Let’s face it: everyone forgets something when they travel – even experienced cruisers like us. However, there are some things that you should bring with you to get maximum enjoyment out of your river cruise – things that go beyond the usual toothbrush and passport.  These are things we’ve found to be immensely useful on our own travels, and we’re presenting them here for you to take with you on your next adventure.

A Travel Guide

Power Adapters

A Backpack and Reusable Water Bottle

Medications from Home

Business Cards

Family vacation giant Disney plans an even bigger move into river cruising than initially announced.

The company on Tuesday revealed its Adventures by Disney division will offer 14 river cruises in 2017. That's twice the number it'll offer this year as it gets into river cruising for the first time.

The voyages will include new seven-night Rhine River sailings as well as seven-night Danube sailings. The company this year only is offering voyages on the Danube.

If you need an incentive to book Crystal River Cruises' Mozart — the LA-based luxury travel company's soon-to-debut super-extravagant river yacht (following Esprit, which launched in December) — here’s your moment of Zen. During sailings after the ship debuts in July, passengers on Crystal Mozart will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience an exclusive event at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, one of Europe’s most stunning baroque landmarks and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

It will be an evening to remember with private access to the highlights of the palace’s astonishing collections of art, including the greatest collection of the works by Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele, with guidance from the palace’s representatives.

River cruising is exploding in popularity and with good reason. Nonstop scenery, close contact with local cultures, and the ability to dock in the heart of cities and at scenic or historic spots are among its many appeals.

While European cruises are particularly popular, Americans don't need to fly across the ocean to experience the pleasures of rollin' on the river. A small but growing number of boats right here in the US offer cruises in the American Heartland and the Pacific Northwest.

U.S. river cruising has undergone a revival in the last five years as new entrepreneurs have entered the business and invested in building new boats and refurbishing idle ones. The American Queen Steamboat Company, for example, has recently restored two palatial paddlewheelers. One, the American Queen, is the largest steamboat ever built: Six decks high, with a Grand Saloon modeled after Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and filled with antiques, it carries 432 passengers in Victorian-era splendor.

Ok, let’s get this out of the way. Viking river cruises aren’t cheap. In fact, for most of us, saving for a luxury river cruise is a multi-year process.

Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as anticipation can be part of the fun of any trip. But, the question still remains. Do Viking river cruises offer an excellent value for money? Or, are you better off going with one of the lesser-known ships on the river?

This winter, I had the opportunity to join Viking on their Rhine Getaway cruise, so, I now have a good understanding of what they offer. Now, I can’t imagine taking a river cruise with anyone else!

Here are 5 reasons Viking river cruises are worth every single penny.

• Everyone Should Be Treated Like Royalty Once in Their Life
• Unparalleled Culinary Experiences Are Included
• Cultural and Historical Events Aren’t a Side Show
• Generous Amounts of Alcohol Are Included
• A Viking Longship is Actually a Luxury Floating Hotel

I have always felt that any type of cruising is a great value. If you add up all the costs involved (food, transportation, sightseeing, general travel related aggravation) a river cruise aboard Viking River Cruises is actually very cost competitive.  And this does not even take into account the pampering you will receive.

Before I boarded my 7-night luxury river cruise in Europe, I was a bit nervous. I was traveling with my mom.

While I of course love my mom, this was her first trip overseas and the most consecutive time we’d spent together in at least a decade. I worried Mom would be stressed, I’d have to do the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively), and maybe we’d drive each other crazy before the week was up.

As it turns out, a river cruise was the perfect way to explore the region and introduce my mom to international travel.

River cruises are growing in popularity, with more than a half-dozen companies offering trips throughout Europe and beyond. Mom and I were cruising with AmaWaterways on a wine-themed Rhine river voyage from the city of Basel in northwest Switzerland, up to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Enchanting Rhine cruise focused on the enjoyment of wine and exploring destinations through local drinks.

Looks like Crystal Cruises is serious about being a player in the river cruise market.

The luxury line on Monday said it would have five river vessels in Europe by 2017 -- three more than originally announced just three months ago.

The line also said it would begin river cruise operations in Europe in 2016 -- a year ahead of schedule.

Citing strong interest from consumers and travel agents since the July announcement that it would get into river cruising, Crystal said it has ordered four newly built river ships instead of two for delivery in 2017 from the German shipyard Lloyd Werft.

More than 20 years ago, I spent several weeks in Budapest. It was part of a seven-month ad-hoc journey that I made around parts of Eastern Europe, which was then not long out of communism. Every day I spent in Budapest was defined by journeys either alongside or over the river Danube: to go anywhere in that sternly grand city was to encounter the river constantly.

In those weeks more than two decades ago in Budapest, I do not recall seeing one cruise boat on the river. Earlier this year, I returned to the city to join a week-long river cruise that started there, and was to end in Passau, in Germany.

The taxi driver got lost en route from the airport, and so we travelled pretty much the entire length of the Danube from the Pest side, searching for the right dock.

I spent the time staring out the window at a riverside I hardly recognized. It was studded with river cruise boats, docked all the way along. I don’t know why I was surprised. The Rhine was being cruised long before commercial river cruising came to Hungary.

The fun doesn't stop just because the sun has set. That's the idea behind Crystal Cruises' itineraries that will pass by some cities during the day and overnight in key ports, where passengers might take in local entertainment or dine in a top restaurant.

 "Crystal’s itineraries will also intentionally deviate from traditional river cruise routes to avoid congestion of other vessels in port," a company statement said about its itineraries, which will start in March 2017.

Crystal also plans to add more active excursions for passengers who want to explore cities by bicycle or Segway. Passengers also will have access to a tender to seek out more private destinations, an unusual feature for a river ship.

For travelers who've been thinking about a holiday on a river cruise ship, come 2016 Avalon Waterways will have seven Christmas cruises, including the 17-day Christmastime Zurich to Budapest cruise on the Avalon Tranquility II (priced from $4,589 and departing Dec. 3, 2016). It will sail not one, not two, but three rivers in Europe: Danube, Main and Rhine. Along the way, passengers will be taking in all the quintessential sights, scents and delights of Central Europe during the holidays. On view are traditional Black Forest houses with their long sloping roofs; Strasbourg’s Christmas market, which dates back to 1570; an ice rink set up at the foot of Heidelberg Castle; Bamberg’s nativity scenes built by local citizens and exhibited throughout the town; and Nuremberg’s Old Town, illuminated with festive lights and decorations.

For those travelers opting for shorter holiday trips, Avalon is offering itineraries that range from five to 13 days in 2016. A fan favorite for the holidays is the 8-day Christmas in the Heart of Germany on the Avalon Tranquility II (priced from $1,773). If Prague decked out for the holidays is on your bucket list, try the 12-day Christmastime Zurich to Prague (priced from $2,898).

For more information

As always, for more information contact your Cruiseable travel advocate. 

I recently had the chance to experience a 5 star European river cruise for the first time and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Stepping aboard the ‘Space-Ship’ like boat that was docked in Amsterdam, I was about to glide through Amsterdam’s remarkable network of canals, in river cruising luxury – if you want to explore European destinations at a gentle pace, river cruising is certainly one of the best ways to do this. Imagine yourself sipping sparkling champagne, whilst listening to nothing but the calm, gentle sounds of the river lapping against the bows.

River boat cruising is becoming more and more popular. The cruise lines such as Viking Cruise Line have been upping their game to appeal to a greater audience.  What a perfect way to explore a region or country where you only have to unpack once.  The ships are smaller and more intimate with personalized service and the food is what you would expect of a Luxury cruise line..