River, Barge and Ferry Cruises are popular alternatives to the standard ocean cruise... most who sail on these boats and barges are 50+ and tend to be more affluent travelers... who, if they have sailed before - have either sailed in upscale accommodations on a large ship, or have cruised on a 5 star Luxury Small Ship.

"Contact Neal with Questions" - or to book one of the cruise style alternatives described below...

RIVER CRUISES have changed from boats with sparten to modest accomodations with minimal amenities to the new very large river boats with luxious accommodations similar to ocean passenger ships.  What is lacking are the many entertainment alternatives found on ocean cruises... plus there are fewer restaurant options.  Most river cruises include shore based day tours... some included with the cruise fare... others not.  Like ocean cruises, the food is normally outstanding on river cruises, but with more of an emphasis on local cusine.  River cruises are very slow paced and allow for much more interaction with local sites and culture.  They do not go very far each day or very fast.   On many rivers in the world there are so many river boats that when docked they park next to each other and in order to get to shore, one has to cross over 1 or more other boats on gangways.  This is kind of neat as it allows passengers to check out the boats of other cruise lines and the shore attractions.  The down side is that when in port... if you leave your curtains open you are looking into the stateroom of the ship next door... so privacy is diminished.

ADVENTURE RIVER CRUISES may involve a high powered mid-sized boat... which usually require shore-based over-night stays due to a lack of on-board sleeping quarters (in some cases shore accommodations are tents on the beach!   Again, expect outstanding food and site-seeing in addition to your water adventure.  Land tours are frequently available... and in the case of of adventure river cruises, they are usually included in the cruise price.

FERRY CRUISES are generally inexpensive cruises involving moderate priced staterooms with minimal amenities.  On a Ferry Cruise, you are basically hopping a ride from point A to point B with many others on-board, but you get a stateroom while the rest of the passengers get a chair, (your stateroom experience is similar to a first class stateroom on a train).  Ferry Cruises rarely have guides, (are usually self-guided experiences, although exceptions to this rule exist all over the world).  Stateroom amenities vary from a place to sleep with a bath located down the hall, to deluxe accomodations with private baths.  Ferry food is normally nothing special, but exceptions exist here as well.

BARGE CRUISING is a very slow and very laid-back way to travel, and it is very popular in Europe.  You can really take in the scenery and the culture... much more so than river boats The crew and passenger list is small (normally from 2 to 20 passengers max) so you really get to know people, and the food is almost always better than river cruise boats... and is generally outstanding on barge cruises... (often features a gourmet chef)!  Food is always local and always fresh that day.  Barges cruise parts of some rivers... but are normally found on canals alongside rivers and coastal areas (a few Barge cruises cross larger bodies of water as well).  Barge cruises vary from primarily self-guided with others offering daily land tour options.  Everything (including land tours) is normally included in the fare... but the tours are always optional on Barge cruises.  Some Euopean River Barge Cruises have quite elaborate guided adventures involving a number of shore tours visiting attractions not available to river cruise passengers.  Stateroom amenities are often far better than river boats, sometimes luxurious.  Some Barges still have sparten amenities... but these are quite rare now.  On the smallest Barges, passengers may spend one or more nights in an on-shore accommodation in addition to or instead of onboard accommodations.  There is no onboard entertainment... but there may be guest lecturers... and on many Barges passengers may watch the chef prepare food or even take cooking classes!  CM TRAVEL 4FUN contracts with a vendor that provides 2 and 4 person Barges for rent which have pre-arranged docking locations each night... else the travelers renting the Barge set their own pace making stops wherever allowed if they so wish.  Generally you do your own cooking and are totally self-sufficent... but in some cases you have the option of an on-board chef.  There is a little work involved navigating and docking these Barges... so this in not for everyone... I call it adventure Barge cruising.

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