While a river cruise might not be the perfect vacation for every family, it is definitely a great option for many!  Whether you are traveling with just immediate family or a multi-generational expedition and river cruise just might fit the bill for every member.  Read on and find out if a river cruise is right for your family!

Who might love a River Cruise:

• Families with older children (usually about 8 and up) unless choosing family-specific cruise/cruise line with planned children’s activities
• Adult families 
• Families who love the ease of unpacking only once, and ease of disembarking the ship in port
• Families who love to spend a few days in one country (rather than one day) to be able to explore more of the history, culture, and geography
• Families wanting to visit small towns and local life as well as major tourist attractions
• Families who want to engage more with the places they are visiting and not on ship activities
• Families who want to be part of a “family” on their vacation and get to know the other families who are traveling with them
• Families who desire incredible food with options from the local area
• Families who would like an included excursion to introduce the area before going out to explore on their own
• Families who want to choose the activity level of their excursions
• Families prone to motion sickness (river cruises have very little movement when compared to an ocean cruise)

Who might not love a River Cruise:

• Families with young children
• Families wanting vast children’s programming and babysitting
• Families who thoroughly enjoy participating in a host of activities onboard the ship
• Larger Families who need/want to stay in the same room
• Families who really want a pool deck with a large pool

A very important part of a family river cruise is picking the correct cruise line and itinerary.  Some lines cater to families better than others with specifically designed activities on specific sailings during the year.

Cruise Lines that might be a fantastic option for your family:

Adventures by Disney (on AmaWaterways) is an amazing river cruise option.  Disney certainly knows how to elevate a vacation experience from great to out of this world!  They carefully craft the itineraries with special activities onboard and onshore that kids and adults will love.  Every detail is taken care of so that you can truly relax and enjoy your family. For adults who want to experience the top-notch Disney customer service and pampering but without children can book adult-only Adventure by Disney river cruises.  Note of caution: Don’t expect to see any Disney characters just some very funloving Adventure Guides.

AmaWaterways is another nice option.  Some of their ships have 3 and 4 person staterooms for families and features that will appeal to the younger set.  They provide excursions of different activity levels so families can tailor their adventures to their needs. These cruises are probably more enjoyable for families with children 8 and up.

Tauck’s Bridges family journeys offer hugely popular river cruises during school breaks–summer and Christmas.  These family designed river adventures can take you through much of Europe, or to the Galapagos. They also have land journeys on which you can experience Latin America, Africa or Alaska.

Uniworld might corner the market for luxury river cruise travel but that doesn’t mean they don’t know how to make a cruise fun for kids.  Family-oriented cruises are scheduled around school breaks. Activities are designed to help children engage with the culture and country around them as well as being a lot of fun.  They get pretty creative with their adventures for kids. Also included are kid-friendly menus, a special dinner table just for young travelers on specific nights, Young travelers lounge, movie nights and “learn the lingo” activities.  To top it all off Uniworld offers a 25% discount for kids (ages 4-17) fares.

Have more questions about whether a river cruise is right for you or your family?  About which cruise line would be best?

Contact Alaska to Mickey Vacations for answers!

Happy travels to you…until we meet again!

Other links of interest:

• Triple Savings from AmaWaterways
• Reasons to Take a Cruise Vacation