Would a ‘themed’ river cruise tempt you?

In keeping with many of the ocean cruise lines, the river cruise lines are now offering ‘themed’ cruises, and lots of them. Something for everyone really, from art to golf, culinary themes to well being, beer tasting to jazz. You name it, it’s on offer!
Avalon Waterways have just recently extended their range of themes and I must say there are some very tempting ones albeit only on certain dates, which has got me thinking. If there was a certain river cruise that you fancied doing, would you be swayed to do it on a certain date just because of the theme? Say you fancied cruising along the Danube in June but you noticed that there was an art theme on the same cruise in October, would you consider the October sailing instead? I’m not so sure that it would sway most people but I may be wrong.

Looking at what’s on offer I get the feeling that these themes feature on some of the least popular dates, August which can be a very hot month for river cruising, or late October/early November which can be chilly and is right at the end of the season, so maybe they are trying to make these sailings more appealing by throwing in these ‘extras’.
That said, the themes are great and certainly add an extra dimension to the cruise. For example on the golf themed cruises there will be a golf enthusiast on board who will book your tee off times at three golf courses along the route, close to where the ship is moored and will accompany you on your round of golf. this theme features on the Austrian Highlights and Bavaria cruise on the brand new Artistry II on 7th July 2014.
On the same cruise, but on 13th October sailing, Avalon introduce another new theme for them, Beer Tasting, which is sure to be popular! long the route passengers will have the opportunity to visit 3 different breweries, they will have an on board lecture from a beer expert aswell as dinner paired with selected beers for each course.
Just to balance things up a bit there is something for the ladies too, a culinary themed cruise on 28th October 2014 whilst sailing on the Paris and Normandy’s Landing Beaches cruise, where guests will be dazzled with regional specialities (all prepared by a French chef), cookery demonstrations and easy to follow recipes to take home. There will be on board cider and wine tasting, a visit to a cheese producing farm and an a la carte dinner with wine pairing. Sounds fab if you ask me, and of course those French chefs are terribly handsome!
These are just a selection of the themed cruises offered by Avalon so i you would like more information please don’t hesitate to give me a call. I would be delighted to help you arrange a river cruise – 0800 408 6084 or email me at [email protected].