Amsterdam to Budapest: Port or starboard?

[Cali Viajera]

Considering river trip from Amsterdam to Budapest. Which side is best to book a room with best room view?

[sharkster77]

3 minutes ago, Cali Viajera said:

Considering river trip from Amsterdam to Budapest. Which side is best to book a room with best room view?

It makes no difference whatsoever.  You will be doing most of your sailing while you're asleep.  When you are doing any scenic cruising (middle Rhine, Wachau Valley, e.g.), the place to be in on the top deck or in the lounge (floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides).  

 

You will be in your room for changing up and sleeping.  Pretty much it.

 

Even when you are docked, there a a chance that your ship will be rafted, i.e., docked side-to-side with another ship.  Your view out the window, in that case, will be into someone else's window on the other ship!!

Edited March 8, 2022 by sharkster77

[Host Jazzbeau]

You will be sailing upstream on the Rhine, then downstream on the Danube.  The ship will always dock facing upstream.  But the ports may be on either side of the river.  So your cabin will probably face the dock some days, and face the river on other days.  And if several ships are rafted together, your window may be smack up against somebody else's [call over politely and offer a toast!]

 

When the ship is sailing, you will be able to see land from either side – but if it is a particularly scenic stretch you will want to be up on the Sun Deck to see all 360 degrees.

 

So there's no point in overthinking this.

[Cali Viajera]

Great advice, thank you! I hadn’t thought of those points. We have a Baltic cruise June ‘23, and am looking at alternative trips. This river cruise is on a wish list too. Any recommendations for river cruise line?

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, Cali Viajera said:

Great advice, thank you! I hadn’t thought of those points. We have a Baltic cruise June ‘23, and am looking at alternative trips. This river cruise is on a wish list too. Any recommendations for river cruise line?

Take a look at the stickies at the top of this forum [now that I have moved your thread to the main River Cruising area] for lots of info about choosing a cruise line, itinerary, etc.  Most of the cruise lines do the itinerary you are considering and stop at mostly the same ports – so the differences between them largely come down to space [all the ships are the same size, but some have 130 passengers and some 190 and that really impacts how crowded the public spaces are]; food [quality and range of choices] and drink [just wine/beer at meals or all alcohol all the time; also quality of wine], excursions [only one choice or several, only one a day or two, how many passengers per guide – that usually tracks with the number of passengers on the ship]. 

 

As you compare prices, keep these quality differences in mind.  And also remember to add the cost of non-included items – an 'all-inclusive' line may not be more expensive in the end.

[ljandgb]

Good advice above.  Also, be aware that your ship may be rafted to another while in port, so that your river view becomes one of your neighbor's curtains.

 

I will say on our Danube cruise, our stateroom was on the Port side, and for embarkation days (which happened at the beginning of our cruise, and halfway thru at Budapest for those doing just half the river), it got really warm in the room from the sun.  The AC seemed to work best when we were moving.

[Wings55]

18 hours ago, Cali Viajera said:

Considering river trip from Amsterdam to Budapest. Which side is best to book a room with best room view?

We sailed from Budapest to Amsterdam with Scenic waaay back in 2016. I had the same question as you so we booked a cabin on the port side and our friends booked theirs across the hall. In the end, as has been advised by others, we did all our sightseeing on the top deck or from the lounge. 

@Host Jazzbeauoffers good advice to choose your cruise line carefully. Most claim to be all-inclusive but services and quality varies. We prefer the true all-inclusive lines but if the extras aren't important to you, there's no sense in spending the extra money. Do your homework. 

You've chosen an excellent itinerary and I am sure you'll enjoy a marvelous vacation.

Paul