Taking the Kids: A river cruise designed for families

On U by Uniworld departures, the average age is 35, with prices starting at $1,499, about $1,000 less than other cruises. These sailings offer shorter itineraries and dates that coincide with popular European festivals like Oktoberfests, paint and wine classes onboard and active excursions (think kayaking on the Seine and rooftop yoga. Look for special Cyber Monday deals).

"There is truly nothing else like it on the rivers," Bettridge said. "So far, we've gotten great feedback."

I realize aboard the River Countess where the age skews much older, that family travel isn't just about parents with young kids. Families, of course, come in all ages and sizes and those aboard reflect that with some active travelers well into their 80s. We are traveling, for example, with my husband's brother and his wife, both retirees. There are other sibling groups, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons and cousins and lifelong friends who said they consider themselves family. Donna Klotz, 78, from Minnesota, is on her "bucket list" trip to Italy with her daughter and son-in-law -- her first trip ever out of the United States. "I had to get a new suitcase -- and a passport," she said.

The youngest onboard, Waseem Kahn, 25, is traveling with his mom from South Africa and gave the trip a thumbs-up, though most onboard are more his mom's generation, or older. "It's up to you to make it a good time," he said.

Sharing a trip like this with family, guests explain, is a lot more fun than hosting family at home when you are juggling work commitments, car pools "and worrying about meals and clean sheets," said Tracy Godey, traveling with her sister and their dad. They don't see each other that much, she explained, because they live so far apart, from the East Coast to the Northwest.

A trip like this also provides a stress-free opportunity to explore new places and share new experiences together. We visit cities like Ferrara where, after a ship-organized walking tour, we feast on a local pasta specialty Cappellacci di zucca -- the name means "little hats" -- which is stuffed with pumpkin and served with the local ragu sauce. (I love that each day, we get a newsletter in our room suggesting "don't miss," foods and sites and that the passengers are divided into groups so no tour group is too large.)

We tour one outer island on bikes, past a tiny fishing village with brightly colored houses and visit the famous centuries-old Rialto Market in Venice with Bogdan Antonescu, the ship's chef. We returned to the ship for a seafood lunch with some of what he purchased (calamari or octopus, anyone?)

The food and wines onboard the River Countess, Antonescu explains, are designed to give guests a sense of place -- every day at the buffet lunch, there is pasta, salami, cheeses and meat and fish dishes that are local. Even the pizzas, he said, are made with local ingredients.

"I admit when I first saw the boat compared to the big ships, I wondered what we got ourselves into," said Ramirez. "But it is a whole lot nicer -- just 100 people or so -- than being with 3,000 other people."

Many passengers, in fact, are veterans of ocean cruising, but once they try river cruising they are hooked -- 60 percent onboard are returning guests. Dick Tucker, 87, is enjoying his fifth Uniworld cruise with his daughters. "We're only two days in," he laughs, "but we're already talking about next year."

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