It is not often you can go on a European river cruise priced at under $200 per person per day.

Teeming River Cruises has changed all that. Husband-and-wife owners Jeff and Gina Paglialonga offer a 15-day European river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest for $159 per person per day or $2395 in November. The itinerary will visit 16 cities including Bratislava, Vienna, Linz, Nuremberg, Koblenz and Dusseldorf.

Meal time on a Teeming River Cruise
Dinner on the river cruise

Teeming River Cruises is a low-priced river company offering guests a la carte meals in two well-appointed ships – the 90-passenger MS Royal Crown and a 144-passenger MS Johann Strauss.

Started a year ago, the Paglialongas have always believed in making European river cruises more affordable and more flexible to enable guests to be in control on how they spend their time in port.

So they give each passenger a complimentary city walking tour app which operates like an online map with offline navigation and no roaming costs. When they are ready to return to the ship, all they need to do is to press a “get me home” button.

Teeming River Cruises
Sitting on the deck with some of your 90 fellow passengers!

“In all our ports, you don’t have to follow the crowd with the flag,’’ says Jeff Paglialonga.

“With this a la carte approach, you only pay for the activities and tours you choose to do. Teeming River Cruises offers a luxurious experience while on board for a great value and allows you the opportunity to determine what you would like to do in each port.”

He said that many travellers “would cringe at the thought of being bused around and follow a flag all day and wanted to break away from the herd mentality of most river cruises.”

Teeming’s two river ships that cruise the Rhine and Danube, are different in style with the Royal Crown exuding a more regal elegance while the Johann Straus has a modern design with clean lines.

Royal Crown, Teeming Rover Cruises
The Royal Crown, your elegant home for 8 days

On board chefs provide a culinary experience with freshly prepared dishes made with local ingredients and paired with selected wines. The menu reflects regionally inspired meals with a four-course meal at dinner. Tables have crisp white linen, candles, silver and fine porcelain. Afternoon tea is also served. Cocktails are available at the ship’s lounge and there is also an open deck.

Beverages are not included with beer and wine package served at lunch and dinner costing an additional $241 pp for the entire journey. Gratuities are additional.

Max and Bev Earsman from Wagga Wagga in NSW who have been on a recent Teeming River Cruise said: “Not skimpy with the drinks at meal time and reasonable prices at the bar and deck. We did do the concert in Vienna and it was excellent and very reasonably priced.

Teeming River Cruises
Oh, the food!

“Being Australians, we hate required gratuities but in this case, they were worth it. The cruise was well organised, had great food and excellent crew. Top trip and exceptional value.”

Teeming is considering expanding its river itineraries to Russia, Croatian coast and French rivers next year.

For more details see www.teemingrivercruises.com