3 Best River Cruises for Families with Kids
Published Monday, July 11th 2022 - Updated Thursday, October 24th 2024
More and more families are searching for European river cruises offering tours and programming for adults and kids. Three major river cruise lines are more family-friendly than others.
AmaWaterways, Uniworld, and Tauck have numerous family-friendly river cruise sailings offered during the summer when kids are historically off school and during December through Christmas and New Year’s. Each river cruise line has designed their programs onboard and ashore to cater specifically to families.
AmaWaterways Family River Cruising
AmaWaterways is the first river cruise line to design ships with family-friendly accommodations that even include connecting staterooms. They partner with Adventures by Disney to offer immersive adventures for families. A kids’ menu is also available on the family-friendly sailings.
The itineraries offer a variety of experiences that teens and younger children will enjoy, from active excursions, castle and museum tours, and onboard activities like Disney movie nights.
Onboard touches from Mickey Mouse-shaped treats to Disney-themed karaoke to the world-class service you expect from Disney will ensure that your Adventures by Disney river cruise is filled with magic.
Uniworld Family River Cruising
Each Uniworld Generations river cruise includes special programs, events, and excursions designed specifically for your world travelers in training.
Here are the amenities on Uniworld’s family-friendly sailings:
- A special VIP ship tour with the Captain or Hotel Manager
- Kid-friendly menus for each meal
- Young Travelers’ Table, a special dining table reserved on certain nights just for younger guests
- Two dedicated Family Hosts to oversee all activities for Junior Cruisers (ages 4-12) and Teen Cruisers (ages 13-17)
- Onboard activities just for kids, such as cooking classes and dessert-making
- Hands-on craft workshops tailored to the destinations you visit
- Young Travelers’ Lounge complete with PlayStation, games, movies, and local treats
- Language lesson to learn words and phrases in other languages from our Family Hosts
- Kids-only movie nights with popcorn, where kids enjoy family-friendly films along with their new friends
- Complimentary bicycles, helmets, and Nordic walking sticks for use onshore
Tauck Family River Cruising
Tauck’s Bridges Program is all about bringing families together. Tauck prides itself on catering to families without diluting the onboard experience for adults. A family river cruise allows you and your loved ones to enjoy each other on exciting shore excursions, onboard activities, and exclusive experiences designed with every generation in mind.
Their ships are designed with the highest number of family-friendly suites, all with sofa beds. And there are dedicated spaces for children with board games and puzzles. Of course, kid-friendly food is available at all meals too.
Tauck designed their Bridges river cruises to be interactive and fun for both adults and kids together. Imagine sword fighting lessons, shooting arrows from a medieval crossbow, hiking tall mountains to visit castle ruins, biking through villages, navigating a hedge maze at a royal palace, or dancing in an ornate ballroom.
As river cruising grows in popularity, other lines may follow in offering family-friendly river cruise itineraries at certain times of the year. Until then, I recommend these specially-designated sailings aboard AmaWaterways, Tauck, and Uniworld for families with kids.
I will be honored to assist your family in booking a river cruise.
