Are European river cruises right for families? Here are the pros, cons and best options for kids

Ocean cruises are ideal family vacations. You have kids clubs, all-ages activities on and off the ship and lots of family-friendly dining options all at your fingertips. If you've enjoyed a European ocean cruise with your kids, such as one in the Mediterranean, you might think a European river cruise would be equally great for a school break trip.

It makes sense to think that. On a river cruise, just like an ocean cruise, you have the ease of unpacking once while visiting multiple destinations in a short span of time. Someone else has planned the itinerary and arranged tours for you to choose from, so busy parents have fewer logistics to figure out. Meals are served on board, so you don't need to stress about making restaurant reservations in foreign cities.

There's just one potential problem.

Traditional river cruises, in Europe and other destinations like Egypt and Asia, mostly target older travelers, especially retirees. Middle-aged couples might also enjoy food- and wine-themed sailings or guided tours in European cities, but most river ships and river cruise itineraries were decidedly not created with kids and teens in mind.

In fact, some river cruise lines have age minimums to sail. On Avalon Waterways, it's 8 years old; on Viking, it's 18.

Still, if you've been dreaming of river cruising with your kids, don't despair.

Certain lines offer European river cruises for families, with meals and activities designed for an intergenerational crowd. The experience is different from an ocean cruise, but for the right family on the right trip, it can be a great way to introduce your kids to European destinations they'd never visit on a Mediterranean or Baltic cruise.

As you decide what type of cruise best suits your travel preferences, here's what you need to know about regular European river cruises, the pros and cons of family sailings and the top choices for river cruises with kids.

Why regular European river cruises might not be right for your family

Beyond the age restrictions, there are a few other reasons why a typical river cruise is not ideal for some families with younger kids and teens, so let's get that out of the way first.

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Cabins are often designed for couples

For the most part, river ships are built assuming two to a room. Cabins offered on river cruises, even suites, usually lack pull-down berths, sofa beds and bunks in which kids can share a room with their family. Select ships do offer a few cabins with a third berth or connecting rooms, such as those you can find on AmaMagna, but you'll need to be intentional about choosing the right ship and booking early to lock in a special cabin. Be prepared to potentially book two separate cabins on some ships if you're a family of four.

River ships don't typically have kids clubs

River ships must be small to fit through locks and under bridges on Europe's rivers. They typically feature only three space-constrained interior decks, plus a sundeck on the top. These smaller ships save all their space for cabins, adult lounges and dining rooms. Not only are there usually no physical kids clubs (with a few exceptions), but save for the sundeck, there simply isn't a lot of space for kids to run around compared to a ship built for ocean cruising.

Many river ships lack swimming pools

Only a few river ships have a "pool." That's in quotation marks because the pools are often so small they aren't much bigger than a large hot tub.

You might find a putting green or giant chess on the sundeck, but mainly, you'll find chairs and a short walking track. Adults might find the options limiting, too, especially on a hot summer day in Europe, but the cruise line expects passengers to spend the day exploring quaint villages.

If you want to be sure your river ship of choice has at least a small pool, just be sure to search for that. It isn't always the standard, but there are some ships, such as AmaLucia (shown below), that do offer one.

Kid-friendly activities and options can be limited

Some river cruises offer bicycles for passengers to enjoy along paved river paths. Alas, these likely don't come with infant or toddler seats, and kid-size bikes are a rarity. Also a likely rarity on many river cruises: foods kids can easily enjoy at dinner if they prefer chicken nuggets and pizza.

Excursions offered to passengers are also designed for adults rather than kids, with lots of walking tours to historic sites or museums. You won't always find kid-focused activities like crafts or movie nights either.

Families are in the minority on board

Even if all of the above doesn't bother you, you'll have to be OK with potentially being the lone family in a sea of couples. Your kids likely won't find peers to play with on a regular European river cruise unless you are targeting one marketing more toward families, such as one via Adventures by Disney, for example.

Related: The best cruise lines for families

Why you should consider a family river cruise in Europe

Now that you know some things to consider before assuming river cruising will be right for your family, know that it can absolutely be the right vacation for the right family.

River cruise providers have increasingly realized that families do want to explore Europe's rivers together. Often, grandparents who have become fans of this style of travel want to take their grandkids, but they need a more family-friendly option.

So, select lines such as AmaWaterways (in conjunction with previously mentioned Adventures by Disney), Tauck and Uniworld open up select departures to families with kids and teens. Multigenerational groups and travelers without children are also welcome.

For these sailings, the lines tailor the activities in port, food options and onboard programming to a broader audience, with kid-friendly additions. These European river cruises can make fabulous family vacations for the following reasons.

Small ships create a social environment for kids and adults

If you're used to 4,000-person ships or larger, a 200-person river cruise is a big change.

What's nice about a smaller passenger count is that you quickly meet your shipmates at communal dinner tables, excursions or happy hour in the lounge. And you'll definitely see those people again, as opposed to on an ocean cruise, where you might never see the nice family you met on tour out and about on the ship.

On my family river cruise, I found that the relatively small number of kids and teens on board meant that same-aged kids would hang out all together, even if they wouldn't be fast friends in a larger setting.

My son is not super-social, but the other teens would always bang on his door and ask him to join them in playing Roblox on their devices in the lounge or giant chess on the sundeck. And with just a few hangout spots (the sundeck, the lounge, the dining room), I could let my younger daughter run off with her buddies and not worry about finding her again. (We did set up ground rules regardless.)

Related: Why it's easier to meet new people on a smaller cruise ship

Extra crew members are on hand to assist families

Several river cruise lines that host family cruises will bring on extra staff to help out with kids and families. Often called "family hosts" or "adventure guides," these crew members will organize special dinners and activities for the younger cruisers, give suggestions about the best snacks and activities to discover during free time ashore and generally assist families with their travel needs.

Because the lines dedicate certain ships to the more family-centric sailings, they make sure the regular crew are fans of kids as well. On my AmaWaterways sailing, the hotel director and the cruise manager clearly loved having young cruisers on board. Waiters made paper masks and napkin dolls to entertain the littlest sailors at dinner.

The ships used for family sailings are the most family-friendly in the fleet

You can be sure that the river ship chosen for the family sailings will be the most family-friendly of the bunch.

That means you're likely to be on a ship with some cabins featuring a third berth, connecting rooms or a pool. The cruise line might bring aboard kid-size bikes and helmets for these sailings or dedicate part of the lounge as a kids club or hangout. Menus will be tweaked to offer kid-friendly options, such as hot dogs or macaroni and cheese.

You get a choice of activities you might not find on your own

River cruise lines pay as much attention to off-ship activities as onboard ones on family sailings. You might find more active options like canoeing, trips to amusement parks or visits to open-air museums with hands-on activities or crafts. We even visited a chocolate museum.

But it's not all junior fun. The lines will still offer wine-tasting tours, pub crawls, museum visits and slower-paced activities for child-free adults or families who want to split up for the day to pursue different interests. Just know that you can't leave your child on the ship while you head off to a winery.

Related: Best river cruise lines around the world

Caveats to river cruising with kids

Even when offering a family voyage, the boat often houses kids programs in spaces originally intended for adults. You likely won't find video games or fun character interactions — even on an Adventures by Disney river cruise.

Cabins are still small

Fitting three or four to a room on a river ship will likely be tight, and you probably all will have to manage a single small bathroom. Even if you're sailing on a ship that can fit your entire family in one room, you might be more comfortable booking two rooms. On my family river cruise, that meant my daughter and I shared one room and my husband and son another.

Related: The ultimate guide to choosing a cruise ship cabin

Food options are limited

You won't find the abundance of dining venues on a river cruise that you do on a big (or even a small!) oceangoing ship.

On our family cruise with AmaWaterways, we ate nearly all our meals in the main dining room (waiter-served at dinner and a mix of waiter-served and buffet at breakfast and lunch). A small breakfast buffet was set out in the lounge each morning, and occasionally, a casual waiter-served lunch was available there. Our ship had one specialty restaurant with a set menu but no room service. Between meals, you could order a set tapas plate or afternoon tea service (with little pastries and finger sandwiches) or grab a cookie, but that was it.

River ships generally don't offer daily babysitting

A perk of ocean cruises is the option to use a babysitter so mom and dad can enjoy a quiet, romantic dinner on their vacation every once in a while. Even on family river cruises in Europe, couple time is limited. There were kid dinners supervised by crew members on two nights of our trip we took, but the supervision didn't extend beyond 8 p.m. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but know that you will be spending nearly all your time as a family with most river cruises.

It's a go-go-go schedule

Family river cruises tend to include daily tours in their fares, which makes planning easy but doesn't always lend itself to a leisurely schedule.

Morning tours often require meetups at 7:30 or 8 a.m., and these might be followed by a similarly structured tour after lunch. In many destinations, you might have posttour free time in the city but only two or three options for when you can return to the ship. Don't expect days of sleeping in and lazing around the sundeck; you will be exploring a new port daily.

River cruises can be pricey

European river cruises for families are generally offered by the higher-end cruise lines and will generally cost thousands of dollars per person. Do not expect discounted fares for children.

The value is high, with tours, meals, some or all alcoholic drinks, gratuities, airport transfers and/or Wi-Fi included in the price, but even in the lowest-category cabins, a river cruise is a pricy vacation for a family with kids. A family of four can easily pay upward of $20,000 for a weeklong cruise — and that doesn't include your flights to the ship.

You don't have many options to offset cruise fares with points and miles; you could pay for a river cruise with a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and then use miles from the card to reimburse the charge, but you might get better value transferring your points or miles to pay for a precruise hotel or flight.

Related: Kids cruise free: 8 cruise lines offering family deals

Want to take a family river cruise in Europe? Here are the best options

Adventures by Disney

Adventures by Disney cruises provide bubbly family-friendly Disney employees to serve as your own tour guides through the sites along the cruise route. Disney has set up some special family-friendly excursions on each cruise that aren't typically offered on river trips (like strudel making in Vienna and alpine toboggan rides in Germany's Black Forest), and you'll find that extra-special Disney touch accounting for every last detail. Trips are all-inclusive; fares cover excursions, Wi-Fi, gratuities, airport transfers and wine, beer and soda at mealtime.

The AmaWaterways ships used by Disney feature connecting rooms, as well as triples and quads (the latter is very rare in river cruising), and have small pools on the sundeck. Cruises take place on the Seine, Rhine and Danube rivers.

Don't let the Disney name fool you too much: Some Adventures by Disney sailings are adults-only. The rest have a minimum age of 5 years old (though the recommended age is 8-plus), a big difference from a cruise with sister brand Disney Cruise Line. All have subtle Disney touches, but you won't get character appearances or a theme park atmosphere.

If you want that immersive Disney experience with characters galore and a kid-first atmosphere, Disney Cruise Line offers European itineraries every summer on its oceangoing ships.

Tauck Bridges

Tauck was the river line that invented the family-focused cruise back in 2010 with its Tauck Bridges sailings. These special departures are designed specifically for families and are led by a Tauck director with a proven track record of catering to families. They're offered on select sailings on the Danube, Douro, Rhine, Rhone and Seine rivers.

Tauck will take kids as young as 4 but believes that children ages 8 and up will get the most from excursions, such as a geocaching scavenger hunt in Passau, Germany; a ride on the world's steepest cogwheel train above Lake Lucerne, Switzerland; and a cowboy demonstration and lunch at a ranch near Provence, France. The ship does not carry child-size bikes but ensures that smaller bikes are available on cycling excursions operated by local providers.

Each of Tauck's river ships features an entire deck of roomy suites that can sleep four with a pullout sofa. All have plunge pools, putting greens and top-deck grills for cookouts on select evenings (a family favorite).

Tauck recognizes that in multigenerational groups, you don't always get an even number of travelers. Therefore, it waives the single supplement on every Category 1 cabin, so a solo grandparent, relative, nanny or young adult can join the fun without paying double.

Uniworld Generations

Uniworld's luxury cruises open up on select summer dates for eight-day Danube and Rhine river itineraries for families. These Generations Collection cruises work well for multigenerational groups, offering a little something for everyone during excursions. Options might include a visit to the "Schloss Schonbrunn Experience" at the Children's Museum Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna; a cycling excursion on the Danube Bike Trail; or fun in the Bavarian Forest, Germany's largest national park.

Two family hosts plan activities for Junior Cruisers (ages 4 to 12) and teens (ages 13 to 17), including kids-only dinners, cooking classes with the chef, craft workshops and movie nights complete with popcorn. A special space is set up on board for kids and teens with board and video games, movies and treats.

The all-inclusive sailings include kid-friendly menus and complimentary beverages (not just at meals), as well as Wi-Fi, gratuities and the use of kid-size and adult bikes and walking sticks ashore. Many of the ships offering family sailings have pools, plus three-person rooms and connecting cabins.

Beyond Europe, Uniworld offers its family-friendly Generations cruises during Nile River sailings in Egypt in December.

A-Rosa Family Cruises

A-Rosa is a European river cruise line that offers family cruises for an international clientele, especially during summer break and the winter holidays. The main languages on board are German and English, so your family will get European immersion on board and ashore.

The line stands out for its dedicated kids club activities on board, including movie nights, scavenger hunts and pizza baking with the ship's chef. These are led by bilingual youth staff and cater to kids ages 4 to 15 (though there is no minimum age to sail).

Additionally, the line offers family discounts; children up to 15 years old can cruise free when sharing a Deck 1 cabin with an adult, with discounts available on other decks. Off the ship, families can become history detectives in Vienna, meet camels and ostriches on a farm in Germany and visit zoos, amusement parks and chocolate museums in multiple destinations.

For the best family experience, book a cruise on A-Rosa Sena, a river ship built with multigenerational travel in mind. It features a dedicated kids club space on board (plus a large spa for adults), family cabins that sleep up to five in a room with bunk beds, a shallow kids pool and a regular pool with onboard swimming lessons for an extra fee, and a kids buffet.

Bottom line

Traditional river cruises are not really geared toward families with young kids, but families looking for a European river cruise do have options with family-friendly sailings from lines like Tauck, Uniworld and AmaWaterways (the latter in partnership with Adventures by Disney). The smaller ships and busy schedule might not be every family's cup of tea, but they can be a wonderful way to introduce kids to a handful of European countries, cities and towns on one trip.

As a busy working parent, I can say that perhaps the most compelling reason to take a European river cruise is to have someone else plan the itinerary, scout out fun-for-kids activities in port and be ready to offer you a choice of tasty meals when you return. Your kids will enjoy making friends on board, and you can relax without having to navigate a giant megaship.

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