What is the best cruise tour for the Danube?

[bcrcornet]

My wife and I and a group of friends are booked with Gate 1 (MS Sound of Music) next April 5 for Budapest to Prague. ...

 

marco_polo11: Say hello to Ted and Veronica K., from Veronica's cousin. :)

 

Have a great trip!

[marco_polo11]

marco_polo11: Say hello to Ted and Veronica K., from Veronica's cousin. :)

 

Have a great trip!

 

Today's the big day... can't wait, it's going to fun! I'm going along to supervise Ted and Veronica :p

[Ann in Florida]

My husband and I just booked a river cruise for September 2013 with Viking for the two week Budapest to Amsterdam itinerary on a brand new ship, The Forseti. We thought we were going with a great company, but have continued to read some comments from others and suddenly are having buyer's remorse. This is a very expensive!!! cruise and now I read there is no place to sit in the French Balcony staterooms but on your bed, that the food is so-so, portions are small, lectures are not stimulating and worse, once when the rivers were low, buses were used to transport passengers from city to city without warning them in advance.

 

Are we making a huge mistake? If there is anyone out there who loves Viking and their new longboat ships for European cruising, please reassure me now before my husband kills me.

 

I appreciate all feedback, actually, good and bad and thank you in advance for helping us out. It may be too late to cancel, although it was just booked today with a credit card.

 

Ann

[goose30]

My husband and I just booked a river cruise for September 2013 with Viking for the two week Budapest to Amsterdam itinerary on a brand new ship, The Forseti. We thought we were going with a great company, but have continued to read some comments from others and suddenly are having buyer's remorse. This is a very expensive!!! cruise and now I read there is no place to sit in the French Balcony staterooms but on your bed, that the food is so-so, portions are small, lectures are not stimulating and worse, once when the rivers were low, buses were used to transport passengers from city to city without warning them in advance.

 

Are we making a huge mistake? If there is anyone out there who loves Viking and their new longboat ships for European cruising, please reassure me now before my husband kills me.

 

I appreciate all feedback, actually, good and bad and thank you in advance for helping us out. It may be too late to cancel, although it was just booked today with a credit card.

 

Ann

 

All of the things you mention can happen on any of the lines. Although not so often.

 

French balconies by definition have no place to sit, on the balcony, but there should be seats in the rooms but maybe not. check with the cruise line.

 

food is subjective what is good for Mary might be bad for Jane. John might like the portions Harry may think he needs more to eat.

 

Lectures depend on the who the cruise director is. They change often.

 

River levels are not up to the cruise line. A change in only several inches can cause problems. Sometimes there is little warning.

 

Two suggestions. Convince your husband that you are going to make the best of it no matter what happens or if you are woried about what he might do to you cancel now.

[Ann in Florida]

This is for Goose30, a Thank You for all the good information you gave me, and reassurance that you took me way too seriously in the "husband doing bodily harm" department.....it was meant as a jest. Never a blow was ever struck in 42 years of marriage!

 

However, we did strike one to Viking and decided to cancel our River Cruise with them for 2013. I do know that French Balcony staterooms have no actual balcony, just a sliding window/door for outside viewing. What indeed is true is that the Forseti, a brand new ship launching this Spring, really has NO chair, not even one, in this stateroom and that truly was unacceptable for a two week cruise.

 

Happily, we decided to go with AMACerto with the identical itinerary, Budapest to Amsterdam and think we made a wise decision. Many posters on this thread seem to agree that AMA offers a wonderful experience and we are really looking forward to it.

 

Happy River Cruising Everyone!

~Ann

[BPCruiser]

This is for Goose30, a Thank You for all the good information you gave me, and reassurance that you took me way too seriously in the "husband doing bodily harm" department.....it was meant as a jest. Never a blow was ever struck in 42 years of marriage!

 

However, we did strike one to Viking and decided to cancel our River Cruise with them for 2013. I do know that French Balcony staterooms have no actual balcony, just a sliding window/door for outside viewing. What indeed is true is that the Forseti, a brand new ship launching this Spring, really has NO chair, not even one, in this stateroom and that truly was unacceptable for a two week cruise.

 

Happily, we decided to go with AMACerto with the identical itinerary, Budapest to Amsterdam and think we made a wise decision. Many posters on this thread seem to agree that AMA offers a wonderful experience and we are really looking forward to it.

 

Happy River Cruising Everyone!

~Ann

 

Hi Ann,

We did the Blue Danube Discovery with Avalon last November (Budapest to Prague with 3 days pre and post in each city) You will have a great time!! We enjoyed it so much we hope to go back again maybe in 2013 and do Budapest to Amsterdam like you for a longer cruising experience. I think from all the reviews you will be glad you switched to AMA as most just love their cruises with them and there are minimal negative comments. However, there were many, many negative reviews about the Customer Service and cruising experience that many had with Viking last Fall during the drought and low river levels encountered by all the cruise lines. For me, I would definitely stick with Avalon, AMA, Tauck or Uniworld as they have a high volume of positive reviews and comments on these Boards. You will just love, love, love Budapest and Prague. I cannot wait to go back again :)

[abeebaby]

Hi,

 

I'm booked on the November 10, 2011 sailing on this cruise and was wondering if you will be posting a short review. I had one specific question regarding day 7 (Linz), where you have an option to visit the Lake District or Cesky Krumlov. Which did you opt for and what were the general comments from your fellow passengers?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Sergio

We are looking at doing this cruise ie.

amadolce Budapest to Nuremberg this year end of October?November. Did you enjoy and what was the weather like. Any complaints.

 

Thanks

[BPCruiser]

We are looking at doing this cruise ie.

amadolce Budapest to Nuremberg this year end of October?November. Did you enjoy and what was the weather like. Any complaints.

 

Thanks

 

We cruised Budapest to Nuremburg with Avalon in mid-late November 2011 with pre days in Budapest and post cruise days in Prague. It was by far our best trip yet!! Weather was fine for us. Not a drop of rain or snow. Days and nights were cold but we had many more sunny days then cloudy. We bundled up with proper coats, hats, scarves, boots and gloves and very much enjoyed the festive atmosphere of the season we were traveling in. Christmas lights and trees were being decorated every port we went to, the aroma of mulled wine and we were fortunate to catch the openings of several Christmas Markets along the way, our favorite being in Prague for the last weekend of November before we flew home. We like traveling in the Fall/early winter season. We would not hesitate to travel this route again at the same time of year.

 

You must try to include pre and post days in Budapest and Prague, whether as an extension of the cruise line or independently on your own. They are fabulously beautiful cities with much to see and do!! Good Luck!!:)

[Don P]

It's difficult to make blanket statements as I have not done the Danube on anything but Tauck. It was perfect. There were 113 passengers and we were able to go on smaller guided tours of 30 to 35 passengers. EVERYTHING was covered by Tauck. On one all day tour they gave each passenger 25 Euros to purchase their own lunches. We did Budapest to Prague with a four day front end in Budapest at the Inter-Continental. Saved a lot of Internet money by having lunch and/or dinner at the bistro next door (free wifi).

 

We're in Rome at the moment and will be home in around 5 days and I'll post my review on our Tauck Amsterdam to Budapest cruise 6-20 September. I realise we all have our favourite companies but as you'll see in my review it's impossible to beat Tauck's overall value. If you didn't want a pre-dinner drink then you'd have absolutley no bill to pay at the end of the tour. When Tauck says everything is included they really mean it. If I ever save up enough money for another European River cruise I'll certainly use Tauck again.

[caviargal]

Happily, we decided to go with AMACerto with the identical itinerary, Budapest to Amsterdam and think we made a wise decision. Many posters on this thread seem to agree that AMA offers a wonderful experience and we are really looking forward to it.

 

 

We are also on the new AmaCerto this fall, based on a wonderful experience on the AmaDante last fall. I hope you enjoy AMA as much as we did and we are excited to be on their newest ship.

 

We are spending time in Budapest and Prague on our own and our cruise includes the Christmas Markets, which we enjoy very much for the festive atmosphere and locals having fun.

[cruiser-sue]

To:marco_polo11

How was your trip? We booked for Aug/Sept 2012 as May 2012 was sold out on w/gate1 (MS Sound of Music). Please give us any feedback on how the ship and itineries were. Thanks!

 

As I am a last minute person, I have been looking for info for the MS Sound of Music also. We are on the same Aug/Sept 2012 cruise. Do you have any info you can share? Thanks!

[kaudreamer12]

As I am a last minute person, I have been looking for info for the MS Sound of Music also. We are on the same Aug/Sept 2012 cruise. Do you have any info you can share? Thanks!

Hi cruiser-sue: I received the reply below from rjmackin on 8/14 who was on the SOM in April. I don't know if you seen it yet. I leave in 8 days for the first part of the trip an eight day bus tour through Germany & Switzerland. We will board the SOM on Sunday 9/2. Still thinning out the outfits and am thinking to get 3 days out of each outfit alternating them throughout the trip. I need to pack light as we will living out of a suitcase for 8 of the 16 days!! Capri's, T shirts, jeans, and one basic dressy pant/capri for dinners and a fleece or fall jacket for the upper Alps. :) Georgina

 

Posted by: rjmackin

On: August 13th, 2012 10:22 AM

If you are not a picky gourmet and more interested in the places you will see, then the Sound of Music will be more than satisfactory. The people we met were mostly seniors from the former middle class who had saved up for a trip of a lifetime and had many interesting stories to tell.

We had cabin 306 and it was great - close to reception and upper deck with French balcony. I could sit on the bed and watch the world go by. Best place is on deck although in April, it might be a bit chilly.

 

 

[cruiser-sue]

Thanks Georgina,

Hope your trip goes well. "See you in Sept."

Susan