This was my first real river cruise ( I don't consider my Nile cruise reflective of the genre) and my friends and I lucked out in going on a very new ship ( inaugurated in May 2017) with a very cool group of people. Unlike ocean cruising the ship complement is much smaller and as is expected skews older. I had no problem with either I love being referred to us "young people". The tours in each city were geared accordingly from active to gentle walkers. The predominance of the touring was inclusive of the price with two optional side tours for an additional fee. The fee was reasonable and not like the normal "soaking" you get from ocean cruise excursions.

The pace was not hectic and as such I think you get a more in depth concept of the art, culture and history of each stop. I will say that when traveling through the 40+ locks on the Main you kind of want to say can we get a fast forward but the pace is part of the charm of river cruising.

Be forewarned there is not much as far as evening entertainment, but as everyday is a touring day ( no days at sea) you don't miss too much the over activity of night life. Each evening we got an overview of the port for the next day and on arrival local guides came aboard to provide the tour experience. Most of the tours were walking though in the bigger cities like Cologne (Koln) a bus was needed for more direct access to the city centre. I think the Cologne stop was too short but that's the allotment. Read more