We cruised down the Rhine and decided to add on the 7-day cruise going to several new ports for us. We've cruised 20+ times, but always on ships geared to US passengers. The differences we noticed were not bad, just different.

Service was much slower and impersonal-- very little interaction between waiters and passengers. Perhaps the training varied. Waiters did not seem to know much about meals they were serving. Everyone was polite, just distant. Some of the wine stewards didn't seem knowledgeable.

Of course, the more modest prices were a plus. As Americans we are accustomed to tip often, so this was a nice change. Selection of wine was quite good and reasonably priced. Read more