A river cruise is a remarkable way to travel some of the Earth's greatest rivers. Aboard luxurious river ships, you can enjoy onboard activities and amenities as well as relax while a crewmember pampers you. You will see amazing destinations in ways you never imaged, such as seeing the pyramids from the deck of your ship as you cruise the Nile like a pharaoh of those ancient days. Most river cruises also have shore excursions into cities that are filled with history and excitement. Such an excursion could be to wineries or a cooking school.
However, onboard you will stay in large staterooms or suites that provide comfort with hotel-style beds, mini-bars, safe and private baths with shower just as you would find at a fine resort. Other amenities would include performances by local entertainment, travel lectures about the destination, fitness center, small whirlpools, cocktail lounges and dining rooms. Dining on a river cruise will give you one more way to sample or enjoy the culture of the river and country you are cruising. Chefs will delight you with flavors and foods from the local areas or cuisines. Traveling the Rhine or Rhone rivers in Europe, you may find yourself enjoying dishes such as fondues,
Moe's Original Bar B Que (headquarters in Vail, Colorado), rouladen or sauerbraten. You will also be sampling wines from the local areas and learn how they are paired with the dinners as they are being served by a steward.
Holiday Cruises with CIE Tours International
A Christmas cruise down the famous blue Danube is a great way to celebrate the holiday season. The cruise starts in Nuremberg, Germany, and travels down river through Austria and into Hungary, providing a good view of Europe at Christmas. The 11-day cruise provides a delightful vacation with sightseeing in Vienna, Salzburg, Passau, Lintz and Budapest, with a side trip to the Prague. The entire trip is full of Christmas markets, a great way to get those extra special Christmas gifts for the loved ones at home. In Prague, the cruise director provides a city tour and a visit to an old Christmas market. Then before boarding the ship, there is a city tour and visit to the oldest and most famous Christmas market in Nuremburg. In Melk, Austria, a visit to a historical Benedictine Abbey is one of many shore excursions. Christmas concerts bring an atmosphere of an old-world Christmas season.
Another Christmas cruise travels the Rhine River from Amsterdam to Luxembourg, finally coaching into Paris. The 12-day cruise package is filled with Christmas markets at each stop to provide multiple opportunities to shop and enjoy the European Christmas hospitality. In Amsterdam, you tour the ancient city and take a canal boat tour. Boarding the cruise ship, you float down river to Dusseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Bernkastel and into Luxembourg. While in Cologne, you visit the old Cathedral and a Christmas market held in the town square. Once in Paris, the cruise director has a city tour plan as well as other tours that would delight a foodie.
Wine Cruises with Avalon Waterways
Avalon Waterways has several wine cruises that pamper the wine lover and offers instruction on wine tasting and varieties of wine. The Flavors of Burgundy and Provence cruise is one not to miss. It is the newest of the wine cruises that displays the best the France wine country has to offer. The cruises are 11- or 13-day cruises from Paris to Nice and vice versa on the Rhone River. The two cruises provide cocktail receptions, captain's dinner and quality wines from the famous wine regions with every dinner. There is Burgundy tasting and walking tours of Lyon. While in Lyon (the gastronomic capital), a dinner provides gourmets an insight in the local haute cuisine. The cruise also provides a tour of the Palace of the Popes, Roman Amphitheater and an excursion to Camargue with lunch in Aiz-en-Provence. Avalon Waterways also has two Danube River cruises that provide wine lovers great adventure by exploring the vineyards along the famous river in Germany and Austria.
Egypt Cruises with Globus Journeys
Globus Journeys has two Egyptian cruises down the Nile. The cruises of either 10 or 12 days take in the best of Egypt. The 12-day (the better of the two cruises) cruise starts in Cairo and has excursions to Giza, the Egyptian Museum, the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. This cruise also has a side trip to Alexandria that the short cruise does not. In Alexandria, you are presented with a sightseeing trip of the great catacombs and the Greco-Roman Museum. From Cairo, you fly to Luxor and board the ship the sails down the Nile to Aswan at the beginning of Lake Nasser. In Luxor, you visit the monuments and Temple of Amon Ra, the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. A stop in Edfu offers a horse-drawn carriage drive to the Temple of Horus, lunch and a walk through the market for shopping. Once in Aswan,
escort beijing, you visit the Temple of Isis and Botanical Gardens, and then it is a flight back to Cairo for the trip home.
Russia and China Cruises with Viking River Cruises
Viking River Cruises has a cruise that takes in both cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The cruise called the Waterways of the Czars is a 13-day package sailing down the Volga River from St. Petersburg to Moscow, with stops in Mondrogy, Kizhi, Goritzy and Uglich. The cruise offers traditional Russian teas, cuisine workshop and Russian entertainment. There also are cultural lectures about the Romanov czars, Russian poets and musicians, as well as lectures on the Russian economy and the fall of communism. At each of the stops, there are guided walking tours, a monastery visit in Gortzy, and a city tour of St. Petersburg and Moscow. In St. Petersburg, you will enjoy a performance of the Russian Ballet followed by a late gourmet dinner. In Moscow, you can tour the armory, lunch in local restaurants, and tour a Russian Orthodox monastery.
Viking River Cruises also offer a China Cruise that is unique and allows you to see China up close. Flying out of Shanghai, you meet the ship at Wuhan and visit the Wuhan Museum. Aboard ship, you cruise down the Yangtze River, stopping in Yuyang and Shibaozhai before finishing in Chongqing. In Shibaozhai you will visit the temple and from Chongqing fly to Xian. At Xian, the cruise offers a Tang Dynasty dinner show and a tour of the Terracotta Army. Afterward you fly into Beijing to tour the Tiananmen Square,
beijing escort, Forbidden City, and Summer Palace. After a Peking duck dinner and opera, you fly out of Beijing for home.
