My wife and I are considering a river cruise on the Danube or Rhine in December to see the Christmas markets. I am wondering if it's worth the added cost to get a balcony room on the ship, or if it would be too cold to enjoy it. We could save a lot of money by getting a 'French balcony' instead of a true balcony. Also, any recommendations on a cruiseline would be appreciated.
Balcony on a Christmas cruise?
Recent Activity
View all Cruises activity »
- 1 (Almost) Day and a half in Rome
- 2
Boston to Bermuda on NCL's Dawn
- 3 What to pack for an Alaska Inside Passage Cruise in mid-June
- 4 Boston: Black Falcon Terminal to Hilton at Logan by taxi or ship transfer?
- 5 quick lunch in Paris
- 6 A few questions about RCI Majesty of the Seas
- 7 Rhine River Cruise - Amsterdam to Zurick
- 8 Alaska-Oceania vs Regent
- 9
Travel Report for Azamara Journey - Asia Cruise
- 10 Venice Port and Hotel help
- 11 Regent vs Oceania Australia/New Zealand 2014
- 12 first time cruise (Carribean): what money do we take?
- 13 Cayos Cochinos
- 14 California Coastal Cruise
- 15 Shared excursions on Norwegian Spirit June 16, 2013 sailing
- 16 Royal Caribbean drink prices and the new alcohol policy 2013
- 17 Going on a Cruise? Do you still want to after you read this?
- 18 Grand Turk
- 19 Transportation from Rome airport to Port
- 20 cruise ship illness outbreaks (the Norovirus reports for 2012&2013)
- 21 Shore excursions on Paul Gaugin ship in Tahiti?
- 22 6 solid days at sea w/transatlantic trip
- 23 Carnival Triumph to be Fun Ship 2.0 refurbished
- 24 Which River Cruise company?? Amsterdam to Vienna 2014
- 25 Best River cruise company for Europe?
We took a Viking cruise and had a very small balcony, but I don't think it was quite the same as a balconey on a big ship. We felt that Viking was excellent even though our ship was older and about to end its service.
Comment has been removed by Fodor's moderators
If you have a window, I personally would not spend the money for a balcony. It will, IMHO, be too cold to sit out on it. Christmas time in Germany and Austria can be pretty cold - good coat weather. As a matter of fact, are you going to be stopped in some port during the day every day? If so, it will be dark by evening when you are on the ship. Some lights at night will be pretty, but not worth a lot of extra money, again, MHO. Save the balcony for someplace nice and warm like the Caribbean.
Thanks Reme and Sassafrass for your thoughts. I'll look into Viking River Cruises and will probably skip the balcony.
Comment has been removed by Fodor's moderators
We have been on Christmas Market river cruises with Grand Circle, Vantage, and Viking. I don't think you need to spend the money on a balcony. We did the first year and never used it. With the newer ships with French balconies, you still have the views and don't have the expense.
We liked Grand Circle and Vantage and would travel again with either of them. The ships were decorated for Christmas and you had a lot of holiday activities. We liked having a dedicated tour director for each 1/4 of the passengers. The staff on both Grand Circle and Vantage were warm, and they seemed to enjoy having us as passengers. They went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed and spent a lot of time helping us plan our independent activities.
On the other hand, other than going to the markets, there was very little "holiday" experience on our Viking cruise (which we took in December). There was one tour director for the entire ship, and we had different local guides in each port. There was norovirus on the ship, and some of our fellow travelers were sick. There was no communication about the illness, and the cleanliness on the ship was not up to the standards we were used to. We would not travel with Viking again.