River cruises cater to younger travellers
In the early days of European river cruises, the average age of passengers would make your grandparents seem young. I’m not exaggerating: Most cruisers were in their 70s, and they gloried in escorted group motorcoach tours and in multi-seat dining tables where they could socialize with a number of other elderly cruisers.
That’s no longer the case. With European river cruises appealing to an ever-younger group, the choice of daily activities became independent sightseeing on one’s own two feet, and meals taken at two-person tables with one’s spouse or companion.
This sightseeing pattern has come about because of the location of docks on a river cruise. Unlike the big ocean-going ships, riverboats drop off their passengers at river docks right in the centre of each city. When you take a river cruise to, say,
Cologne, Heidelberg or Basle, Switzerland, the boat sails a river that goes right through the heart of the city, and leaves you at a dock right in the centre of everything important. You walk off the boat, take a stairway up to the busy city square where the boat has docked, and immediately go walking over to the cathedral or another important attraction just several feet away. Today’s river cruiser walks immediately to those attractions, or to shops or museums or restaurants, and has no desire (or need) to board a group motorcoach.
Back on the boat for lunch or dinner, the average younger person apparently wants to take those meals on his or her own, and not in the company of six to eight other people. He or she feels no need whatsoever to “bond” with a dozen other elderly people.
Catering to this new pattern, several major riverboat companies have begun installing more and more two-person tables within their dining rooms. Crystal River Cruises, in particular, has installed many more two-person tables in its dining rooms to cater to this new demand by younger cruisers. They will be matched in 2019 by Avalon Cruises, which has announced a similar policy of increasing the number of twoperson tables. Both companies also have inaugurated policies of open dining, allowing cruisers to come into those dining rooms for meals at any time of their choosing.
It is probable that many more river cruise companies will follow their lead, and you might want to inquire of the others as to whether their dining rooms are amply supplied with two-person tables. One way, of course, of ensuring your own privacy at a twoperson table is to book Crystal or Avalon (the latter in 2019).
You also might inquire about river cruise itineraries that occasionally stay overnight in a port or two, enabling younger cruisers to sample the nightlife of a particular destination.
Note to the reader: Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip. The information in this column was accurate when it was released, but prices are competitive, sometimes limited and can always change without notice.
Arthur Frommer is the pioneering founder of the Frommer’s Travel Guide book series. He co-hosts the radio program, The Travel Show, with his travel correspondent daughter Pauline Frommer. Find more destinations online and read Arthur Frommer’s blog at frommers.com.