Hi Ralph:

Good question.

ALL the ships offer open seating dining although I think that everyone comes at pretty much the same time for dinner. Not 100% sure on that detail how long the "window" to start dining extends.

Ken and I also also contemplated doing the trip twice. One way for those that want SCENIC and then we turn around and go back the other way for those that want AMA. That may work well. Everyone is happy then.

I did these notes on word first so I could email it out. When I realised how much there was I decided to publish it on the web with a link here instead. I did have some preliminary paragraphs that I did not include on the web (dumb me). So I am posting that information here and I also added it to the web page for future people. The questions asked were on these preliminary notes.

NOW ADDED TO THE WEB PAGES AS WELL.

A very confusing situation. Each of the top lines has positives and negatives. You must prepare yourself for a smaller cabin, but they will suffice. No long sea days to lounge in your cabin. None have much storage and limited drawer space, so pack lighter than usual. Australians are the majority on almost all lines with the exception of Viking Cruises (that I do not recommend) that is marketed heavily in the USA and is mostly Americans.

I may have a few facts mixed up on little details between lines. It was a lot to cover in just three days of touring. Of course there will be things I do not know. However, this is an overview that will give you a good idea of the basic facts.

Overall my top two choices for escorted groups are AMA Waterways and Scenic Cruises. Also highly recommend Avalon Waterways, Tauck Swiss Boats, River Cloud, and Uniworld for individual travel depending on individual’s preferences. All these boats are quite different and details are in the reports on each cruise line.

Some feature land and cruise together, some you can do cruise only. I have given a “guidance” of per day pricing and identified if it is cruise only or land and cruise for a September 2009 Danube cruise between Prague and Budapest. Rates have been calculated from the first night of accommodation. Some cruise lines add the day of departure as part of the trip. I did take that into consideration on my "averaging" statistics. Rates can very between dates and itineraries.

Port excursions. All the lines state they do special unique shore excursions and focus on local wines and foods. It would be impossible to assess these items without actually sailing on all the ships. The different lines all offer a shore excursion in nearly all ports. Then it breaks down into those that offer the "standard" excursion and then for an additional cost "optional" excursions. These are AMA, Avalon, Uniworld, River Cloud. The two lines that offer all tours included are Tauck Swiss and Scenic. Tauck and Scenic do offer excursions similar to the optional excursions on the other lines.

Most of the boats offer the same amenities. Toiletries, hairdryer, bikes, safes, umbrellas, sun deck with lounge chairs (some in shade some in the sun) whirlpool, giant chess set on the sun deck, workout room and sauna, open seating dining.

All boats offer 24 hour reception and coffee and tea bar area. To my knowledge no standard cabins offer in room dining (no room service breakfast) except the suites often offer this extra perk. I know this is the case on Scenic.

Dress: It appeared to be all country club casual. Tauck did mention the "formal" welcome aboard but even this I think would be at the most "informal" on Regent. I do need to clarify that completely.