Oceania's day trip to Bucharest

[2travelers]

Hi. We are doing the Black Sea Explorer next summer and are considering taking O's day trip from Constanta to Bucharest. According to the description, it is a 3-hour bus ride each way. That leaves 31/2 hours to see Bucharest, lunch included. I was wondering if anyone out there took the trip and what their thoughts were. It seems to be the only way to see Bucharest. With such a long trip I would hesitate to go with a private guide, which is how we generally travel. One CC poster who just got back said they were on the Oceania tour and arrived back over an hour late. They didn't say much else regarding that specific tour. So, have you taken it, was it worth the long ride and would you do it again :confused:

Thanks

Ronnie

[Goldmann]

Did the exact trip. You REALLY have to like bus rides. Get to the city. Make a stop or two. Stop for lunch. Back on the bus. No free time at all. Not taking a shot at O. Our lack of research was an error.

[cruisecountess]

We are on the Black Sea cruise in July, 2013. We had looked at this excursion as we heard that there was not much in Constanta. We decided against it as there was too much bus time. Our general rule of thumb is that touring time must be equal to or greater than bus time. We will just walk around Constanta and then enjoy the Riviera for a lazy afternoon.

Harriet

[2travelers]

We are on the Black Sea cruise in July, 2013. We had looked at this excursion as we heard that there was not much in Constanta. We decided against it as there was too much bus time. Our general rule of thumb is that touring time must be equal to or greater than bus time. We will just walk around Constanta and then enjoy the Riviera for a lazy afternoon.

Harriet

 

Hi Harriet - We are on the same cruise with you next July. We did book the Bucharest tour but we know we can cancel at any time. I am not thrilled with the amount of time on the bus, but if you read the posts on Constanta, it is not a place to stroll around on your own. The tours that are being offered for Constanta are not much so we figured this was our best option. Still vacillating :confused:

Ronnie

[boerneDQ]

My sister and I are on the cruise with y'all next July. Our Nephrew had lived in Romania, so we asked him if it would be worth it to do the Bucharest tour and he said no. He said we really would not have enough time in Bucharest to see much, or to justify so much bus time.

 

So we are going to DIY Constanta or may just do a ship day.

 

Charlotte

[Aruba]

I've got another idea: do the "Scenic Constanta and Winetasting" excursion (if you're into wine). We did it last year on the Black Sea itinerary and really enjoyed it. The Romanian wines we tasted were surprisingly good.

[cruisecountess]

Aruba, thanks for the suggestion; DH and I are considering it. When we did a DIY land tour of central Europe a few years back, we enjoyed the wine caves in Hungary so trying Romanian wines will broaden our wine education.

 

Ronnie, Joel on our roll call was trying to get a group together for a ship's excursion on the Danube Delta. I was interested in that but DH didn't like that idea. I think he wants a break from being on the water. We will either DIY for awhile and then laze on the ship or will take the winery tour.

 

Where in NJ are you from? I was born in Paterson but grew up in Fair Lawn. Just last week, DH and I visited cousins in West Long Branch and friends (whom we met on our Down Under cruise) in Ocean. You can contact me at

actman at mac dot com. We have pretty much firmed up our plans; let's compare notes.

 

Charlotte, feel free to contact me as well to share and compare ideas. If memory serves me correctly, either you or your sister is from Austin and the other from San Antonio. DH and I will be visiting both cities in Oct. and would appreciate restaurant suggestions. Thanks. (Maybe we could meet so we'd each have a recognizable face onboard next July.)

 

Harriet

[2travelers]

Aruba, thanks for the suggestion; DH and I are considering it. When we did a DIY land tour of central Europe a few years back, we enjoyed the wine caves in Hungary so trying Romanian wines will broaden our wine education.

 

Ronnie, Joel on our roll call was trying to get a group together for a ship's excursion on the Danube Delta. I was interested in that but DH didn't like that idea. I think he wants a break from being on the water. We will either DIY for awhile and then laze on the ship or will take the winery tour.

 

Where in NJ are you from? I was born in Paterson but grew up in Fair Lawn. Just last week, DH and I visited cousins in West Long Branch and friends (whom we met on our Down Under cruise) in Ocean. You can contact me at

actman at mac dot com. We have pretty much firmed up our plans; let's compare notes.

 

Charlotte, feel free to contact me as well to share and compare ideas. If memory serves me correctly, either you or your sister is from Austin and the other from San Antonio. DH and I will be visiting both cities in Oct. and would appreciate restaurant suggestions. Thanks. (Maybe we could meet so we'd each have a recognizable face onboard next July.)

 

Harriet

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

 

Aruba: If my memory serves me we traveled together on Insignia two years ago. Since we don't drink wine, so a wine tasting tour would be wasted on us......hic :D but thanks for the suggestion.

 

Harriet - You seem to be in the majority about staying on the ship in Constanta. I have booked it with O knowing that I can just hit the "remove" button at any time to cancel. My husband really wanted to see the Bucharest. He knows someone who is from there and is going to ask her if the trip is worth it. I have a feeling it will be a day on the ship doing nothing but R&R. OK by me!!

[boerneDQ]

Harriet, please email me at ckcolbert at netzero dot net so we can exchange restaurant info and possibly meet when you come to San Antonio or Austin (I am in SA, my sister is in Austin).

Charlotte

[JAYNE605]

We were on a Grand Circle River Cruise 2005.We stopped in Constantia for the day and would not care to duplicate it.

We will probably stay on board as we only have 1 sea day. We are doing the extention in Turkey so will probably need a rest.

By the way are there any Majhongg players?

What plans do you have for the rest of the cruise? Private or ship excursions?

I need ideas. We're conflicted between ship and private tours.

Harriet, we lived in Bloomfield & Wayne NJ

 

 

Lori & Herb

Arroyo Grande CA.

[Mura]

We were on the Black Sea cruise last August. We had a private guide in Constanta so I didn't even look at the ship's tours that were being offered.

 

But had I done so I would have not taken that tour based on the bus time to and from. I regularly fulminate here about seeing the Normandy Beaches from Le Havre, Paris from Le Havre, Berlin from the Baltic. It can be worth it if you think that would be your only opportunity ever to see the Beaches or Paris or Berlin, but we've spent several days at least at each of these places, and I just don't think it justifies the time.

 

Back to Constanta, our tour did take us well out of town and we enjoyed the day. We also had a lot of driving, but not nearly as much as to Bucharest, and the places we visited didn't need that much time to see as compared to a large city. Coming back to Constanta we made a few stops which were interesting, but if they were the only things to see in Contanta, a city tour would have been disappointing indeed.

 

I'm happy to provide our guide information to anyone on this year's cruises, although I'm guessing it's now too late to do you any good.

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

3 1/2 hours is absurd for visiting Bucharest! It takes at least that much time to visit Ceaucescu's "palace - second in size only to the Pentagon.

 

We spent a full week there when we visited Romania in 2009.

[Senior Citizen]

We were on the same cruise as Mura last August and we contemplated going to Bucharest. However, they were not stopping to visit the "palace" during the tour and the bus ride was very long. I spoke to people who did it and they said the ride was way too long.

 

We were sitting in the Terrace having a leisurely breakfast, with no plans for the day, when a guy dropped off a flyer for a walking tour he organized for Constanta. It was leaving in an hour and cost $10 for a three hour tour. 19 of us took him up on his offer and we visited a cathedral, an orthodox church, an archeology museum, the crumbling casino, a folk museum, various neighborhoods, and a market for the local beer Cuc. All the while, our young, sincere English speaking guide talked to us about why many Constanta buildings were neglected and about Romanian politics. After, DH and I walked to the new town near the government building, shared a souvlaki, went to a mosque and climbed up the minaret with a 360 degree view of the town and port and walked back to the ship. Finding this tour was perfect and we left Constanta with an understanding of what we saw. Our guide was mircea_nicolau2000 at yahoo dot com. He worked for Damubius Travel.

 

Ken, the man who organized this walking tour, is the owner of Sydneyrus, a Sydney based travel company that does tours to the Blue Mountains and other places.

[Mura]

It sounds like you had an ideal day. We did see a few of those places at the end of the day ourselves and enjoyed them (the art museum, the Roman tiles, another folk art museum and I think a church). Our main stops (Hristia and a vineyard were long drives, a bit longer than I wanted but nothing like getting to Bucharest would have involved.

 

Mura

[JAYNE605]

Hi fellow cruisers,7/25/13

Is anyone putting together small private tours for about 8 people?

We would be interested in participating ,if there is room.

Could you send me the itineraries also.

I can't get excited about the ship excursions.

Hope to hear from someone soon.

Lori & Herb

 

We love Oceania this will be our 3rd voyage with them .

---------------------------------

Insignia, Mediterranean 2oo8

Marina, South America, 12/10/12

We have also enjoyed river cruising

This wiil be our 15th ocean cruise, starting 1979

[LHT28]

Hi fellow cruisers,7/25/13

Is anyone putting together small private tours for about 8 people?

We would be interested in participating ,if there is room.

Could you send me the itineraries also.

I can't get excited about the ship excursions.

Hope to hear from someone soon.

Lori & Herb

 

You should ask in the Roll Call for your cruise

[Benita]

We were in Constanta a few years ago. We decided against the long ride to Bucharest. We took the shuttle into town and went to the archeological museum and folk art museum. They would not accept dollars, so we had to find an ATM and take out about $20 worth of currency. The museums and adjacent mosaics were interesting and take about a half hour to explore. The area around the sites was safe, but not scenic - just drab apartments. We took a shuttle back and enjoyed the rest of the day on the ship. It is a good day to do laundry, as it was a port extensive trip and all the other ports were interesting. Constanta certainly is not a must see and can easily be a not see.

[jgiblin]

Benita, We have booked the 7/19/2014 Black Sea Legends Riviera sailing. Seems like Constanta doesn't offer much (or at least seems to have less than enthusiastic comments). Did you find the other Black Sea ports interesting?

[Benita]

We loved all the other ports. The three in the Ukraine were fabulous, especially Sevastopol. Nessebur, in Bulgaria was charming. Sochi had just been announced for the Olympics and was quite a sleepy town- it must've bustling now- we visited Stalin's villa and played pool in his den- surreal. Istanbul, Kusadasi, and Santorini are always great. I think the itinerary is a bit different now, but still looks great.

[joysav]

Crazy in my humble opinion

 

It is a bit like fatcat2 over on Oceania's sister site claiming that Warnemünde

was the Port for Berlin and it was perfectly alright to spend more time on the

bus than in Berlin . :eek:

 

I did point out that Copenhagen (Københavns) was closer to Warnemünde

than Berlin . :cool:.

 

.