familytravellers

We have used Seattle Express for our transfers in the past. They offer service from Sea Tac area hotels and the Airport to and from cruise piers 66 & 91. We were very happy with their service and used them again when we were in Seattle last fall.

We used Seattle Express for a shared shuttle service from the port to Pike Place Market in October. Although it wasn't a "guided" tour, the shuttle driver was wonderful and provided interesting insight into the history of the city on our short drive. We also used their shuttle service when we were in Seattle many years ago to take us from our hotel to the port. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Great customer service and very reliable!

Sunseeker Tours will pick up at the Long Beach or San Pedro Cruise Terminals.

We had a port stop in LA at the beginning of October and used Sunseeker Tours for a group tour. You can book directly through the company or through Get Your Guide or Viator. We booked this tour as our cruise ship was only in port for the day and we thought it would be a great way to see the famous sites around Los Angeles. Our driver, Alberto, arrived early for pick up at the cruise terminal and we all boarded the small, air conditioned bus and left before 9 am. Alberto was an amazing guide/driver. He was very personable, had a great sense of humor and his knowledge of Los Angeles was impressive. It was truly a whirlwind tour of LA, but Alberto managed to show us all the sites in a day - an amazing feat considering how many places we visited in that time period. If you only have a day in LA, then this tour is perfect as it will highlight the important sites, but you'll definitely want to come back another time and spend a few days exploring the city in more depth.

There is nothing worse than wondering if your ride is going to show up! I hope whatever mode of transportation you end up choosing shows up on time and doesn't cost you a fortune!

That sounds like a lot of money for a 10 minute ride. Have you used Lyft? I have both apps on my phone and I have found that Lyft is typically less expensive than Uber. We used Lyft for the first time from the Vancouver airport to a downtown hotel several weeks ago and paid $22 plus GST and tip at 10:45 am. Lyft provided an $8 promo code for our first two rides so that ride would have cost us $30 before the promo.

Great information! Thanks for sharing your experience.

We sailed with Emerald (Regensburg to Budapest) last year and they had quite a few tables for two. We never had a problem getting a table for two.

We took an Emerald cruise last spring that ended in Budapest. You could do this itinerary in the reverse if you're interested. We flew from Budapest with Ryanair to Krakow, Poland (1 hour flight). It's a beautiful city and reminded me a lot of Prague. It's also very budget friendly and well-worth the visit if you have the time. We then took a bus from Krakow (2.5 hour bus ride with Lajkonik - lots of buses leaving Krakow daily - about $8 CDN/person) to the quaint city of Cieszyn, Poland. We chose to stay overnight to break up our trip (accommodations are very inexpensive in this city. Check out booking.com) We then caught a direct train with Regiojet to Prague in the morning (we caught the 8:06 am train but there are a few other trains during the day). It's a 5 hour train ride. Book Business Class as it's only about $30/person CDN and you'll have a private compartment with max 4 people. Great, inexpensive food on board the train too! You have to walk across a bridge (no border control) into the Czech Republic and catch the train from Cesky Tesin. It's about a 15 minute walk from the main square in Cieszyn or you could arrange a taxi to take you to the train station if you have a lot of luggage. You'll love Prague although it's likely to be very crowded - especially in August. Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks for your great review! It's a river cruise that we've considered taking. Just not looking forward to the very long plane ride from Toronto and stifling heat.

We just took the Danube Delights cruise with Emerald (Regensburg, Germany to Budapest, Hungary). It was a fantastic river cruise with lots of options for active excursions like hiking or biking. All of the towns/cities we visited were lovely. I'd suggest you stay an extra few days in Budapest as it's a larger city and you'll need extra time to fully explore it. If you have a chance to add Prague onto your itinerary, definitely consider it. It's a beautiful city and very walkable.

The drop off/pick up area was at Schwedenplatz (google it and you'll see where it is). It is a transit area where trams and buses are located near the water. It's a short walk from St. Stephen's Cathedral and the main shopping area. The bus will have an Emerald sign in the window so you can identify it. There is no dedicated stop for Emerald so you'll need to keep an eye on the buses as they drive in. You'll likely recognize other passenger from the ship waiting for the bus so that is very helpful. The other river cruise companies appear to use this area as well to pick up/drop off their passengers.

We just did the exact same trip on the Emerald Destiny a few weeks ago. The ship sails overnight and will dock very early morning in Vienna. There were tour buses waiting for us at 9 am to take us into Vienna and provide us with a 1 hour panoramic bus ride around the city followed by a 1 hour guided walking tour. You could then return to the ship or spend time on your own in the city. A complimentary bus shuttle ran throughout the afternoon from the ship to Vienna and back every half hour starting at 14:00 from the ship. The last shuttle from the city back to the ship was at 17:30. There were also optional paid excursions available to a Viennese Evening Concert and a Tastes of Vienna tour (14:00-17:00).

This is a great website to access information about vaccine/testing requirements for countries around the world. https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions?affiliateId=sherpa&language=en-US