Grand Circle Danube River Cruise Black Sea to Buda Pest

[solgor]

My wife and I just came back from a Grand Circle Travel (GCT) river cruise on the Aria and we would like to report that this was anexcellent cruise in all ways. GCT has this organized down to the last detail and everything was as smooth as could be.

 

There were 154 passengers, all of whom were Americans from all over the country.

 

We left from Miami and flew to Heathrow in London, transferred and flew to Bucharest, Romania, all via British Air. Upon our arrival about 3 PM we were met at the airport and transferred to our hotel which was the Sofitel. We hardly had enough time to rest up when we headed out by bus to an outdoor restaurant which also had an entertainment of Romanian music and folkloric dancers. The weather was perfect, the free wine very good, the food good and it was a very good start to our trip. We were all happy to get back to the hotel for a badly needed rest from all the air travel

 

Grand Circle organized us into four different groups of about 40 each and we each had a GCT guide who was with us the entire trip. In addition, there was a local native guide on each tour who was very well acquainted with the local area and spoke perfect English. Every one of these local guides was excellent all through the trip

 

We were taken to lunch at supposedly the best restaurant in Bucharest and it really was very nice with good food. However, the entertainment was the real highlight. They had a six piece Romanian group with a marvelous Gypsy violinist who brought the house down. They gave us an hour and a half concert that became one of the highlights of the entire trip.

 

We were then escorted to a private train and began our trip to the city of Constanta on the Black Sea where we picked up our wonderful river boat, the Aria. This is a pretty new boat and it is perfect for this type of cruise. The rooms are about the same size as the standard rooms on the big luxury liners. They have a big lounge with a small bar and it is big enough to seat the entire number of people on the cruise. The dining room also seats the entire ship population at one time. They have a free seating arrangements so you can sit with anyone you want at any time without having to make arrangements. It works out very well.

 

The food and service was excellent. Breakfast was served in buffet style but lunch and dinner had full service. I would match the food in excellence with any luxury ocean liner I have ever sailed on. In fact, the amount of food is enormous if that's what you like. Lunch and dinner feature soup, cold appetizer, hot appetizer, main dish with veggies and some of the finest deserts you will ever taste. By the way, red or white wine is always available to these meals at no charge.

 

From Constanta we sailed west and north on the peaceful smooth river until our second stop, the Bulgarian port of Ruse on the Danube. There was a bus to meet us at the pier and we were off for about an hour ride to a small mountain town with an ancient 800 year old church. The highlight of this visit was a chorus of three churchmen who sang a cappella and in complete harmony some of the liturgical material of the church. It was like listening to opera singers, they were excellent. The tour had arranged a sumptuous lunch with a local family in their backyard. The meal was very good and we got to see what a family home in this area looks like.

 

Two full days on the river brought us to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Again, we had a good city tour with a local guide. We didn't know what to expect, but we found Belgrade to be a very modern city with loads of traffic and loads of sidewalk cafes, all crowded with the local population. You could never tell that the average wage in this country is about $250 a month. After the tour, we were taken to a nice small restaurant in a section resembling Greenwich village, again with local entertainment.

 

The next day was a trip through Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia. There was time for shopping in the main square and again it was a busy city with lots of life. This was the city that was bombed by Nato in the mid nineties and all their bridges were completely annihilated. Now about ten years later, you would never know this ever happened. All the bridges are back and we could not detect any damage to buildings in the city. We had a lecture about history and current events in Serbia and when asked, the lecturer said that they liked the American people but had very bad feeling toward the American government. Actually, they never mentioned that the US bombed Serbia heavily during their civil war, but they always said NATO did the bombing. Maybe they said that to make our American group feel better.

 

Next day we went into Croatia. We went through Vukovar where the battle scars are very visible everywhere. This city was occupied by the Serbs and had heavy fighting for a long time. Most of the city was destroyed but it seems to have recovered and is partly rebuilt. We had another lecture by a local, and were given their side of the story. Again, we love the American people but we think the present government is awful.

 

From there it was over the border to Hungary and on to Buda pest at the Novatel hotel in midtown for three nights. We had a tour of the main sights and the Opera House with a local guide. The highlight of the Opera tour was a private room where we were entertained by a member of the opera company and a classical pianist. This was a very nice touch.

 

We had a lot of free time in Buda Pest other than a farewell dinner from GCT (with Gypsy entertainment) and some people did the shopping bit and others did whatever they thought would be interesting. My wife and I went to the Gellert Hotel where they have thermal baths dating back hundreds of years. It was something a little different and we both had half hour massages, time in the very hot saunas and the thermal baths. The entire cost of this visit including the massages was a little over $50 in total, well worth it.

 

Nest day was a 5 AM wake up call, a trip to the airport, passage to Heathrow, a three hour layover, and eight hour direct flight to Miami. It was pretty exhausting as you would expect and it took about three days to get over the jet lag. But as all true travellers know, that is the downside of long distance travel but well worth it in the long picture.

 

I probably forgot a lot that I wanted to mention, but in summary, it was a wonderful trip and I would recomment it highly.

[nanray]

Thank you for an interesting account of your trip. We're doing a Danube cruise next spring and are curious about Heathrow. We have a five hour layover there each way. Is there anything to do in the airport? Gotta try to stay awake! Do you know if they have shower facilities? Thanks.

[traveling grandma]

My husband and I recently did the "Eastern Europe to the Black Sea" GCT cruise from Budapest to Bucharest and highly recommend it. We concur with the above comments about the boat (we were on the Adagio), food, entertainment, efficiency of staff, etc. Although it was a very enjoyable trip, we also found it to be educational, thought-provoking, sometimes sad and often inspiring as we viewed the results of Communist and Socialist regimes and interacted with people who have lived through them. They have made a lot of progress, but they are still struggling with poor economies.

 

The four Grand Circle directors who stayed with us throughout the trip were college educated, bright, articulate and efficient. Three of them were from Hungary and one from Romania. One morning on the cruise they each gave a lecture about what life under the dictatorships of Tito and Ceaucescu had been like. Another day, the ship's Romanian doctor gave a lecture about the orphans of Romania. Two local women came onboard in Croatia to talk about life under Tito and the "Homeland War" between Serbia and Croatia. The home-hosted luncheons in Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria were special treats and gave us an opportunity to meet local families and see how they live. We were divided into groups of 8 or 10 to eat in village homes where we enjoyed home-cooked meals typical of the region, and if our hosts could not speak English, we were provided with an interpreter.

 

The musical entertainment was of a very high quality. In addition to musical groups performing in the three on-shore restaurants where we were taken, we were also treated to local groups coming on board at three towns where the ship was anchored. One outstanding group was a sextet of classical violinists in Constanta, Romania. The ship also had two talented musicians of its own, a keyboardist and a violinist, who performed in the lounge most evenings.

 

We came home exhausted, but exhilirated from this truly outstanding trip.

 

One thing I wish I had had with me is a small tape recorder to have recorded the lectures and music.

[solgor]

Thank you for an interesting account of your trip. We're doing a Danube cruise next spring and are curious about Heathrow. We have a five hour layover there each way. Is there anything to do in the airport? Gotta try to stay awake! Do you know if they have shower facilities? Thanks.

 

Long layovers are part of the hassle of air travel and there isn't too much you can do about it. Heathrow is a gigantic place with thousands of people running around at all times and we were just happy to find seats and try to get some sleep as our wake up call was at 5 AM. The airport has plenty of shops and restaurants and I visited some of them, mostly because I was tired of sitting so much and had to stretch my legs.

 

I really didn't notice if showers were available but I think your airline or the website for Heathrow would have that information.

 

I'm sure you will enjoy your Danube cruise next spring, it is something out of the ordinary.

 

Sol Gordon

[daytrippers]

We just came back from a Bucharest to Budapest cruise with Vantage. It was superb! If you are interested, I just posted a trip travelogue on my webpage, http://ettel.*****.com It may give you some ideas.

 

There is also an album titled "Balkans Oct 2004"on the far left margin of my webpage

[Carhut]

I enjoyed the reviews byTraveling Grandma and Solgor as I have booked the trip for Aug/Sept 2005 on the Adagio with pre-cruise in Prague. I also enjoyed Daytripper's web page of travels. Pictures were fabulous. Thanks all. Wish more people would share their experiences on river boat cruises.