I’ve always been a very independent traveler. Let me loose in a new place and I’ll delight in discovering a beautiful art gallery with a hidden outdoor courtyard overlooking the city, finding the best slice of cake at a cute corner café, and stumbling upon a handicraft shop with goods made by local artisans. I love the freedom of lingering three extra hours in a museum or cutting my losses after twenty minutes if I’m not feeling it. And the satisfaction of navigating a new country’s public transportation system on the first try.
That appreciation of independence and freedom — coupled with a lackluster experience on a fjord cruise in Norway in a windowless cabin on a huge ship — made me assume that river cruising or any kind of cruising simply wasn’t for me.
But a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be welcomed onboard the Riverside Ravel, sailing the Rhône and Saône through the south of France. The trip was a designed to help travel advisors like me get to experience the ship firsthand. I’ll admit I was skeptical (didn’t I swear off cruises after that Norway experience?) but I had heard stellar reviews of Riverside Luxury Cruises and decided to give it a go.
The following are my thoughts from my first ever river cruise – what I was skeptical about going in, what I actually experienced, and what you need to keep in mind when you’re deciding on a river cruise company yourself.
A Quiet Space on Board
Fear: Not Having My Own Space
As an independent traveler (and introvert), my biggest fear going in was not having adequate privacy. Outside of my room, that I was sharing with a fellow travel advisor friend, would I be able to find a quiet corner to myself away from other guests?
Experience: Plenty of Quiet Spaces to Myself
I didn’t have trouble finding a place to be alone. The Riverside Ravel holds a maximum capacity of 110 guests, a strikingly low number when you consider some ships on this stretch of river carry close to double that. My suite was quiet and peaceful, and if I wanted to disappear on my own for a while, there was always somewhere I could go: a corner of the lounge, one of several outdoor decks, the pool. I never once felt stuck.
What to Keep in Mind
When selecting a river cruise company and ship, capacity is the number to ask about. A ship’s guest to space ratio determines almost everything about how crowded it feels. Look for a line that keeps its numbers intentionally low, rather than one that advertises “intimate” without the math to back it up.
Delicious Meals
Fear: Getting Tired of the Food
Not only do I love trying new restaurants when I travel, I delight in gastronomic experiences. I dreaded the thought of a tired buffet, or having to order the same thing on repeat for a week straight.
Experience: Absolutely Delectable, Creative Cuisine
I never ate the same dish twice. Everything is cooked to order on the Ravel and there’s an onboard pastry chef making fresh bread and pastries daily. The dishes are unique, creative, and delicious, and the buffets were so abundant it took me over a minute to film the entire thing with my phone. The chefs often shop the local markets at port, and the menu shifts with each destination. Along the Rhône, that meant fresh truffles, flavorful summer fruit, croissants, tarte tatin. Between the Waterside Restaurant, an Atelier Dinner, and a special BBQ dinner on the roof deck with salt crusted sea bass I am still thinking about, there was no shortage of variety.
What to Keep in Mind
If food is a priority for you the way it is for me, ask how a ship’s kitchen actually operates. A larger than average galley, a chef who has a daily budget to shop at local markets, and food made from scratch rather than reheated make a real difference, and it’s worth confirming before you book rather than assuming all river ships cook the same way.
Small Tour Groups
Fear: Being Herded Around in a Massive Group
I pictured myself on a giant coach with fifty other guests, half of them checking their phones while a guide recited facts through a headset, and then descending on a small village to be herded through the narrow streets.
Experience: Wonderfully Small Excursion Groups
This is where the ship surprised me most. Riverside keeps excursion groups intentionally small. Most tours I went on were around five or six people, and the largest was an evening walking tour with around fifteen. One morning, I was the only guest signed up for a truffle hunting excursion. They ran the excursion anyways, just for me. It’s a Riverside policy to run an excursion no matter how many people sign up, and it ended up being one of the best parts of the entire trip – a morning learning all about growing truffles from a local farmer, meeting the truffle hunting dogs, and enjoying an entire truffle myself.
What to Keep in Mind
This ties back to the same ratio question. Fewer guests onboard mean smaller, more personal excursion groups, and a line that offers a wide range of excursion options each day helps spread everyone out even further. Every day, there were between 5-6 different excursion options aboard the Ravel, ranging from kayaking to e-biking through vineyards to wine and chocolate tastings, and market tours. If avoiding the big bus experience matters to you, ask directly about typical group sizes.
Maintaining a Sense of Place
Fear: Losing the Sense of Place I Love Feeling When I Travel
River cruising is, by its nature, a different rhythm than staying in a destination, and I worried about missing the feel of a place entirely, the kind of thing you easily get from living in a place for a few days.
Experience: It’s There if You Want It
It’s true you won’t get quite the same feel for a place from a river ship that you would from a hotel in the center of town. But there is ample room to build that back in. Skip the excursions for the day and go wander. Spend an evening while you’re docked having a long dinner at a local restaurant. Hop off the ship early in the morning to get a coffee and pastry and watch as the town gets ready to start the day. I spent an afternoon wandering the Old Town in Lyon on my own, no itinerary, no group, just me and the city, and it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I did the same when I decided to forgo a museum in Beaune in favor of sitting in a park for a few hours writing in my journal and watching a delightful group of ducks with particularly fluffy tailfeathers swim back and forth across the pond.
What to Keep in Mind
If a sense of place matters to you, add a few days onto the beginning and ending of your sailing. Review the itinerary in detail and identify opportunities to spend meaningful time off ship. And look for a ship that also weaves the destination into the onboard experience itself, through cuisine, local partnerships, and excursions, so the connection to place doesn’t disappear the moment you step back onboard.
So Many Things to Do
Fear: Quickly Tiring of the Ship Routine
I worried the novelty of the ship would wear off after a day or two and I’d be left counting down the days.
Experience: Wanting More Time!
By contrast, I ran out of time before I ran out of things I wanted to do (and was already looking up future sailings before I disembarked!). Between the large variety of excursions, a variety of dining options, the local entertainment brought onboard, mixology classes, a couple of movie nights, as well as the spa, the gym, the pool, and simply sitting on deck watching the scenery drift by with a glass of homemade basil lemonade, most days I wanted to fit in more than the schedule allowed.
What to Keep in Mind
Look for a ship with genuine variety, a solid mix of excursions (including ample active ones!), and enough onboard amenities that the times on the river feel as full as those in port.
Vibing With the Other Guests
Fear: Feeling Out of Place
I worried about ending up surrounded by people I had little in common with, given how much demographics, energy, and activity levels can vary from one river cruise line to the next.
Experience: A Wide Range
The guests I met ranged from their thirties to their late-sixties, more varied than I expected, and there were even a few kids on board. Riverside tends to skew a bit younger and more active than some of the other luxury river lines, and I felt that on the ship. Further, the crew were all wonderful. Being greeted by name and cared for (one member of our group wasn’t feeling well, and staff checked up on her more than once) made the whole experience feel familial and comfortable.
What to Keep in Mind
Onboard energy and demographics really do vary between cruise lines, and even between sailings on the same ship, so there’s no way to guarantee exactly who you’ll be surrounded by. But some lines do skew consistently older, younger, quieter, or livelier than others. It’s worth asking about before you commit to a sailing, and enlisting the help of a professional who knows the differences inside and out.
How A Travel Advisor Helps You Navigate
There are dozens of river cruise lines out there, and the differences between them — guest capacity, culinary philosophy, excursion style, ambiance of ship, typical demographics, what’s included versus à la carte — are significant enough to make or break your experience. I know these differences because I make it my job to know them, and I would love to help you find the line, the ship, and the itinerary that fits how you like to travel.
If a river cruise has been on your maybe someday list, or if this is the first time it has crossed your mind at all, I would love to help you figure out if it’s a fit. Submit a trip inquiry, and let’s talk about where the river might take you.
