Photo Travelogue - "The Legendary Danube" on the Amacello

[Robyn France]

Greetings,

 

I noted in one Amadeus review that each cabin had 2 umbrellas--however when I checked our brochure, that wasn't listed. Did you all have 2 umbrellas in your cabin? Trying to bring only the necessary items. Thanks for all your helpful information!;)

[nyfeds]

Hi Robyn

 

If you are planning a pre or post stay, I suggest taking either two small travel umbrellas or waterproof rain ponchos. We, too, try to cut down on what to bring on a trip. You just never know about the weather. The umbrellas on the vessel are great when cruising, but won't help if there's rain, pre or post stays.

 

I hope we have the opportunity to meet you, as my husband and I, as well as our friends, will be on your sailing. Are you spending additional days in Budapest and/or Prague? We will be in Budapest for four additional days and in Prague one additional day.

[Robyn France]

NYFeds--Thank you so much for that reminder--I can't believe I didn't pay attention to that obvious point--so we shall definitely take little umbrellas and we usually do take a fold up poncho. DH was saying he thought that was a good plan in any case for the deck at night--keep the wind off when we go up to enjoy our evenings--we should have a lot of light based on latitude I think--we love our long evenings in France typically in the warmer months.

 

I am sure we will have plenty of opportunity to visit on the ship--do I remember correctly that you are from the LA area? We have a son and family who live in LA and I figured you must be from NY originally with your nickname--my sister and I are as well. DH is a true southern gentleman. We will be spending 2 nights in Budapest and 3 in Prague--we did take the entire itinerary offered by Amadeus. ;)

[nyfeds]

NYFeds--Thank you so much for that reminder--I can't believe I didn't pay attention to that obvious point--so we shall definitely take little umbrellas and we usually do take a fold up poncho. DH was saying he thought that was a good plan in any case for the deck at night--keep the wind off when we go up to enjoy our evenings--we should have a lot of light based on latitude I think--we love our long evenings in France typically in the warmer months.

 

I am sure we will have plenty of opportunity to visit on the ship--do I remember correctly that you are from the LA area? We have a son and family who live in LA and I figured you must be from NY originally with your nickname--my sister and I are as well. DH is a true southern gentleman. We will be spending 2 nights in Budapest and 3 in Prague--we did take the entire itinerary offered by Amadeus. ;)

 

Hi Robyn,

 

My husband and I are NYers. We moved to Orange County, CA in 1970, but still consider ourselves NYers! Do you not live in NY anymore?

 

We, too, took the entire itinerary. We will be staying, pre-cruise at the Budapest InterContinental and post Amadeus Prague hotel stay for one additional evening at InterContinental Praha. I work for InterContinental Hotels Group and getting my employee rate at both properties made it easy to stay on longer!

 

Looking forward to meeting you all, Robyn!

[nyfeds]

Deleted. Double post

[Robyn France]

We are no longer in NY but grew up there and my sister lived there for many years beyond. I live in North Carolina and my sister in Florida--but we still love NY--of course. We won't be in the same hotels but will look forward to meeting you as well.

[hurycane60]

We will be on the AMA (Amadeus) Waterways Cruise that goes from Budapest to Prague. The Cruise portion begins on Aug 21. I would like to hear from others who might be on the same cruise. We are frequent Cruisers, but, this is our first River Cruise. The photos posted by Randy as well as his great information are sincerely appreciated.

We live in SW Florida and will spend a couple of extra nights in Budapest before the tour portion and will spend one extra night in Prague.

We hope to reserve a guide for at least one day of the pre-tour time in Budapest. If you have any names of guides you liked, please post that info.

Looking forward to hearing more from those who have sailed on the Amacello as well as from anyone who might be on our trip.

Donna

[nyfeds]

Hi Robyn,

 

Where in NY are you from? My husband and I were born in the Bronx and then moved to Queens.

 

Once a NYer, always a NYer!

 

hurycane60,

 

I have arranged private touring in Budapest with a company that specializes in touring geared towards Jewish Hungary; although they do more generalized touring, as well. If interested, I can provide you with contact information. I have found the owner to be tremendously helpful and responsive. I am of Hungarian descent, on my father's side of the family. Having located a birth document on my grandmother, my contact through this agency is helping to trace my roots. She is going above and beyond. If anyone can locate any family history, it will be thanks to her. We plan on making the trip to my grandmother's city of birth if she comes up with anything.

 

The touring company comes highly recommended through Rick Steves, Frommers, Fodors and NY Times.

[MVPinBoynton]

Randy,

Thank you so much for the photos and comments on the cruise. We will be doing this cruise in reverse on the Amalyra, which will be about 2 months old when we board her. The D300 and 18-200 is a great combo and you did a superb job of capturing some beautiful images. I have a Canon 40D and am looking forward to visiting these beautiful cities. Since I am at work, I have not been able to look at all the albums, but I can't wait to see them all. Your efforts at sharing your experience appreciated.

[Robyn France]

NY Feds--we grew up in Massapequa--but haven't lived there in 40+ years--my sister lived on the upper East side for many years and had a lovely summer home in Easthampton until recently. I am sure we will have a good mix of folks for all over the USA--hope so.

[nyfeds]

Thanks, Robyn.

 

The friends cruising with us are from the Dallas area. Surely, a great mixture of people from all over, having a fantastic time river cruising and touring!

[ToniBruce]

What wonderful photos! We are doing the same trip, in reverse, on the Amacello in August - I am counting down the days before we leave on our first ever river trip!

 

Which hotel did you stay at in Budapest?

 

Lynn

 

Lynn:

 

When is your trip in August? My wife and I board the Amacello on 8/9 after 3 days in Budapest.

 

Bruce

[yukonld]

Hello Bruce & Hurycane60,

 

We are on the Amacello, departing August 23rd. Arriving in Budapest early and doing our own Budapest planning, then carrying on to Prague with the tour. We have a few "must see and do's" planned for Budapest and also hoping to be able to stay up late enough to see the fireworks on the 20th, St. Steven's Day!

 

Lynn

[YLTraveler]

We live in Yorba Linda. NYFed where are you? Hope you are keeping cool today. It is 102 in the back yard today

 

We leave on 6/29 for the Avalon Artistry cruise from Budapest to Bucharest with self touring in Prague and Vienna before the cruise.

[nyfeds]

We live in Yorba Linda. NYFed where are you? Hope you are keeping cool today. It is 102 in the back yard today

 

We leave on 6/29 for the Avalon Artistry cruise from Budapest to Bucharest with self touring in Prague and Vienna before the cruise.

 

 

Hi Fellow OCer!

 

We live in the Tustin/Irvine area. HOT here, as well. Try to stay cool.

 

Wishing you a great time on your upcoming cruise!

[Jinn]

Randy---is a bath/shower gel/cream/liquid provided? Thanks, Jinn

[TwoFortwo]

Nope, just soap.

 

Sorry, couldn't resist the rhyme. Shampoo, conditioner and lotion were provided but not soap in liquid form. I think liquid/gel soap is an American thing, so it's probably best to bring your own. It's not clear that you could find it in Prague.

 

Randy

[Jinn]

Thanks, Randy. We don't leave until October so I may think of more questions. I read on one thread that the voltage is 220. How many outlets were there? Jinn

[Emma Chisit]

Thanks, Randy, for those beautiful pictures. We are on the "Sound of Music" from Amsterdam to Istanbul (with APT, an Australian company), leaving 2 August. We also will be on the Main-Danube Canal during our cruise, and it was interesting to see that there is an actual marker for the Continental Divide. I wonder if there is a ceremony for crossing the Continental Divide, similar to the one for crossing the Equator? I will have to Google that. We also have the choice of visiting Salzburg or Passau. As we have been to Salzburg before, but never to Passau, we thought that we would do the Passau tour and the cruise to Linz. Looking at your lovely pictures of Passau that seems a wise move.

[MVPinBoynton]

I was rather impressed with the Passau pics also. I had thought that there wasn't much to see there. Now I have to decide if I want to go to Salburg or stay in Passau. Any suggestions?

[TwoFortwo]

Jinn -- There are two European-style 220V outlets, one at the desk and the other inside the cabinet above the sink. Virtually all modern electronic devices (laptops, iPod/cellphone/camera chargers) are dual-voltage and can use either 120V or 220V). The voltage is always printed on the charger if you're not sure. In that case all you need is a small adapter to adapt the US plug to fit a European socket, and you can get those cheaply at Radio Shack or a good hardware store. You do not need a large, heavy and expensive converter that converts 220V to 120V.

[TwoFortwo]

Emma and MVPinBoynton,

 

If your (Emma's) cruise is an APT cruise, you will be on an Amadeus ship. Amadeus (US) and APT are partners in the ships with Amadeus owning the majority interest. Depending on the cruise and date, it appears that either the passengers will be mostly from the US, with 20 or 30 from Australia/NZ, or vice versa. The folks on our cruise were mostly from the US, but we had about 30 Aussies/New Zealanders and 4 Finns. It was great to have a mixed group of passengers.

 

We chose not to go to Salzburg mostly because we didn't care to spend that much time on a bus. Opinions about that tour on this forum have been mixed, although those on our ship who went to Salzburg said it was a very nice tour. The walking tour of Passau and a very nice afternoon of cruising worked out well for us. Also, our guide in Passau was very good.

 

The highlight of our time in Passau was the noon organ concert in the church. The organ in Passau has almost 18,000 pipes, which used to be most of any organ in the world. The organists are extremely good, and the money from the concerts is what keeps the church going and pays for maintenance.

 

The noon concert costs about 4 Euros each, and lasts for half an hour. We had to walk briskly back to the ship befoe it sailed at 1PM. It's about a 15-20 minute walk back to the ship.

 

If you've been to Salzburg, then a morning in Passau and an afternoon of cruising would seem to me to be the better choice. If you haven't, then you're faced with the same decision that we had.

 

Randy

[MVPinBoynton]

This will be our first time in Passau or Salzburg. I still have 10 months to research before I have to decide. I hate having to decide between 2 great things.

[Emma Chisit]

Yes, Randy, APT had told us when we booked a year ago that they had chartered the "Sound of Music" from a company called "River Advice". Not sure how River Advice and Amadeus are linked, Google has failed me on finding out this piece of information. I guess all will be revealed when we embark! Amadeus seems a very good company, I know someone who was very happy with one of their cruises, so it will be great if they are running the show. Also will be great if there is a mixture of nationalities on board. (We lived in the US for many years so always love meeting up with Americans again). This particular cruise has been heavily marketed in Australia with an additional add-on of a trip to Gallipoli, since Gallipoli has a special significance for Australians and New Zealanders. That was the "hook" for us, having never been there. I'm thrilled to be visiting Turkey at last, have travelled a lot, but somehow never got there, although everyone else in my family has, even my husband has been to Istanbul. We are travelling independently in Turkey after the APT tour ends, but after all my reading we clearly should have allowed more time there.

 

We also thought the bus trip to Salzburg might be a long day - and after all we are on the cruise in order to cruise. However, having been to Salzburg (albeit a LONG time ago) the decision was a little easier. I completely agree, MVPinBoynton, it is so difficult to choose between two great options.

 

One more thing, thanks Randy for the tip about the organ concert in Passau. Years ago in Prague we found the concerts in churches etc there were the highlight of that visit. Hope our timing works out so we can go to the concert as well.

 

Cheers from Emma

[TwoFortwo]

One of the New Zealanders on our cruise had just come from Gallipoli, and had gone there with a group.

 

Sorry, there was no ceremony when we crossed the European continental divide. Our cruise director didn't seem to think much of the monument, and said that the stone was imported from India, as if Italian or other European marble wasn't good enough.

 

Randy