HDS

The cruise is nominally on River Elbe from Magdeburg in Germany to Melnik in Czech Republic with bus links to Berlin and Prague. I say nominally because in 2014 and 2015 it was bedevilled by low river levels and Viking boats were moored at Dresden and Wittenburg or Magdeburg.

The light winter snows and very hot dry autumn/early summer in 2014 and 2015 put less water in the Elbe and evaporated what was there. There are no locks on the German side of the river to regulate the flow and the Czechs can hold the water back at the Czech/German border.

You can follow the river levels on several websites, can post the details if required.

We did this "mooring" in 2015, Viking have had considerable practice at running the non-cruise since then so should have it well honed by 2016. The centre of Dresden was a delightful place to moor if one must. Our mooring outside Wittenburg was less attractive.

We spent a few weeks in Czech Republic and Germany doing our own explorations before and after the cruise.

Check the Silversea website for the minimum age for children riding in zodiacs. Antarctica without zodiac cruises and landings is a cart without a horse.

Our children would have loved everything about our Antarctic cruise except the sometimes very, very, slow dinner service in the only dining room. Room service is the only other option.

Have I got this right? Visiting Tibet is a land tour (hotels/air/rail/coach) along with a tour of China that includes a brief (3-4 day) cruise on the Yangtze River. One does not cruise in Tibet.

We were very impressed with Pandaw's small group, excellent guide and superb attention to passenger needs on our Irrawaddy cruise. Hoping to take their upper Mekong cruise through Laos and into China.

We cruised with Pandaw on the Irrawaddy and enjoyed it enormously. They have boats on the Mekong.

Thanks Paul.

In 2012, for our Antarctic voyage, Silver Explorer had a supply of boots suitable for wet landings available for loan. Far preferable to bringing boots from Australia and carrying them for the rest of our extensive travels after we left the cruise.

I hope that Explorer still has this loan system for our Greenland cruise in 2016 as we are travelling extensively in drier parts of Europe after the cruise.

Steve,

I suggested the River Cruising board because river cruisers would be interested in your review, which I thought was balanced and informative.

River cruise docks are a topic of great interest and cruisers are often disappointed by docks well away from city centres with nothing of interest in walking distance.

Our 2008 cruise with Uniworld docked, for Vienna, at Handelskai a 5 minute walk followed by waiting time then a 10 minute train trip to the city centre. Pleasant walking/cycling path along the canal, not much else of interest, but closer than your port.

I recall being told that the old centre of Vienna was not on the Danube river/canal and had no access for river boats. That may have changes since 2008.

I agree that Budapest was superb and the dock close to the city centre was excellent.

This would be more appropriately posted on the River Cruising board

Harking back to water levels and rainy seasons on the Irrawaddy.

The heaviest rains are expected from about June to October.

The depth sounder is an old fashioned striped bamboo pole because the river carries so much sediment that a modern (ultra-sound) depth sounder could not function. I wondered what else was equally antiquated but a fellow passenger who operates a large fishing fleet in USA assured me that everything else in the Pandaw wheelhouse and engines was spot on.

The sand banks in the river are continually shifting, sediment being washed from one spot to another with the current. Pilots taken on board and dropped off a day later are experts in the local conditions, the currents and shifting sands.

If the river is low, crew will take to a small boat with the bamboo pole to find a safe passage for the cruise boat through the sand bars.

I was told, while in Myanmar, that a huge dam on the China/Myanmar border generates hydro power for China and Chinese industries in China and in northern Burma. The water flow down the Irrawaddy is determined by the Chinese demand for power. The Chinese owned industries on the upper reaches of the river were on a huge scale compared to the local operations.

The cruise boats have a very shallow draft and, as stated by another poster, these are on the company websites.

Chemmo, I saw an ad for your Ananda cruise line (I may have misspelt that) in an Australian newspaper and it looked very swish. As I said before we travel for destinations and good guiding, not luxury and are happy with a quiet clean en-suite cabin, and freshly prepared food.

Happy to join this page. We have booked our next Silversea cruise, Iceland to Greenland on Silver Explorer in 2016. Hoping for great experiences similar to our previous Explorer cruises, back-to-back Antarctica and South America in 2012.

Chemmo,

The food on Pandaw Katha was delicious. I didn't eat (uncooked vegetable) salads for the first few days, no-one had any problems so I enjoyed the delicious salads for the rest of the voyage.

We ate very well in both Myanmar without any problems.

Generally the chicken, seafood, pork and vegetarian dishes were better than the beef and lamb. I enjoyed the Asian style dishes much more than the attempts at western style.

We declined, as graciously as possible, the offers of tea and food from shopkeepers or the locals we met. We did eat fresh fruit from hotel baskets or from the local markets after washing and peeling it.

We are careful with hand hygiene, washing frequently wherever we are and using sanitiser if soap and water is not available.

The boat and our hotels were squeaky clean with western style bathrooms. When we had to remove shoes to visit pagoda, Pandaw crew gave us large wipes to clean our feet before putting our shoes on. I'm not concerned about using squat toilets so can't recall western style toilets were available at all destinations.

We visited Cambodia in 2006 and Myanmar in 2013. Cambodia was a land tour (Insider Journeys), private tour with driver and guide in the south followed by small group (15pax) in the north. In Myanmar we took a 14-day river cruise with Pandaw which took us well beyond the Yangon-Bagan-Mandalay tourist strip. We explored independently with some guiding, before and after the cruise.

We were fascinated by both countries, though government by oligarchy and their treatment of minorities and the impoverished majority leaves a great deal to be desired. I have been told that Cambodia, especially the infrastructure in tourist hubs like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, has changed greatly since we were there and Myanmar was gearing up to accommodate an expected tourist boom.

We were delighted with travel providers in both countries especially the Pandaw cruise (15pax on 32pax boat) which took us to the villages, farms and industries on the northern reaches of the Irrawaddy. The care of the crew for passenger interests and comfort was 5-star and the welcome and hospitality of the Burmese was overwhelming.

I wrote an extensive review of the Irrawaddy cruise on this board in November 2013 but I'm not smart enough to give a link. If you search HDS, Pandaw and Irrawaddy it should reveal itself.

This would be more appropriately posted on the River Cruising board.

Please alert us here to when and where your formal report is published. I like your way of exploring; it seems very similar to ours. I intend to read your report again with a good map beside me as my knowledge of eastern Americas geography is scanty. We have looked with great interest at cruises in that region and also the north west passage since Silver Explorer completed it last year.

Thank you for a comprehensive and interesting trip report.

Czesky Krumlov gets my vote, especially if you can stay overnight and enjoy this magnificent city after the bus tours have departed and in the early morning. We stayed at Hotel Dvorak in the town centre, ate dinner on the terrace beside the river with a gypsy band playing on the bridge and a lone fisherman casting for trout. Heaven!

The castle tour is good, the ballroom not to be missed. We also enjoyed a self-guided town walking tour with audio-guide (English) from the TIC in the town square.

We rented self-drive cars in Europe, we take our own sat-nav and road atlas. We also used Student Agency buses in Czech Republic, frequent, on-time, clean, free wifi, reclining airline type seats and cheaper than rail.

You may find enough to do in and around Prague for a few days. It's a delightful city, very walkable and with good Segway tours that your teenage daughter might enjoy.

Lots of suggestions for thing to do on Trip Advisor.

digitl,

I hope you will enjoy your travels and report here on your return.

Thanks for the suggestion about the Fram blog

Thanks Igneous, I look forward to your blog.

Igneous

Please post it here. We are considering this for 2016 and want to know.

I haven't been able to find the reports on allthingscruise website

Would like to see reports of cruises to Greenland and Iceland. We are considering for 2016.

We found plenty of companies providing guides in Myanmar on Trip Advisor website. We used Exotic Voyages to book internal air, some accommodation and for transfers and some guiding. No problems at all. I have seen excellent reviews for Myanmar Shalom and in retrospect, wish I had used them because of their interesting family history in Myanmar. Myanmar Shalom's website has an excellent reading list for Myanmar.

After an overview with guide and driver in Yangon, we found it very easy to explore on our own. Taxis were affordable, we carried a hotel card and city map always, but most drivers had good English. Trip Advisor has good advice in the "Things to Do" section.

Tobyscruff,

Please post after your cruise. Considering for 2016.

Mrs Waldo,

Please tell more about the GPS luggage tag.