River cruising really is the stuff of Dreams

River cruising is a bit like cheating on an exam. Someone else does all the hard work, and you get all the benefits. It is very easy. It is the complete holiday package, rolled up in a neat and tidy bundle and delivered to your door each morning. You just sit back and count the castles as you glide down the Rhine. You can look at the stunning vineyards on the hills or you can do as I did, and indulge in tasting the wine.

I did the Scenic Tours 15-day Jewls of Europe cruise from Amsetrdam to Budapest. It was my first venture into river cruising, but it certainly won’t be my last.

Local produce is always on display

The cruise tends to take advantage of local produce, so the beer, wine and food you eat comes fresh from the regions you sail through.
So what’s life like on board?
The average Scenic Tours river cruise passenger is about 62. Australians make up the bulk of the passengers and on this trip there were a lot of Queenslanders.
Guests come from all walks of life. People travel in small groups, as couples or as single guests. It was left up to you how much you wanted to interact.
The crew, mostly Eastern Europeans, are friendly. They take the effort to learn everyone’s names and are happy to deliver on any request that is possible. One passenger had a shirt that was shrunk in the wash. The head of housekeeping offered to pay (out of her own money) to replace it. When the passenger declined she bought him a bottle of Moet as compensation. It really doesn’t get much better than that.
There is a degree of regimentation to life on board. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at set times.
Breakfast and lunch are buffet style when on ship. During tours, the lunches are in local restaurants, sampling the specialities of a town or region. In Germany, that means lots of sausage.
Dinner is often a five-or-six course feast. The only choice you have to make each night is between the three mains and the different dessert options.
Wine is free with meals. At other times you have to pay for your drinks.

Another day, another amazing gorge

Let’s take Day 11 as a typical day. Breakfast started at 7am and finished at 9.30am. For an hour from 7.30am we passed through the stunning Wachau Gorge and the captain could be heard pointing out the sights.
We then docked at the pretty, baroque town of Durnstein and at 9am passengers left for a guided tour of the opulent Melk Abbey.
Everyone was back on board for lunch at 1pm. In the afternoon we climbed on bikes for a 2 1/2-hour guided tour of the Wachau Gorge. The ride was one of the highlights of the trip. We rode through quaint villages, apple orchards and took two ferry rides.
Obviously not everyone was capable of riding, so for those left on the ship there was an apple strudel-making demonstration, which included a tasting.

Keeping everyone on track

At 4.45pm the ship set sail for the five-hour journey to Vienna.
Cruise director Marianne van Hoogdalem, a real gem who managed to keep everyone on track, addressed the troops at 6.45pm to tell us what to expect tomorrow in Vienna.
Then it’s dinner at 7pm before the crew puts on a show. Happy hour starts at 9pm and Tamas, our on-board musician, plays a selection of tunes ranging from Stranger on the Shore to the theme from Titanic.
At 10.30pm, late-night snacks are served. Most nights, by this time, everyone has shuffled off to his or her cabin for bed. There’s not a lot of late-night partying on this cruise.
While the routine is similar each day, the scenery is incredibly varied.
On most days you do an off-ship tour. This usually involves a bus trip. While the ship always stops beside beautiful towns, sometimes the best attractions can be a short drive away.
Scenic Tours uses local guides to explain the history and point out places of interest. The tours themselves are not that taxing, but they do involve walking.

You don’t spend much time in the cabin

Before I left to go river cruising, I thought I would have lots of time to sit on my cabin balcony and read as I floated down the Danube. That’s not quite the case. If you do the day trips, and I suggest you do, you will find yourself pretty busy. The pace is constant, not hectic, but you will fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.
Speaking of river cruising cabins, they are modern floating hotel rooms. Not hugely spacious, but chic and well designed with everything you need to be comfortable. And the best thing is you only have to unpack once. On a bus tour you are packing and unpacking every other day. Not here.
For a lot of guests on this trip, it was not their first river cruise. I asked my wife if she’d do it again: “I’d be happy to stay on board and head straight back to Amsterdam!”
That pretty much says it all really.

Don’t

Miss the tour to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. This is one of the most fascinating examples of medieval life that you will ever see.
Don’t be afraid to jump ship and eat in the towns and cities when possible, even though you have paid for the excellent meals on board.

Do

Your homework. Know where you want to go and what you want to see. If you want to see an opera in Venice ask the tour director for help.