roch342

In fact we have found the pre-cruise Cunard experience less than perfect. Really unhappy about the port change to Livorno

, which we discovered from CC and only received Cunard's notice about 10 days later. Plus they have very unappetizing excursions, mostly "we'll drop you off and pick you up 9 hours later." Not my idea of how to cater to passengers, especially if they do not speak the language. And we were inadvertently "upgraded" to a cabin under the lido, and had to fight to get back to a lower deck, which we had booked originally. What's with that, anyway? I sure hope the cruise itself goes more smoothly.

We did a marvelous "Grand Rivers of Europe Cruise" with Grand Circle, from Amsterdam to Vienna, and enjoyed every minute of it. However we found out after we arrived that we could easily be bumped to a bus and hotels if the river levels rose too high for the cruisers to get under the low bridges. Before one bridge the captain required us to leave port several hours early in order to slide under it with inches to spare.