An AmaWaterways river cruise with the grandkids is one for the books.

Weeks of pleading couldn’t convince loyal AmaWaterways guest Arlene B. to budge on her plans to take her six grandchildren, ranging in age from 16 to 27, on a Rhine River cruise without their parents. “Their parents tried to bribe me,” says Arlene. “But I wanted it to be me and my grandkids alone.”

With her grandchildren spread out across the U.S., Arlene, a Florida resident, doesn’t get the chance to spend time with them all together very often. “The biggest impetus for me in planning this adventure was to have the six of them bond. And it happened. It was a beautiful thing to watch.”

“Their parents tried to bribe me but I wanted it to be me and my grandkids alone.”

Leading up to their European journey, the grandchildren were excited, but organizing travel from multiple states was no easy feat. Fortunately, conference calls allowed them all to discuss what shore excursions to choose. With the exception of one bike tour selected by siblings, the crew decided to stick together, reserving every excursion as a group to maximize their time spent with Grandma.

“I always had one or two grandkids by my side, looking out for me,” Arlene says. “I really didn’t expect to be with them as much as I was. It was wonderful.”

The family arrived together in Amsterdam to embark on AmaLucia. Arlene is a repeat guest, so the welcoming crew remembered her and greeted her with a hug. As she settled into her stateroom, the cousins headed off to their two shared staterooms to unpack.

Grandson Drew has experienced big-ship cruising before, so he was delighted by the boys’ triple accommodations in their twin-balcony stateroom. AmaWaterways’ signature French balcony and outside balcony invited them to enjoy each and every change in scenery. “Being able to see things constantly instead of just staring out at a wide-open ocean, being able to put my feet up while sitting out on the balcony and watching the views go by—every town, every mountain, every castle—it was incredible,” says Drew.

A never-forget afternoon was spending time on the Sun Deck while AmaLucia passed through Germany’s Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for 40-plus historic castles. “Two of my grandsons are history buffs and when the cruise manager told the tales of all the castles, they thought they died and went to heaven,” says Arlene.

Dinner in the Main Restaurant was a nightly invitation for everyone to reflect on each day’s excursions. The cousins all indulged in regional cuisine, but one menu item in particular stood out. “My youngest granddaughter, Brooke, couldn’t get over the fresh-baked rolls,” recalls Arlene. “The servers figured out that we couldn’t deal with just two or three baskets of bread each night—we needed six or seven!”

During their seven-night cruise, the family visited many destinations, from Strasbourg, where they united with distant relatives, to Cologne, with its impressive Gothic cathedral. Arlene favored the old houses dotted throughout Riquewihr, France, while Drew will always remember their visit to Rüdesheim, Germany. There, he was surprised by the local townspeople making their traditional coffee, during which brandy is set aflame in specially designed coffee cups.

“I cannot think of anything even remotely similar that you can experience in the States,” Drew says. “It was like they were pouring liquid fire!”

Drew also notes that river cruising was a friendly way for teens and 20-somethings to have some added time to explore on their own—whether in port after guided excursions or in the evenings, when bigger ocean ships are typically already sailing to their next destination.

As they sailed toward Basel, Switzerland on the last night of the journey, the grandkids told Arlene they wanted to take another cruise together in two years. Both the Danube River and Portugal’s Douro River have been floated around amongst the family. Still, they all realize that the destination doesn’t matter as much as the company.

“Having the six of us together all in one room is something that hadn’t happened in five or 10 years,” Drew says. “I wouldn’t have traded this experience for the world. I will cherish it for the rest of my life.”

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