Budapest Illumination Cruises No Longer a Given on River Sailings

[LynnTTT]

Our docking has been changed on our Avalon Budapest to Prague cruise leaving August 4.  We were scheduled to dock on the Pest side but the newest info says we'll be on the Buda side.  Maybe for this reason?

Now I just wonder if the ship will have problems because of water levels.

[thunter1224]

  OH NO.. I was so looking forward to doing Budapest Illumination Cruise 😞   Is there any chance they will bring it back by the end of the year ?  And is it all cruise lines ?

Edited July 30, 2019 by thunter1224
added last part

[Daisi]

thunter, not sure how long you have in Budapest on your cruise.  The one we are looking at is 2 nights in a hotel in Budapest, then one on the ship, so I had been planning on going on the cruise the night before we boarded.  From what I can hear Legenda is one of the better tours, maybe you may wish to investigate it just in case.  I'm sure once you get your chance to book what tours you wish to take online, if it's not included, you can contact your cruise line to double check.  Good luck.

 

[thunter1224]

2 hours ago, Daisi said:

thunter, not sure how long you have in Budapest on your cruise.  The one we are looking at is 2 nights in a hotel in Budapest, then one on the ship, so I had been planning on going on the cruise the night before we boarded.  From what I can hear Legenda is one of the better tours, maybe you may wish to investigate it just in case.  I'm sure once you get your chance to book what tours you wish to take online, if it's not included, you can contact your cruise line to double check.  Good luck.

 

 

We have 1 full day in Budapest as out last stop on AMAwaterways .. and the Illumination cruise was on the last night on our ship.. But I am reading that some or all of the cruise lines have canceled the night cruise .. Really hope to get to do it .. and we have to be off the ship around 4 am the next morning , since our flight leaves Vienna  at 6 am .. 😞

[djh1959]

It was mentioned in the Australian newspapers that the government had cancelled all the nighttime cruising a few weeks ago.

 

Today in the paper, it stated that the government ban has been lifted and it is now up to individual cruise lines whether to do them or not.

[thunter1224]

7 hours ago, djh1959 said:

It was mentioned in the Australian newspapers that the government had cancelled all the nighttime cruising a few weeks ago.

 

Today in the paper, it stated that the government ban has been lifted and it is now up to individual cruise lines whether to do them or not.

 

I hope my cruise will be doing it in Oct.  🙂  I am really looking forward to this as an end to our cruise ..

[GrammaRama]

On 7/19/2019 at 2:29 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

New article on Cruise Critic:

Budapest Illumination Cruises No Longer a Given on River Sailings

I did a search looking for information on Illumination cruises in Budapest and found this article posted in July 2019.  Does anyone have any additional information.  We are sailing on the AmaLea in May and were very disappointed to hear that the Illumination Cruise was no longer being offered.  We were told that it was a regulation initiated by the Budapest gov't after the terrible accident with Viking and an independent operator.

Are there any private independent operators that might be offering this?

Any information would be helpful

GrammaRama

[notamermaid]

Have you checked on the official tourism website yet? https://m.budapestinfo.hu/

 

notamermaid

 

[GrammaRama]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Have you checked on the official tourism website yet? https://m.budapestinfo.hu/

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you notamermaid.  I did briefly go into the website that you noted. I did not find any specific info on all Illumination Cruises but their website did give links to 3 companies offering private tours during the day and night so I guess the gov't has lifted their ban on the Illumination Cruises.  From what I understand Ama is no longer offering their Illumination Cruise so we will have to look into a private tour if we want to see the lights from the water.

Thank you for your help

GrammaRama

 

[gnome12]

Thank you notamermaid.  I did briefly go into the website that you noted. I did not find any specific info on all Illumination Cruises but their website did give links to 3 companies offering private tours during the day and night so I guess the gov't has lifted their ban on the Illumination Cruises.  From what I understand Ama is no longer offering their Illumination Cruise so we will have to look into a private tour if we want to see the lights from the water.
Thank you for your help
GrammaRama
 

I think that smaller, more maneuverable boats make more sense for this type of tour than a large (relatively) river cruise ship.


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[dogs4fun]

We booked the candlelit dinner cruise with Legenda last year - it was excellent!

https://legenda.hu/en

[thunter1224]

On 2/29/2020 at 1:38 PM, GrammaRama said:

Thank you notamermaid.  I did briefly go into the website that you noted. I did not find any specific info on all Illumination Cruises but their website did give links to 3 companies offering private tours during the day and night so I guess the gov't has lifted their ban on the Illumination Cruises.  From what I understand Ama is no longer offering their Illumination Cruise so we will have to look into a private tour if we want to see the lights from the water.

Thank you for your help

GrammaRama

 

I was on the Romantic Danube cruise at Oct. 2019.. and we didn't do the Illumination cruise.. AMA has stopped it .. But there are private boats that still do it ..if you want to see it .. 

[d9704011]

We left Budapest in early June of last year on the AmaStellashortly after the sinking of the Hableany.  We did not go on the illumination cruise but the ship did depart just before nightfall and we enjoyed many of the lights on our way up river.  I don’t know what schedules are like now and whether that was a fair substitute for going out on the river (on a tour) but we enjoyed it.