A good start for any family who can’t afford to take a 2 week luxury cruise holiday is to perhaps as an alternative just book a weeks European river cruise instead. This type of cruise can offer of the luxury and benefits of a normal longer sea cruise but on a smaller ship and at just a fraction of the cost which makes them more affordable to many people.

Even though the boats and ships that you will travel on whilst on a European river cruise are a bit smaller than the ocean going vessels don’t expect them to be any less luxuriant and the service that you will get when travelling is no less great. You can expect the best quality good food and drink on you European river cruise and service that will, and does, make some of the best hotels in the world blush. Accommodation on board is also going to be well presented, with a room service that is of a high quality too. Every day you will have a maid service and every night you will have your bed turned down as well.

A European river cruise ship is going to be smaller than an ocean going ship the onboard facilities are still there, with many ships having a ball room, lots restaurants and bars, with possibly a small cinema as well as viewing decks from which you can admire the architecture and scenery of many of the most wonderful European countries and cities.

In summation, the European river cruise is an extremely affordable way to take a cruise vacation and its style will suit many types of person, perhaps even more so than a all singing and dancing ocean going cruise. A European river cruise is usually an easier going holiday with more focus on relaxation  and sight-seeing rather than entertainment. If you do want organised entertainment you can find it available, but it is usually lower key than a family orientated sea cruise. A European river cruise gives you all the luxury associated with an ocean going cruise but at a much more cost effective price. So if you are just starting out with cruising holidays or you think you might like a change why not take look at booking a European River Cruise for your holiday in 2011?

If you want to visit some of the fantastic European cities such as Cologne, Paris, Budapest, Prague or Vienna then a river cruise is one of the best ways to do so. With a river cruise you can easily take in the sights and cultural heritage of the cities and between times, you get to experience the beautiful and impressive countryside.

Compared to ocean going cruises, a river cruise will offer a slightly different vacation. A river cruiser will be a smaller ship, with few decks and passengers. Also there are less likely to be as many facilities available, for example fewer bars and restaurants available to choose from. This is not to say a river cruise is inferior – far from it. Accommodation aboard a river boat will still be of a high quality and exceptional standard. As well as this you will get a much more scenarific holiday, as you will leisurely slide through the European waterways moving from city to town to city in abject luxury. with plenty of shore excursions and regular stops there’s something different to do and see every single day on a European river cruise.

With the possibility to stop over for extra days at some cities such as Paris, Berlin or Amsterdam, many passengers will extend their stays at theend of a cruise or perhaps at the beginning, staying in a hotel and this way make the most out of the holiday time.

To visit Russia by travelling to cities and booking hotel accommodation, one might find that the process can be quite high for good quality amenities that any discerning traveler might have come to expect from a European vacation. A simple way to get over this expense is to arrange a Russian river cruise. This way you will get great levels of service from you’re on board accommodation, easily equivalent to a nice quality hotel, but you will also get all the other experiences and advantages associated with river boat cruises.

Many of the cruises on offer will also provide shore excursions, sometimes built in, some at extra cost, but all pre-arranged. The ship itself will most likely have staff and translators that speak your language, although this is worth checking out when you book your cruise from your tour operator. When the ship docks for the shore excursions in Russia, you will be able to visit the locations, and again, many of the tours will also involve a translator so that as you are visiting the locations you will have explained to you the sights and sounds that you are experience in a clear and easy to understand fashion.

Make sure you take a camera or video recorder with you so that you can capture the memories so that you can watch them back when you arrive back home, be wary though of using flash photography in some of the place that you visit, some artifacts can be light sensitive and flash photography may be forbidden to prevent damage, your tour guide will be able to tell you when this applies, as well as translate other signs and notices that you might encounter on the trips.

When you are choosing your Russian river cruise, don’t forget to look at the entire package, to make sure that it will be visiting the destinations that you want to experience, whether that be Moscow and St Petersburg along the imperial waterways of Russia.

Whatever you decide, a European cruise to Russia has many possibilities, allowing you to visit those “must see” place such as the Kremlin.

Travelling by river can easily be considered to be one of the most relaxing and comfortable ways to see the sights of London from the Thames. Travelling through London in this way is a unique experience and will let you take in all the sights such as the House of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye to name but a few places. River travel actually makes the experience different for you too, so even if you have already seen many of these places, seeing them from the river Thames from the deck of one of the many tour boats that populate the London River is an experience to be recommended.

Many of the cruises along the Thames can be pre-booked; you can also show up on the day and pay as you get on board. This is entirely up to you of course, but since the river trips may take in different sights depending on where about they depart from as well as which direction they are travelling, doing some research will mean you get to see what you want to on you river tour.

As an idea, you can make the river cruise day trip part of you sightseeing for day, rather than travel to the London destinations by tube, bus or taxi, you can incorporate the points of interest in the river tour, so when you get off the boat you can continue your sightseeing from a different part of the Thames.

Bear in mind the times of year that you will be visiting London, sometimes out of season, for example Jan-April and Oct-December the weather can be quite cold, to this end you should plan to take a cruise that has plenty of shelter on board, most cruises do have this but some may well be completely open-top which unless you wrap up warm might make the river tour less enjoyable.

Another interesting possibly is to hire your own river craft to travel on the Thames. Private hire boats though can be quite expensive, ranging between £900 and £1500 which is quite a lot, but if you are organising a large party if people it may well work out more cost effective.

Seeing London by night from the Thames is also something worth considering, many boat cruises will be available in the evenings; some have buffets or full silver service so you can eat while you sightsee. Live entertainment and music is also available on some cruises, so no matter what you want, there is something for everyone.

If you are taking a European river cruise, for example, there are so many wonder sights to see as you pass through the capitals of Europe such as London’s River Thames or the Seine River in Paris, France. To this end you may want to make sure that you get a room with a view, in this case a wonderful balcony stateroom that will let you take in the majestic countryside and townscapes on a London river cruise.

You may think that having a cabin with views isn’t all that important because you will hardly be spending any time there at all, but in fact you might prefer to relax on your own so this should be part of the considerations when choosing a room.

Outside Cabins
The ships cabins that on the outside of this ship will all have windows, you should however take into consideration what kind they are. This will of course largely depending the type of cruise ship that you are on, if it’s a large cruise liner travelling the Mediterranean, then you will most likely have balcony areas, if however, it’s a smaller vessel traversing the waterways of the Rhine or Danube in Germany, then you might in fact have a smaller port hole window. The other thing to consideration is the location of the cabin, you might have a window but it may well be facing some superstructure of the ship that blocks the view. All this can be found out by examining the plans of the ship which you will be presented with in the cruise brochure whilst you are choosing which cabins and their locations when you buy you cruise package.

Inside Cabins
An inside cabin is just this; it is usually entered from a corridor on the inside of the ship, as most rooms are. In this case there are no windows in this type of cabin. This doesn’t mean that it will be any less luxurious and well fitted out with all the modern amenities expected from a modern cruise ship, but not having a window may be important to you so it’s good to remember this if you decide to opt for an inner cabin.

If you are looking for real luxury then you can get a suite. Here you will get separate bedrooms and living accommodation, some even have private deck space.

In general the price difference between inner cabins, cabins with windows and balconies or suite rooms are as to be expected incremental, it’s worth noting however, that you may initially choose an inside cabin without a view and as the time for the cruise departure closes in, the cruise operator may actually contact you, in fact this is usual practice for most, to see if you will be interested in upgrading to an outside cabin for a small cost that will quite often be a good bargain. This is due to the companies finding it easier to sell the inner cheaper cabins and also means if you want a room with a view you can.

In recent years, the river cruise vacation has been becoming more and more popular as people decide to take their families on a first family cruise for their yearly holiday.
Although the price of cruises have been falling for some time now, many families will still find 2 week European cruises on a luxury cruise liner a bit expensive, especially in the current economic situations. Bearing this in mind, there are still options open for a family who want to take a cruise vacation but don’t want to go the expense of a 2 week ocean going cruise.

A possible solution to this problem is to take a much cheaper week long European river cruise, with this kind of cruise you will still get all the effect of a sea cruise but the ship will most likely be smaller and will definitely be far greater value for money than a luxury cruise vacation and still make for a great family boating holiday.

To begin with, you will as a family likely fly out to one of the major European cities where the cruise will be departing from so that you can meet up with your ship. Once you are safely onboard and all your belongings are stowed away, your ship will then take you on an exciting and relaxing river journey though some of the most attractive river locations in Europe. Since most of the rivers that you will travel upon pass through many cities, you will find that this is an ideal way to visit them without having all the added problems of organising coaches and rail travel since your cruise ship will take you to them itself.

The ships that you will use for your journey, although smaller than their larger sea going cousins are found to be no less well facilitated. Each will have many bars and several restaurants to choose from, so you can arrange your time on board as you see fit. There will be plenty of staff to help you out, and there is always plenty for the kids to do with lots of supervision so you can just settle back and relax on your vacation time.

Simply, a European river cruise is a marvellous way to have a family holiday, not to mention very affordable and well suited to families and couples alike. With a focus on visiting European cities and sightseeing some of the beautiful landscapes a River cruise is definitely a recommended holiday whether you are looking for a bargain or not.

There are many reasons why European cities are a fantastic destination for a river cruise. Even if you have visited European countries many times before in the past, choosing a European cruise as a holiday destination is an option that can bring a new aspect to any cruising vacation.

Many European cities are centers of art and cultural history and by choosing to cruise through these places give you the opportunity o discover the natural beauty and magnificence of European cities as well as the countryside at a leisurely and relaxing pace.

To understand why a European Cruise is a great idea I have listed below some of the best reasons.

A Cruise around Europe makes the most of your time

Since you can quite easily travel between many of the cities of towns in Europe and most are connected by rivers and waterways means that its quite easy to visit many different locations and places in a short space of time. Most of the cruise ships will sail between locations during the night time whilst you sleep, which means that you make the most of your time that you have during the day to laze on the decks or take shore excursions and daytrips out. Also you will have the added bonus of waking up in a different town or city every day.

Cruises can be good value

In the current economic climate the exchange rates from the Pound or Dollar into Euros is not particularly good which can mean that holidaying in European hotels and eating in restaurants can be comparatively quite expensive. However since when you buy your cruise across Europe from a local travel agent, you will pay for it in your local currency so at least you know exactly what you are getting and will most likely not be as expensive as one might imagine it to be.

Cruises can be convenient

Unlike a regular package holiday a cruise is usually all inclusive, which means all the food and entertainment is already paid for and with a high quality on-board service from the friendly staff means you will get good value. As well as this, you don’t need to worry about transfers on buses to and from airports or organizing coach trips from your hotel since that the point of a cruise, travelling in style.

In Summary

These are some of the good reasons why you might like to choose a European cruise for your next holiday trip. Have a look at some of the other pages on this site for other tips and ideas on what you might like to do on a European river cruise.

If you are a discerning traveller who is looking for a rather interesting as well as luxurious River Cruise in Europe here are some great tips and ideas.

Firstly why not fly to your European destination first, before boarding your cruise boat. This means you can spend more time cruising on water rather than travelling across land. Also this means that you get to see many more cities when you arrive as you travel between them by river since you can spend more time with the boat.

Since these types of cruises are well accommodated you can enjoy quality time with your surroundings as you travel through the countryside. With plenty of relaxing things to do you can just sit back on the deck and watch the European countryside drift by.

Due to the fact that the boats on these cruises are somewhat similar to a floating hotel you of course get all the luxury that you can ask for including fine food and wines. Another bonus is the different styles of potential river cruises. Some may be themed on visiting vineyards, giving you the opportunity to sample the finest wines Europe has to offer, some cruises will have excursions built into the price, making them a bargain, but if not you can usually pay a small bit extra to take part.

There are many travel companies that specialise in these kinds of cruises across Europe, usually focusing on individual countries, so for this reason it is best to deal with a single travel agent. They will be able to compare deals and help you understand the differences in accommodation and extras that you might want. For these reasons alone, making your next trip to Europe a river cruise should definitely be something that you might want to consider, especially if you enjoy luxurious river cruises.