River Cruising
If you've ever wondered what it's really like to take a river cruise, you're in the right place. I recently embarked on my very first cruise—one that we'd been planning for over a year. Like many first-time cruisers, I had plenty of expectations, a few misconceptions, and lots of questions before I stepped aboard. Some things were exactly as I imagined, while others completely surprised me—in both good and bad ways. In the sections below, I'll share an honest look at what exceeded my expectations, what didn't quite live up to the hype, and the unexpected moments that made my first river cruising experience one I'll never forget.
You can read my complete river cruising experience from start to finish or navigate directly to the topics that interest you most.
Things i loved
Exploring Multiple Cities
One of the biggest advantages of river cruising is the ability to experience multiple destinations without the hassle of traveling separately between each one. Previously, when planning a trip through Europe, I’ve had to book multiple hotels, pack and unpack repeatedly, navigate trains and airports, arrange transportation, and spend valuable vacation time getting from one place to another.
In this case, I only had to unpack once but got to enjoy seeing 6 different cities. The travel between destinations became part of the experience rather than a time sucker. In fact, the travel between cities was in some cases one of the highlights of the trip. We were on a Rhine Castles & Swiss Alps cruise, so we got to enjoy views of medieval castles, vineyards, charming villages, historic towns, and beautiful countryside. It truly was a relaxing and beautiful journey between destinations.
The Food
I was also incredibly impressed by the quality of the food. River cruises are known for having fantastic food, but this was better than I expected. The food was beautifully prepared and varied with menus and wine pairings that reflected the destinations and regions we were traveling through.
I also appreciated that the menu changed every day. Unlike ocean cruises that have large static menus that may only change once per week, this cruise had a different selection of entrees every evening. They did have a short list of items that were always available, but there was plenty of variety every day and I never had a meal that I was disappointed in. The only exception was the breakfast menu which did not change, but between the menu options and the daily offerings on the breakfast buffet, we never got bored.
Fewer Passengers
River cruises are much smaller and more destination-focused compared to ocean cruises. With less than 200 passengers, the vibe is much more intimate and relaxed. With a smaller crowd, it’s easier to get to know one another and by the end of the trip we had met several couples that we enjoyed getting to chat with on the ship and on excursions into town. We also really enjoyed getting to know the crew who were incredibly attentive. Because there are fewer passengers to attend to, they got to know us and learned our preferences very early in the trip. Within just a few days they were bringing us our favorite wines and making recommendations they knew we would appreciate.
Excursions
One of my favorite things about traveling on AmaWaterways was that ALL of the excursions were included. In every port we had the option of a guided bike tour, a walking tour, or exploring on our own. The bike tours fill up incredibly fast, so we typically wound up on the walking tours. The tours had easy, medium and difficult levels so they were a good fit for all travelers. They were always interesting and allowed enough time to explore a little on your own afterward. It was a great way to get your bearings and see what you wanted to spend a little more time on at the end of the visit. Depending on the location, some included wine tastings, gondola rides, etc…
The Ports
Unlike ocean cruising, when you stop at ports there aren’t four or five giant ships with two or three thousand people pouring off of each one. At these stops there are at most two or three ships each with a couple of hundred passengers, and most of the time the other ship is leaving not long after you arrive or vice versa. We never felt like a city was overrun with tourists and always felt like we got to really see the towns through a locals eyes.
What surprised me
The Ship
I have to admit that when we walked around the corner and saw our ship for the first time, I was very surprised. I knew it would be smaller than an ocean liner, but this looked more like a big boat - not a ship! I had seen pictures of the ship, but in person it seemed much smaller. Most river cruise lines also appear to be more blocky and dated than their sleek ocean going counterparts.
Once onboard the ship I was also struck by the lack of grandeur that I have come to expect when cruising. You don't enter into a grand atrium with glass elevators and massive chandeliers. There are no pools with giant slides, no theaters, entertainment areas or multiple dining venues. Instead there was a small reception area and a lounge with a bar. There is one dining room, as well as a Chef’s Table that you can attend once on every cruise. And the upper deck has a very small pool that’s not much bigger than a hot tub, but has plenty of deck space for sitting outside to enjoy the scenery. That’s it. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Meals
As I said before, the food was fantastic. Unlike ocean cruising, the focus is on quality over quantity. There is no all day buffet or midnight pizza shop. The lounge had a very small menu that you could order from at any time of day and there was also a small table that always had nuts, dried fruits and little snacks available as well as water. Other than that you have modestly portioned entrees in the dining room at meal times. They are filling and delicious without being excessive. I always left the meals satisfied and I never felt like there was a lack of food available.
The Clientele
I will admit that before my first river cruise, I had a preconceived idea that river cruising was primarily for "old" people. I quickly discovered that assumption was completely wrong - or maybe I'm just the old person now! The travelers on our cruise ranged between older teenagers to around 80-ish, with the vast majority being in their 50's and everyone was very active. No walkers and wheelchairs with this group!
The Ports (the bad part)
I had always pictured river cruises as being these beautiful scenic cruises through the countryside, and while that was true for some of the ports it wasn’t the case for every port. A few of them were actually in very industrial areas that were not very pretty. They were filled with shipping containers and buildings covered in graffiti, not the beautiful rolling hills that I had envisioned in my mind.
Not only were these ports not lovely to look at, they were also not areas you would want to explore. At these locations we would be bused up to an hour away into the cities we were visiting. The buses were very nice and comfortable and the guides would provide interesting information about the area along the way. It wasn’t unenjoyable, it just wasn’t the “hop off the ship and explore” type of adventure I had expected to have. However, the majority of the ports were right in the heart of town and these were very enjoyable.
Nightly Entertainment
Like I said, these ships don’t have big entertainment venues. Instead there is one main lounge that all of the activities occur in. You gather here in the morning while you wait for your tours to depart. You meet here with fellow passengers once you get back to discuss the day and have a cocktail. You come here for the departure talk by the cruise director every evening, and you return after dinner for entertainment. Every evening there is either a DJ, a piano player, a small band, etc… who perform for about an hour or so. Then you either chat with other passengers or go out on the deck to hang out. It is very low key and I actually found that I enjoyed it much more than I expected.
The Locks
For me, this was the most surprising part of river cruising. I always knew that river ships relied heavily on the water levels, but I didn’t know how confined they are by lock times - or that they even passed through locks! Every ship is assigned a lock time and these times affect your time in port. In our case, our cruise down the Rhine encountered 8 different locks which meant 8 different occasions for our time in port to be affected. Unfortunately, our day in Lucerne was cut drastically short due to this, but other than that we were lucky and the changes were minimal.
The locks were actually very interesting though and were a highlight of our evenings aboard the ship. It was fascinating to go out on the deck and watch the ship lower and pass through each of them.
My honest take: would i do it again?
While river cruising was very different than I expected, it was amazing. Rather than the ship itself being the destination, the cruise felt more like a wonderful and convenient way to experience the beautiful regions of Europe. I loved the smaller crowds and relaxing environment that felt more luxurious than ostentatious. When I go to another country, I want to really see the country. The small towns and local culture were the focus, not the overcrowded touristy locations.
After my first river cruise, I understand why so many travelers become repeat river cruisers. I’m already looking to book my next one!
A typical day on a river cruise
We started planning our cruise on AmaWaterways about a year and a half ahead of time. Being our first river cruise, I had no idea what a typical day on the ship would be like and I could not seem to find a detailed itinerary anywhere. I made a copy of ours and posted it below, so you can check it out if you are interested. On Ama, these are posted at about 6pm daily on the myAmaCruise app. It is incredibly easy to navigate and gives you all the details on what you can expect for the next day.
Click the image above to see a flipbook of our entire itinerary for the 2026 Swiss Alps and Rhine Castles cruise.
Tips for first-time river cruisers
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Book a spring or early-summer cruise for your best odds of good river flow. Early in the season the rivers are flowing well due to the snow melting off the Alps. By the time we went in June the Rhine was already experiencing low levels which can affect the ships ability to travel.
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Check out the River Cruise Updates link on my Resources page for weekly updates on water levels across Europe.
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If you are looking for a bargain (river cruises can be pricey!) consider booking in late summer or fall. You run the risk of lower water levels, but the prices can be 1/3 of what you pay during peak season.
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Make sure to book your pre-cruise and post-cruise hotels as soon as you book your cruise. These tend to fill up fast and some of the towns aren't that large to begin with.
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Sign up for bike tours the first day they are released. AmaWaterways releases theirs 60 days from departure and by the next day they will be completely full. Each guest can only sign up for 2 bike tours in advance, so make sure to do some advanced research to find the ones you prefer.
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Each night the evening meal will be paired with 4 region specific wines. If you find a bottle of wine that you really love though, you can always ask your server if they have any extra bottles and they will typically allow you to have that as an option as well.
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Most importantly - go with friends! Like anything else in this world, it's so much better with the people you love!