River Cruise Lines To Steer Clear Of These Days. And Why!

As I don’t want to waste my precious time and money on a European river cruise line that isn’t on top of their game, I’ve been diving into the latest cruise reviews and ratings, to see what lines are doing well and, maybe more importantly, what lines we might need to approach with more caution. There are 5 lines you should be wary of and they include some of the best-known names on the rivers of Europe. I was surprised about the first of the lines on the lower-scoring list as I had expected them to be rated better.

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00:00 Start
00:30 River Cruise Line #6
02:24 River Cruise Line #5
04:08 River Cruise Line #4
05:25 River Cruise Line #3
06:44 River Cruise Line #2
07:54 River Cruise Line #1

As I don’t want to waste my precious time and 
money on a European river cruise line that isn’t on top of their game, I’ve been diving 
into the latest cruise reviews and ratings, to see what lines are doing well 
and, maybe more importantly, what lines we might need to 
approach with more caution. There are 5 lines you should be 
wary of and they include some of the best-known names on the rivers of Europe. I was surprised about the first of the lines on the lower-scoring list as I had 
expected them to be rated better. Just missing out on the top 8, but 
with a strong 4 out of 5 rating, is a river cruise line that their fans 
hold a super-strong passion and loyalty to. This is the river cruise wing of the Tauck 
travel company. This family-owned company has been running escorted tours around 
the world for almost a century. They are a well-known and highly rated 
primarily amongst USA travellers. However, looking at their river cruise reviews, the high expectations travellers have of Tauck 
seems to be slightly dampening their ratings, as they are not seen to be quite delivering 
consistently against that high bar. Also, they seem to attract many people off their 
land-based escorted tours trying river cruising for the first time and finding it is not for 
them which is also dampening overall scores. I have not cruised but have visited Tauck ships 
and their fleet of 9 ships look and feel upmarket and carry fewer guests versus many of their luxury 
competitors, with their largest just up to 130. Their real strength, which does 
come through in the reviews, are the excursions and port-side special 
access entry into iconic sites that draw on their long-established contacts 
in countries running escorted tours. They also seem to be a growing line 
for multi-generational river cruises, and Cruise Critic also recently rated them the Best River Line for solo travellers as 
they waive single supplements on the lowest grade cabins and have reduced supplements 
in the higher grades on many sailings. So, although they just miss 
out making the top-rated list, maybe they are a line to consider if you are 
looking for smaller numbers, solo cruising, and good historic and cultural excursions. The next line is also run by a large 
tour company and their river cruise operation matched the 4 out of 5 score of Tauck, but is also one that suffers from expectations 
that seems to be dampening their score. Riviera Travel, which launched over 40 years 
ago, claims to be the UK’s leading river cruise and tour operator, offering good 
value escorted tours and river cruises. They were rated by the UK Which magazine 
as the best-value river cruise choice. This is a magazine that assesses and 
ranks brands in different categories. They have 14 ships in the 
fleet, mostly named after British literary figures like Oscar 
Wilde and Jane Austen, are adult only, and cover many of the rivers ranging from the 
Rhine and Danube to the Rhone, Douro and Moselle. The main reason I can see in the 
reviews where they get poor scores, pulling their overall average down, is their 
marketing suggests “five-star ships” and talks about the Berlitz Cruise Guide saying 
their ships are amongst some of the finest, but people find them more basic 
and not five-star once in board. This is a more value offering, and the ships, food and service provide good value, but 
expectations are probably set too high. As I mentioned river cruising is 
costly and so even as a value line cabins can start from $250 / £200 
per person a night and so people, especially new to river cruising imagine they 
will get more luxury based on their marketing. Guests tend to be mostly from the UK and the 
line has a British bias and with a 4 out of 5 rating one to consider, if you are looking 
for a reliable, value river cruise to try. The next line also is part 
of a major travel group, and it is interesting that many of the 
lower scoring lines are wings of travel companies rather than stand alone and 
dedicated river cruise line companies. Tui River Cruises gets a 3.8 out of 5 rating. 
This is part of the enormous TUI travel group, a German-based leisure, travel and tourism 
company and the largest such company in the world. It owns hotels, airlines, travel 
stores, and has a Joint Venture with Royal Caribbean running ocean cruise lines 
like Hapag Lloyd, Mein Schiff and Marella. They too are a value river cruise line covering 
many of the major European rivers with 4 ships. The main reason for their lower scores recently 
is the reliability and quality ships themselves, with complaints about various 
aspects ranging from break downs, poor air-conditioning and overall quality, along 
with average rating of the food and logistics. They have just introduced their first 
new build to the fleet, TUI Alma, and as they fix the problems with the other ships, 
we may see their scores improve moving forwards. But one to keep an eye on the latest reviews 
and scores before considering and booking. The next two on the list of lower scoring 
lines both suffer from the same issue, as you will see despite 
having much going for them. Arosa River cruises has an interesting 
back story. It was created over 20 years ago in 2001 as a subsidiary of Princess 
Cruises to serve the German market to match the German ocean line AIDA also 
part of the group at that time. After Carnival Corporation bought Princess, 
it was sold off to German owners. And herein lies why this line scores 
relatively poorly, with just 3.3 out of 5 by past recent travellers. Past 
English-speaking travellers that is! I have only been looking at what travellers 
from countries like the USA, UK, Canada and Australia are saying and the biggest reason for 
low scores is that the line does not cater much for non-German speakers, with challenges on every 
aspect from crew, menus, announcements and so on. It is a pity as this line is the 
most forward on catering to families, with many more interconnecting cabins 
than any line from what I can see, and in school holidays kids 15 and under travel 
free, and they run family programs and tours. So, unless you are German speaking or want 
to practice and develop your German skills, a line you probably should steer clear of. An Austrian-based line, also popular with 
German travellers that does not seem to have the issues in the Arosa reviews, is Amadeus River 
Cruises, run by the family-owned Luftner Cruises. This line came into service in 1997 and has a 
fleet of 14 ships. I could see in the reviews that reason for its weaker 3.7 out of 5 rating 
seem to be driven by two things currently. First the ships, the fleet has a wide range 
of ages and while the new ships are liked the older and their cabins get fewer good 
ratings, and the food often gets called out. One thing I could also see in the reviews is 
it seems there are several group charters of the ships ranging from Alumni and special 
interest travel groups like Gay travellers, and these get reviewed under 
the brand. They do seem to get more mixed reviews affecting the 
overall score. Possibly unfairly. Amadeus run several golf themed cruises each year, 
so if you are a player they may be worth looking at but overall, they seem to not really stand out 
from the other river cruise line options much. The next line was the worst performing 
of all the lines whose ratings I studied Saga Cruises is the 50+ travel company 
catering for UK travellers offering their own luxury ocean and river cruise ships. It 
was very surprising their river gets so poorly rated as their ocean cruises are very good and 
highly rated. They only got 3.2 out of 5 rating. They have a small fleet but with new ships: Sprit 
of the Danube, Sprit of the Rhine, Spirit of the Douro and Spirit of the Moselle. They are costly 
but their fares include chauffeur pick up and return transfers from home to airport, transfers 
to and from the ship and even travel insurance. Looking at the reviews right now most of 
those poor scores seem driven by factors out of the line’s control with 
water levels disrupting cruises, but travellers saying they were not dealt 
with well, and as their travellers tend to be older and more cautious that 
weighs heavily in their consideration. So, probably a line to approach with 
some caution despite their overall good reputation and check the latest reviews to 
see if things have improved before booking. On the plus side if you are looking, they have a money back guarantee if it is 
your first Saga River Cruise and you do not enjoy it. Though you must let them know 
you want to leave within the first 72 hours. If you want to know the top-rated lines right 
now, those scoring 4.1 or higher out of 5, join me over in the video where I also 
explain why I was surprised by where my favourite lines were placed, and who 
was at number one! See you over there.