Comparing Day-By-Day Itineraries on 7 River Cruise Lines—Over 100 Routes!
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist
For the past year or so, I have been adding to our website dozens of day-by-day itineraries of the 7 cruise lines we follow. To say the least, this is a massive undertaking, as at each port stop, we add our pictures of what you should see at that stop.
This is truly unique resource, as most digital posts use the vendor pictures or cover only a few itineraries. In the brochures, you might see 3 or 4 pictures along with the written descriptions.
By my count, we will have over 100 itineraries currently posted on our website (the actual number is 103) and by the time you read this, we will continue to add new cruise routes as time allows until we have every route completed.
The lines covered are (in alphabetical order) AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways. Emerald Waterways, Scenic Waterways, Tauck River Cruises, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, and Viking.
While is really hard to determine the exact number of itineraries offered, since many lines take the same route, add a feature or two or include the land extensions, my best guess is that are about 191 various itineraries. So, our main effort is to catch the most important routes first and add other routes later on. It is also not uncommon for lines to combine two routes, to make an extended route and give it a new title. We may have the 2 separate routes completed but not yet combined the two or three routes yet.
So, why should you care about this? —we believe this is the most honest way to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the destinations you may want to see by rivership and what exactly the port stops and excursions are for each line. It also is all together in one source and doesn’t require you to visit 7 different vendor websites to learn about their cruise routes.
Also, we believe it is unbiased as possible, as we always say, every river cruise vacation is an excellent vacation, there are no bad river cruises in Europe, but there are important distinctions between lines and these day-by-day routes offer you a wealth of information that is difficult to find at best. By using the vendor’s description of their routes, enhanced by our pictures, it should provide a complete picture of the best option for your voyage and trip.
How the Pages Are Set Up
Each page on site covers some brief information about what each line considers the most important characteristics of their product and their philosophy about river cruising.
Then there is information about their fleet and on 5 of the 7 lines, we have a presentation with our pictures of the ship on-board facilities and staterooms.
Next, the route itineraries offered by each river cruise company are listed by the major river systems. These are day-by-day excursions and experiences. Many of these presentations have over 50 slides and are very helpful to get an exact summary of the cruise and land experience.
I am unaware of any other single site that covers these lines in depth and such a way that you can determine which would be best for your vacation on the rivers.
Since these are so detailed, sometimes they are slow to load but trust me, it will be worth this small annoying factor.
AmaWaterways
It is probably no surprise that this is the most complete page of the 7 cruises lines we have posted on our website, as it is our preferred line.
AmaWaterways has 26 total ships and 20 sail in Europe by our count. 13 are longships of 135-meters. 4 are 110-meter ships. 2 ships are available for cruising on the Douro. AmaWaterways is unique, as it has one of the two double wide ships on the Danube, the spectacular AmaMagna. The remaining ships sail in Africa (3), the Mekong and two new ships in Columbia. Here are 2 tours of these ships:
There are 33 different cruise routes on our page, and we have presentations on 29 of these. Some routes will not begin until 2025 and have not been completed yet. Here is a good sample of one of my favorite routes offered by AmaWaterways.
If you would like to see other AmaWaterways Routes, here is the link to our website
AmaWaterways
Avalon Waterways
Avalon has 14 ships sailing in Europe. Eight are 135-meter ships and five are 110-meter ships. In 2024, the Avalon Alegria will start sailing on the Douro River. Here is a tour of one of their 135-meter ships.
By our count there are 36 routes available to choose from this company. Many routes include their normal offerings and then they provide special Active and Discovery Options to the same routes with special dates. At present we have 7 routes up on the website with the day-to-day itineraries. Here is a sample route:
If you would like to see any of the other route guides, here is our website page
Avalon Waterways River Cruises
Emerald Waterways
With only 8 ships and 7 that sail in Europe, this line delivers a quality product. We have an excellent ship tour of the Emerald Sun, one of their five 135-meter longships. Here is the tour if you would like to learn more about one of their longships:
By my count, Emerald offers 22 cruise itineraries in Europe. On our website, we have 14 of the 22 cruises day-by-day routes completed.
6 of the remaining routes are on the Douro (2 routes) and their Christmas Markets cruises (4 routes). The other 2 routes are their long 15 Day Discover the Rivers of France and Portugal, which is a combination of the Secrets of the Douro and Sensations of Lyon and Provence and their 15 Day Rhine and Rhone routes which combines their Jewels of the Rhine and Sensations of Lyon and Provence.
Here is a good sample route for you to see quality of these presentations:
To Learn about other routes on Emerald Waterways, here is the link to our website page
Emerald Waterways River Cruises
Scenic River Cruises
Scenic has an exceptional product and cruise line. It is an all-inclusive line. They have 11 ships in their river cruise fleet and 9 are 135-meter class ships. The other 2 are specialized ships—The Gem sails on the Seine River and the Azure sails on the Douro. Here is a good look at the Scenic Opal, one of their 135-meter ships.
By our count, there are 22 different sailing routes offered by Scenic. We have route information on 16 of these 22. The 6 presentations not completed yet are the 2 Douro routes and the 4 Christmas cruises. He is a good sample of what you could expect on a Scenic River cruise:
You can see other Scenic River Cruises on this link in our Website
Scenic River Cruises
Tauck River Cruises
Also, an all-inclusive river cruise line, Tauck has some very interesting additions to the traditional port stops of most lines. Tauck has 9 ships sailing in Europe. Four are 135-meter ships and another four are 110-meter class ships. In 2024 they have added sailing on the Douro with their newest ship, the Andorinha.
Tauck offers 30 cruises by our count. We have not yet completed their 2 cruises on the Douro, their 3 cruises during the holiday seasons and 6 family cruises. We still have to do 3 of the 5 French River cruises, the longer 25-day Grand Europe Cruise and the specialized Autumn Along the Rhine: Munich’s Oktoberfest. We have 15 routes completed. Here is a good sample of their cruise routes:
You can visit more Tauck River Cruises using this link
Tauck River Cruises
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
With each ship having a different design and proper English Butlers, a lot of the Uniworld river cruise experience is about the on-board ship experience. Uniworld is a mostly all-inclusive line, but still manages to charge extra for some cruise excursions, much to our displeasure!
The Uniworld fleet has 12 ships that sail in Europe. There are five that are considered 135-meters ships, and five that are in the 110-meter class. The two remaining ships sail on specialized routes—the Po (which we do not recommend for the short cruise time on the water and constant bus tours) and one ship on the Douro.
There are 23 sailing routes in Europe offered by Uniworld. We only have 6 of the 23 completed at this time. Here is a sample route:
Here is the link to learn about other Uniworld River Cruise Routes
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
Viking River Cruises
With 64 ships sailing in Europe, Viking is the Big Boy on the Block. 54 are longships (135 meters). In addition to their longships, they have 4 ships sailing on the Douro, 2 ships on the Elbe and 4 ships on the Seine. To learn more about their longships (the pride themselves on identical ships, so there is very little difference between their longships), here is a tour of one of them:
Viking has 18 sailing routes and 6 Christmas Cruises, excluding their Elbe route (we do not recommend this route due to almost constant low water situations). We have route information on 16 of the 18 regular routes. As with all lines we cover, the Christmas themed routes will be added in the future. Here is the most popular route on Viking:
Here is the link to view our presentations about the Viking River Cruise Routes
Viking River Cruises
Our Final Thoughts
This is truly a labor of love and a unique resource available for you. It really would not be possible to attempt this type of information and then post it on our website without our extensive knowledge and experience by taking 24 different river cruises.
It has always been our goal to match you with the best line for your vacation, and now you can have the benefit of our specialized knowledge. We hope you appreciate this opportunity to learn about the wonders of river cruising in Europe and after reading this, place your trust in us to help you find the perfect cruise just for you.
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@visitdd.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 52 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
