papa B me

Several years ago we did a Christmas Market Cruise on the Danube from Budapest to Passau.  We actually flew in several days early into Munich.  We hired a private guide to take us to Neuschwanstein and several other King Ludwig castles.  It was a magical day.  Munich was a lot of fun as well.  We initially planned on a night train from Munich to Budapest but it was during the immigration crisis and train service was canceled.  So we ended up taking the short flight from Munich to Budapest.  Then boarded the river cruise(Uniworld) for the trip on the Danube to Passau.  We are actually sailing the Danube again in 4 weeks to experience it in Summer.  Our cruise actually stops in Bratislava as well.  This was a great way to experience as you say two trips in one.  Good luck planning.

We did the Uniworld Danube Christmas Market with a self planned pre cruise stay in Munich.  It had some wonderful markets and did a day trip to see castles in Austria which was magical with snow falling.  We also went to the Hungarian Opera House in Budapest to see the Nutcracker which was a highlight of the trip.  We have been on 3 Uniworld cruises and actually leave in 5 weeks to do the same cruise down the Danube to enjoy the summer cruise.  Highly recommend Uniworld but I've heard nothing but good things about Ama as well.

I cruised Budapest to Passau for a Christmas market cruise a few years ago.  We are doing this same cruise the first of June and decided to stay with Budapest to Passau and do our pre cruise in Budapest.  There really is a lot to do.  I have been to Prague and love it so it is an option for pre cruise if you want to go Passau to Budapest.  I just like the convenience of starting my trip with a short ride from airport to hotel for pre cruise and flying home from Munich.  Another plus is most cruises from Budapest stay the first night in port so it really give you an extra full day there.  Either is great though.

I just got a notice that my bid was accepted for our June 2 Danube cruise.  We were in a Suite and I bid the minimum for the Grand Suite and got it.  Was pretty surprised.

It is back up.  I just booked a cruise on line

I’m going on the new Uniworld Belgium Christmas Market cruise in December.  Looking forward to the Chocolate, Cheese, and most importantly Beer-ha

I’m the one who booked the Belgium Markets in 2023 with Uniworld.  It really seems unique as well as Taucks.  I’ve previously sailed the Danube for Christmas Markets starting in Budapest and ending in Passau.  We did a 3 day stay in Munich pre cruise and really enjoyed their markets.  Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, and Passau all had unique and fun markets.  Plus there was a day trip to Salzburg.  Highly recommend this itinerary.  I’ve sailed the Rhine but not during Christmas.  I really don’t believe you can make a mistake with either.  Good luck in your research

Thanks for the great responses.  I’m planning on doing our pre cruise in Bruges.  I think it looks like either an hour and a half car ride from Brussels or less then an hour by train.  Unlike my travel idol JP, we don’t travel lightly(usually have a carryon just for shoes-ha) so will probably hire a driver to take us from Brussels and back.  Thanks again and look forward to sharing and learning again with you.

Brian

I finally booked my first overseas adventure since the beginning of Covid.  I have a good friend who is from Belgium and I had read Notamermaid’s post on Belgium so was thinking about a trip to Belgium.  But I really have been missing river cruising so decided that for 2023 I would book a Christmas Market cruise.  My 40th anniversary is in 2023 and both my wife and myself turn 60 in 2023.  So thought it would be a great celebration trip.  Having cruised 3 times with Uniworld I decided to look at their Christmas Market cruises for 2023.  To my surprise they are offering a new cruise in Belgium.  It is 7 nights and is round trip from Brussels with stops in Ghent, Hasselt, Maastricht, and Antwerp.  I will plan a 2-3 day pre cruise stay to explore places that the River Cruise doesn’t.  Thought I would share this as it being new I thought many may not be aware of it.  Will share more as the planning proceeds.  If anyone has already begun research on this cruise I would love to hear what you’ve found.

Happy to be back!

Brian

This was our first river cruise about 7 years ago. We really loved it. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Do the vinegar tasting excursion.  I almost canceled it because it sounded awful. But it turned out to be one of our favorites. 
 

2. Don’t overbook your day with multiple excursions.  I’m always tempted to try and cram as much as I can into a day out of my fear of missing out on something good. But a river cruise is perfect to spend some free time wandering on your own; laying on the top deck for an hour or two with a glass of wine and enjoying the scenery, or just getting to know your fellow travelers. 
 

3.  If your health allows use the bicycles. This itinerary is perfect as there are usually bike paths along the river. Most nights we would take a bike ride after or before dinner. 
 

4. Spend an hour or two after dinner in the lounge enjoying their on board musician or special entertainment they may have. Again a great way to meet fellow travelers and you can still get to bed at a decent time. 
 

5.  Enjoy the moment and go with the flow.  Unexpected things can happen such as high water, low water, changes to the itinerary, cancelled excursions, etc...  I’ve met people that let these things ruin their trip since their expectations weren’t met.  Instead try to enjoy the moment and look at the unexpected as an adventure and not a disappointment. 
 

Have a great trip!
 

Brian

Thanks again to all for comments and advice. Personally I believe it will reduce my stress greatly for our first post Covid trip out of the country to use ship excursions. Especially with the potential challenges this part of the world can bring. Looking forward to others experiences in the months to come. 
 

For those who have used ship excursions, how far in advance do you usually book your excursions?

Thanks

Brian

Thanks again for all for the input. As mentioned, I’ve done both private and cruise excursions with positive and negative experiences. Having never been to the Middle East I guess I’m most interested in specific experiences such as uktog’s in regards to security and safety. Secondarily there is so much to see as Don mentioned that I want to make efficient use of our time in each port. Hopefully cruising will get back to some sense of normal in the months to come and we will get a good feel as to Azamara’s changes and specifically how they address excursions. I feel certain regardless of what combination of ship excursions and private tours I utilize that this will be a great trip. 

Thanks Don. My experiences have been close to what you describe. However I do believe that as uktog mentioned this is a place in the world where things can change very quickly and I do like the idea that the ship is in direct contact with the tour operator during these unexpected times. 
 

we have also had some good experiences(as well as bad) touring with others on a group tour. 
 

I can Make a case for both but I’m 

anxious to see if Sycamore makes substantial changes to the excursion products. 
 

and it is hard to ignore the OBC

This is exactly my thoughts. Im

going to read every review and thread over the next 9 plus months before committing. If it turns out I’m better off with private tours I think My wife will make good use of OBC at the spa and shops lol. I believe similar cruises to the one I booked are scheduled for 2022 so hopefully some good feedback. 

I really appreciate all feedback both pro and con. I actually have had good and bad experiences with each. Glad I have quite a bit of time to see how the world opens up and explore different options. I suspect at the end of the day I end up with a combination of ship excursions and private guides. Will spend some time going back to pre covid reviews of tours. Thanks for the feedback 

I love how this itinerary is laid out. We will do a 2 night pre-cruise in Athens. Then first day is a sea day. We spend 2 full days in Ashdod, Haifa, and Alexandria with 1 day in Cyprus and ending with an overnight in Athens before disembarking. There will be 3 sea days sprinkled in. Planning on packing in a lot of sites at each port then crashing at pool on Sea days. Won’t plan on anything last day in Athens other then a leisurely wander day. There’s already a good number of excursions listed. Love to hear about any don’t miss sites. I know it will be some long days but I have to see the pyramids and a river cruise on the Nile. Want to have a good overview of a Biblical sites in Israel

Thanks for the feedback. I certainly think it will reduce my stress in planning knowing it will be easier to adjust our plans should there be any unexpected turmoil that changes the itinerary. Covid planning is stressful enough. 

We are ready to try again for our first Azamara cruise after 3 Covid cancellations. I’ve booked a 12 night round trip cruise from Greece with stops in Israel and Egypt for Jan 2023. From planning my previous cancelled trips I know many regulars recommend booking private excursions vs ship excursions. But I’m wondering if you have found due to security concerns and logistics whether it would make sense utilizing ship excursions for Israel and Egypt. With the $1000 OBC promotion and the OBC that comes with the CW suite I’m leaning to booking ship excursions. Would love to hear about excursions taken in these ports in past cruises and general thoughts about ship excursions in these ports. I apologize for asking questions this far away from the cruise but I’m really excited to start planning again. 

Hard to believe it’s been 6 years since our first Uniworld trip but back then it was Crown Plaza City Center. I’m sure it’s probably changed since then. We’ve done 3 pre cruise trips with Uniworld and all 3 were great hotels in great locations

I cancelled a September cruise on March 28 that was paid in full. Was told at the time 10 days for a full refund less $75 each cancellation fee. Total refund expected was a little over 14k. Received my initial deposit back about a week ago. Received the balance of my full refund on the credit card yesterday. So about 30 days from cancellation to full refund. 

16 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Might also be a good idea to post this in the ‘ Cruise Air’ forum here https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forum/77-cruise-air/

I posted this as recommended. Hope it helps others. 

Two weeks ago I made the difficult decision to cancel an Azamara cruise I had for September. I thought it might be a good idea to get in line for a refund as it seemed unlikely the cruise would go as planned and/or that my wife would be willing to cruise by then. Also cancelled a NCL cruise for January at the same time(got NCL refund in a week. Still waiting on Azamara) I digress. 
 

My concern was the 2 non cancelable business class tickets I had with American flying to Lisbon and back from Barcelona. I decided to wait awhile in the hopes American would cancel and give a refund. I also though if things were significantly better by then I would see if I could change to a Lisbon Roundtrip and just spend a week there(wife wasn’t thrilled with this plan). So I’ve just been in limbo on the 6k+ I have in tickets with no cruise. 
 

This morning I was looking at various cruise lines on CC and how they are doing with refunds. So came across a thread on Regent where someone was warning that American was cancelling parts of flights in the fall but not notifying you. My guess is they hope to reinstate or change them before you find out. 
 

Sure enough I went on line and saw the Philly to Lisbon leg of the trip was gone. In red letters it said check back at a later date for details on your changed flight. Instead I called American and found I was eligible for a full refund since part of my itinerary was showing cancelled. I could cancel over the phone then go to AA.com to request a refund. This is what I did. 
 

when you first request the refund it defaults to offering you a voucher with a 20% bump. It gives two buttons to choose from. The first is to accept the voucher. The other says other options. When you click on that it allows you to choose the refund. You have to have your ticket numbers. Once I completed the request I had a confirmation email immediately. Says 7-10 days but the American rep told me on the phone 3 weeks is more realistic. 
 

Bottom line is this type of thing is why I find CC so valuable. Without the post I would have had no idea I could get a refund now on my non cancelable tickets. Hope this post helps someone else 

These are the types of threads that make CC so valuable. I cancelled a Cruise a couple of weeks ago for September. I had non cancellable business class tickets flying into Lisbon and back from Barcelona. My thoughts were that I could get a voucher for a future trip and then hope things improve in the months to come and start over. Was just waiting to call till it got closer.  After reading this thread this morning I went to American’s website and sure enough the Philly to Lisbon leg was cancelled. I immediately called American. Was shocked there was no wait. Rep checked and sure enough I was eligible for full refund. He cancelled then I had to go to AA.com to request a refund. It offered a 20% bump if you took the voucher but with all the uncertainty and the substantial amount involved I took the refund. Immediately received a confirmation by email. Says 7-10 days for the refund but the rep when I called said 3 weeks is more realistic. With no notice from American I truly appreciate the OP for posting. 

I have been on the side of giving Azamara and the cruise industry a great deal of grace as we are going through unprecedented times. After weeks of struggling I decided a week ago Saturday to cancel my September Azamara cruise and a January NCL cruise. Both were paid in full and within the period of time for normal cancellation. Both said to expect the refund on my credit card in up to 10 days. NCL credited my credit card Saturday after 7 days. Today is the 10th day and nothing from Azamara. I felt 10 days was optimistic by both companies but was thrilled my NCL. I struggled when booking Azamara between them, Oceania, and Regent. If it takes months for a refund from Azamara and it took a week from NCL, it will certainly be on my mind when choosing a cruise when things get back to normal