MS Bolero River Cruise on Danube in October

[nomo825]

I'm taking a river cruise on MS Bolero departing 10/10/07. We booked thru Gate1. I'd like to hear from anyone who has been on the MS Bolero or is booked on the 10/10 cruise from Budapest to Prague. I'm curious about appropriate attire to pack, quality of food, tipping procedures, accepted currency, on board entertainment, dancing, etc.

 

Thank you.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Hi,

We are also on the October 10 trip. Here is a link to more information on the ship but not on the Danube. It is on the next page so you may have missed it. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=517278

 

We have never been on a river cruise. I'm really looking forward to it. It is my understanding that the dress is casual and good walking shoes are a must. Hopefully someone on the Danube cruise will post soon.

 

Cynthia

[Rx4KRay]

I'm taking a river cruise on MS Bolero departing 10/10/07. We booked thru Gate1. I'd like to hear from anyone who has been on the MS Bolero or is booked on the 10/10 cruise from Budapest to Prague. I'm curious about appropriate attire to pack, quality of food, tipping procedures, accepted currency, on board entertainment, dancing, etc.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Just returned from 12 day Paris-Amsterdam "Tulip Time" cruise (Gate 1 Travel) through The Netherlands and Belgium abord the MS Bolero.

 

Dress code is totally casual... you can go to dinner in jeans and a t-shirt, should you so choose. Security on this and most other river cruise ships is non-existent. The ships dock 3,4, every 5 deep, so you will often walk through several boats to get to the Bolero if it was last to dock. The lack of security was a bit unnerving. Suppliers were free to come and go, passing through other ships just as the passengers did.

 

Gate 1 Travel provided 4 cruise directors on our trip. All were good, but one in particular, Ron Lazet, was amazing. He bent over backward to take care of his assigned group, including contacting British Airways when 7 passenger's luggage was mishandled. If you are very lucky, Ron will be your cruise director.

 

The food was unremarkable, but acceptable. The wait staff is European, so expect some "attitude" from the wait staff. Tipping is optional, but well defined by the cruise line. Our cabin steward was excellent; a lovely young woman from Slovenia.

 

The Rhine was smooth as glass, never any sign of seasickness from the passengers, and repositioning was almost always at night. One would assume the same would hold true for the Danube. All 90 cabins are identical, with the bottom floor having windows rather than balconies. Our balcony was of the "french" design, as in railing outside the sliding glass doors.... not a real balcony upon which to stand or sit.

 

The nightly entertainment was sparce, but one does not expect mega-ship floor shows on a river cruise.

 

An advantage of a ship the size of the MS Bolero is the proximity to city centers from the docks.

 

The ship was very clean, solidly built, and the majority of the crew was extremely friendly and cheerful.

[Rx4KRay]

Just returned from 12 day Paris-Amsterdam "Tulip Time" cruise (Gate 1 Travel) through The Netherlands and Belgium abord the MS Bolero.

 

Dress code is totally casual... you can go to dinner in jeans and a t-shirt, should you so choose. Security on this and most other river cruise ships is non-existent. The ships dock 3,4, every 5 deep, so you will often walk through several boats to get to the Bolero if it was last to dock. The lack of security was a bit unnerving. Suppliers were free to come and go, passing through other ships just as the passengers did.

 

Gate 1 Travel provided 4 cruise directors on our trip. All were good, but one in particular, Ron Lazet, was amazing. He bent over backward to take care of his assigned group, including contacting British Airways when 7 passenger's luggage was mishandled. If you are very lucky, Ron will be your cruise director.

 

The food was unremarkable, but acceptable. The wait staff is European, so expect some "attitude" from the wait staff. Tipping is optional, but well defined by the cruise line. Our cabin steward was excellent; a lovely young woman from Slovenia.

 

The Rhine was smooth as glass, never any sign of seasickness from the passengers, and repositioning was almost always at night. One would assume the same would hold true for the Danube. All 90 cabins are identical, with the bottom floor having windows rather than balconies. Our balcony was of the "french" design, as in railing outside the sliding glass doors.... not a real balcony upon which to stand or sit.

 

The nightly entertainment was sparce, but one does not expect mega-ship floor shows on a river cruise.

 

An advantage of a ship the size of the MS Bolero is the proximity to city centers from the docks.

 

The ship was very clean, solidly built, and the majority of the crew was extremely friendly and cheerful. Enjoy your cruise!

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Just returned from 12 day Paris-Amsterdam "Tulip Time" cruise (Gate 1 Travel) through The Netherlands and Belgium abord the MS Bolero.

 

Dress code is totally casual... you can go to dinner in jeans and a t-shirt, should you so choose. Security on this and most other river cruise ships is non-existent. The ships dock 3,4, every 5 deep, so you will often walk through several boats to get to the Bolero if it was last to dock. The lack of security was a bit unnerving. Suppliers were free to come and go, passing through other ships just as the passengers did.

 

Gate 1 Travel provided 4 cruise directors on our trip. All were good, but one in particular, Ron Lazet, was amazing. He bent over backward to take care of his assigned group, including contacting British Airways when 7 passenger's luggage was mishandled. If you are very lucky, Ron will be your cruise director.

 

The food was unremarkable, but acceptable. The wait staff is European, so expect some "attitude" from the wait staff. Tipping is optional, but well defined by the cruise line. Our cabin steward was excellent; a lovely young woman from Slovenia.

 

The Rhine was smooth as glass, never any sign of seasickness from the passengers, and repositioning was almost always at night. One would assume the same would hold true for the Danube. All 90 cabins are identical, with the bottom floor having windows rather than balconies. Our balcony was of the "french" design, as in railing outside the sliding glass doors.... not a real balcony upon which to stand or sit.

 

The nightly entertainment was sparce, but one does not expect mega-ship floor shows on a river cruise.

 

An advantage of a ship the size of the MS Bolero is the proximity to city centers from the docks.

 

The ship was very clean, solidly built, and the majority of the crew was extremely friendly and cheerful. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thanks so much for your reply. Glad you had a good trip. Perhaps the security on the Danube will be better than on the Rhine. Were the tulips in full bloom for your trip? I would love to see them and travel the Rhine sometime.

Cynthia

[land lover]

Hi,

We are also on the October 10 trip. Here is a link to more information on the ship but not on the Danube. It is on the next page so you may have missed it. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=517278

 

We have never been on a river cruise. I'm really looking forward to it. It is my understanding that the dress is casual and good walking shoes are a must. Hopefully someone on the Danube cruise will post soon.

 

Cynthia

 

Hi Cynthia,

I think you meant you have never been on a European river cruise LOL

I do remember cruising with you on some river in China or was that in another life? Seems like it, but it has not even been a year yet.....we are going on another river cruise this June...is a better internet connection available in your area yet?

 

Noticed your sign in name and just had to say HI....take care....Lori

[nomo825]

Hi,

We are also on the October 10 trip. Here is a link to more information on the ship but not on the Danube. It is on the next page so you may have missed it. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=517278

 

We have never been on a river cruise. I'm really looking forward to it. It is my understanding that the dress is casual and good walking shoes are a must. Hopefully someone on the Danube cruise will post soon.

 

Cynthia

We will look forward to meeting you on the cruise and perhaps chatting via this board prior to that. On our last cruise there were many passengers who "met" others on line @ boards.cruisecritic.com and they had get together once they all got on board. This is our first River Cruise. We've been hesitant about taking one because we were concerned about cabin size. However, the cabins on the Bolero, at 170sf, should be comfortable. The anticipation of any vacation is always fun.

[Kindlychap]

Just returned from 12 day Paris-Amsterdam "Tulip Time" cruise (Gate 1 Travel) through The Netherlands and Belgium abord the MS Bolero.

 

The wait staff is European, so expect some "attitude" from the wait staff.

 

Not quite sure what is meant here....

 

I have just returned from the sister ship of the Bolero, and indeed on more than one occasion moored next to her so had the opporunity when walking back to my cabin to walk along past the dining room of Bolero. It did seem informal.

 

We found the boat very confortable - although I found the bed uncomfortable.

 

The thing I most noticed about it was the fact that the American passengers aboard seemed totally incapable in realising that their boat was not by the quay, but one boat away. Bear in mind that these are different colours! On several occasions several of them had to be herded down from the deck above, they'd got themselves so lost!

 

Matthew

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Hi Cynthia,

I think you meant you have never been on a European river cruise LOL

I do remember cruising with you on some river in China or was that in another life? Seems like it, but it has not even been a year yet.....we are going on another river cruise this June...is a better internet connection available in your area yet?

 

Noticed your sign in name and just had to say HI....take care....Lori

 

Either I meant "European" or I had another senior moment. Imagine forgetting an entire trip and a wonderful one! I'm sure this one will be very different. I'm very excited already. Hope all is well!

Cynthia

[LunaSeaRetreat]

We will look forward to meeting you on the cruise and perhaps chatting via this board prior to that. On our last cruise there were many passengers who "met" others on line @ boards.cruisecritic.com and they had get together once they all got on board. This is our first River Cruise. We've been hesitant about taking one because we were concerned about cabin size. However, the cabins on the Bolero, at 170sf, should be comfortable. The anticipation of any vacation is always fun.

 

It will be nice to chat and share our excitement. As you can tell from Land Lovers post, I too have met people on line. It was so nice "knowing" people before the cruise.

Cynthia

[kinijane]

Hi!

I will be taking the gate1 Bolero cruise from Budapest to Regensberg on 10/10 also. (Thanks to cynthia for the link to this thread). It's my first river cruise as well and there are 6 of us going (All women). I've been on many cruises but I am looking foward to the uniqueness of this one. It would be fun to get to know some of you before we go.

I had mentioned in my first post that I was interested in the folklore dinner show in Budapest. This is NOT part of the package from gate1. I have been searching for various things to do while we are in Budapest and that seems to be one of the most popular things to do. Has anyone else heard about it??

I've also seen some half/day trips to a town called Szentendre. This also seems like a cool side trip to do if you have time (And if you lke to shop for local crafts...like me :)

There appears to be many things to see and do in Budapest. A really great web site for info is budapestinfo.hu/en/ Check it out for yourself.

Does anyone else have any ideas/plans for their free time in Budapest?? I'm interested to know what you have discovered. Let me know if you can...

 

Jane

[steamboats]

Jane,

 

If you love shopping for local crafts don´t forget to go to the Folkart Centrum at Vaci Utca 58 (in the pedestrian zone)

 

http://folkartcentrum.hu

 

And also check the Central Market for local food and crafts (upper floor).

 

I don´t know if you´re having a stop at Bratislava. There´s also a wonderful Folk Art shop there at the main square (Hlavné nám) next to the Chocolate Café Maximilian.

 

We had a dinner in Budapest with local food and gypsy music, singers and dancer. That´s not my type of thing and I thought it´s been much too touristy. The tour to Szentendre is a great thing. Or a Puszta tour to a horse farm.

 

I´ve listed a couple of things to do in my review

 

http://www.rivers-rails.com/boats-mozart-review-1.shtml

 

But be aware we only had one day in Budapest.

 

steamboats

[kinijane]

Thanks for the info steamboats!! I'll be sure to check out all of your links!

Jane

[nomo825]

When we visited Rome last October we were cautioned about the pickpockets and the clever ways these theives work. We also were told to beware of the gypsies.

 

Does anyone know if the problem is the same in Budapest, Prague, Vienna, etc.? If so, what precautions, other than a money belt, have those of you who have visited any of these cities found to be successful?

 

Another question I have is whether we need the Hungarian and Czech currency or if they welcome US Dollars. I don't know what the currency is in Slovakia. I believe the other countries we are visiting on the 10/10 Danube River Cruise take Euros.

 

nomo825