River Cruise Specialist

Portugal - Avalon River Cruise

I delight in sharing my river cruise experiences with those considering such a journey. With a variety of lines available, I can assist in finding the perfect cruise for you. 

River cruising caters to everyone – history enthusiasts, culinary and wine aficionados, and adventurers, appealing to people of all ages.

Complimentary wine, beer, and bottled beverages are often included with meals—mimosas for breakfast, perhaps? A significant saving is the inclusion of one or two daily excursions in your fare.

Booking a themed cruise might include guest speakers, wine or beer tasting, classical or jazz performances, and visits to breweries, vineyards, and unique museums at no additional cost. River cruising is akin to an all-inclusive experience. The ships are cozy and intimate, free from crowds, ensuring no long lines, even during embarkation. River ships are designed to be long and narrow to navigate locks, expanding only in length to fit under bridges and through locks. Typically, they feature just a few decks and as few as fifty cabins.

It’s a fantastic way to meet people if you are so inclined – or travelling alone – as there are so few guests on board.

Meals are gourmet quality and exceptional. Remember, the kitchen is serving far fewer people than a cruise ship or even a resort.

Like to cook? Theme cruises may have cooking lessons with the chef – or even shopping in the local food markets, pre-dinner preparation. And with free drinks you can fill your wine glass up before retiring to the lounge to take in the evening’s scheduled entertainment – local singers, dancers or musicians.

• Staterooms - Depending on the ship, you can choose a stateroom with a panorama floor to ceiling window, a French balcony (think patio doors with balcony railing), or a small balcony.

Avalon Waterways boasts you can lie in bed on their ships and enjoy the passing scenery, one of my favorite lines!

River cruises have a view – always – and not just of surrounding expanses of water. Whether from your room’s balcony, the windows in the public rooms, or out in the open on the top deck for a 360 view, you can watch the surrounding countryside, small towns, villages, and cities pass by. 

You are where the action is. Because the ship sails a river, it docks in the heart of towns and cities, and you can often walk where you want to go, exploring on your own instead of an excursion, or timing your strolls in the intervals between excursions or other activities. Skip dinner to eat in a local restaurant on shore, shop, or take in some city nightlife. Yes, some river cruise ships have pools! 

River cruising can be a very active, engaging vacation – or not – it is your choice. Bicycled down a country road in Europe lately? Been on safari in southeastern Africa? Sat down for a meal with locals? Explored a vineyard and tasted the wine produced there? There’s excitement around every corner, every day of your cruise.

You don’t have to participate in all the activities on offer if you don’t wish to, you can just sit back and enjoy the ambiance and the views. But if you want to be engaged every minute, you can be on the go with guided bicycle tours, walking tours of nearby sights, or making the most of the interactions with locals. Most lines ensure that walking tours are offered at various levels of physical activity, so no one feels hampered by slower walkers, or conversely, feels they are rushed and out-of-breath.

Lastly, river cruising is fun. It’s a no-worries time when you can leave all the logistics to the cruise line experts, especially the best to see and do on every stop of your chosen itinerary. And with river cruises in Europe, Egypt, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, southeastern Africa, the Amazon in South America, and in the United States, you can visit the heart of countries or continents rather than skirt ocean coastlines. Be a true explorer of this world.