Emerald.Prague to Budapest.

Hope this will help some people and apologies if the first few posts are

Irrelavent...

We flew from Heathrow to Prague with British airways.Not much leg room!

Snack of mini roll and cake was sufficient mid morning.very fresh.

We wanted to buy gin onboard from duty free but no alcohol can be sold on that flight...

Met at Prague airport and escorted to waiting coach.Few little niggles.Lovely big coach for only 13 of us but could not feel air conditioning even though we did a kind of sign language to the driver.He also did a lot of texting whilst driving..! It was hottest day of year and a hot transfer..

Easy check in.Meeting later for drink and a local walk to be shown bars shops etc..very helpful,cheery pair of reps.

Luggage will be delivered straight to our room from the coach.

We asked for a quiet room and we are on top floor,level 8.everyone else appears to be on level 6..

Will let you know tomorrow if we have a quiet room!

Well equipped room,very smart.huge bathroom.

Off to find a much needed beer now.

Looking forward to more info about Prague.

Enjoy :)

Looking forward to hearing all about Emerald, there isn't a lot on CC.

Deb

Very very good tour of City.We left at 8 am to get to the cathedral before the crowds and it worked.As the doors opened we were first in,beautiful.

Very hot day.Finished around 1pm with various options given to us for afternoon.Tickets issued to everyone to use on public transport for this afternoon and tomorrow.

Everything,including Martina our guide,has been extremely well organised,She is very professional.Emerald can congratulate themselves for the organisation.We even had a cafe stop which saw us arrive to tables outside under parasols with water and hot drink and huge portion of strudel and cream.No payment or effort on our part...Options at this point to go back to hotel rather then carry on..

Off to Castle tonight for banquet,with drinks included ( oh dear)..

Will feed back..

My main aim is to report on Emerald.I won't blog on actual tours etc...

Please feel free to ask anything...

Forgot to say that we are staying in the Marriott Courtyard,Flora..This hotel is used a lot with Emerald.

Although it is to the east of New town and away from a lot of things,it is exceptionally cheap to eat out here...The tram and tube stops are very near and very cheap and easy to use, to get where you want.e.g Old Town square is 5 tube stops away.

The meal last night was very good.3 courses,drinks,free and local music..

Not a Czech tavern though....very good transfers to the castle in modern minibuses.stayed about 2 hours..Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves...

We have been split into two groups and stay with the same group and same guide.It seems to work well....

Learnt today that the other hotel that Emerald uses,K and K,is in the centre of old town and although rooms are smaller,a better hotel.We personally have no complaints with our hotel although others dislike being away from everything.

My husband and I don't wear our name badges,others do when we get together.

The city didn't seem so busy today...There is so much to do and see and the reps will constantly help you with travel arrangements,bookings etc.

You do need to wear good shoes as the cobbles can be difficult in heels.

The centre is expensive for food ( in Czech standards) and drink but little side alleys will be cheaper.Our rep told us to be wary of the gold shops.The carat isn't as advertised.She basically said the shops are full of junk!!

We did our own thing today and went on a boat trip...I know it's a strange thing to do when we have a week of water living coming up! It was just under an hour and was ok. The rep recommended the company with sailor outfits.The ticket gave us free entry to the museum next door too... The ticket was 290 Crowns,about £7 each. We received a drink ( beer or lemonade or hot drink) and a cake or ice cream..all lady captains!

We also visited an art exhibition in the old square,Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali..again about £7 each.Very interesting and lovely and cool..

Well we are off tomorrow around 10am to the ship..Everything seems very organised,as usual...

Jane, do you recall the name of the restaurant at the castle? Sounds interesting.

Also, we have a US $75 onboard credit to use on our August cruise with Scenic. From what I've read, I'm not sure about how to spend it. Once you get on board can you give me an idea of laundry costs and souvenir costs in the gift shop?

Thanks. Loving all the information you are providing.

Hi

Thank you nancyevans.

The places we had morning tea and evening meal were Salm Palace and Lobkowicz Palace.There are a few places similar,all within the castle grounds.

I will find out what I can about onboard spending as we too have it.We will probably use it for a pre dinner gin and tonic!

This morning we have had a leisurely breakfast.Bags for loading on the coach have to be ready and tagged in our rooms by 9.30am.We meet at 10am and leave at 10.15. There are 29 people in each coach and each coach seats 50. So plenty of room..again the tour guides are at their desk bright and early and answering any questions.

Off to Nuremberg now and a hot week ahead!

So...transfer from hotel to ship went well.we watched a film on the way.our experience was good although I understand some people coming direct from Munich airport had no water( we did) and no air con,but I can't comment anymore on that.

All the cabins except the owners suites ( which we peeked in and look amazing) are exactly the same.Appears little storage but we have managed ok.Cases go easily under the bed.There is a mirror in the bathroom that opens into a small cupboard and a deep drawer under the sink,2 things a lot of people didn't realise,so remember.only one bin and that is in the bathroom.very good shower.bathroom a bit tight but hey ho,it's a ship!

No bedside cabinet or drawer just a small side table.

The ship is full apparently.

Already the itinerary for tonight has changed and is disappointing.The order of muster,greeting and dinner has changed.also the elegant dinner has been changed to a buffet at 6.30pm.Everyone to be finished by 8pm for the greeting. A big shame and a bit of a cheap tactic we think.

Under way and everyone wanting showers now. If you have a balcony or cabin with lowering window,everyone can see in if you are getting changed.That will happen on narrow areas and locks...

There are various drinks packages and when I get a minute I will go through them for you...

Sorry to hear that you are just getting a buffet the first night. Isn't "Emerald" a Scenic ship? Its my understanding that drinks are included in the price except for the most expensive ones.

Looking forward to your next post.

Sorry to hear that you are just getting a buffet the first night. Isn't "Emerald" a Scenic ship? Its my understanding that drinks are included in the price except for the most expensive ones.

Looking forward to your next post.

Emerald are a sister company to Scenic, but are a different brand, and are aimed at a different demographic, with different included items.

They are a separate fleet of ships, no ships are shared between the two brands.

Which does mean answers to your earlier question may not be valid either, as those things may have different costs between the two brands.

Thanks for the info. Info on Prague was useful.

Well it's our first morning.(8am)..Not a good nights sleep.Recommend the earplugs that are provided. I always find the first night difficult,anywhere and hopefully we will settle down tonight.Alot of rolling and I am surprised how much we could hear from other cabins,loud flushing of toilets and creaky floorboard sounds.It reminds us of an old house!

Unable to use sun deck since we left yesterday afternoon,until Monday lunchtime,due to one or two low bridges.We are not yet on the Danube,so hoping this will be open for the rest of the journey.Because of this,everyone crammed onto the little front terrace last night,the only bit of fresh air for a full view.people did use their balconies but the air conditioning goes off when the doors are opened or the window down and yesterday was particularly hot.

Another change during our meal last night.Unfortunately a sprinkler went off in the lounge after our muster talk so the cruise director came down to the restaurant with her microphone in the middle of the meal to tell us everything!

A tip...at the bottom of the menu are 3 things that can be ordered hot and fresh at the buffet,salmon,steak and vegetarian so we had salmon and steak..a lot of people missed that.

As we are off to breakfast now ,I will blog later about a few technical things.

Drink packages..

Extended: 9€ per person per day.

Wines,draft beer and soft drinks all day and not just during meals.

Premium: 19€ pppd

Everything free except champagne.

Beer package: 17€ per package

6 bottled beers of any kind during your stay.do not have to have them all in one day.

Champagne package: 132€

3 bottles of Laurent-Champagne.

There are 3 types of wine packages too.

Alcohol available 11am-midnight.no leftover bottles of alcohol can go ashore due to local custom regulations.

No handing over any part of a drink package to someone who does not have a package.Will result in cancellation of package for whole trip and no refunds..

Not a good morning for us.The weather is so hot. We could only go in the lounge or the few chairs outside at the front as the top deck is still shut.The noise started to grate on us and we felt trapped a bit.Lunch was a buffet in the dining room and there were no snack meals upstairs in the bar area,which we would have liked.It was very noisy.

Eventually they opened the sun deck once we docked at Resenburg,but the shades are not really sun protective.

But then we had a great idea.There are lots of little beaches along the river and we decided to take a bike out and find one.Had a great swim in The Danube with the locals.Biked back to ship to find a request to join the Captain at his dinner tonight! Private cocktail party first.

Feeling a lot better now we have been out.

So the first 48 hrs,be warned you have your cabin,the lounge( which gets full) or a few seats out the front.

The food is very good I think although we have only seen the buffet.The breakfast was in the dining room and a light breakfast in the bar area,which we chose.

Didn't do the City walk as too hot,but we did bike a bit of it and it is stunning..

In the cabin we have a shoe polish pad,shoe horn,earplugs and toiletries.no clock so you will need your own.

No problem with wi if anywhere for us.

How many bikes do they have on board for check out?

Unable to use sun deck since we left yesterday afternoon,until Monday lunchtime,due to one or two low bridges.We are not yet on the Danube,so hoping this will be open for the rest of the journey.

It should be. It was only the canal section on our cruise that it was closed.

It is only generally if there is particularly high water that the Danube bridges are too close.

Arriving in Passau now and the heavens have opened.Absolutely pouring.After searing heat,a big difference.We dock at 8am until 11.45am for a guided walk.

The sundeck has to be closed in Germany,all the way,for us ,by German law unless docked.There are some very low bridges.sundeck officially open today!

So hoping weather changes as I don't think I can bear sitting in the lounge all day.

Meal last night was lovely.Treated very well.I have to say that the staff are all excellent.Cannot fault them..

The cabin is always spotless.Serviced twice a day.

There are about 15 bikes. We were told we didn't have to necessarily prebook one but we did,just to make sure.They had them all ready yesterday outside the ship along with bike locks and helmets.Very efficient.

Docked alongside another ship yesterday which meant everyone in the odd number cabins had to look at other windows and balconies or shut their curtains.

When we embarked in Nuremberg,we did peek into the other types of cabins.The cabins with just a window,the ones with balconies or sliding windows,all seem to be exactly the same.The single cabins look quite small.The owners suites were very big and beautiful.I wish we could have tried one out.I am very happy with layout of our window cabin,but as I said before,feel a little 'trapped' with no fresh air.

Enjoying your blog Jane and I look forward to reading more. Closing the sundeck so much really sucks. We'll be doing the Rhine (Amsterdam to Basel), so who knows what issue's we'll face. I'm pleased to hear the owners suites are nice, because that is what we've booked and I've been stressed over the amount of $$ spent on it! :eek:

Thank you.The owners suites are lovely.Don't worry.

Walked around Passau this morning on our own but there are guided tours. Lovely town and worth a visit. Rain cleared and now back to searing heat.

Cruising now for 6 hours or so now.amazing scenery.Top deck open and when we go through low bridge,the bridge on the ship lowers and captain asks us all to sit down.Some are very low..So relieved we have the top deck open. Now Getting fed up with noise in restaurant.Lunchtime we decided to have light lunch from bar and take to sundeck.One other couple followed and we had a wonderful lunch,just the 4 of us with our drinks,warm sunshine,gentle breeze and peace and quiet.Wish we could do this in the evening.I think because the ship is so modern,there are no soft furnishings to absorb sound.

Two men came into the lounge just now with just shorts on.I am no prude but it didnt seem appropriate.If these men were 20 years old instead of the retired age, I wonder if words would have been said.Just my opinion again..

Afternoon tea now and we are going to be a bit piggy and try it!

Everyone chats to everyone else and I have no doubt that single travellers would feel comfortable.

Thank you for the information. Much appreciated.

Jane,

Thanks for taking the time to post. Loving your observations. Keep it up, but don't let posting interfere with having FUN!!

FuelScience

I agree, Jane. Old Guys should NOT wear shorts unless they are Bermuda with the correct high socks & nice shoes; however, they don't know enough to do this. Young guys with cute legs - O.K. ;)

I agree, Jane. Old Guys should NOT wear shorts unless they are Bermuda with the correct high socks & nice shoes; however, they don't know enough to do this. Young guys with cute legs - O.K. ;)

I have no problems with the shorts - even if the guys are older and legs aren't great.... :eek: It it the issue of "just" shorts --> which I take to mean WITHOUT a shirt - that would upset me.

And, I guess I may be a considered a prude if I say that tank tops on men (or "wife beater" t-shirts as the undershirt version is called in my area) don't count.

Fran

Is the light lunch in the bar area served the same hours and the dining room? Or do they have a different schedule.

One of the things that I did not like about my recent cruise on Viking is that while they did serve lunch in two places, it was during the same limited time frame. When they had morning tours you had to return to the ship with the tour if you wanted lunch. If you stayed in town for some more time on your own then lunch would end before you returned. Would have been nicer if they kept the light lunch open longer and made things a little more flexible.