Cruisers go with the flow

EUROPEAN river cruises are catching on with Australians, writes Terry Sweetman.

Avalon Poetry ... the crew of the river cruiser line up to greet passengers

THE in-cabin TV heralded our approach to Passau and excursion to Salzburg with The Sound of Music, and then set the tone for Vienna with The Third Man.

Coming into Budapest on the good ship Avalon Poetry, it offered the zany There's Something About Mary. Go figure.

But European river cruising is a bit like that.

After a while, you need a mind-nudge so you know what day it is and where you are.

River cruising is a peculiarly European thing, but it is attracting an increasing number of Australians and Kiwis, who now make up about a third of Avalon Waterways' market.

It has the unpack-once advantages of ocean cruising, with none of the tedium of featureless sea.

It offers daily getaways in charming towns and cities without the hassles of ladders and tenders and (mercifully) there are no party games to play.

And, apart from a few bumps in the night, it is smooth sailing.

Avalon Poetry and her sisters are basically narrow, shallow-draught vessels, about 130m long with about 80 staterooms, some flash junior suites and a few connecting cabins.

For the mechanically minded, they are clever contraptions with disappearing bridges (for low overheads) and a variable draught (some of the lower-deck windows are partially submerged at times). Locks on the Main-Danube canal system step up an eventual 400m above sea level (and back down).

All cabins are roomy and comfortable, featuring double or single bed configurations, ample hanging and storage space, bar fridge, TV and a bright and efficient (if cosy) bathroom.

Upper-deck cabins feature full sliding glass doors, although there is no room for balconies.

Dining is single sitting (free-choice seating, although you will have to share tables), with buffet breakfast and lunch and four-course menu for dinner (complimentary wines).

Dress is casual and meals are informal, although the four-course menu sometimes made dinner a bit long-winded after a busy day.

The bar is big and bright and booze prices are pretty reasonable, considering most of the cruising is right through the centre of Euro-land.

And, if you care, there is a modest gym and spa.

But where to cruise? Take a map of Europe and there are rivers and tributaries – the Rhine, Main, Danube, Moselle – from Holland right through to the Black Sea.

Take it all or snip it off in sections, and Avalon Waterways will have a cruise to suit your taste, your time and your wallet.

I took the 11-day Legendary Danube cruise, starting in Prague and ending in Budapest.

It began with three days in Prague, Europe's most charming and affordable city for mine, which allowed free-range touring, inclusive bus outings or optional-extra tours further afield.

A four-hour bus tour along the highways of the Czech Republic and the autobahns of Germany took us to Nuremberg to join the Poetry for dinner. Next day, we checked out the famous city with a murky Nazi past.

From there, it was on to the medieval city and sausage kingdom of Regensburg (and the fabulous Thurn und Taxis family castle), Passau (where I took an excursion to Salzburg – enchanting despite its overt commercialism), Linz in Vienna, Melk (with its magnificent Benedictine Abbey), grand Vienna and then on to always-exciting Budapest and home.

And, even for a curmudgeon, there is something to be said for coming home from a day out in Vienna or Budapest and finding a small home away from home and lots of familiar faces around the bar.

While the on-board catering left nothing to be desired, there was plenty of time to try the local fare (inescapably sausages and beer in Nuremberg and Regensburg and, memorably, goose in Budapest), and to sample the local brews and wines.

Ours was a themed wine and food cruise (being test-driven by Avalon as a way of sparking up winter trade), and they're thinking of others to cater for shared interests.

We had an on-board expert (author and restaurateur Kay Pfaltz) to guide us through unfamiliar wine territory, including a Wachau Valley vineyard and the Gols wine festival.

It was a big order to convince palate-spoilt Australians of the excellence of the wine, but many hit the spot (and, I promise, not a bottle of liebraumilch was sighted).

We learnt a lot about wine, and the indiscriminate tosspots among us had a pretty good gargle. It must have been a success, because the wine-cruise theme will be available again next year.

For me there is always a small sense of guilt about cruising ("it's Wednesday, therefore it must be Passau"), and it sometimes seems a surrender to advancing years.

But it has a lot going for it.

It's a relaxing way to enjoy a vast swath of Europe without investing much in the way of hassles, hard work and decision-making.

For the faint-hearted or slightly frail, it's a comfortable entree to some exciting cities of central Europe.

The author was a guest of Avalon Waterways and flew Emirates.

Sunday Mail (QLD)