On my river cruise, where do I fly into?

Where do I go to catch my river cruise?

'Which city is best to fly to meet your river cruise' is a common question to ask.  Sometimes the cruise starts in a city people are not familiar with - say Basel Switzerland.  Or maybe they want to book an extension but still use the advantageous air rates that are sometimes available with through the river cruise line.  So where do you fly into when booking a river cruise?

Some examples

Let's take an example.  Suppose you've just booked your first river cruise on AmaWaterway's Romantic Danube.  (http://www.amawaterways.com/destination/europe-river-cruises/2017/the-romantic-danube). The itinerary says it starts in Vilshofen Germany.  Where do you fly into?  One of the most common choices is to fly into Prague and do a pre cruise stay in Prague.  You can book that directly through the cruise line (via a travel agent so you get the best pricing and advice) if you'd like or on your own (a great travel agent can provide tour guides, book hotels and provide transfers to the ship).  While the bus ride from Prague to Vilshofen is a few hours long, this gives you an opportunity to enjoy another world class city as well as acclimate to the time zone before your cruise begins.    A visit to Prague is a great add on to any river cruise (or Paris, or Amsterdam or Barcelona, etc).

If a pre cruise extension is not for you, you'll need to get to Vilshofen.  Munich is approx 90 miles away from Vilshofen and from there you can catch a train or transfer.   So much depends on the price and availability of flights.  Many times it makes sense to build your itinerary around flights since pricing is so dynamic and can make up a significant portion of your overall costs.  You may have more options if you are coming from NY than say Topeka Kansas.  So in this case, where you fly into depends on your specific situation.

When we finished our  Europe's Rivers and Castle cruise, we ended in Nuremberg.  Since our next destination was Dublin Ireland, we decided to take the train from Nuremberg to Frankfort since there were much better connections there.  While this necessitated an extra transfer (ship to train station, train station to airport), it was well worth it.  The train station is adjacent to the Frankfort airport which made the transition very easy.  This same strategy can be applied for any cruise embarkation or disembarkation city

Here's another example. When we took our first Rhine cruise, the ship left from Basil Switzerland (ended in Amsterdam).  We opted out of the pre cruise extension in Lucerne and Zurich offered by the river cruise line.  Instead we flew into Zurich and took the train to Basil where we stayed for three days on our own.  By flying into Zurich, we were able to take advantage of good airfares. And by staying in Basel we had a great and unique several day mini vacation.  Exploring new cities is always fun.

How you buy your air tickets matters

The other issue that comes up when deciding where to fly into is how you purchase your tickets.  Many times, the most cost effective approach is to purchase air tickets through the river cruise line.  They contract with the airlines on specific flights to specific destinations and therefore are able to negotiate favorable deals.  Recently, we've seen some very good prices when air is purchased through the river cruise company.   Depending on which river cruise company you choose, there are other advantages of buying air through the river cruise company including better terms, lower insurance costs, included transfers and a more seamless experience.  If you do decide to purchase air through the river cruise company, which city to fly into is a moot point since this will be chosen for you. An excellent travel agent can help you sort out the options

Another consideration is flight schedules and availability.  If you want a non stop, you will be limited to certain destinations, depending on your departure city.  You will certainly have more non stop options flying out of JFK in New York than you will out of Topeka Kansas for example.  And if you want business class, only certain flights might be available.  Finally, if you don't want to fly through certain airports (say Charles DeGaulle in Paris) or if you requite a minimum connection time (say at least 2 hours in Heathrow), this may also limit which cities you fly into.

And the answer is....

So what have we learned?  Which city you fly into for a river cruise depends on many things including: if you buy air through the cruise line  or independently, if you buy a pre cruise extension through the cruise line or if you and your travel agent  do the pre cruise extension yourself or if you don't do any extension,  where you are flying out of, which class of air service you want, the number of stops you want or even connection cities.  And of course cost and air schedules will be a big determinant. Note that this all this applies to both your inbound and outbound cities.   Lots to think about and consider.  But that's why you work with an excellent, experienced travel agent.

No matter which city you fly into, a great river cruise experience awaits.