Avalon Waterways and its sister company Monograms, which offers tours for independent travelers, have assembled 10 pre- and post-cruise packages for 2010 Avalon river cruises.

The pre- and post-cruise Mongrams itineraries range from seven to 10 days and are being offered on seven Avalon river cruise itineraries. All combinations can be viewed on Avalon’s site.

Monograms and Avalon are both owned by the Littleton, Colo.-based Globus family of brands.

“River cruising is the fastest-growing trend in travel,” said Patrick Clark, managing director of Avalon. He added, that with the new Monograms pre- and post-cruise packages, customers can spend even more time exploring villages and cities in Europe.

Some possible combinations include Monograms’ A Week in Paris vacation with Avalon’s Burgundy & Provence itinerary, and, the seven-day Vienna & Prague vacation package with Avalon’s A Taste of the Danube itinerary.

The Blue Danube, as Europe’s Danube River is often called, is one of the most popular and most important rivers for cruising Europe. It passes through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.

So, it’s no wonder that Tauck World Discovery has increased its 2010 river cruise program with two new itineraries along the rumbling Danube, one of the longest and most interesting European waterways that passes through the heart of German wine and castle country through Vienna to Eastern European treasures such as Budapest.

The two new river cruises Tauck will offer next year are the 12-day “Strasbourg to Prague Serenade” and the 19-day “Romance of the Rhine & Danube.”

The Strasbourg to Prague cruise (from $3,990 per person for double occupancy, cruise only) begins with two nights at the Sofitel Strasbourg Grande Ile, and includes sightseeing in Strasbourg, Alsatian wine country, and a seven-day cruise through Heidelberg, Nurnberg and Regensburg, ending with a two-day stay at the Hilton Prague Old Town.

Tauck’s new cruise along the Rhine and Danube rivers (from $6,790 per person with double occupancy, cruise only) also starts with a two-night stay at the Sofitel Strasbourg Grande Ile, and includes a 14-day cruise through Passau, Salzburg, Vienna and Bratislava, ending with a two-night stay at the InterContinental Budapest.

With the two new programs, Tauck is offering a total of nine European river cruises next year aboard a fleet of three ships — the Swiss Jewel, which launched just this April, the Swiss Sapphire and the Swiss Emerald. All three 118-passenger ships have been launched within the past three years and are very similar in look and feel. The ships feature 14 suites, each 300 square feet, with marble baths and full-sized tubs. The remaining 45 junior suites and cabins range from 150 to 183 square feet. All suites and cabins feature plasma TVs, mini bars, terry cloth robes and slippers and L’Occitane toiletries.

Starting this fall, passengers will be able to get the AMAWATERWAYS river cruise experience on the Mekong.

On Sept. 1, the 92-passenger La Marguerite will launch, offering sailings along the Mekong River through Vietnam and Cambodia.

AMAWATERWAYS is offering a 15-day itinerary that includes land tours in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Siem Reap, Cambodia, as well as a seven-day cruise onboard La Marguerite, from Tonle Sap Lake and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, to Vietnam’s Sa Dec and Ho Chi Minh City.

There are five scheduled departures this year on La Marguerite, starting on Sept. 21, and seven scheduled 2010 departures between January and April.

The 92-passenger ship is 235 feet in length with four decks. It has two suite (443 square feet each), six junior suites (284 square feet each), and 38 staterooms (226 square feet each).

Each cabin will be equipped with air conditioning, a sofa, minibar, safe-deposit box, in-house telephone, television, bathroom with shower and hair dryer.

The ship will have one restaurant, two lounge areas, a business center, fitness center, beauty salon and spa, whirlpool and sun deck lounge.

AMAWATERWAYS’ 15-day Mekong River cruise starts at $3,999 per person, including the land portion and round-trip air from Los Angeles or San Francisco.