European River Cruise Lines Ranking from WORST to BEST.
In this video you will know which river cruise line is best for Europe, we have discussed all Major 7 European river cruises with their pros and cons.
The Ranking is based on the Onboard vibe, Food, Dining, Excursions, Cruise Activities and Geographical coverage in European rivers.
Whether you’re considering Viking River Cruises, AmaWaterways, Scenic, Uniworld, Avalon, Emerald, or CroisiEurope, this guide will help you avoid an expensive mistake and choose the right river cruise for your travel style.
If you’re planning a Rhine River cruise, Danube River cruise, Seine cruise, or Douro River cruise, this is your complete comparison guide.
Choosing the right river cruise line doesn’t just change your cabin — it defines your entire European journey.
👉 Comment below: Which river cruise line are you considering?
27 Comments
6 cruises on Ama, money & time well spent! Looking forward to #7
Viking is horrible- SCENIC RIVER IS FANTASTIC
My wife and I have done 3 European river cruises with Scenic. Scenic’s service was excellent! Food was great! Rooms were modern and spotless. Staff are polite, professional, and very friendly. They provide a variety of shore excursion options. We have been very pleased with them and will continue to cruise with Scenic in the future. Absolutely no complaints about Scenic. We recommend Scenic to family and friends.
We've only ever done Viking River Cruises and have no reason to ever want to try any other river or ocean cruise lines. As a retired couple now enjoying time to travel and enjoy experiences we could not while raising our three children, we only want to enjoy what years we have left not worrying about anything, and Viking truly is a wonderful plan it all experience. No nickel and diming, no noisy party boats, limited numbers of berths (usually under 200 guests per river boat), wine and beer available at lunch and dinner and planned pick ups and escorted tours. Nothing left for the traveler to worry about.
Viking at #1, you must be kidding or paid by Viking. Food is average at best. Entertainment is non-existent. We did the 14-day grand European tour and it was a total ripoff. Viking is the king of nickel and diming. Soft drinks are free only during meal time. In the afternoon, after an excursion a diet cold would cost me €5. This is after us paying over US$1000 per person per night. Stay away from Viking with a 100 ft pole!!!!
These rankings make no sense. Viking is number 1 simply for size and consistency? Even your own review doesn't make it sound like number 1.
My wife & I are heading out on our second Viking river cruise in a few weeks. This time on the Danube from Passau to Budapest. We did Basel to Amsterdam last year and loved it. Already planning a Christmas market cruise for next year with our daughter & son in law. We absolutely loved Viking last time. Have been on many Ocean cruises with all the other companies over the years and the smaller river cruises just hit different. We’re fans.
I did not know April 1st was upon us. Is this a Viking commercial. Viking better than Scenic, Uniworld, better than Tauck (who you completely forgot). If you use your logic on Ocean Cruises, then Carnival would be number 1.
You missed Riviera Travel – Way above Amawaterways and Avalon and Scenic! Also Uniworld is FAR MORE LUXURIOUS than Viking. Viking is mass industrial tourism.
Does Viking or any of them have solo travel rates
This is definitely a Paid sponsorship video by Viking.
This company advertises a lot in North America so therefore they attract a big customer base,
Viking has more ships, more routes and sailings. If that is how you rate your cruise line, then I guess that is one opinion. My experience over 15 years of river cruises would rank Viking in the bottom 1/3 of lines. Uniworld, Scenic, Tauck, AMA, Avalon are at the top of the list. Viking would be probably #7 or # 8.
For the first time river cruiser, who wants a well rounded tour with lots of excursion choices and excellent food I would pick Avalon. You pay a little more than Viking, but it is totally worth it.
If you have only travelled on Viking, I would recommend trying one of the higher ranked lines, like Uniworld the next time you travel.
You won't regret it, it is the ultimate travelling experience.
We've cruised with Avalon, twice and Viking once. We prefer Avalon for it's room lay-out and the slightly smaller number of passengers accommodated. Viking, though, does a better all-around job of organizing flights and pre and post add-on stays. Otherwise our experiences with food, service and activities, were the same – excellent.
❤Viking
I have done an AMA Waterway cruise & loved it. Going on my first Viking cruise in October.
But these are for the LARGE rivers. What about the Franch canals??
My first cruise was with A-Rosa and my second with Phoenix, both were nice.(German)
All slow and boring
We've done several river cruises, with Ama, Viking and CroisiEurope. We're about to do our second with Croisi next month. They all have their pros and cons. Personally, I'd rank Croisi higher on the list, they certainly gave us everything we could want, especially above and beyond service by the chef to accommodate my dietary restrictions.
Took a Scenic river cruise and the cuisine and staff were amazing. Great excursions too.
You declined to include multiple lines that offer much better options than Viking. Consider Tauck, Riverside, Riviera, Amadeus, Viva…. so many choices. Talk to a travel advisor who can help you pinpoint the best options for you. There are MANY better options out there than simply sticking with Viking.
Uniworld wins out. Once you do it, you will never travel with any other companies. Viking is a bit spartan but knows its niche. They discourage solo travel and do little to assist with handicap issues. I was told on board that Viking assumes if you book the cruise, you knew what you were getting. As opposed to Uniworld who cater to all levels of mobility every day in every way. Perhaps Uniworld’s best rated cruises aren’t even in Europe. Their Vietnam cruise has long been the industry standard. Their Eastern European cruises are far above others. Their staff lives along the routes they work. The most outstanding difference, however, is in the numbers. On boats of the same size, Uniworld has fewer people. Feels much more personalized and less like you are being herded around on conveyor belts.
Viking Christmas Cruise Dec '24 was horrible from food to promised Christmas Markets ' The crew seemed very unhappy and stressed ,It was more of a walking history tours to 30.min of over crowded Christmas Markets and many times you walked back to the Ship , I swear if I ever see cauliflower medley every again in.my.life I'll scream and only.potsto options were French fries. , No salads , breads were the same cold sliced baguette , NEVER AGAIN
You don’t mention Rivages du Monde, wich is a major company in Europe, far better than Viking ?
Tauck outshines Viking. I have sailed both and felt nickel and dimed by Viking which is absolutely NOT inclusive.
Is this video sponsored by all of th mentioned companies?
I am missing several cruise lines.
No mention of the absolute best river cruise lines namely APT and TravelMarvel imho Viking is well down the list.
So why your intro picture has negative big X and word AVOID on it? Isn't it misleading since you approved and recommended all of those you listed in the video? Is it just for clicks, to get attention?