Teeming River Cruises
If you’ve ever gasped while checking the prices of European river cruises, you’ll exhale with glee when you see the itineraries offered by Teeming River Cruises. Launched in July 2017 by Florida-based husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Jeff and Gina Paglialonga, Teeming turns the traditional river cruise formula on its head — and offers fares that are 50-65 percent below average — by breaking from all-inclusive pricing and going back to basics: a comfortable cabin and three well-prepared (albeit not gourmet) meals daily, plus afternoon tea. That’s it. No included shore excursions (there’s an app for that), no open bar, and very little in the way of pampering. But in doing so, Teeming is creating a new strata of river cruising geared to low-maintenance, highly independent travelers.
Ships
What We Love
Guests Have Total Freedom: Unlike most river cruises where you’ve already paid for shore excursions as part of your cruise fare and feel obligated to wake up at the crack of dawn and take them — some, admittedly worth it and others a big waste of time — on a Teeming itinerary, your hours in port are totally yours to do with as you please. Guests can feel free to sleep in, book a tour with a local operator, or simply wander. It’s more like being in a hotel room that just happens to float than on a group tour.
It’s Not Cookie Cutter: While most river cruise lines have established fleets and lock in itineraries two years in advance, the Paglialongas plan to continue to opportunistically charter ships and add itineraries, including their first cruise on the in France in October 2019. The result is an evolving selection of cruise deals on the , Moselle, , and Rhone rivers and the canals of for travelers seeking good value.