AttilaTheFun

Any recent reports on this topic? We leave in less than a month!

Does anyone know if there's any chance of refund for future river cruises scheduled post-Apr/May? I'm reaching out to both Crystal directly and the agency we booked through but have not heard back yet. Very concerned that we've just lost a huge chunk of change on this.

4 hours ago, G.M.T. said:

The Christmas Market is open 29th. Nov 2020 - 6th. Jan 2021:

 

http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/atr784.xml

I only see 2019-2020 dates on that site. There is no mention of 2020-2021 dates yet.

On 1/14/2020 at 7:19 AM, Coral said:

What date is your cruise?

 

In Vienna, only half the markets were open on November 20th but they were all open when we returned on the 29th. We were in Munich on November 25th and the Markets were not open yet there either. We had luck in Austria but not Germany. Hopefully Crystal figured out marketing and checked their dates before having another "early Christmas Markets cruise".

Thank you for the info!  Our cruise departs from Vienna on Nov 25 and I noticed on the Crystal site that our sailing is called Danube Serenade while the very next cruise (Dec 2) is called Danube Christmas Dreams, so they are maybe managing expectations on Christmas markets?  I hope that we are not going too early now and missing the actual Christmas markets this whole trip was planned around!

The Cesky Krumluv excursion is on Nov 28.  I searched and their markets didn't open until Nov 29 in 2019 but that may have been because in 2019, Advent started on Sun, Dec 1.  I've read that some Christmas markets in Europe open the Fri before Advent starts, which would match this schedule.  In 2020, Advent starts Nov 29 so maybe the markets would open Fri, Nov 27 this year?

Hi everyone, was looking for some thoughts/advice on options both during and after the cruise.  We are booked for a Nov 2020 Christmas Markets river cruise on Crystal starting in Vienna and ending in Budapest. The main purpose of this trip is to see the Christmas markets as we did one on the Rhine a few years ago and were enchanted by the festivities in Germany.

During the cruise stop in Linz, we have the option to choose a full-day excursion in either Salzburg or Cesky Krumlov.  I've been to Salzburg on a previous river cruise, but my partner has not.  He's not a rabid Sound of Music fan, but I feel like the Christmas markets in Salzburg may be better than Cesky Krumlov?  I would prefer to see Cesky Krumlov, but the main goal of this cruise is to see the best Christmas markets.  Thoughts?

The second dilemma we have is where to spend a couple extra nights after Budapest.  Since the cruise includes an overnight in both Vienna and Budapest, we'll only be adding on 1 additional night in each of those ports before/after the cruise.  I'd like to add 2 more nights in one more city after that with the following considerations:

• Impressive Christmas markets
• Ideally something a bit different than the ports - Vienna, Durnstein, Melk, Linz (Salzburg or Cesky Krumlov per above), Krems, Bratislava, & Budapest
  • Note: I think there will only be Christmas markets available for us in Vienna, Linz (aka Salburg or Cesky Krumlov), Bratislava, & Budapest
• Fairly easy to get to from Budapest - open to either train or flight
• We can't go before the cruise because Christmas markets won't be open and can't really add more than 2 more nights

I've looked at both Prague and Munich but wanted to get advice from those who may have visited these places during the holiday season before. Or maybe there are other Christmas-filled nearby cities I haven't thought about yet?

Thank you in advance for your ideas and advice!

Great choice! Getaway is one of my favorite ships because you can't beat the entertainment and activities, plus I still dream of the food at Flamingo like the chimichuri sauce and tres leches cake! Mmmmm

I wonder if We Will Rock You and Mama Mia are playing based on where the ship leaves from?

So, when Quantum in leaving from New Jersey, she will be playing Mama Mia, and when Anthem leaves from the UK, she will host We Will Rock You.

Nope. The shows are tied to the ship - has nothing to do with where they're departing from.

Anyone know the date and time the Quantum is expected to arrive at Port Liberty?? Or is it too early to know for sure.

I'd like to be there. It's easy to get to the monument park.

By searching for the transatlantic itinerary on RoyalCaribbean.com, you can see that Quantum is scheduled to arrive in Bayonne on November 10:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itinerary.do?state=&packageCode=QN08T002&hasFireandPolice=&hasMilitary=&hasSenior=&date=201411&cruiseType=CO

The arrival time is listed as 6am, but I would also assume it will get in earlier than that.

Thanks for posting, so intereresting!

FYI - for those of you who are concerned about the wristbands not being removable, you are thinking of shackles and not a wristband. Do you really think Royal is going to give you a wristband that cannot be removed?

I have tried Disney's MagicBands and enjoyed the experience - I agree with the other poster who said they are very easy-to-use and unobtrusive. I also like not having to handle a keycard all the time, which just spreads germs everywhere.

For those people who don't use a wristband, the keycards must also be RFID enabled as this construction photo looks like the rooms only have RFID readers and not a keycard slot:

An example of Royal Caribbean's incompetence which makes me wonder why they are trying to be have a "smart ship" when the rest of the company is so "technology dumb":

 

At 11:23 AM EDT today I received the following email:

"Join now! Our next Quantum reveal starts at 10am EST"

 

 

A few problems there:

a. The email was sent after the event was over

b. The email said the event started at 10am EST, when it was 10 am EDT (9 am EST)

c. The link inside the email redirected to "http://quantumoftheseas.royalcaribbean.com/quantumoftheseas/"

Unfortunately, that address can't be resolved by DNS. Tried on both my corporate and mobile networks. The site does not have a functioning DNS entry.

I had the exact same issue happen, but the email (at least in Gmail) says it was sent at 9:30am, so I'm wondering if it was a Gmail delivery issue of why I got it around 11:30am. The link also did not work for me and I thought the EDT thing was wrong too. Glad I'm not the only one :)

I read somewhere that there are no shows? That doesn't really make sense to me, but is that true?

A quick Googling of the phrase "Quantum of the Seas shows" quickly and easily refutes that misinformation. Not sure who told you that at all:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2014/06/12/quantum-of-the-seas-entertainment-shows/10365449/

This is a superb review! Thanks for posting. We just returned from our first river cruise, a 14 day Viking we booked last minute for a fantastic price. I was very curious about Uniworld and was disappointed I did not get to tour one. We walked into some other river boats including Tauck, Avalon, Grand Circle plus some German lines.

Uniworld menus seemed a bit broader than Viking.

Atilla,, you did a marvelous job outlining the little quirks in regard to river cruising. Your photos were terrific.

Attila, thank you for all the information about the Beatrice. We will be taking the Enchanted Danube from B-P in 2015 and you have answered many of my questions that I did not even know where floating around my head. Thank you again...great photos...

Thank you for the kind words! Glad to see my review was helpful :)

We are booked for Enchanting Danube in Oct. Wondering about which excursions to take, how much free time on the excursions, and recommendations for free time.

 

Also what is considered premium wine and beer ? We are wine drinkers, but not snobs, and wondering if good dry reds are included in all inclusive. What are the hours for the lounge, and can you have drinks brought to your cabin?

 

Thanks for any info. we really appreciate these forums!

If you pose specific questions, such as which excursion between two, that would be easier to advise.

I cannot comment on the quality of the drinks now that Uniworld has gone all-inclusive as they used to only have one beer, red wine, and white wine option at meals, but I didn't have any issues with any of them. From what I remember, they said the lounge would stay open as late as the passengers wanted (most turned in right after dinner, unless there were entertainers onboard) and I don't believe they will deliver anything to your room, unless you are in a suite and then have a butler.

Great review, thanks for sharing! I liked the Breakaway a lot, but loved the Getaway, if you ever get a chance to sail her too! Their version of the Uptown Grill on Getaway has Latin food including amazing tres leches cake.

gadsue, we just took the included ship tour in both Salzburg. There was some free time to explore and walk around, plus you had to find your own lunch that day.

In Vienna, we took the included ship tour and then used the subway to get back into town. Our instructions on how to get to Schonbrunn Palace on your own are also included already in the review. Were you looking for other suggestions? My review is fairly detailed on what we covered :)

I am not sure if you can visit without booking. you can buy tickets at the museum but I assume that there is no guarantee that there are available times if you don't book ahead of the visit.

 

price is 195SEK/Adults ($29-30 USD)

 

http://www.abbathemuseum.com/en/practical-info

 

I would recommend against doing the ship tour, Stockholm is better to do it yourself.

The museum also warns that there is an extra 10-20 SEK fee for buying tickets over-the-counter, which I assume means not online, in advance. There is a MasterCard offer for 5% off admission when you buy online in advance.

All ticket info is on the museum site: http://www.abbathemuseum.com/en/

Ok no problem regarding the date, your signature said June so I assumed you were coming here the 3rd week in June.

 

Anyway do it like this:

 

Ship (Räntmästartrappan)->Vasa-Djurgårdsfärjan

Vasa->Abba->Östermalmshallen.

Vasa->Abba is a short walk along the water:

 

Abba-Östermalmshallen, either tram 7 from Liljevalchs/Gröna Lund stop

 

or:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42536019&highlight=ressel#post42536019

 

to Nybroplan and walk from there.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Stockholm+Nybroplan/%C3%96stermalms+Saluhall,+%C3%96stermalmstorg,+114+42+Stockholm,+Sverige/@59.3339789,18.0789051,17z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f9d5bb559edd5:0x35c4743cccabec4c!2m2!1d18.076552!2d59.33273!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f9d5b24096139:0x3d784e22bab4355a!2m2!1d18.078389!2d59.336035!3e2

 

Then you have the rest of the day of to do whatever you want.

 

Perhaps walk to NK and from NK to Drottninggatan?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/%C3%96stermalms+Saluhall,+%C3%96stermalmstorg,+114+42+Stockholm,+Sverige/NK+Stockholm,+Hamngatan+18-20,+111+47+Stockholm,+Sverige/59.3328939,18.0623909/@59.3336459,18.0656449,17z/data=!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f9d5b24096139:0x3d784e22bab4355a!2m2!1d18.078389!2d59.336035!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f9d5c19adfc51:0x71d7e22255fa1cde!2m2!1d18.069171!2d59.333152!1m0!3e2

 

Both are in the shopping area of Stockholm.

 

The second day I would do it the same order as in my previous post with city hall directly in the morning followed by changing of the guards and strolling around Gamla Stan.

 

Go with bus 3 from Mälartorget to City Hall stop:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Stockholm+Nybroplan/%C3%96stermalms+Saluhall,+%C3%96stermalmstorg,+114+42+Stockholm,+Sverige/@59.3339789,18.0789051,17z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f9d5bb559edd5:0x35c4743cccabec4c!2m2!1d18.076552!2d59.33273!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f9d5b24096139:0x3d784e22bab4355a!2m2!1d18.078389!2d59.336035!3e2

 

http://sl.se/sv/#/Travel/SearchTravelById/M%C3%A4lartorget%20%28Stockholm%29/Stadshuset%20%28Stockholm%29/1345/1205/2014-07-02%252008_20/depart/sv/null/null/null/null/null/null/null/null/false/null/0

 

 

Buses and trams requires prepaid tickets or travelcards.http://sl.se/en/fares--tickets/

 

For the harbour ferries Djurgårdsfärjan and M/S Emelie (Resselrederi) where the tickets are bought during or after boarding.

Thank you again for your help! I thought of a few more questions, if you are able to assist:

1. If we are tendering from the ship, what would be the best place to buy a 24 or 72-hour card? Do the machines at the bus stops offer these types of tickets?
   
2. Is the tram you mentioned included in the 24/72-hour cards?
   
3. I saw the SL site mentions that the 24/72-hour travelcards are valid on "Djurgården ferries between Slussen and Djurgården" - it looks like this ferry runs fairly frequently. Would it be a faster option than the bus to get to Vasa in the morning?
   

Thank you so much for this fantastic advice! Apologies, I should have provided our docking dates are July 2-3, so we should miss the midsummer holiday. Our cruise starts on June 26 out of Copenhagen.

Knowing that, how would you recommend incoroporating Östermalmshallen? I would love to do lunch there as they close by 6pm, but the location isn't very convenient to Vasa/ABBA Museum or City Hall.

Would love some advice for our upcoming stop in Stockholm. We overnight there, arriving at 8am on the first day and leaving at 5pm on the second. We are tendering from the ship though, with people assuming we will get dropped off on Skeppsbron. I would assume we would not be on dry land until 9am at the earliest on the first day.

The places we'd really love to see are:

• Vasa Museum
  
• ABBA Museum
  
• Östermalms Saluhall (food hall)
  
• City Hall (tour)
  
• Changing of the Guard at noon
  

My concern/stress is around planning how to get to these places, which are fairly spaced out. The Vasa and ABBA Museums are very close to one another, so I was considering pairing those together, with lunch in between.

We are not opposed to walking (we live in NYC, after all!), but walks of 25+ minutes seem excessive, especially if it's hot outside. Are there recommendations on which public transit to use and approximate cost? It sounds like we should avoid taxis from what I've read as many tend to rip off people. Thank you in advance for your advice/help!

FYI - the Copenhagen port schedule Danish Viking referred to is at:

http://www.cmport.com/ships-in-port/cruise-ships

Looks like we're the only ones at C330 the morning of disembarkation, so fingers crossed on luck with the 26 bus and/or taxis!

Thank you so much Danish Viking! I appreciate how helpful you are to everyone on these boards!!

Try looking at the thread Wonderful Copenhagen further down the page. There is so much information there thanks to Danish Viking who is so very helpful.

I did a search of these boards for "ocean kaj" and it only turned up 3 posts. Perhaps the search function is broken. The "Wonderful Copenhagen" thread has 95 pages(!!), so forgive me that I am not reading every page of that to find answers to my specific questions. I think starting a new thread about the Ocean Kaj port, which is fairly new, would be helpful for new cruisers as it appears more cruise lines are leaving from it and there isn't as much information available online yet due to that.

Hello, I have a few questions about the Oceankaj (Quay C330) port, which is where we will be embarking and disembarking the Eurodam next month.

For embarkation, my friend is flying in that morning (a Thursday) and taking the Metro to meet me at my Nyhavn hotel. From there, it looks like we can take Bus 26 from the Kongens Nytorv stop to the Unicef Færgehavn Nord stop near Oceankaj for 15 DKK and the trip will take a little over a half hour (provided bus timing is perfect) and that the bus runs every 30 minutes. Whew, questions:

• Does that all sound correct? I used the trip planner on http://www.rejseplanen.dk/ to get that info
  
• For the 15 DKK fare, how do we pay this? On the bus? Need to purchase a ticket ahead of time? Cash only?
  
• Will they allow each of us to bring a large checked suitcase on the bus? Nothing crazy, but definitely larger than a carry-on bag.
  

It was hard for me to find a map of the full Bus 26 route and the trip planner has trouble understanding my desire to go to the airport. We disembark on a Tuesday morning, ideally around 7am. Would it make sense to try to take Bus 26 to a Metro stop and take that to the airport? If so, which Metro stop should we get off near - I assume the Kongens Nytorv one near Nyhavn again? If that seems like a lot of trouble and/or the bus won't allow us to bring large suitcases onboard, we're fine taking a taxi to/from the Metro, but wanted to check!

Thank you in advance!

I haven't seen/heard of this before, unless it is/was a test.