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European River Rambles
Pamela Price September 14, 2007PAGES: 1 2
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Racing through ten European countries in as many days is nice if you're a student with a rail pass or diplomat on a multi-city charm offensive, but given the choice, who wouldn't choose to cruise instead? An unparalleled network of waterways and luxury vessels makes slowing down a cinch. You might opt out of the escargot served aboard a luxe barge in Burgundy, but lush scenery, fairytale castles and historic villages are, frankly, best appreciated at a snail's pace.
Charlemagne was the one who initially dreamed up the idea of linking Europe's natural waterways, but that was the 8th century and the idea didn't really catch on until the completion of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal in 1992. That allowed cruises to operate along a 3,000 mile-long river network. Fast forward to 2007, and river cruising is experiencing a bona fide boom. It's all about exploring Europe in comfort, and whether deluxe boats boast top decks with bikes, upgrade their décor with designer cachet or plan to showcase the wines of the Wachau Valley in Austria, it's clear each has a distinct personality. Peter Deilmann Cruises, which offers more than 265 sailings aboard nine deluxe riverboats between late March and early November (on mostly seven-night cruises), is big on service: According to Richard De Sousa, Sales and Marketing Director, "the ratio is one crew member for every 2.5 passengers, which means we can offer extras such as room service for continental breakfast." For entertainment, glitzy Las Vegas-style entertainment is out as each cruise has a steady flow of performers board their ships at water's edge, such as gypsy singers in Budapest and an operetta star in Vienna.
See our slideshow of European River Rambles.
Other leading float-through-Europe choices are Amadeus Waterways, Avalon, Uniworld, Viking Cruises and Vantage. All these lines are linked by the fact of their having fewer passengers than the big ships, less waiting and open seating for all meals. James Murphy, Chairman of California-based Amadeus Waterways, says "Americans gravitate to river cruising because the concept is easy, everyone dines at the same time, you unpack just once, and the staff is English speaking."
Dozens of ships plying European waterways share the same criteria: They cannot exceed 38 feet in width, 418 feet in length, and generally can have no more than three decks. Most carry between 164 to 176 passengers. These boats may be outwardly alike, but they're actually quite distinctive in terms of cuisine, style, décor and even staff. On any given day in Amsterdam's harbor you might find long, slender boats sporting names like Amadagio, Mozart, Monet, the River Navigator, the Victor Hugo, the River Royal or the Avalon Poetry neatly floating a few gently competitive feet from one another. They're often "rafted together" making it necessary to walk through other ships to embark. I recently journeyed aboard Amadeus's Amadagio on its "Tulip Time" itinerary. Passengers paid between $1,799 and $1,999 per person (without airfare) for deluxe accommodations, all onboard meals and shore excursions to Volendam, Edam, Antwerp, Ghent, Willemstad, Dordrecht and Utrecht.
Chef Rainer Buss created a diverse gourmet menu with regional specialties reflective of where the ship happened to be. (Of course, there were always hamburgers, Caesar salad and a divine mozzarella-salami pizza on the menu for those in a comfort food mode.) Two different red and white wines were on offer each night. You could sip varieties such as Rheingau Riesling, Dry (2006) and Rosso di Montalcino (2004) paired with an appetizer such as crab cakes and green shell mussels with sweet chili sauce, follow it up with an entree like rib-eye steak with glazed balsamic shallots and then decide whether or not you had room for a frozen poppy seed parfait with strawberry flip—there was never any particular hurry. For my roommate, dinner aboard the ship became a veritable winefest. She sipped her way through Amsterdam, Antwerp and all those lovely villages, buying local wines along the way. The last morning of the cruise she remarked this was the perfect way to tiptoe through Keukenhof's famous tulip gardens.
See our slideshow of European River Rambles.
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