21 Great River Cruise Experiences
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist
Anne and I find it very hard to find any trip experience that matches a river cruise. Wonderful food and wine, unmatched chances to explore Europe in a floating hotel, attended by a staff that enhances your trip, are all part of this vacation.
Small ship sailing on a river is so unique that one friend\client told me you cannot truly understand the differences until you try one—they are that good.
We just could not find one experience that summed it all up, so we decided to provide you 21 experiences that have made memories for us that will last a lifetime.
So, let’s explore together and learn about some of the great experiences we have had on 21 River Cruises!
1. Leading my West Point Classmates and other West Point Graduates on 5 Different River Cruises. Almost 45 years ago, after 47 months of training and studies, 729 of my classmates graduated from West Point. Prior to beginning my training as an Army Officer, I took my first trip to Europe. 43 years later I took several of my classmates on 3 different river cruises. What an experience—Anne & I help introduce these wonderful guys and their wives and some of their family members and friends to the joys of river cruising. We laughed, shared stories of West Point and had so much fun that many decided to take a river cruise with us again in 2016, 2017 2018 and 2019. Here is the bottom line—it is such a good experience; we just couldn’t wait to experience it again with each other, and we went 2016, 2018 and 2019 with different classmates who wanted to share this second adventure on the river with their friends.
2. Discovering Brugge after a Tulip Time Cruise. A town lost in time; laced with canals, gold trimmed buildings and churches, combined with seafood, the best frites (French fries) you have ever eaten and over 1000 beer choices, make Brugge our first or second favorite city in all Europe. We owe all to our Tulip Time cruise—we had only just begun exploring the Netherlands and Belgium and had read about how good the city was, but after the finish of our wonderful 7-day adventure, we got to spend 3 days in this magical place. Since then, we have been back 6 other times, in all seasons and have sent clients to Brugge to explore this fascinating city. Sharing a great discovery makes it better—we will continue to send others.
3. Meeting an ex-AmaWaterways bar server again in Budapest. In 2015, I was in Budapest with a West Point classmate getting a beer to take back to our room. Suddenly I heard “Hank; Hank”—someone was calling my name. It was Tomas, one of waiters from a Provence River cruise we took in 2014. After bear hugs and a fist bump, and he told me he was working in Budapest now (his girlfriend missed him too much sailing the river boats). I was stunned—I do not know a single person in Budapest. But here is the best part—when I told him we were sailing in a day on an AMA riverboat, he texted his friend, the on-board maitre’d and told him we were sailing on his ship and to take care of us! Amazing—he no longer worked for them, but he cared what happened to us—the crew really becomes your family.
Tomas is the tall bartender on the right.
4. The illumination cruise of Budapest. The two best nighttime cruises in all Europe are on the Danube sailing into Budapest and the Seine into Paris. We have done two in Budapest and sailed with a ferry-type boat in Paris in 1989—amazing is the only word to describe this experience. Another great night cruise is the Rhine in Flames—a fireworks spectacular that takes place on the most scenic stretches of the middle Rhine every year between May and September.
5. Visiting Regensburg—Hats, Wursts and a Christmas Market Gem. The former walled city, a medieval bridge, Roman ruins, a Christmas Market in a castle and der Hutkonig –the hat king, a world-famous hat maker and the oldest wurst house in Germany--this is one of our favorite stops on the Danube. Anne has purchased 5 hats—they are wonderful! This is the only Christmas market I know that charges an entrance fee, but AmaWaterways provided us tickets as part of the voyage. The markets surround the castles—there are fires burning, great booths with all sorts of merchandise and food and drinks—it is an atmosphere unlike the many Christmas markets we had been to—unique and memorable.
At the Christmas Markets with the owner who made our hats.
6. The Rhine River Gorge. I first sailed the most scenic part of any river in all Europe in 1971 on a KD ferry—long before the advent of the modern-day river cruise boat. It is still magical—30 castles dot the steep banks for views that are unmatched! It never gets old—can’t wait to sail it again!
7. Sailing the Iron Gates on the Danube. When the Danube narrows as it runs through the South Carpathian Mountains, the narrows are known as the Iron Gates. The granite walls of the mountains combined with a fjord-type cruise experience, easily makes this one of the top 3 most scenic stretches you will ever experience on a river cruise in Europe.
8. Food & Wine Galore. Exquisite multi-course dinners served with great regional wines, a unique Chef’s table experience and a selection of both buffet and menu items at breakfast (now served by the wait staff) ensure you will have the finest dining available on your AmaWaterways cruise—all 19 we have been on always exceeded our expectations. Scenic also had a great seafood buffet and a selection of 12 different wines. This is a true highlight of a river cruise trip.
The Scenic opal seafood buffet.
9. Visiting Cesky Krumlov. A fairy tale city at a horseshoe bend of the Vitava River, this Czech city is cool beyond words. A dominate castle tower decorated in spectacular colors, the round tower and the huge castle frame the river and its charming town. Although it lacks the complete walls of Rothenberg, it has an old gate and has retained its charm of ages past. A true gem and well worth the hour or so bus ride from the Danube to visit—I am glad our Scenic cruise included this option.
10. The Rhone Ledson River Cruise. Wine makers themed cruises are special and when you put a top winery like Ledson onboard, it will enhance the already great trip into something special. To make it even better, we met the general manager and his wife and now we travel together—they are clients but most of all, great friends.
Mark Thomas prepares for the tasting with help from the crew.
11. Scenic Sundowner Party in Durnstein. Durnstein is a small, picturesque village of around 600 on the Danube and is often a favorite stop of many. It has an old Abbey, a famous castle ruin, great wine shops and apricot brandy stores. On our 3rd visit to this charming village on our scenic Opal cruise, we experienced a party in a wienstube to celebrate the setting of the sun—a small band, cheese, cold cuts, fresh bread, and wine and beer—a perfect way to end the day in the beautiful Wachau Valley on the Danube River.
12. Meeting Rudi Schreiner and Kristin Karst—2 of the 3 co-owners of AmaWaterways. Meeting the owners explains a lot—they love good things and are proud to share their creation. Their hand-on approach ensures each detail is right—their mission is to provide the best travel experiences on a riverboat and land packages. From our viewpoint, the have overwhelmingly succeeded! In 2018, at the TravelAge West Wave Awards, Rudi and Kristin won a major award for their contributions to river cruising and we were the only other couple to win an award at this annual gala.
13. Visiting the Charming Village of Riquewihr. This is a village that looks like it came right out of a Disney Movie—in fact, it was the inspiration for the town village of Beauty and the Beast. If you like white wine, cheese shops, half-timbered buildings, and fun-loving people, you need to go here. We have visited in the summer and during the Christmas Markets season and both were magical!
14. Escorting more Classmates in 2019 on the Rhine. Another great time after leading 33 folks on our 75th Anniversary of D Day trip. We shared many memories and relaxed in the familiar surrounding on the AmaKristina.
15. Helping Clients get more active on river cruises. Wellness is important to many of our clients and river cruising is emphasizing more active options on their cruises. AmaWaterways with their dedicated wellness host is leading this effort, and Avalon with their Active Discovery tours is another great option. Emerald and Scenic also have good options—Scenic has e-bikes for those who mike enjoy this added assist on their cruise.
Bike riders wave to us from the shore during their bike tour as we sail on the river. they rejoined us later after their fun ride.
The wellness host in yellow poses with us after a morning workout.
16. Learning about the partnership with Ancestry and AmaWaterways in 2021. This is a great option for those who want to learn more about their family history. We got a unique experience to visit the Red Star Museum and learn about the difficult journey many made to immigrate to the United States.
17. Visiting Egypt on the AmaDahlia. If ancient history is important to you, learning about the great civilization of Egypt is a true bucket list experience. This 10-day trip is not for everyone since there is so much to see and it is not quite as luxurious as European River cruising, but the stunning temples, pyramids and sites must be a once in a lifetime experience.
18. Working with the AMA sales and support staff. The staff at AMA is professional and they have helped us learn the river cruise business inside out. They are so good at what they do that it makes our job easier. Even more importantly, they watch out for the best interest of our clients and always strive to get them the best possible value on their river cruise. I have been honored to help other travel advisors learn about AmaWaterways by being a guest presenter 2 times on their Wednesday Webinars.
Shelia, our former business development manager from AmaWaterways teaches our group about a Bordeaux river cruise.
19. Seeing crew members on different cruises and watching them progress in their careers. We always seem to run into past crew, and often seek them out when more than 2 AMA ships are docked together. They always remember us, are smiling and fun. But the best part is to come back and learn they have been promoted to more responsible positions. We have even met some of their families—what a treat!
20. Onboard Celebrations. We have seen significant anniversary and birthday celebrations and even a proposal—folks using a great trip to mark the key events of their lives. We have been honored to share their joy.
Denise Thomas displays her cake on the AmaDahlia in Egypt on her birthday with her husband Mark.
21. Listening to the Experiences of our river cruise clients. Almost all of river cruise clients have chosen to use us again to plan another trip and most pick a river cruise—some 3 or more and still planning more. Nothing makes us happier convincing them the value and experience of a 7 or more-day river cruise and having them return raving about their trip.
Our Final Thoughts
I think you can see why we are in the business—it just is awesome to help folks have a great river cruise vacation. Perhaps this will inspire you to take a river cruise—we stand by ready to help.
We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts. We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe. We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you. We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.
When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip. You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience. And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process. We think we have all these qualities.
Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
ANNE has earned a degree from the University of Houston in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Serving as the President of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC, since 2016, she is uniquely experienced professional travel advisor with over 26 years’ experience in the travel industry. Among her numerous certifications, she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) by the Travel Institute, considered the gold standard in travel agent certification and she is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), as well Luxury Cruise Specialist also from CLIA. Having traveled often to Europe since 1989, she has expanded on her certification as a Destination Specialist in Western Europe (DS) with extensive first-hand experience in luxury vacations. She holds numerous other specialty designations from individual vendors. An expert photographer, she delights in capturing the true essence of destinations to share with all.
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 50 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
