Anyone Back from Avalon's Budapest/Prague trip? Questions

[MSEm]

If you recently completed Avalon's Budapest/Prague trip I have several questions I hope you can answer.

1. Which Hilton Hotel is used in Prague (I find 2 listed for Prague)

2. Any very shore trips that are not to be missed or shore trips you do not recommend?

3. Are coffee, tea, and/or water available at all times on the river vessel?

4. Is Cafe Latte' available at breakfast on the river vessel (Also known as Milch coffee in some areas)

4. Any special places you discovered along the way? Favorite cafe, shop, market?

 

Thanks for the help and great information.

MSEm

 

PS We join Avalon on June 20 for Budapest to Prague trip. Anyone else on that trip?

[sandthrush]

We just returned from the Avalon Prague to Budapest. The Hilton hotel was the Hilton Prague Hotel (the one on the river, not the Hilton Old Town). If you don't want to eat at the Hilton, we ate at the Prague Imperial Hotel (2 dinners), which for us, was in walking distance of the Hilton (approximately 1/2 mile). The food was more reasonably priced at the Imperial Hotel than the Hilton.

 

There was coffee, hot water, cold water, hot tea, iced tea (both sweetened and unsweetened) available at all times on the ship.

 

All the "included" tours had very knowledgeable guides. I was impressed by the fact that they now use headsets that you pick up before you leave for a tour, and the tour guide has a microphone, so you don't all have to huddle around the tour guide. I was also very happy that all the tours, whether optional or included, left on time.

 

It's very hard to recommend any particular tour, because to me, it is like someone asking if the food was good, it's very subjective. Quite frankly, just about every tour you go on, seems to spend significant time in a church, and I feel like I have seen every church in Europe. I would rather see museums and palaces. We did take the optional afternoon excursion to the Schonbrunn palace in Vienna and by the time we were done with the inside tour, we had about 20 minutes left until we had to be back to the bus. I would have enjoyed less time in the palace, and more time to see the gardens. In hind site, we should have done our homework before hand, taken the subway to the palace ourselves, in the morning, and spent as much time as we liked at the palace.

[MSEm]

Thanks for the great info. I agree that tours can be subjective. Would it be possible to check out other places near the churches.

I lived in Germany for 5 years and also got "Chruched and castled out" I could really see myself just finding a sidewalk cafe with a good coffee/wine/beer while others toured the inside of a church.

Good tip on the Prague Hilton on where to eat.

 

Did the river vessel have ice for beverages? I know many European local hotels do not use much or any ice in beverages or even have it available at all for guest.

 

Thanks again,

MSEm

[sandthrush]

On the ship, they always served the drinks (like soft drinks) with ice. I don't know if they would provide it in your cabin or not. If you are a wine drinker, the wine is free with dinner, and it "really flows", they are not at all stingy with the wine at dinner.

 

The water, and iced tea that are always available on the ship, are in a dispenser, so they didn't come with ice, but I always found them to be cold enough. I am a big iced tea drinker, and I liked their iced tea much better than I have ever gotten on the big cruise ships.

 

If they utilized the buses on the tours, the guides usually told you what time to be back at the bus, so if you didn't want to follow them, you could go off on your own. On the included Prague tour, we took a bus around the city, then we ended up in the "Old Town" and you could either go back with the bus (which we had to do, because we took the afternoon tour to Terezin) or you could walk back to the hotel, or you could find your own transportation.

 

I forget what port it was in, but we were there most of the day, and I wanted to have lunch in town instead of returning to the ship after our morning tour. Well, they told us we had to be back to the ship at 1pm because the captain had to make an important announcement. That didn't sound good. So we went back to the ship and had lunch, but the important announcement was that we didn't have to leave port early as they thought we might have to.

 

I believe it was in Regensburg, we just walked around town, and they had given everybody a coupon for free plate of sauerkraut, sausages and a soft drink or beer at a little tiny place near the stone bridge. It was delicious, and made quite an interesting mid-morning snack.

 

Are you starting in Budapest? Are you staying extra days on either end?

[MSEm]

We begin in Budapest and end in Prague. We are arriving in Budapest on June 18. I was planning to arrive on June 19, but by traveling 1 day early I saved enough on the airfare to pay most of the extra nights at the hotel.

We looked at staying longer in Prague, but we will be leaving as scheduled on July 2. If we wait until July 3 the air fare was about $250 higher per person.

We are planning to visit the Wine House (across from the Hilton) in Budapest for the tasting tour in the cellar.

I think we will skip the Salzburg bus. We spent a full day in Salzburg back in the late 70's. What I really remember about Salzburg is visiting the Salt Mine in the area. My Mother was visiting us. She had a list and going into the salt mines was at the top of her list. Also we visited Hitler's Eagle's Nest in suothern Germany.

I see you are from Florida. I'm on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We drink Iced tea at all meals and sweet and unsweet is carried in all respectable establishments. Even the casino eateries quickly learned that it was Sweet or Unsweet and always in a very large glass.

 

What did you do in Nuremburg? Did you visit the WWII area?

About what time did you leave for Prague? Did you stop along the way between Nuremburg and Prague?

 

Thanks for all the great info.

MSEm

[sandthrush]

We started in Prague, so we arrived on Thurs and were there Thur, Fri and Sat nights. We had to be out of the rooms by 10am on Sun morning, so if you didn't take the optional tour that was offered, you had to hang out in the lobby until 1pm when the buses left.

 

The trip from Prague to Nuremburg was about 4 hours and they stopped about 1/2 way for a "convenience" stop and it was suggested that we spend our Czech money, instead of trying to convert it into Euros.

 

I didn't go into Nuremburg on the included tour, but my husband went. He said they basically had a driving city tour for about an hour, then they dropped them off at the city center for about 2 hours. I believe there was an optional tour offered that did the WWII sites.

[MSEm]

When was your trip and how was the weather?

 

I have been watching the 10-day forecast. It seems like it's in 80-85 during the day in 55-60 at night.

I will be watching very close to our trip for daily temperature.

I am beginning the think I will not need my vest during the trip. I may need the vest for the plane.

 

Thanks again for all of the great info and hints.

MSEm

[sandthrush]

We left on May 14, and returned May 25. We had brief showers in Prague Thur & Fri, then Sat & Sun it rained most of the day. I would say it was in the upper 60's to lower 70's. The remainder of the week was mostly overcast, but not much actual rain. It finally cleared up nicely when we got to Budapest on Sat, the day before we left for home.

 

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

[MSEm]

Sandtrasher,

 

Which River Vessel were you on? Was it theArtistry?

 

Thanks,

 

MSEm

[sandthrush]

MSEm,

 

Yes, we were on the Artistry.

[MSEm]

Sndtrasher,

On what deck was your cabin located?

MSEm

[sandthrush]

Sapphire Deck, mid ship, cabin 218

[webfoot]

We were in room 219 in the trip right before (Magnificent Europe) ... it was a great room. Not much noise ... and I loved being able to have to sliding glass door open. I wouldn't hesitate to get a room in this location again.

 

Those who were on the lowest level of the Artistry for our trip (4/27 - 5/11) called the windows the 'fishbowl'. They were able to see out of the windows most of the time, but said that they saw lots of debris flow pas their windows.

[jkeller527]

We are just back as well. We were in the rm 260 on the Imagery as we had a ship change due to high water. Would most definately do that level not the fish bowl rooms as the door open is a highlight. You can get the latte any time but they charge extra. There is a coffee stand that always has coffee but it is sort of a nescafe type. There is always tea and water and an ice machine but no ice buckets. Good luck getting one finally got one from the bar for all my wine . We would take the transport with the city tour with the group and then head out on our own as I didnt need as many churches as they thought we did. The Salsburg was the highlight of the trip so for me was a do not miss. IF you do not take a tour then you just sail that day. People that did were disappointed they did not go. Budapest is beautiful. Be careful when you arrive in PRague at the Hilton . Our lunch for 2 sandwiches and water was 85.00/ We got torched. Any questions feel free. jkeller527@comcast.net

[hcross888]

We keep going back on forth about whether to do the Salzberg tour. What did you like about it? Would it be too strenuous for an older person?

[jkeller527]

It was not strenuous at all. The drive gave you the true flavor of the alps. We saw all of the places in the Sound of Music/ They make a stop at the small town where the lake is and is it the most scenic. The tours are very careful about the way they go and the tempo. there was a bit of a walk at the end where the buses had to park away from the center of town. About 10 minutes but you could get a carriage to take you.

[bassmomma]

Sandthrush, we will be using your cabin 218 in April! We have never been on a river cruise before so we decided to try it for our 25th wedding anniversary. When will we be made aware of the tours - optional and otherwise - so we can make our choices?

[bassmomma]

Did anyone go to the cathedral in Passau where the large organ is? I am a church organist and would be delighted to go there and hopefully hear an organ recital. I believe that the tour to Salzberg is the same day as being in Passau.

[sandthrush]

Bassmomma - How exciting, I hope you have a wonderful cruise, and a Happy Anniversary. Are you doing Budapest to Prague or Prague to Budapest? You should receive a list of the tours when you get your pre-cruise documents, then of course once you start your trip, they will keep you updated daily as to what is going on the next day. With such a small group of passengers, I doubt that any tour is ever "sold out", so we usually signed up for any optional tours the day before.

[msmeltz]

We did the Budapest to Prague cruise last year(July) on the Avalon Poetry. Everything was great. When we arrived in Budapest it was 105 degrees.... along the Danube it started off very cool each AM and then got into the 70's...Prague was very cool and windy. You have to layer.

 

We weren't planning to go to Saltzburg, because we had been there before, but it turned out that they don't let anyone off the boat that AM unless they are on the tour...they just drop off and continue to the next port.

We were glad we went...had a great guide...it was a lovely day. This tour and the evening in Vienna was the only extra tours we did....that was really enough.

 

When you go through the locks ( about 20)the bottom level is practically under water...the middle level was good.

 

The Hilton was pretty far from the old town in Prague...cabs are expensive...try to share.

[MSEm]

We stayed at the Prague Hilton (Very large). Very good buffet breakfast. (Not the small Old Town Hilton that is close to the Old Town Center)

There is a grocery, drug store, and cafe very close. Also a Metro station and bus stop. Walk out of the door to the tour bus parking and look for the rotating glass door across the street. The rotating door is the entrance to a small shopping "mall" with the grocery and cafe. Many in our group hit the deli or grocery for food and drinks. (We bought several beers and soft drinks to put in the refrigerator in our room. I also borught some candy for gifts)

 

If you continue out the far doors across the street you will find the Metro station and bus stop. We bought a 24 hour Metro ticket. Good for unlimited rides and transfers for 24 hours from first use. We bought our ticket in a coin operated vending machine. Directions IN ENGLISH. This was a cheap and easy way to get to the Old Town Center. Remember to look for the LAST stop name on your route. That is how you select your Metro train and direction. If you get off at the first stop Metro stop and back back toward the Hilton, you will find a recommended hotel for dinner (about $40 - $45 per person). ( Dinners at the Hilton were about $80 per person) We choose to eat at the Pizza resturant a few doors down from the hotel. We had 1 pizza and 1 salad to share, 3 beers and 1 Fresh Strawberry dessert. We paied about $25 for the entire meal

 

NOTE: Have the Hilton REMOVE ALL ITEMS in the refrigerator BEFORE you move anything. Everything is setting on an electronic sensor that sends a charge directly to your room account. We just called the front desk as soon as we entered the room to have the refrig "cleaned" out.

 

We were in Passau only long enought to board the river vessel after our trip to Cesky Krumlov, CZ. If you stay on the vessel, check with the tour director on your time in Passau.

 

Have a great trip.

Emily