In reply to Suprf1y :
My wife has never been but my Dad was stationed in Germany when I was in middle school. I have been all around western Europe but the cold war was still on so nothing on the other side of the curtain.
Mind sharing what you didn't like about the cruise? Everyone I have talked to that has been on on one of the river cruises has really liked it.
John:
We are planning on stopping in Erie on the way, thanks.
Wally:
Thanks, if it is close we will check it out.
I don't know what made me think of this but I never did answer you.
It was BORING.
It's geared to the retired, I'm going to say 70+ crowd, and though we may have been the youngest people on the ship there were probably a dozen or so in our age group and they seemed to enjoy it. We were able to spend days in some cities that were fun, but we spent a Friday and Saturday in Nuremburg, and Regensburg that had stuff going on but sailed both nights so we weren't able to take in any of the (really) good night life. Then we stayed two days/nights in port in Vienna, a Monday and Tuesday. There seemed to be a lot of missed opportunities like that.
The food was good and sometimes great. The service was excellent. It's not an inexpensive trip and I found the people on board to be rather cliquish, stuffy and downright snobby. That didn't help the experience.
I got sent to Ontario on business a few years ago and used some free time to drive down to Niagara Falls.
I never felt like such a creep – couples hand in hand everywhere – marriage proposals and make out sessions everywhere you look and me – creepy guy just standing there all by myself; awkward.
Was my post helpful? 
The Whirlpool jetboat is a great trip, but you may want to try their competition Niagara Jet . They go to the same place as the Whirlpool jet, but they do so in a far more exciting manner.
If you are around for a few days you may want to consider This. For what you get it is a great deal.
If you like to hike, go to Devil's Hole State Park and catch the stairway down to the gorge and walk along the old railway line beside the river. Some great scenery down there and some interesting ruins in the gorge.
If you want to do a side trip to Buffalo there is the Buffalo Naval Park. Pretty interesting touring the old ships also they apparently have overnight accommodation in some of the ships.
If you have time to fit in some back roads, the hills South of Buffalo have countless interesting route options. If you do go for a drive stop Here for food. It is literally in the middle of nowhere but they have the best pizza I have ever eaten.
He's probably already gone.
We're going to both sides tomorrow, but only because we have to go through the Canadian side to get across the border. I'm picking up my packages at CBI, then we go to La Galera for a massive lunch, over to Walmart/Target to get a few things we can't get here, then back home. We do it every 3 or so months.
In reply to Suprf1y :
La Galera. Great tamales there. 
Mind sharing what you didn't like about the cruise? Everyone I have talked to that has been on on one of the river cruises has really liked it.
My parents have been on three Viking Cruises so far, the loved Germany and were not thrilled about the Russian one. They are already booked on their newest ship that isn't even done yet. They LOVE the cruises, but they are my parents and I am 50 so you do the math on the demographic.
akamcfly said:In reply to Suprf1y :
La Galera. Great tamales there.
Wow were you ever right about that.
Thanks for the tip
Thanks for all the tips. We ended up going to the Falls Friday, walked a lot and tried to not get blown over and then stayed in the hotel most of Saturday, no kids or dogs or anything to deal with so we made the most of that. 
We have decided that we will be going back, with passports, with the kids next year, it really is an amazing thing to see.
we may be going to the CA side this weekend. Has anyone tried the new Mario kart track?? We have kids that are too small to drive the karts, I don't know if they will be upset to only be passengers. is it worth the cost?
http://dailyhive.com/toronto/niagara-falls-real-life-mario-kart-track-opening-june-2018
In reply to Rusnak_322 :
It is really expensive for what you are getting and to be honest not particularly exciting for adults, Kid's may like it though. Max speed as per their website is 32kph/ 20mph. The downhill section of the track the karts actually seem to loose speed (governor?).
Pricing is as follows.
Driver $12.00 (Per ~5 Minute Race)
Rider $4.00 (Per ~5 Minute Race)
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