Aussies With Time

We are due to start our Jewells of Europe cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest today on Scenic Opal.

She is here in Amsterdam and all fingers and toes crossed for a happy and successful cruise.

Raining at the moment but that's here and probably not where it's needed most.

Cheers!

Thanks for all this information Nota.

We're booked on the Scenic Opal for the September 12 cruise Amsterdam to Budapest and we're hoping like crazy that levels will be sufficient for "bus-free" travel.

Fingers (and toes) crossed!

Mark

Thanks Bubbulz and Pat.

Looking to book flights this month so things are getting "ticked" off.

Cheers!

Sorry I haven't been around much lately but things have been busy with approaching retirement etc. :D

I'm interested to hear how Erinsnotes went with the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise.

Your impressions of the various options would be especially helpful.

This time next year we'll be in the UK and chomping at the bit to start our cruise.

Cheers!

Mark

Thanks for that.

Lots of PDS documents downloaded for wife peruse while recovering from bunion surgery next month.

That should keep her distracted for a while. :)

We're travelling to the UK and Europe next year and hoping to get some recommendations from fellow Aussies regarding trip insurance companies.

Can anyone recommend a local company?

Cheers!

Thanks!

We're travelling to the UK and Europe next year and hoping to get some recommendations from fellow Aussies regarding trip insurance companies.

Can anyone recommend a local company?

Cheers!

Looks like Scenic are going with Swissair for their "Fly Business Class" offer in 2018.

Does anyone here have any experience with Swissair?

They don't seem to get a mention when one looks for business class ratings.

Cheers!

Mark

Thanks for that.

More questions to come.

Cheers!

Mark

Thanks Beachgal and Aunt.

OK, first "question".

With the excursion to Salzburg on this cruise is this by bus from the river?

Is it worth it or should we look at alternatives?

Cheers!

Mark

Thanks for that.

Unfortunately we might only be in Amsterdam for one night.

All depends on the dates for the Goodwood Revival in the UK.

If it fits into our itinerary (Yay!) we'll be limited to leaving for Amsterdam on the morning of the 11th and embarking on the 12th.

If it doesn't fit (Booo!) we'll have a little more time to juggle things around and will do The Revival at a later time.

Unfortunately we won't know the Revival dates until later this year.

Either way it's a win.

Cheers!

Mark

Thank-you all for your suggestions.

We're still looking at hotel options so all opinions welcome.

As for tours I think this will definitely give us the best bang for our buck as it's always difficult to know what to look at and where to go when you haven't been to a city before and having someone with "the knowledge" to guide you takes a lot of the stress out of the visit and lessens the chances of moving on and feeling that you've missed the best parts.

Cheers!

Mark

Thank-you Lois and Nota.

We're really looking forward to the trip although the attack in Paris overnight continues to be a worry and is one of the reasons that for this trip we're by-passing Paris. Maybe next time.

We chose train travel so that we can both relax and enjoy the scenery even though I love driving and we both enjoy the Michael Portillo rail journey series through both Europe and Britain.

Plzen is definitely on the list as is Jungfraujoch, Lyon, Strasbourg, Reims and Amiens.

Cheers!

Mark

My wife and I have taken the plunge and will be cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest with Scenic in September 2018. Can't wait!

As this will be our first cruise I'm sure there'll be lots of questions for you all so I apologise in advance.

We 're going a little earlier and spending a week in the UK before taking the train to Amsterdam, doing the cruise and then travelling through the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland and France before another couple of weeks in the UK. Mostly moving between stops via train.

Happy travelling!

Mark

Thanks Nota.

When does the "European holiday season" return to normal?

I'll start working through the stickies.

Cheers!

Hello,

as river cruising newbies (in fact, any cruising) I wonder if booking on Scenic's Jewels of Europe in late July and early August is tempting fate regarding river levels?

We'd probably travel from Amsterdam to Budapest and then return to the UK at a leisurely pace via the Czech Republic, Germany and France.

Thanks in advance.