Thread: River Barge Cruises

Are Barge cruises sort of like Freighter cruises except they are on rivers rather than being at sea?

I THINK that when one hears the phrase "River Barge" within the cruise industry - they typically mean ultra small, premium or luxury passenger vessels.

Here's an example:

Elisabeth, Owner Operated river barge in France.

Passengers: 6
Crew: 4
Barge Size: 100 ft x 16.6 ft
Cabins: 3
Cabin Size: Approx 103 sq ft
Accommodations: 3 cabins with twin or queen beds
Heat & Air: Individually controlled
Last Renovated: 2007
Laundry: No
Amenities
•Hairdryers
•Bathrobes
•Bathroom sundries
•Library
•Bicycles
•Sundeck
Email Access: No
TV/DVD/CD: Yes
Electricity: 220V

Many of the barges are owner operated and I've found there are a surprising number of providers out there and a ton of different cost levels - based upon vessel, duration and ports - not quality of service or intimacy of experience.

While by no means standard or traditional cruising - its definitely many steps up from freighter cruises.

But, I'd love to hear more from the community - travel professionals and possible previous passengers, alike. Anyone?

There some decent River Barge FAQs here: Barge Lady Cruises - Luxury canal and river barge cruise vacations and tours in France and Europe.

And some really interesting information here: Canal Barges - Barges Narrowboats Self Drives - SmallShipCruises.com

Barging is just a bit too rustic for my taste. A few years back I found a lot of Great information on barge cruising and the history of how it all got started, facination stuff but I lost the url and never bookmarked the pages.

The only barges I know anything at all about are the ones on the Mississippi River that are used to transport goods so I just assumed that was the function of barges.

On the luxury river barge cruises are goods transported as well as passengers?

A little more talk about River Barge cruises from the most recent CyberCruises' Cruise Examiner from Kevin Griffin here:

http://www.cruiselinefans.com/cruise...yal-barge.html (Spirit of Chartwell to Become The Royal Barge)

River barges are larger versions of the canal/narrow boats you see on canals and inland waterways in U.K. Years ago they would have carried cargo but gradually rail and roads took over from canals for transporting goods and now those narrow boats have been converted to floating holiday accommodation and some people even live full time on them,either permanatly moored or travelling up and down rivers and canals,like a floating appartment but very narrow.

Originally Posted by dazman 61

River barges are larger versions of the canal/narrow boats you see on canals and inland waterways in U.K. Years ago they would have carried cargo but gradually rail and roads took over from canals for transporting goods and now those narrow boats have been converted to floating holiday accommodation and some people even live full time on them,either permanatly moored or travelling up and down rivers and canals,like a floating appartment but very narrow.

Daz .... Thanks for answering my question on if they still transported goods.

From the pictures Tim posted ... seems some of these barges "Ain't Too Shabby".

Some of them are simply gorgeous!