2025 Member-Exclusive Adventure on NEW Holland & Belgium Riv

That is a really nice itinerary. European river cruises are in our future (provided that the rivers continue to have water). Now that Disney are in the game, there are more options.

We are doing an Adriatic cruise in Croatia with friends this summer and it will be out first cruise, so we'll see what it feels like. This is a small boat and our group will likely have the whole ship (someone's 50th and her daughter's 21st, so a lot of friends and family).

Cheers.

We have not done a river cruise (yet), but we have been on an Adventure by Disney trip. Robin has booked many ABD trips too. From our experience and her guests experiences, ABD is and does top notch vacation tours.

As someone who has been on ABD via AMA Waterways for both the Rhine and the Danube, I can say it is an incredible experience. I've been fortunate to have gone to many places in my life. Our ABD Rhine River cruise in 2018 is the best vacation I've ever taken.

To address some of the points mentioned. Yes, cabins are smaller than most ocean cruise liners, but that is the nature of river cruising. They have to be very narrow to fit through the locks. Ships do occasionally dock side by side, but this only happens 1-2 times during the week. Only once did we need to walk across a ship to get to ours. The standard river cruise ship is only 38 feet wide, so it is hardly a walk to cross a couple of ships. These are not meant to be amusement parks on the water like the ocean counterparts. The entertainment are the cities and activities you do everyday. If you are in your stateroom during the day when you might be docked next to a ship, then I'm sorry because that means you are probably sick or injured. You will be out most all of the day for activities, excursions, or just browsing the city on your own. There is only one main dining area, but the food was universally great. There is one separate dining area for the Captain's dinner which you get once during your week-long cruise. This was served as a multi-course experience. You can always opt to eat your meals in the cities instead. It is a completely different experience from ocean cruises. 

Here is where I will sound like an ABD commercial. Prior to going on the 2018 Rhine River cruise, I did a deep dive to compare various river cruise operators at the same quality level as AMA. My conclusion was that ABD was more expensive, but not as much as you think (even when compared with an AMA cruise not with ABD). Here is what ABD offers that Viking, non-ABD AMA, etc. did not:

1. All gratuities are already included (this is not true for ABD land excursions or everyone else)
2. Included activities in the AM and PM and sometimes the evening (everyone else usually gives you something in the AM only and you pay for additional ones).
3. Younger guests - mostly all families on the ABD cruises vs. a much older crowd on everyone else. Our captain from 2018 said he had never seen the pool used so much.
4. Supervised activities for children - like on Disney cruises, this is optional. But they had fun activities to entertain children of all ages and even separate dining.
5. Six Disney-employed cast members. This makes a HUGE difference. There is at least one cast member at all times on all excursions. They take care of everything and make sure you have everything. You don't deal with the various tour operators - they do.
6. Contractor vetting - I was told by the cast members that Disney constantly evaluates who they use as vendors for everything (activities, bus transportation, etc.). They only stick with the ones up to their level. We found all of the various contractors to be excellent. I can't say I've had that same experience with some of the tour operators for the ocean cruises I've been on.
7. Disney special access - About 1-2 times per cruise, there is some type of special access to something not really offered to others. Sometimes it is a special activity. Sometimes it is a private showing. Sometimes it is the inventor of spaghetti ice in Germany coming onto the ship to give a demonstration while sailing through the castle section on the Rhine River.

When you add all that up, the price difference wasn't really that different from other nicer river cruise companies. It is impossible to really compare to an ocean cruise. They really are vastly different experiences that both just happen to use a ship. Now, river cruises in themselves are fairly expensive and are obviously quite a luxury item. 

No argument on airfare to Europe this year. Between Taylor Swift concerts, the Olympics in Paris, inflation, and a general shift of travel to Europe since COVID, flights have gotten more expensive. However, there are still some deals to be found.

Very nice! This is on our must do travel list (Christmas Market trip) and will have to wait until retirement to go.