Sailing the River Rhine is the easiest and most relaxing style of travel that I have ever experienced. We embarked on this easy adventure on the first of June when the weather was ideal for cruising, and right from the start, we had a wonderful time. I loved that it was a relatively small ship that made it quick and easy to embark and disembark and that the meals were all casual with open seating.
This was my first river cruise, and I had wondered beforehand if it was going to be necessary to take along my motion sickness patches, which I had needed so badly on my previous ocean cruises. I took one patch just in case I needed it, but not once did we ever experience any motion at all. Not even when we sailed all night long; the sailing was ever so smooth and it was impossible to tell when we were sailing or standing still unless you looked outside at the shore.
My sister, LaRue Dannelly, sailed the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel in mid April, and although a jacket was needed, she found the spring flowers and blossoms on the trees to be beautiful from The Netherlands all the way up the river through Germany and France.
LaRue, as a retired English teacher, especially enjoyed sailing the Rhine because she had studied the literature of this area. Additionally, before she left for her cruise, she read a book on the History of the Rhine, which greatly enhanced her appreciation and enjoyment of her journey; she recommends to anyone who is planning to sail the Rhine that they will enjoy the journey much more if they read about this history before leaving home.
Sailing on a river cruise is so much more pleasant, easy and relaxing than ocean cruising that there is really no comparison. The water is so smooth and the air is so calm that all stress drains away as you cruise past beautiful hilltop castles and vineyards. The other ships, both passenger ships and cargo ships on which many families live, add to the interest.
One of the things I especially enjoyed was that each morning, we stopped at the most interesting villages and beautiful cities, most of which were very close to the center of the towns. It was like we were staying at a floating luxury hotel, which traveled at night so we could spend our days seeing the sights. Of course, there was plenty of daytime sailing, so it was a well-balanced itinerary.
Our travel agent, Lisa Berlin, selected Avalon, a river cruise line which had the most interesting and favorable stops along the way. Just about everything was included in the price of the cruise, including soft drinks, and beer and wine with dinner.
Some cruise lines will quote a low price initially, and then add the cost of each tour and many other extras to your bill. By the time it is all added up, a supposedly “low cost” cruise costs much more than you would have spent with an all inclusive cruise, which includes nearly everything. To top it off, the rooms were nicer and the bathrooms were much more spacious, especially the showers! I especially enjoyed the full wall of windows, which allowed us to watch as our ship cruised into our docking space each morning, as we were getting ready for the day of sightseeing.
One of the newer trends in river cruising is to book two cruises, back-to-back, so that you have the flexibility to tailor the cruise to your specific needs and interests. One of the things that travel agent, Lisa Berlin did for LaRue, was to book a land tour that coincided with her river cruise. This allowed LaRue to see and do many other things in areas where there were no navigable rivers.
Berlin timed LaRue’s land tour, entitled The Best of Switzerland, seamlessly with the river cruise. She arranged the transfers between the two so that there was no stress at all when traveling from the cruise ship to the meeting point for the land tour. This was a very important point for LaRue and her companion; eighty-year-old travelers with no foreign travel experience.
Although the land tour was not nearly as relaxing as the river cruise, LaRue and her traveling companion enjoyed that portion of her trip very much.
It is very difficult to say which part of my Rhine cruise that I enjoyed the most. I really loved the trip from the Rhine up the Moselle River, and the lovely small villages, which were so beautifully reflected in the calm river. But then there were the wonderful tours and free times in Strasbourg, France, the excursion to Heidelberg, and beautiful Rudesheim with its cobblestone streets and half-timbered houses. For me, it was the trip of a lifetime.
Zola Hunt is a travel writer and a member of the North American Travel Journalists Association. Travel agent Lisa Berlin may be reached at (435) 628-1500
