Our first commercial cruise was in August 2025 on the Danube from Regensburg to Vienna. We had not been attracted to commercial cruises for various reasons: environmental impact and tourist impact on the areas visited being the biggest issues. But a river cruise on a smaller ship, not interfering too much with the life of residents and using shore electricity when moored seemed a good compromise.
Saga is not the biggest river cruise operator but has a good choice and owns its own boats on the major waterways. Almost everything about this cruise was top quality: being collected and returned home by taxi; very high quality cabin; good tours; good food and wine; all inclusive. Our only complaint was that the vegetarian food was not up to the standard of other main meals, but Saga dealt with this complaint efficiently.
Our cruise went from Regensburg in Germany to Vienna in Austria over 7 nights. There were 2 overnight cruises and the rest during the daytime. As well as relaxing and enjoying watching the countryside pass by, stopping at various (mostly small) towns along the way and being able to walk from the boat into town was a bonus compared to large sea cruises where ship to shore boat transport might be required.
A video of the cruise can be seen below.