H2Otstr Posted September 14, 2011 #1 Share Posted September 14, 2011 We are on Grand Circle's cruise and are currently in Vienna. Have just visited Budapest and Bratislava. The river boats are stacked very deep here............Uniworld, AMA, Tauck, etc. I think that everyone is in Vienna today. It has been VERY hot here, but the weather is cooler and a little rain today. Tonight we are going to a concert. The accomodations are very nice and the food has been wonderful so far. Recognized one of the waiters from a previous cruise that we took with GCT. Internet is free, but it is almost impossible to get a signal. One of the workers on the boat gave me his login and password to get on one of the WiFi sites. Sharon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonnh Posted September 14, 2011 #2 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Good to hear from you and hope the rest of your cruise goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandra cruiser Posted September 15, 2011 #3 Share Posted September 15, 2011 a hassle,if on own,know shuttle provided,,but can you take city bus,HOHO,etc. easily?? Will be there next spring and want to see on own,since have been there before and seen the sites inc.,on ship tours..thanks,,and have fun.Any good restaurants within walking distance of dock??;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2Otstr Posted September 15, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted September 15, 2011 a hassle,if on own,know shuttle provided,,but can you take city bus,HOHO,etc. easily?? Will be there next spring and want to see on own,since have been there before and seen the sites inc.,on ship tours..thanks,,and have fun.Any good restaurants within walking distance of dock??;) We took the subway from St. Stephen's Church station to the ship this afternoon. Very easy. We are docked near the Mexico section of the river. It cost 2.30 Euros for a "senior" ticket...........60 years old for women and 65 for men. We got one ticket and validated it on each end. Each ticket is for a round trip, not one way. There is a HoHo bus, but we didn't take it. Not sure where it goes, but there are no large vehicles in town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car-Stan Posted September 17, 2011 #5 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Hi, Sharon, Glad to hear you are having a good time. We are about 80% packed. Next week we head to DE, then to Newark for our flight to Vienna on the 26th. Your info on Vienna is helpful. Anything else you think of re. sites or transportation, etc. will be welcome. I am bringing a netbook and hoping to be able to log on fairly easily. Is this expectation realistic...given your experiences? Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_and_deb Posted September 17, 2011 #6 Share Posted September 17, 2011 We used our laptop on our recent GCT cruise from Vienna to Amsterdam. Could get on the internet most of the time in port but rarely while cruising the rivers. GCT will give you a username and password (they call it a token) but we were told it was limited to one token per cabin and that you should log off when you are done using it because the token is limited for the amount of time as well as the amount of bytes you can have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csmg Posted September 17, 2011 #7 Share Posted September 17, 2011 There is a very good restaurant within walking distance of the ship docks near Vienna. Walk along the canal a short distance toward the metro station and walk thru the tunnel that goes under the train tracks. On the other side and straight ahead one block on the left is a bier garden/restaurant (I don't remember the name, but it was very good and not expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car-Stan Posted September 17, 2011 #8 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Thanks for the good info on computers and the restaurant near where the ship docks in Vienna. Again, any other useful info will be greatly appreciated! Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csmg Posted September 18, 2011 #9 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I found the name of the bier garden near the Vienna docks: "Zum Renner" on Russdorferplatz (the name of the street) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2Otstr Posted September 22, 2011 Author #10 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Just arrived home about an hour ago. We are exhausted..........got up at 3:30 am for our 7 am flight. Will try to answer a few questions tomorrow. Everyone on our boat experienced internet problems. I took my netbook and only got on line 2X for the whole trip. Others had WiFi on their phones or Ipads and never got online either. Very frustrating since traveling with a computer is a nuisance. We had a wonderful trip. Every town that we visited was beautiful. Sharon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiannaD Posted September 22, 2011 #11 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Just arrived home about an hour ago. We are exhausted..........got up at 3:30 am for our 7 am flight. Will try to answer a few questions tomorrow. Everyone on our boat experienced internet problems. I took my netbook and only got on line 2X for the whole trip. Others had WiFi on their phones or Ipads and never got online either. Very frustrating since traveling with a computer is a nuisance. We had a wonderful trip. Every town that we visited was beautiful. Sharon Glad you had a great trip. I also found the Internet on the rivers to be unreliable and/or very slow. The reception varies a lot. I would get on and then we would go into a lock and that would be the end of it. It's not the ships fault- just the infrastructure in some areas. It seems to be like our cell phone service used to be and still is in some remote areas of the USA. It was better in ports but then we were busy sightseeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car-Stan Posted September 22, 2011 #12 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Sharon, Glad you had a great trip. Yes, logging on while sailing is frustrating. When we were on Holland America, it was verrrrrryyyyy slow...and I was paying by the minute. Never got a free WiFi spot when we were in port. I am bringing my netbook, and since it is so light, may try to find someplace in town where I can log on. We are very excited about our Great Rivers. We fly from Newark to Vienna (via Dusseldorf) on Monday evening. Lufthansa has more restricted weight limits for carry-ons, so we have taken all our bags to our gym to weigh them!...then redistributed some stuff. We got a call today from GCT with an offer to move up to a higher deck...free! We grabbed it, and are very happy. Today is my birthday, so I am thinking that was my reward for clean living! When you are somewhat rested, if you can think of anything we might want to know, please post it on this thread. We will appreciate any last minute gems of info. Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2Otstr Posted September 22, 2011 Author #13 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Sharon, Glad you had a great trip. Yes, logging on while sailing is frustrating. When we were on Holland America, it was verrrrrryyyyy slow...and I was paying by the minute. Never got a free WiFi spot when we were in port. I am bringing my netbook, and since it is so light, may try to find someplace in town where I can log on. We are very excited about our Great Rivers. We fly from Newark to Vienna (via Dusseldorf) on Monday evening. Lufthansa has more restricted weight limits for carry-ons, so we have taken all our bags to our gym to weigh them!...then redistributed some stuff. We got a call today from GCT with an offer to move up to a higher deck...free! We grabbed it, and are very happy. Today is my birthday, so I am thinking that was my reward for clean living! Happy Birthday !!! When you are somewhat rested, if you can think of anything we might want to know, please post it on this thread. We will appreciate any last minute gems of info. Stan Stan, we had internet problems the whole trip, not just while cruising. This particular ship was where the problem was. I think GCT even called in an outside person to try to fix the antenna, but it didn't help. There were numerous internet cafes on our trip, but you are in different cities for your trip. That is great that you get to move up on a higher deck. We were on level ONE and had a small window. We were so stacked with other ships that the people who paid for balconies were quite upset because they couldn't use them. We were 3 deep on some days. This was my 7th river cruise and I have never seen so much river traffic as we saw on the route from Budapest to Prague. That must be one of the most popular routes. We also had to think about what clothes we wanted to take because of the weight limit on the airline and only being able to take one suitcase. My husband sent a couple items to the laundy. One of the best items that he took were those pants that are long and the legs zip off to become shorts. It was so hot that the temps broke a record from 150 years. If you can think of any particular questions, send an email to me. Sharon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car-Stan Posted September 22, 2011 #14 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Thanks, Sharon. We, too, are pressed for packing space. I just returned from another trip to our gym to be sure my carry-on is under Lufthansa's 18 pound limit. We are each taking a regular suitcase, a carry-on and a personal item...for me a briefcase-y thing for my netbook, converter, etc., and reading stuff. I am not sure I have any more specific q',s, as you had commented on what was around where you docked in Vienna. We have a long afternoon (I hope) to wander there. Being wiped from the trip over, we won't want to do too much, anyway. Again, I am glad you enjoyed your trip. We are packed and ready to go to our daughter's in DE, then to NJ where we will stay with old friends who will drive us to Newark airport. Rest up and keep in touch! Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiannaD Posted September 23, 2011 #15 Share Posted September 23, 2011 I have seen several comments about luggage limits and have found them to be very strict. Years ago we purchased a small hand scale from AAA and use it to check our luggage weight at home and take the scale along to check the weight on our return. (Somehow our luggage always gains weight on cruises! Could the cause be shopping?) Having the scale sure beats paying excess weight charges. Many travel stores like Magellan sell the scales and it is much easier than taking your luggage to the gym to weigh it. Just an idea. Gianna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2Otstr Posted September 23, 2011 Author #16 Share Posted September 23, 2011 I have seen several comments about luggage limits and have found them to be very strict. Years ago we purchased a small hand scale from AAA and use it to check our luggage weight at home and take the scale along to check the weight on our return. (Somehow our luggage always gains weight on cruises! Could the cause be shopping?) Having the scale sure beats paying excess weight charges. Many travel stores like Magellan sell the scales and it is much easier than taking your luggage to the gym to weigh it. Just an idea. Gianna I also recently purchased a hand scale...........forgot to take it with me though. I got one at Steinmart at a very good price. I figured that if I could pick up my suitcase without too much trouble that I was underweight. I took a bunch of clothes on this last trip that I didn't want any more and left them at the hotel. That way I had room in my suitcase to bring back gifts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csmg Posted September 23, 2011 #17 Share Posted September 23, 2011 WOW! 18 lb carry on limit. We have been able to avoid checking bags with the limit 25 lbs. Just came bck from the Danube cruise. Only check bags on reutrn home. Don't think we would be able to get down to 18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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