Welcome to our reader’s page, and thank you for reading the book and taking the time to visit this site! You can reach me personally at michael@mgatravel.com – I look forward to hearing from you!
This site is for the readers of the book, the “River Cruise Bible” and has expanded and updated content from the book itself.
As you read the book, I’ve tried to include any relevant links I mentioned throughout, including:
Playlist of time lapse videos passing through lock systems: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdB4aatX9qkElB2TX1IUY0HM1YrTDFRaT
Read more about Mary’s mobility travel story, with photos and additional insight at: https://mgatravel.com/specialneeds/
Visit this Link to additional Packing Checklists, Travel Tips, Tipping Guide, Packing Tips, and more. Visit the expanded Author Bio, including maps of Michael’s Travels!
Visit travel.state.gov at to review travel advisories and precautions for your intended destination(s).Consider enrolling in the free STEP program (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program): https://step.state.gov/step/ This is a service of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State that allows U.S. citizens and nationals traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip(s) with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
Hold your mail so it’s not obvious that you’re traveling: USPS Hold Mail: https://holdmail.usps.com/holdmail
The Outlander Society Travel Club requires invitation but you may request to apply with this author or ask another member to stand for you. Find out more at www.OutlanderSociety.com.
If you are considering a European river cruise, I have worked with Sage Traveling for mobility challenged clients, and also for my mother. They have created amazing tours that have zero steps…even in Venice! Pictured above is a water taxi in Venice with a wheelchair lift, provided as part of a tour from Sage Traveling.
Quality of the internet varies widely by ship, but most have at least adequate speeds. Since my wife and I are still working, we bring our laptops when we travel. However, most river cruisers will be just fine with a connected smart phone and/or tablet. So long as you are connected to the ship’s wifi you can use apps such as WhatsApp to text or call friends and family for no charge. However if you want to be able to use your phone or access data while on land, you should consider a “TravelPass” type of package. At the time of this writing, AT&T and Verizon both offer a Travel Pass that works in most countries for $10 per day (that you turn on).
At the time of your travel, check to see the standards set forth by travel and health agencies across the globe, including the European Centre for Disease Prevention (ECDC), the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA).
After May 7th, 2025 you will need your Driver’s License or ID to be REAL ID compliant for any flights, even in the USA (or use your passport).
Here is a collection of videos from some of the author’s favorite river cruises: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdB4aatX9qkEsBIHD2TvgBB6ji1HzWPEK
More on The Way We Work at this agency, and the Story of Orbot!
Cocktail Hour Trivia: Another way to check on the health of a river cruise operator is to check with a 3rd party travel insurance company. If the river cruise company is on the list of operators that will be covered in case of financial default, that is a good sign. Here is a link where you can access the current list from Allianz Travel: https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/about/covered-suppliers.htm
Please note that for new bookings into one of our Bon Voyage Hot List journeys, the Professional Fee has already been included in the pricing.
We separated our Service as a Stat charts into regions for the book, and here we have all of them combined into a single chart:
Here again, we separated our Rivers and Operators by Region, here they are all combined into a single chart:
Where guests tend to be from, by cruise line:
Cruise Line Comparisons
“People don’t take trips – trips take people.” John Steinbeck
“People don’t take trips – trips take people.”
If you haven’t already, please leave a review on Amazon for the River Cruise Bible. Thank you – Michael.
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