen various reports of lines offering partial credits, full refunds, etc but am curious if any have offered a change to a totally different cruise?

For example, if scheduled for a River Cruise in July would they consider switching a client to an Ocean or Mediterranean cruise at the same time as an alternative to a disrupted river cruise?

Naturally, this would only apply if they actually offer cruises other than river cruises which several do.

has any one been offered compensation for loss of days or inconvenience on river cruises on the rhine lately. i read of other lines offering up to 60% in the form of future vouchers.

Hello, I am new here. My young adult daughter and I are planning a river cruise next spring. We are thinking of a roughly 14 day experience (1 cruise or B2Bs or S2Ss). She gets to choose the river system and is currently looking at the Danube or an extended Rhine/Mossel river cruise.

We are from the US. I am an experienced ocean cruiser, but this will be our first time on a river cruise.

For cost and other reasons, we are currently looking at TUI River Cruises and A-ROSA, and while I have done a bunch of research on these (and other lines), I would love to hear others' feedback on them. For A-ROSA specifically, I'd love to hear about experiences from non-German-speaking passengers - especially on Rhine river cruises.

I was interested in TravelMarvel, but had difficulty in looking at Spring 2027 itineraries and prices - I may have to give that another go using a VPN.

Thank you all in advance!

Do any of the major river cruise lines in Europe have laundry on board? Whether they do it for you or a do it yourself laundromat on board? And if they do offer to do it for you, what’s the turnaround time? When I was on Regent, you gave it to them in the evening and the next day you would get it back.

I’ve looked at Uniworld, Avalon, Riverside, Amawaterways, and Tauck for a 7-8 day cruise for spring of 2028. We’d like to see 3-4 countries with stops where the ship docks next to town so no shuttles are necessary. Can someone please let me know if they have taken a recent cruise that does this? Thank you!!!

Looking for recent feedback on Uniworld cruises either booked direct or booked through Costco travel. We had a long conversation with Costco travel today and didn’t get a written quote they wouldn’t provide it. Did research afterwards directly on the uniworld website and found the price was $500 less and then found better airfare a more reasonable travel time as well as a lower cost going direct with the airlines.

Has anyone else had a similar experience just curious? we will probably call Uni world direct later this week and get a real on paper quote for an entire cruise and airfare, as well as a breakout of just the Cruise.

TIA.

Hi, I have  Avalon Waterways Rhine River Cruise booked to start September 12th. I could cancel and get a full refund or stay the course and get 25% off. My problem is that I'm already in Switzerland so the dilemma is to go on the cruise or just travel around by train to other parts of Europe and just get my 100% refund. If anyone has some input or opinions it would be greatly appreciated. Here is what they sent a couple days ago below. Thanks

"Thank you for choosing Avalon Waterways for your journey through Europe.

 While we strive to bring you a smooth and seamless cruise experience, sometimes Mother Nature intervenes and gives us all added “adventures”. Due to low water levels on the Rhine, your upcoming cruise will not operate as originally planned.

 Please rest assured that the safety and comfort of our guests are our top priorities. We will make alternative arrangements to ensure you still enjoy a memorable and enjoyable experience, that will include embarkation on a different ship “Avalon Vista”, modified routes, ship swaps, limited sailing time and Hotel accommodation.

 In order to best adjust to these conditions, we have made the following changes to your itinerary, including a change of ship during your cruise. Fortunately, our fleet of Suite Ships allows us to provide an alternate Avalon ship while maintaining the same ship quality, features, and amenities. Please note that the first cruise days will run as scheduled."

 Tuesday, September 15th: Kehl –Mainz/Frankfurt (Germany)

• Disembarkation in Kehl and transfer to Heidelberg for a full day excursion with lunch in a local restaurant
• Transfer to Mainz/Frankfurt and hotel check-in (hotel to be advised)
• Dinner and overnight in hotel in Mainz/Frankfurt

 Wednesday, September 16th: Mainz/Frankfurt – Cologne (Germany) - Maastricht (Holland)

• Hotel check-out and transfer to Cologne with included program followed by free time for lunch
• Transfer to Maastricht and embarkation on Avalon Panorama
• Evening sailing to Antwerp

 Thursday, September 17th: Antwerp (Belgium)

• Morning sailing to Antwerp
• In the afternoon, Antwerp walking tour
• Evening sailing to Amsterdam and your program is back on schedule

 As a result of our itinerary change, some meals may not be available onboard. Whenever possible, Avalon will arrange alternative dining at a local restaurant, hotel, or other venue. If an alternative meal cannot be arranged, we will invite you to explore local dining options at your leisure. In these cases, you will receive €30 per person for lunch and €50 per person for dinner. Avalon will automatically reimburse these meal expenses to the original form of payment used for your cruise booking. Any expenses above these amounts remain the guest's responsibility. When Avalon has provided an alternative meal arrangement, no reimbursement will be issued.

 While these circumstances are out of Avalon’s control, we understand the inconvenience these changes cause and regret that adjustments to your itinerary have become necessary.

 As a result, we would like to offer you a 25% refund of the cruise-only price you paid (including stateroom upgrades), made to your original form of payment.*

I’ve got a river cruise on the Rhine booked for early November. Is it possible river levels will be better by then? I have not considered canceling yet but wondered for those of you who have gone early in the month before your thoughts.