I'm Gary Bembridge and I want to share with you 10, that's right
ten things that you should expect if you go on a European river cruise.
Keep watching because of the end of this video I have a very special bonus about
river cruising for you. So let's get going on those ten things. Never having
to pay for anything.
Most of the cruise lines in Europe are all-inclusive, that includes your drink,
your excursions and gratuities.
So you never have to pay anything else once you bought your fare.
The second thing to expect is never having to make any more many decisions.
It's a very regimented schedule during the day. Everything's organized for you.
You follow the program and follow the flow and make no
decisions. You just do what arranged. The third thing to expect is a fairly small
ship. River boats have to be restricted by length, width and height based on the
rivers - and so you will find a ship that's not very big. Maybe a hundred and
fifty or maybe 200 passengers at most. It will be quite a small ship with relatively
cozy cabins - as you can probably see behind me. Not lots of amenities, not lots
of extra entertainment. You get to know people really well. You get to recognize
them, you go on tours with them and the crew also get to know you, so it's an
intimate and very social experience. The fourth thing you should expect is to be
eating great food. River cruise lines are renowned for having fantastic food
despite the fact that they're quite small. Ss you pass through the region you're
likely to have local specialities and local wines reflecting the region you're
passing through. Another key thing that you should expect is the quirks of river
cruising. Two things particularly that I wanted to point out: first of all is that
the ability to get up or down river depends on the water levels. So if the
water levels are too low or too high it can disrupt your itinerary and you'll
find if you speak to people who have been on a river cruise quite a few people would have
had incidents where the ship has been unable to move around as so they often
bus people to and from the ship and the ship may not travel as far as planned.
The other thing is when you dock in town maybe a couple of ships are there and
so they actually connect them to each other and you have to walk through other
ships or over ships to get to the dock.
The next thing you should expect is to do a lot of walking. Most of the
excursions (which will be included) are walking tours through town, so you could
be walking two or three hours a day. So you need to be relatively fit and you
need to be ready to walk. Most excursions will focus on the history the culture
and perhaps the food and wine of the region. The seventh thing to expect is
that you're probably going to be in an adults-only environment. Although cruise
lines are starting to attract more families, it tends to be adults and
the 50, 60 and above age group - so that's the kind of audience that you
should expect. An adult environment surrounded by people probably 50 plus.
You should expect an informal dress code and atmosphere on board, so
the dress code is not very dressy. Even for the captain's welcome party
farewell party.
Some gents may wear long-sleeve shirts and perhaps a jacket, but most people
are going to wear something from the gentleman side like open-neck shirts, you
do have to wear long trousers and even jeans are normally perfectly fine.
Ladies wear casual dresses or slacks.
So you don't have to pack lots of different kind of clothes - which
also makes sense because river cruise ships are small and there's not
much storage. So you do not have to bring lots of permutations of clothes.
The atmosphere as well is very relaxed, it's very
informal and very sociable. The ninth thing you should expect is to be docking in
the heart of the town. River cruises tend to be right in the heart of or wherever
you're going sightseeing - you can we just get off the ship and you're right in the
heart of the action. You can go to local markets, you can go to local sites, local
attractions and often you'll be docked overnight so you can also get out and
enjoy the nightlife as well. The tenth and last thing that you should expect is
a fairly intensive and immersive experience in a very specific part of
the river you're traveling along. River cruise boats don't travel very fare, in fact
the distances they travel every day you could probably cover in a bus in about two
hours. They tend to stop frequently and at lots of places along a
stretch of river, so you get a really good feel for the region you passing
through.
So there you have it - ten things that you should expect if you're heading
out on a river cruise. I did promise you a bonus if you stay to the end of the video.
You can get a copy of my free ebook which is about
essential tips and tricks for river cruising. Download a copy of that ebook
with lots of tips lots of advice and answers to questions. If you enjoyed this
video, give it a "thumbs up" and please subscribe to the channel and get more
tips about river cruising and all sorts of travel.