Amsterdam to Budapest cruise

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8 yrs ago

Just had friends return. Thought this information be of help for some who may be contemplating the trip.

Firstly, they could not fault the cruise or the staff itself. Food fantastic and every whim was catered for.

Please be aware that it is pretty "full on"... the whole time and lots of cobblestones.

Not sure if it was APT or Scenic but it was one of the two companies.

(Their flight was 13 1/2 hours from Singapore. They had a 3 day stopover in Singers and they were glad they did. Also had two days on way back.)

On arrival in Amsterday in the morning they were taken straight to the ship. Once there the other passengers were still on board and everyone was milling around together...those leaving and those joining. After a while those leaving were put on one part of the ship and those arriving were put on another. They were not able to go to their cabins until after 3 p.m. as they were being serviced.

Unfortunately, those leaving the ship ALL had colds and within a few days all the newcomers came down with the same thing and this put a dampener on their trip. They went on all the tours etc because as they said "well, we had paid for them so we just felt we had to go".

Both couples suggested that the tour company should advise people going over that to leave a few days earlier and book into a hotel to get over the jet lag. Going straight from the plane to the ship was too much for them.

Also they felt that those leaving the ship should have no contact with those arriving at all. They should depart, the cabins serviced and the new passengers should not be ferried to the ship until it was ready to take them aboard which was mid afternoon.

Apparently this was happening with each cruise; the departing passengers were passing on colds etc to the new passengers.

So there you are....just thought I would pass this on.

9 comments

Banjo

8 yrs ago

Has anyone been on that Amsterdam to Budapest cruise? Would really like some feed back, wife and I are contemplating something like that for an important event next year.

Hope no one minds, but now andthen I'll bump this up so people can see it. More than one reply is more than welcome. Thanks

Peanuts

8 yrs ago

Banjo, i have been told by friends that did one of these river cruises that they would never do it again, their reasons being that due to the limited passengers that they carry, you are forced to be with the same people constantly, terrible if you really have nothing in common.My friends were seniors who found themselves sharing the voyage with a group of loud mouthed yobbos who thought the whole idea was to see who could out drink the other.

Fair Go

8 yrs ago

I have been on that cruise, but my friend and myself went from Prague to Paris. We went with APT and could not fault the trip from start to finish. Even though we missed the connection at Frankfurt airport (due to late arrival of our plane from Singapore), we were put on the next plane (an hour later) and when we arrived in Prague, we were still met by APT and driven to our hotel. APT cater for Australians and some New Zealanders, and on the whole everyone was pretty good. We did go on excursions every day, but that is what we went for. We were not pressured to rise early and most days left the boat about 9.00 am. We didn't have to go on every excursion, some people just stayed on board if they didn't feel up to an excursion on any given day. When we boarded the boat at Budapest, it was ready for us to go straight to our cabins. Some of the passengers did get colds, starting at Vienna, and we did have a number of doctors boarding at various stops up the rivers. Food was amazing, guides were fantastic and I found people in the 6 countries we visited very friendly and helpful. We also had some time to ourselves as well as the organised excursions. Majority of passengers were seniors, some very elderly but they were catered for with excursions that went at a slower pace. I would do another river cruise in a flash if I had someone to go with and the cash of course. I must add that if you didn't want to, you didn't have to spend any more money. There were a few things that were unplanned and we paid for, but you didn't have to go. Food was available just about 24 hours a day, as was drink. Would certainly recommend APT to anyone, the crew treated us all as VIPs.

Peanuts

8 yrs ago

We had a similar thing happen on my last trip but in reverse, which was horrible, we had passengers board the ship in Copenhagen with flue, within a week several passengers had caught it and were quite unwell including myself and a couple of my friends..

Banjo

8 yrs ago

Hi Peanuts, thanks for that. Sorry you had unpleasant experiences, I suppose like everything else it's just a matter of luck. Have been talking to a few people recently and most had positive excperiences, some however had same as you. I'm not one for cruises myself having been only on one, but my wife wants me to accompany her, so am thinking seriously about it. Cheers

Hello Banjo

Last year Fleur and her husband went on that particular cruise. From all accounts she had a wonderful time. However, she left yesterday for Melbourne with her hubby and mine for the races. The others are returning on Wednesday morning but Fleur is staying on with one of her kids until the weekend. Are you in a hurry to book? If so I could send her an email if you like, if you wanted more feedback.

Mari

Banjo

8 yrs ago

Thank you very much for your offer Mari. No we're not in a fighting hurry, but the travel agent said would be good to book by end November. Thanks for the offer of sending an email, but it ccan wait until the w/end. Lucky lot going to the races!

Cheers really appreciate it

Also had some more feedback from another friend who did the Canada/Alaska trip....I was quite surprised to hear that she and hubby were bored with the Rocky Mountaineer part of the trip. They were in the gold class and was quite surprised to hear her comment...but there you go. I think it was the sameness of the scenery... beautiful but all the same but two days was enough of it.

I have not done the trip myself but just passing on what she said.

Banjo

8 yrs ago

I'm surprised too, judging from pictures I've seen the Rocky mountains would be spectacular. Would appeal to me. Different people, different strokes I guess.

Sophie

8 yrs ago

Hello Banjo...Mari told me about your trip...I returned home last night and would certainly be very happy to give any feedback on the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise...which we did last year. We had a wonderful time. Please check your emails.

Fleur

Banjo

8 yrs ago

Thank you very very much Fleur. I have just replied.

Again thanks!

Banjo

8 yrs ago

It's a done deal now, booked our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise this morning. For booking early we got a huge discount and some travel vouchers. I thought the "discount" would come in handy to buy stuff for my workshop,but that thought was short lived - the wife says she needs a few new outfits for the trip! Ah well...

Omacarla

8 yrs ago

Just adding to that. We did APT Budapest to Prague and could not fault it. There were none of those hassles. You could tour or not tour, were advised if f it included much walking or climbing. We were aged 70 but still have contact. With friends in US, mother in her 50's and daughter late 20's, who both regard it as best trip ever, as did we. We had days in hotel before and after cruise and added extras before.

Omacarla

8 yrs ago

Banjo

8 yrs ago

There's a lot of excitment in our house, in nearly three weeks we leave for our Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise. But that's not what the excitment is all about, my wife and I saw something advertised here on YLC, thought we'd investigate, really liked the look of it and the price and have now added another leg to our journey!

We'll be sorting out all the details over the next couple of days and a big thank you to everyone who gave feedback.

cranky

8 yrs ago

Watching with interest as I would love to do that cruise Banjo...Dont forget a day by day report, highlights and lowlights on the hour..

Oh but by all means leave enough tome for your leisure...

Have a great time ,and stay safe...

By the way ,change your outfit..Its a bit smelly from sitting in that tree for so long...It may not be acceptable to the other passengers.....LOL

Image result for panda on a cruise

Banjo

8 yrs ago

Another week to go cranky, but I'm worn out, my wife insists I need some new togs. What's wrong with the old ones, I ask? Only to be ignored. Me in one of my new outfits

Image result for panda on the high seas

Sorry no day to day reports, the boss is going to throw my computer over board. Will tell you all about it when we return, which will be a while, because after the cruise we're taking the train from Budapest back to Vienna spending a couple of days exploring some more then fly to Marrakesh for our tour of Morocco.

cranky

8 yrs ago

Such a cutie aren'tcha?...LOLOL...

Bamboo wouldn't melt in your mouth......

Have a great trip.. :)

Sophie

8 yrs ago

Have a wonderful trip Banjo...have a drink for me at Rick's Cafe when you get to Casablanca...

Image result for rick's cafe casa

xoxoxoxo

Apparently the staff on the ship run a "book" on how many will die on the cruise....two died on my friend's cruise...so there you go LOL.

Banjo

7 yrs ago

Never heard of that "book". We've had a lovely cruise and thankfully no one died, no serious sickness that I heard of and I would do it again.

Must say though on our trip there weren't many seniors that could be the reason.

9 comments

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Amsterdam to Budapest cruise

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