Snapshot Story: Eastern Europe River Cruise

Thanks to our client Lindsay for sharing this picture and her and her husband’s experience on a Viking Eastern European River Cruise.

lindsayrivercruise

We had the BEST time!!  We enjoyed the entire experience and already looking forward to the next river cruise!  We are hooked.  The shore excursions were really neat and I like how everything is optional.  We were able to explore out on our own.  Everything was walkable and easy to get around when we didn’t stay with the group.  Eastern Europe has such a rich history and amazing culture.  My favorite country we visited was Bulgaria. I loved the Belogradchik Fortress and I enjoyed their Bulgarian yogurt.  Thank you for helping us plan such a memorable trip.

The above photo is a view from Buda Hill Castle. It is right when you get off the funicular.  This picture represents all my “firsts”!  My first European city, my first castle visit, my first funicular ride, the first river cruise……

FUN FACT:   I was told that a Ukranian sculptor created tons of miniature statues and scattered them all over Budapest when he moved there in 2016.  This rabbit was the one and only I was able to find during my short visit.  (First mini statue sighting) 

If you would like to take a river cruise like Lindsay and her husband did, we are glad to help!  Contact us for details and a no obligation price quote. ... Read More

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Disney’s Danube River Cruise Gets Good Reviews

We love River Cruising and we are excited that Adventures by Disney is now offering this wonderful experience to families.  Disney, in partnership with AMA Waterways, has designed river cruise ships specifically for families.  The AMA/Disney ships, for example, have staterooms that can hold parents and kids (most other river cruise ships only have staterooms for two).  Add to this expert Adventures by Disney guides to make a Disney river cruise a fun experience for the whole family.

Watch this video to hear testimonials from families on Disney’s first River Cruises this summer:

If you would like more information or a no obligation price quote on a Disney River Cruise we can help!  Contact us today.

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Avalon Waterways 7 night River Cruise on the Danube (2008)

In the summer of 2008 I was excited to try a new cruise experience – sailing the Danube through parts of Hungary, Austria, and Germany on the Avalon Artistry. After sailing on 18 different ocean cruises I had some questions about my first river cruise:

* How would this cruise compare to my previous ocean cruises?
* Will I be comfortable on a much smaller ship? Will I miss all of the features of the bigger ocean cruise vessels?
* Will the shore excursions be interesting? Is a river cruise really one of the best ways to see Europe as advertised?

I answer these questions and more in my trip report below. Sailing on the Artistry was one of my best cruises ever! I rate in my descriptions each part of the trip on an “A to F” scale. I generally gave high marks to everything (grade B or higher).

By Tim Larison, Master Cruise Counselor (MCC)


Click To See My Pictures

 

Cruising the Danube


One of the most enjoyable features of the cruise for me was watching the scenery go by as we sailed up the Danube.   I awoke at 6 a.m. most mornings and went outside to take pictures of the beautiful surroundings.  We saw old churches, castles, and small towns amidst the lush greenery of the river valleys we sailed through.

During selected parts of the journey our cruise director Hans described the sights to us from the top “Sun Deck”.  For an ex-engineer like myself I also marveled at how the river “locks” worked.  We passed through 26 locks in all on our 7 day journey – the lock would raise or lower our ship to the next water level so we could continue sailing.

This sailing part of the cruise was the most relaxing to me.  It reminded me of cruising the quiet waters of the inside passage in Alaska, only on a smaller ship and closer to the shore.  Grade A

Shore excursions
While this cruise had its share of quiet times sailing the Danube, it was an active cruise, too.  At every stop we had a choice of one or two shore excursions.  In this section I describe the excursions I took.  Some of the tours were included in the cost of the cruise (I label those “included”) and some were at an additional cost (I label those with “fee”).

On many of the excursions Avalon gave us radio receivers.  Each tour participant received a headset and the guide’s comments were broadcast to the headset.  Often our tour group was large (over 30 people) and having the headset allowed me to hear the guide even if I was outside of normal hearing distance.  This was an innovative way to take a tour that I hadn’t experienced before.

Vienna Concert (fee)
We arrived at our first stop, Vienna, on Monday night.  Here I attended the “Sounds Of Vienna” classical music concert.  The presentation was in the Kursalon Wien concert hall, a setting where famous composers Johann Strauss and Johann Strauss II performed in the 1800’s.  The concert also featured a male and a female opera singer along with a classical dance pair.

The sounds from the small orchestra were amazing as the musicians played many famous pieces from Mozart, Strauss, and others.  The orchestra did not have a conductor;  the Avalon program explained “this special style of music-making goes back to the time of Josef Lenner and Johann Strauss, who both led their orchestras from the position of first violin.”

I was hesitant to attend the concert at first.  Back home I am more comfortable at an NFL football game than a classical concert!  But the quality of the performances and the easily recognizable tunes made this a very enjoyable evening for me.  Grade A.

Walking tour of Vienna (included)
On Tuesday morning we took our first “included” excursion – a good basic walking tour of the historic district of Vienna.  The best features of the tour were:

  • A knowledgeable local guide, Thomas, who told us interesting stories.
  • Gazing upward inside of the huge St Stephens gothic cathedral, one of the most impressive cathedrals I have seen.
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