Top ten reasons to book a .............River Cruise

I've been looking at a lot of 'niche' market cruises for passengers lately. People looking to try something completely different to what they are used to. River cruises used to be considered 'niche' but to be honest more and more people seem to be trying them. And quite rightly, they offer some amazing opportunities that you just don't get with ocean going cruises.....

1. New itineraries - By this I don't just mean you get to visit a port you've never seen before. Now, I'm a massive cruising fan, and you'd have to go quite a long way before you managed to get me to admit to a downside to cruising, but I suppose if I had to admit to one it's that you are pretty much bound by the restrictions of the coast line. Yes some excursions do take you further in land, but normally only half hour or so in. A river cruise really allows you to see the interior of a continent, places that you'd never, ever be able to reach on a normal cruise.

2. Smaller ships - River cruise ships are obviously bound by certain size constrictions, so we're never likely to see something along the lines of the Oasis Of The Rivers. This means you'll get a much more comfortable atmosphere on board. The crew will be able to get to know you better and spend a lot more time looking after you and you'll find it much easier to get to know the rest of the passengers.

3. No long queues for embarking or disembarking - Because the ships are much smaller and can pull straight up into the centre of town you find embarkation and disembarkation times on river cruises are much smaller.

4. No crowds swamping a port from four different cruise ships - Have you ever cruised to a small port, say a Caribbean island, only to find three other cruise ships docked there before you? Only to find the population of the island doubles or triples for the day and you can't do anything without long queues? One of the really nice things about river cruises is that you don't have this. Because the ships are generally smaller, and because you normally arrive in the middle of a city centre it never feels over-crowded. 

5. No sea sickness - Bit of a no brainer with this one, but obviously with no sea you shouldn't get any sea sickness. Unless your the kind of person who does get sea sick on a river, in which case it may be time to admit cruising may not be for you. Or you can click here for some sea sickness advice.

6. No long journeys from the port to your destination - No booking a cruise to Rome and then waiting for an hour long transfer from Civitavecchia with a River cruise! As I said above, nine times out of ten you'll dock right in the middle of a city centre, only minutes away from all the fun.

7. Free wine with dinner - Most people don't realise but when you book a river cruise almost all river cruise lines will offer free wine with your dinner; there's not many ocean going cruise lines that offer the same!

8. No more inside cabins - Again, because of the relative size of river cruise ships compared to their ocean sailing cousins you'll never be put in an inside cabin as these ships don't have them. The cheapest cabin available to book on a river cruise will still have an outside view!

9. Free Excursions - As with the free wine at dinner most people don't realise that almost all river cruise lines offer free excursions when you book one of their river cruises.

10. More pre or post cruise stay options - And again most river cruise companies offer pre or post cruise stays in your first of final destination so your not rushed into flying home.

Phew, well I think that about covers it. So how many of you have tried a river cruise before? Did you enjoy it? And what did you think of them in comparison to their ocean going cousins? Let me know here.

Happy Cruising