Review Amadeus Budapest to Istanbul (Short)

[CincyAL]

Just back from Amadeus (MS Amadagio) Budapest to Istanbul. Here is a short review focusing upon the ship & hotels and not on specific sightseeing aspects of each city visited. Flying into Budapest is a pleasure, our bags were already waiting for us at the luggage claim . Customs and passport control is very fast. We used Zona Taxi to Kempenski Hotel, fare is now 21 euros. Hotel is very centrally located to pedestrian zone. Breakfast both days a real treat, take your time and enjoy. Our first full day in Budapest was free time. The second day, one tour bus picked up aproximately 40 of us for a short 60-90 minute trip to the nearby hills for a pleasant day at a family operated horse complex. We enjoyed the riding exhibition, stables and nice lunch. At approximately 3 PM the bus arrived at the ship. Which was docked on the "Buda" side due to construction of a 4th subway line. Upon boarding we learned that the ship was completely full, with a majority of passengers being "Aussies". Most had been on the ship for two weeks already starting in Paris. Our Captain was Viktor Semenov and CD was Lilo Lehmann. Back to the "Aussies", they had booked through Australian Pacific Travel. This a part of the Amadeus corporate structure. Most of the Americans (less than 20) on board either booked a year in advance or were lucky to get a cancellation. Our cabin was on the 100 level (cheap seats), however, idential in size to all other cabins (155 square feet) except 4 suites. We found it adeqate in size with 2 nice closets and flat screen TV which doubled as computer screen. The internet is FREE both in the cabin or wireless through the ship. The wait staff was most Romanian or Bularian and VERY helpful, although their Engish in a few cases limited. Our cabin was very quiet throughout the journey. With a full ship the dining room was always also full with most passengers eager and on time for each meal. Each evening meal there was a choice of meat, fish or pasta entree. Special kudos to pastry/dessert chef and wine stewards. Never a empty glass at dinner. One of the few moderately inconvienent aspects was the location of the lone ice machine, which was located outside the entry dining room. Although bikes were on board this portion of the Danube does not lend itself to bike riding along the shore line. All lunches included on tours as well as the bus portion of trip to Istanbul were excellent. Especially nice lunch and musical program during the full day tour to Bucharest. There were always 4 buses for our 143 passengers, with some folks opting out of tours most days we had only 30 passengers per bus. The highlight of the cruise portion is the Iron Gates, you must be on deck for this 3-4 hour event. This might be the most important aspect of this review, WAIT and purchase visa for Turkey on border. This is save you between 75 and 100 dollars. Our CD was totally equipped for this task and collected the money $20 (cash) per American passport. The two "bus days" are fairly long, however, buses are very modern and the A/C worked well. The hotel at Sunny Beach was very average, however, nice breakfast and pleasant included evening meal in the old town of Nessebar. The hotel in Istanbul was the Ritz Carlton. Every single aspect was uncompromisingly suberb! Most people opted to eat outside the hotel for dinner. The walk to Tasim Square (countless restaurants) is 10-15 minutes, however, you have to cross 3 busy streets. Taxis less than $5-6. Hope that this has been informative? I am happy to answer specifc questions!

[Travel Nymph]

CincyAl,

Thanks for the review.

 

What did you do on the "on your own" time in Budapest?

Did you find prices reasonable, considering euro to $ ratio?

What area would you recommend to stay?

 

We are currently booked at a place called Golden Stars (#1 rated on Trip Advisor under Specialty lodging) and it is on Vaci Utca on the Pest side, near the Old Market Square.

 

Do you have restaurants in Budapest you really liked and want to recommend?

 

Thank you, Joy

[nyfeds]

CincyAL,

 

Welcome home. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

We will be flying into Budapest. Did you pre-arrange Zona Taxi? I believe I had read that there were kiosks at the airport terminals. Could you please elaborate?

 

Some time ago, there had been much discussion pertaining to dining inconsistencies on Amadeus. I realize that food is subjective; however, could you please give us your impressions of the food/cuisine?

 

Were you pleased with the tours and quality of the guides?

 

Thanks!

[SuJaDon]

Great to read your report CincyAl. We are leaving Oz in 2 weeks time for our Amsterdam, Gallipoli Instanbul Tour departing 2nd August. We were hoping to ride the bikes but guess from your comments we maybe able to do this earlier on the cruise.

Just a couple of questions:-

1. Did you think that the boat was too crowded or was it able to cope with the amount of people?

2. What was the average age on the boat? (not a problem just wondering).

3. What were your thoughts re the cruise? Did you think it was exceptional?

 

I had read earlier where you said to wait to get the Visa at the Border. Our TA said this but our documentation from Australian Pacific said to obtain it prior to leaving Oz. I decided to wait like you said.

Thanks

Sue

[Tennessee Traveler]

Hi Cincy Al,

Thanks for the review. It's a trip that Ruth & I are thinking about in the future - especially the Iron Gate. I'd like to hear more. It sounds like a great trip. We've been to Budapest on a tour some years ago, but the rest of the trip sounds good. How does it compare with a Yangtze cruise?

We're back from Africa & had a fabulous time traveling with 9 of our friends. The best part was the 3 game camps in Botswana. It was almost too incredible to believe. Regards, Tennessee Traveler

[CincyAL]

We did not pre-book Zona Taxi. There are signs and kiosk outside near baggae claim. The kiosk gives you a "voucher" for driver, you pay the driver DIRECTLY. I had my euros handy. Drivers are very professional dressed in white or light blue shirts. Cars are late models & very clean. Average age in late 60's or little 70's, the elevator near dining room was a big bonus for these folks. The only time dining room appeared crowded was when we were docked and one side of the ship had no view, we usually sailed during this meal. AMAZING, I never heard a compliant concerning quality or quanity of the food. Once again pastry chef and wine sewards were praised consistently! While in Budapest we walked to the parliament buiding, double check their website for times of English tours. Caution there are many steps for the tour. A simple meal (sauage, bread and beer) can be obtained upstairs in the city market. You can blend in with the locals in small stands, this not the larger restaurant. Local city tours were consistently well organized, our ship always had 4 tour buses. You had the option each day of selecting your bus by the color of the audio headset you selected. Seems like most people stayed with the same color each day. 9 out 10 of local guides spoke very good English and enjoyed answering questions. Naturally they supported their own side (Serbia or Croatia) in the last Balkan war. We had local entertainers on board 3 or 4 nights, they were favorably recieived.

[nyfeds]

Thanks for responding to my questions.

 

Did you purchase your tickets to Parliament the day you toured?

[SuJaDon]

Thanks for the info. We are really looking forward to our cruise. Less than 2 weeks now before we leave Oz.

Sue

[Emma Chisit]

Thanks for the advice about the Turkish visas, CincyAl. We are on the same APT cruise as SuJaDon - Amsterdam to Istanbul (Greetings fellow Aussie). Not long to go now, it's very exciting. We got our documents today, along with advice from APT that they recommended we should get our Turkish visas in advance - to avoid possible delays at the border. Eek - we certainly don't want to be sending off our passports just a couple of weeks before we go. I called the Turkish Consulate in Sydney and the lady I spoke to said that she could issue a visa in advance (at a cost of $75 each), but that there was no need as we could easily get our visas at the border. My travel agent also called the consulate and spoke to a different consulate official who said we could ONLY get the visas at the border! Upshot is that we are waiting to get the visas at the border, and our travel agent has told APT this, and they are accepting of our decision. So thanks very much CincyAl for the good advice, and Sue, I guess that there will be at least a few of us on the tour who will be getting their visas at the border. You - and us (husband and me).

Also, thanks to everyone on these forums for the useful advice. I've been a "lurker" in the past because, while we do travel a lot, we are relatively new to cruising. It is a new phase of travel for us, and I certainly promise a review when we return. Have just started writing reviews for Trip Advisor in repayment for past "lurkings" there.

[CincyAL]

We purchased the day of tour. We went to the first tour of the day, approxiamtely 10 AM. There is a sign in English indicating tour tickets. This is a the left side of the building (on the land side), gate X. They only allow one or two persons at a time into the building to purchase tickets. I used credit card, instead of Hungarian Fonts. Camera are allowed no flash.

They perform a very simple, however nice, 3 person ceremony at the crown jewels. Have your camera ready.

[nyfeds]

I thank you once again for your response to my inquiry.

[Besta]

CincyAL, what currencies did you need while on your cruise and bus trip from Budapest to Istanbul? Did you have to change money for each country? How much should we tip the taxi driver in Istanbul for the trip up the hill from the hotel? I really appreciate the good information you shared. Thanks.

[Chesie]

We were on the Amadagio last June Amsterdam to Budapest. We had Viktor as our Captain also. Lilo was our CD. She was absolutely fantastic and whatever came up she was there to solve. She does rotate ships. Hopefully you will have her. We loved her so much we purchased a GPS and named it "LILO". She never got us lost!! The rivercruise was the best we have been on

 

Enjoy!!

[CincyAL]

Really all you need except for Turkey are euros. The ship sells Bulgarian and Romanian money in sealed envelopes worth 10 euros. They charge 1/2 euro service fee (reasonable). If you do not open envelope you may exchange back. I found Romanian and Bulgarian money hard to spend, the small shops would rather you use euros or US dollars. Credit cards for anything large. I ended up using "left over" local currency in end of cruise "tip envelopes" for extra special staff members. I converted euros to turkish dollars in a street side exchange booth, I am sure that I lost a few pennies, however, it was safe & fast. Taxi drivers did not expect a tip (believe it or not), they always started to give us back exact change. Just have small bills or coins handy. Pay what is on the meter! The 1 turkish dollar is a coin, be careful it looks very similar to both the one & two euros coin. It is worth $.85 & the one euro about $1.50

[Emma Chisit]

Thanks, CincyAl. Very handy tip about the currency.

[BirthdayGirl30]

CincyAL,

 

It's looking like my husband and I may also be on the cheap seats on an AMA ship. Can you tell me how the windows in your room were? Could you see out of them when you were lying in bed, or did you need to be on top of the windows to see out? Or were they at the top of the room, just providing light, and no view. I'm a tiny bit concerned that we'll need to spring for the more expensive room to see outside.

[Besta]

CincyAL, thanks so much for the information on currency. That is exactly what I needed to know.

[CincyAL]

We found our two large windows more than adequate. They are just above water line and cannot be opened. They are not really designed to view out of while in bed. (They are better than similar deck level on Viking Ships) Good news-it is easier to keep the cabin dark early in the morning. The "French Balconies" on the 200 & 300 desk offer excellent observation and fresh air at a cost of $250 a day extra. Individual decision on how to spend your money?