irenen

We are thinking of booking a Danube River Cruise for 2025. Trying to decide which Cruise Line to book with. Our TA has suggested Viking, Tauck and Uniworld. Does anyone have personal experience of any/all of them? I have no idea which we should book with. We have taken one previous cruise with Uniworld ( about 10 years ago) and done a few land tours with Tauck, and were very happy with both. Friends tell us Viking is also excellent. Any advice gratefully received.

bilboburgler

I'd chose which ever's boats have the shallowest draught.

J62

I know people who have taken Viking & Uniworld Danube cruises and the both loved them. The one main complaint about Viking was the loud couple they ate dinner with several nights then had to endure as newfound besties during the day.

not sure that was Viking’s fault….

The biggest complaint about river cruises seems to be related to low water bus detours hence bilbos comment above. Afaik there is no real difference between the sizes of the ships they all use - they all need to fit through the same locks.

if there is low water then any of the cruise boats is likely to have issues. I know the Rhine has low water issues from time to time but I’m not sure if the Danube does. Beware that the water in the Danube is in fact more brown than blue….

bilboburgler

The draughts vary from around 1.25 metres to about 1.65. The width is the critical issue for locks and they all fit (or else why would they be there). 400mm is a large difference in terms of such a massive river. I think there is a cruise thread that might advise better.

travelchat

I’ve done River cruises with Avalon, Vantage (before they went bankrupt), Uniworld and two Tauck and Tauck has been best in terms of availability of multiple cruise directors, superior daily/evening excursions and all around comfort level. The ships aren’t as fancy as Uniworld but the content is superior. The food, while not high gourmet is fine and evening entertainment on board very pleasant.

The first River cruise I did was the Paris/Provence with Tauck and it was fantastic. The intercontinental Paris Le Grand was the start of a magical ten day tour that was above and beyond, got me hooked on River cruising.

Hands down do the Tauck Musical Magic Along the Danube with hotel stays at each end. I can’t recommend it enough. It has all the richness, culture and sights combined in one go you’ll ever want. IMHO, Tauck offers the best of River cruising.

In terms of water levels, spring and fall were the times I’d chosen for the six cruises I’ve been on so far and water levels were not a problem, although that may have been a matter of luck.

bilboburgler

I came across one of the Viking ships, which had been stuck in a side river when there was too little water and the (Thai?) staff had just been dumped to boil rice by the side of the boat. I wouldn't sail with Viking if you paid me.

HappyTrvlr

We had bad experiences with Viking river cruises too.

FTOttawa

Friend travelled with Uniworld on the Danube last October. What was supposed to be Nuremberg to Budapest became Passau to Bratislava due to low water. They were loaded into buses to fulfill promised excursions.

Notwithstanding the hiccups, he liked the food and service well enough that he has booked another Uniworld river cruise this year.

irenen

Could you tell me what your bad experience was? It would help me decide if it's a company problem or an isolated issue. Thank you.

HappyTrvlr

We are well traveled but the staff on the Viking River Boat Danube Cruise treated their guests like children. There was a long list of do not this or that. We did not want to go on their included bus tour in one city and, rather, wanted to explore some places that interested us on our own. We were told we couldn’t, we said we were going to explore on our own, etc. When we finally were leaving the ship on our own, a crew member praised us for doing just that. They could not answer our questions either. We have had superb experiences with AMAWaterways on their river cruises.