One company that has not been mentioned here is Uniworld. No personal experience, but a coworker of my husband raved about their cruise.
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Definitely other lines that do river cruises. Worth taking a look. They are all not cheap. All I would consider a splurge.
Viking has the most ships on the rivers. So if you would need to change ships because of low water levels, Viking is more likely to have a ship to switch to.
Also I found that Viking has more dates available if you plan on off times. We want to go in mid November, Viking is pretty much the only option that is running at that time. But our wants are very specific.
Other lines carry less passengers and can be more inclusive. Viking only offers one included excursion a day, others will include all excursions.
Things to consider
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As I mentioned on the vacation thread, my parents have done dozens of these over the last 10 years. I don’t think they have used Viking. They tend to take the smaller ships. They mentioned a couple of times when the river was low and Viking couldn’t pass, theirs could.
But also, they often go on last minute trips. The cruise lines send them bargain deals at the last minute. They would rather somebody be in the cabin than nobody. I believe they get at least 50, maybe even 75% off sometimes. But, you have to just be able to go with a couple of weeks notice. It helps to be retired (which I am not!) And this was also pre-covid, I believe. Right now, they are into taking more ambitious cruises hitting all of their bucket list places before it’s too late, so they are booking well in advance like the rest of us.
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Not sure if answered above: How do River Cruises handle meals? We love to explore cities, especially back roads and local restaurants/pubs. If paying for meals is part of the cruise, and you need to return to port, that would take far too much valuable time out of our day. I would also be concerned about everyone disembarking at the same time. I know River Cruises do not have the same population as large cruises entering ports, but if the only time you have to explore and experience a city is when all the other ships are also docked, your flexibility to explore pre (or post)-crowds would be limited.
We once took a train from London to York for the day, returning in the evening. During the day, York was incredibly crowded. We were shocked that at approximately 4:30pm, many of the shops and restaurants closed. The city nearly emptied. It was a wonderful time to roam the streets, however. Are experiences like this even possible when on a river cruise schedule?
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This is also my concern/question about the river cruises, as we would prefer to hang out a bit in a pub or cafe, find good local eateries (don’t need a fancy meal) and have a post-dinner stroll than go back to the boat to eat in the dining room each night and then retire to the our stateroom.
We did the Rhine with Viking. As far as meals, there were days we had a morning excursion and then sailed after lunch. On a couple of days though, (Cologne and Strasbourg, for example) there was free time after the morning tour. You had 3 choices:
1–take the bus back to the boat and eat there, and either stay on the boat to chill out, or depart for an optional afternoon excursion (we did this in Cologne, visiting the Bruhl palaces)
2–take the bus back to the boat for lunch, then take the shuttle back into town. We avoided this as it seemed like an inefficient use of time.
3–stay in town, and pay for lunch on your own. We did this in Strasbourg and had a great time. We had lunch in a bakery (Pain De Mom Grand-Pere), getting sandwiches on the freshest french bread you could possibly have, then strolling while enjoying macrons–felt very French!
Imagine taking a guided tour, but you take your hotel and restaurant with you from stop to stop. That’s what a river cruise felt like. And there are no words to describe the awesomeness of only unpacking once for an entire week.
River cruises, like bus tours, are not for everybody. Yes, you give away the freedom to do what you want and the ability to stay for as long as you want. But on both our river cruise and several bus tours, we feel like we saw and did things we would not have seen/done had we planned the trip ourselves. We fell like that is a fair concession.
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I agree with @MADad 's description of your options. Keep in mind that the places where river cruises dock are generally very centrally located. By contrast, on an ocean cruise the docking area can be a considerable distance away from the city centre, or require a tender boat to get to shore. On a river cruise it’s pretty easy to do stuff on your own as long as you pay attention to the departure time and make sure to get back in time, just as on an ocean cruise. Nobody forces you to take tour bus excursions. On our Scenic cruise there was usually an e-bike excursion option, too. Scenic is a little more all inclusive than Viking and on Scenic all the tour options were included in the price.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about concerning your options. Our cruise stopped overnight in Vienna. For the second day, we signed up for a morning tour bus excursion to Schoenbrun Palace. In retrospect we could’ve easily taken the metro from where the ship docked to Schoenbrun, and it would’ve probably been a more efficient use of our time. But we took the tour bus. On the way back, the Scenic tour buses all stopped at Schwedenplatz, which is a very centrally located square with a major metro stop. All the river cruise buses had a staging area going there. We were told we could get off there or continue on to the ship. If we got off, we were told when the last Scenic bus would go back to the docking area, or we could get back on our own. On a fully loaded tour bus, only one other couple besides ourselves got off. Everyone else went back to the ship for lunch! But we had a short stroll to the historic area and spent another 4 hours having lunch and sightseeing before making our way back to the ship (again this was the 2nd day in Vienna).
This was in 2019 and in 2021 we went back to Vienna for a week long visit. This often happens to us with cruises. We make a brief visit someplace on a cruise and then decide we want to go back for a prolonged land trip.
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I also have the concern about not having the evening to explore the river cities/towns. Having dinner out is part of the cultural experience. But… it’s all about trade offs… having one (small) hotel room for the trip seems convenient.
One can always add a couple of days before or after to explore the cities where the journey begins or ends. 
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I’ve been on 2 Viking river cruises, and 1 Uniworld river cruise. I have enjoyed them all.
I think they are a great way to see an area for the first time.
On the Uniworld river cruise, all the expeditions were included in the price, while on Viking, there were some expeditions included and others were optional for an additional fee.
Sometimes the expeditions included eating out, which was included in the cruise price.
The food we had on the cruises was superb - the chef reflected the area cuisine in the dining options/wine pairings.
On our Uniworld cruise this past summer, we had an absolutely amazing guide in Venice. She has her PhD in art history and was a professor in the area. The cruise got us in popular venues either before they opened to the public, or after they were closed for the day, so we had no wait/no crowds.
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Just because meals are free on the boat, doesn’t mean you have to eat them. We would always eat breakfast on cruise boats because it’s convenient and quick, and would rarely return to the boat early just to eat. If you want to eat elsewhere, do. It’s just that food is included in the price of any cruise, I’ve never heard of an option without them.
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True, but I do think if you’re paying for the cruise and that includes food you probably want to eat it so you’re not paying for something you’re not using…it’s hard.
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Yes, I do agree, it’s hard. We generally eat on the cruise ships because it’s good food, convenient, and free. However, if we feel like eating something else while we’re on shore, we will certainly do it, particularly if there’s there’s tasty local cuisine that we wish to try. You never know if you’ll back to a certain country again in your life, so if there’s something you wish to do, you should do it.
And the reality is, there are many things on a cruise boat that you’re paying for in the overall cost of the cruise that are free, that you’re never going to utilize. Maybe it’s free booze, and you don’t care to drink very much, or maybe you’re not that big an eater. I don’t care about most of the activities like Bingo, sexy legs contest or whatever silly thing they’re doing, and some of the educational activities, shopping education and free excursions are boring. Just because it’s free and part of the fare doesn’t generally make me want to do something, it’s about doing what we like. And yeah, I like free food and drink, but not if I have to cut my shore visit short or miss out on a treat.
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Which did you prefer - Uniworld or Viking?
I preferred Uniworld, mainly because all the excursions were included, but I also enjoyed Viking .
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Thinking more about my experience with Uniworld, I should mention that we were often presented with 2-3 excursion options each day. We were asked to select an option the day before, so they could arrange the guides, transportation, tickets, etc.
Some people chose not to go on the excursions because they preferred to explore an area on their own. The staff on board was very helpful to them as well.
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That’s how it worked with Scenic, too. All excursions included and you picked your choice the day before. But you could always DIY.
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That was how it was on Ama Waterways. Multiple choices each day, always included a biking and often a hiking option. It was your choice to participate or not. I can’t recall if we decided the evening before but likely for the bike excursions so they would have enough. We did an add on in Prague for two days before the cruise. Other people did an add on in Budapest at the end.
One thing we noticed is that when they say leaving at 10 that means the boat or excursion is pulling out at 10. My prompt daughter was so impressed and loved that they held guests accountable for being on time. No waiting around for stragglers.
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We visited a local winery with the friends who went to the AAA Viking cruise info session (which we agreed was more of a marketing event, but we did like the crepes! and hubby insisted we take the free big glass mugs… counter productive to my “bag a week” declutter aspirations). Still considering a trip together, maybe with a pre-cruise stay in Amsterdam and TBD travels afterward.
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Just booked my second Viking cruise Amsterdam to Antwerp at the end of May after doing the Rhine (Basel to Amsterdam) last Spring. Just like @MADad we enjoy the format of the Viking cruises. The small ship, the history/culture, and the mix of excursions and free time. I agree that the the list prices for the cruises are high but if your schedule is flexible there are some good last minute deals.
We depart at the end of May and will arrive in Amsterdam the day before we embark, which we always do the avoid jet lag and have a cushion should there be any travel delays. We are staying in Brussels four days post cruise and would appreciate any tips from those who have visited Belgium.
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