• August is a popular month to cruise in Europe.cruise ship image by Pierrette Guertin from Fotolia.com
  
  August is a perfect time to travel in Europe aboard a cruising vessel. The weather couldn't be better, and you can avoid the summer tourists on land. No need to worry about getting dinner reservations, or finding an available hotel room. If you're considering a family vacation, a cruise can be a viable choice. With all the children and teen activities offered on cruise ships, no one in your family will be bored.
  
  

Celebrity Cruises

• Celebrity Cruises offers 13 European cruise opportunities during August, so it's just a matter of where you want to go, how much time you have and what your budget dictates. Prices range from about $1200 in an interior cabin for a 6-night cruise aboard the 'Celebrity Solstice' that begins and ends in Barcelona, Spain with stops in Italy, France and Croatia, to about $5420 in a suite for a 12-night Scandinavian and Russian cruise on board the 'Celebrity Constellation.' You'll embark and disembark in Amsterdam and visit ports in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and Denmark.
  
  

Costa Cruises

• Costa Cruises offers five European cruises in August ranging from about $1190 to about $3800, depending on the ports of call, number of nights and choice of cabin. If you're looking for a 9-night voyage, hop on board the 'Costa Deliziosa' in Amsterdam and visit Ireland, Spain and Portugal. If you have 11 nights to spare, the 'Costa Mediterrania' will take you from and back to Savona, Italy, stopping in Morocco and the Canary Islands. You can spend 10 nights on the 'Costa Magica,' leaving from and returning to LeHavre, France with ports of call in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Scotland.
  
  

European River Cruises

• Cruising on the ocean isn't the only European option. There's also river cruising: The Danube River in Austria and Hungary, the Rhine River in Germany, the Volga in Russia, the Dnieper in Ukraine. A river cruise along the Seine will take you from Paris to Normandy, France. The Romantic Rhine River Tour, offered by Avalon Waterways, starts in Amsterdam at the northern tip of the Rhine and heads south along the river through Germany until you end up eight days later in Basel, Switzerland. Prices in August start at just under $2500.