{"id":5002,"date":"2012-05-11T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T06:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/?p=5002"},"modified":"2022-05-26T09:39:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T13:39:23","slug":"river-cruising-basics-will-i-be-bored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/2012\/05\/river-cruising-basics-will-i-be-bored\/","title":{"rendered":"River Cruising Basics: Will I Be Bored?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve never taken a river cruise before, chances are you\u2019re asking yourself one very important question, and it goes like this: The ship looks so small. Will I be bored?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Most river cruise ships only have a single lounge. So will you be bored? Read on. Photo \u00a9 2012 Aaron Saunders<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

That\u2019s the very question I asked myself before I took my first river cruise — though admittedly the thought hadn\u2019t occurred to me until I was racing at 37,000 feet across the Atlantic on my way to Germany. A bit too late, perhaps?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the uninitiated and those who\u2019ve sailed on cruise ships that feature dozens of different bars, lounges and dining options, the deck plans of a river cruise ship aren\u2019t encouraging at first glance. Typically, there\u2019s a single lounge, situated all the way forward, along with a single dining room, a reception area and a sun deck. Depending on the ship, you could have a small internet center, gymnasium, spa, or even an aft-facing lounge. And that\u2019s pretty much it. It\u2019s enough to make a die-hard cruise fan run screaming back to their 18-deck floating palaces \u2014 until they take a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n

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AmaWaterways’ beautiful AmaLyra during a stop in Melk, Austria. Photo \u00a9 2011 Aaron Saunders<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Unlike mega cruise ships, which can hold two, three or even four thousand guests, a typical river cruise ship carries between 100 and 200 guests. To put it in perspective, there\u2019s a good possibility that 100 guests will show up for trivia on ships like Oasis of the Seas<\/em>. With such a low passenger count, you just don\u2019t need 38 bars and 47 lounges – one or two will get the job done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

River cruise lines also have some other important factors at play: They\u2019d probably make their vessels longer and taller if they could, but they\u2019re limited by the restrictive dimensions of the many locks they must transit and bridges they pass under as they sail the waterways of Europe. In some cases, there may be only inches of clearance under the ship\u2019s keel and above her sun deck, which is designed to collapse entirely to allow passage under the lowest bridges. Even the ship\u2019s wheelhouse can be hydraulically lowered into the superstructure, leaving just enough room for the Captain to poke his head out of the roof.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The cozy Aft Lounge onboard the AmaLyra provides games, comfortable seating, a guest printer, and even bar service to compliment the stunning views. Photo \u00a9 2011 Aaron Saunders<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

My biggest surprise awaited me at the dock in Nuremberg, Germany, where I boarded AmaWaterways<\/a>\u2019 AmaLyra<\/a>: she was surprisingly big, and just as long as other deep-ocean cruise ship\u2019s I\u2019ve sailed. And frankly, I found that she\u2019s just as spacious and comfortable as any megaship \u2014 just smaller overall. If you\u2019ve never sailed on a small ship before, get ready: Not battling crowds for everything<\/em> becomes very enjoyable very fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So was I bored? Far from it; in fact, my time aboard my first river cruise ranks as my most active voyage to-date — and I like to do a lot on my deep-ocean cruises.<\/p>\n\n\n

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There was truly something for every taste aboard the AmaLyra. At breakfast, there were so many types of Marmelade alone that I couldn’t fit them all in a single frame. Photo \u00a9 2011 Aaron Saunders<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In a typical day, I\u2019d wake up around 7 a.m. and amble down to the Restaurant for breakfast, which could take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour if I was seated with friends. Tours typically began at 8:30 a.m. or 9 a.m., and we\u2019d spend the better part of the day on-tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the afternoon, we\u2019d reboard the ship for lunch and scenic cruising to our next port of call. Lunch would be a leisurely affair taking roughly one hour, after which I\u2019d chat with new friends in the lounge or head on up to the Sun Deck to take some photos and maybe re-arrange the pieces on the gigantic chess set.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Coming ashore in ports like Linz, Austria, provides endless opportunities for exploration. Photo courtesy of the City of Linz.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Later in the afternoon, we\u2019d dock at our next port of call, and it was time once again to get off and go on a tour that could last anywhere from two hours to five, depending on what we chose to do. Then, there\u2019d be time to explore on our own. On some evenings, if time allowed, I\u2019d eat in places like Linz and Vienna to take in some of the local culture, but most of the time I\u2019d make my way back to the ship for dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After dinner, evening entertainment was offered in the lounge. Rather than being staid and boring, this was a lively affair, and almost the entire passenger compliment retired to the lounge after dinner to chat and have fun. And fun we had – some nights, it was well after midnight before I made my way back to my cabin – and I was travelling solo!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dinner aboard Avalon Panorama. Photo courtesy of Avalon Waterways<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Therein lies the brilliance of river cruising: The ships are small and intimate enough that you get to know everyone. There\u2019s a certain family style atmosphere that fosters aboard a river cruise ship that just isn\u2019t possible on larger vessels. Have you ever been on a megaship and struck up a great conversation with someone one evening, only to never see them again for the rest of the voyage? There\u2019s no danger of that happening on a river cruise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will you be bored? Not unless you choose to be!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve never taken a river cruise before, chances are you\u2019re asking yourself one very important question, and it goes like this: The ship looks so small. Will I be bored? That\u2019s the very question I asked myself before I took my first river cruise — though admittedly the thought hadn\u2019t occurred to me until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,66,72],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}