Just back, Emerald Waterways Splendours of Europe Amsterdam to Budapest. Review

.... Do you remember what the cost was for the all-inclusive drink package?

On our upcoming Emerald Star's Oct.17 Bucharest to Budapest voyage, we get the free Premium Drink Package in our "A" category booking.

Really excellent review of your Emerald trip. We cruised Emerald in 10/15 from Amsterdam to Basel and had the same basic experiences. We're now considering a Danube cruise in July 2018. After reviewing options offered by AMA, Avalon, Viking and Emerald, we're thinking Classic Prague and Danube Delights on Emerald is the right choice for us. We feel it's an excellent value. We like that Emerald has a mix of Australians, British and North Americans. Do you remember what the cost was for the all-inclusive drink package?

I'm really sorry but I don't remember what the drinks packages cost. We just paid out of pocket for extra cocktails , bubbly and beer etc.

Andona

Really excellent review of your Emerald trip. We cruised Emerald in 10/15 from Amsterdam to Basel and had the same basic experiences. We're now considering a Danube cruise in July 2018. After reviewing options offered by AMA, Avalon, Viking and Emerald, we're thinking Classic Prague and Danube Delights on Emerald is the right choice for us. We feel it's an excellent value. We like that Emerald has a mix of Australians, British and North Americans. Do you remember what the cost was for the all-inclusive drink package?

Weezo - we did the Classic Prague and Danube Delights in late May 2016 ( Bud to Nuremberg, bus ride to Prague) and enjoyed it very much! I'm currently trying to organize friends for a Rhine cruise in 2018. With respect to extended alcohol package, I think it's something like 20 Euro a day. (note - sometimes Emerald offers it as a free booking perk, at least I 've seen it here in the American market)

Great review thanks. We are doing the same journey in a week so this is all very helpful. Much appreciated. N

Sonoran_cruiser......do you remember what bus line you took from Nuremburg to Prague....and if so, would you recommend it? Did you buy tickets on line before you left for the trip?

We also just returned from an Emerald Waterways cruise from Bucharest to Budapest. We were supposed to be on the Sun, but because of water levels, we were switched to the Sky, which is very similar. (Most of the review applies equally to the Sky.) We did not have the drawer under the sink in the bath or the area to put on makeup. Nonetheless, the amount of storage was amazing. We only used about half of it.

With regard to wifi, it was spotty in our cabin, which was on the top deck, aft. In the lounge, however, the wifi was very good and we only had issues when going through the locks.

During our cruise we hit record high temperatures. In Belgrade it was 106F (41C). Instead of walking around after the coach/walking tour, we enjoyed the pool. Not many people used the pool even though it was very hot for about half of the cruise. That was fine with us as we enjoyed it a lot.

We loved the ship and thought the crew and food were great. Our travel agent threw in the beverage package, which was a nice extra. We chose Emerald as they were set up to be geared toward a younger crowd. The passenger demographic, however, is almost the same as Scenic, the parent company. At 57, I was, by far, one of the youngest on the ship.

While we loved the ship, the itinerary left a bit to be desired. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot to see along the banks for most of the trip and there is a lot of time spent on coaches, up to 2 hours at a time. We will go on Emerald again, but will look for an itinerary that stops at town centers and has walking tours instead of mostly coach tours.

Two of us will be on the similar Bucharest/Budapest voyage by the "Star" in the cool October this year. The river drought should be over then. Are there different tours to participate per port? Are all tours start in early morning (around 9:30 am) or there are afternoon ones on certain ports? Are the ports scenes touristic enough to explore on our own with ease? (Louis)

Hi all,

We've just returned from our first River Cruise and knowing there was not a lot of information about Emerald Waterways I thought I'd give some information back about our experience.

We cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest on the Emerald Sun, embarkation was 4th May.

I have copied all the daily program sheets to a PDF and will include the link here

 

The daily sheet was left on our bed every evening during dinner as part of the evening turndown service. There was also a short Port talk every evening in the lounge before dinner where our cruise director went through the details for the following day and also discussed any upcoming Extra excursions. In the document I've also included the sheet of information we were given about the extra excursions. Finally on the last page you can see the cover of the 450 page guidebook that we received that covered all the sights from Amsterdam to Bucharest.

 

Arrivals: We had planned some of our own ( car) touring before the cruise and so did not use the free transfers from the airport. We were travelling with friends, some of whom were staying at the Emerald hotel in Amsterdam and they were provided with free transfers to the boat from the hotel.

 

Demographic: Our group of friends are all in their mid to late 50s. There were a few other groups/couples on the boat our age or younger, the average age of the majority of passengers seemed to be late 60s. Our cruise had a large proportion of Australians and Canadians, with a handful of people from the United Kingdom and America.

 

Cabin: We had a Panorama Balcony Suite on the top deck. These have a small strip of timber flooring near the window and a small coffee table and two chairs on it. They have the drop down window that gives you the effect of an "indoor Balcony" . We dropped this a few times and enjoyed the fresh air.I have nothing to compare the size to as I've never done any previous cruising, River or Ocean. The bed was very comfortable and the storage was plentiful and well designed. I found room for all our clothes and bits and pieces. We had heaps of coat hangers and were invited to ask for more if we needed them. We had bathrobes and really good slippers, I'm not sure if you get robes in all cabin classes though. The lighting in the cabin was good, and there were blockout and sheer blinds so you could still see out and retain your privacy ( useful when in dock or rafted with another boat)

 

Some people are happy with cabins on the lowest deck but personally we were glad we were on the top deck. Its on the same level as the lounge which was nice when getting to and fro within the boat.

 

Bathroom: The bathrooms are cosy but there was a large drawer under the sink and a wall cupboard for extra storage. The showers were a reasonable size, good water pressure and plenty of hot water, although the temperature of the water fluctuated a bit. Nice toiletries and plenty of them.

 

Cabin service: The cabins were serviced daily, the times varied a bit but were always finished by early afternoon. Every evening during dinner they would come to the room for turndown service, chocolates on the pillow, Next days activity sheet on the bed, fresh towels, blinds down and lights turned to low with the "fireplace" playing on the TV.

 

Lounge: The Horizon lounge was large, and had a really good mix of comfortable lounge seating as well as tables and chairs near the bar and towards the back. There was an excellent coffee machine which was available all day and night, we saw plenty of people going down in the pyjamas in the morning to grab and early morning coffee.

 

Pool Lounge: The pool and its lounge area ( Riverview Lounge) provided a nice alternative place to sit and relax. We swam a couple of times, the pool is small but it was a bit of fun swimming and watching the river go past. In fine weather they opened the roof top over the pool, but it was a bit cool for that on several days so the rooftop was closed most days. There is a coffee machine, and biscuits in this lounge. There was a phone from which you could call the main bar and have drinks brought down to the pool area if you wanted them.

 

Spa: I booked in for a massage one day and thoroughly enjoyed it in the small massage room.

 

Sun deck: We liked the artificial grass on the sundeck as well as the abundant tables chairs and sun lounges. There's a three hole put-put golf area and a tic-tac-toe area, both of which provide about 10 minutes worth of novelty. There is a walking track around the outside of the deck which was popular with those trying to keep their step count up! The one thing we found disappointing was that we had been unaware how many days the sundeck would be unavailable, at least 6 days it was blocked off. We understand the necessity of doing it but it was still disappointing on nice sunny days.

 

Restaurant: The Reflections Restaurant is on the middle deck. It was a large airey space with the 10 seat Captains table near the entry. Along the windows were a series of 2 seater tables, each one in close proximity to a table of 4. These could be pushed together to make tables of 6. There were also several round tables of 6 near the windows and, in at least one family group, this was able to seat 7 . IN the middle of the room were a number of round tables of 6 and about 6 rectangular tables of 4. We were a group of 8 and asked if it was OK to have two tables of 4 pushed together for us, the waiters were very happy to do this for us and after a few nights they just left the tables pushed together for us. The Captains table was used by the Captain and Owner Suite guests at the two special dinners but otherwise was available for anyone on other nights. The service was very good, the waiters came around frequently to refill wine glasses etc and we were welcome to take a full glass away with us to the lounge at the end of dinner. We became very friendly with the two young men who served our table each night.

 

Breakfast & lunch: You have two options for breakfast , the expansive buffet breakfast in the restaurant or a light breakfast in the lounge. We enjoyed both but preferred the light breakfast as the lounge was much more peaceful and it also prevented us from overeating! There is a bar table across the front of the boat, and this was set for breakfast each morning, we liked sitting here and watching the mornings on the river. You have the same two options for lunch. Again we mainly ate the light lunch because I'm not a fan of big restaurant buffets, too much noise and too much queuing!

 

Dinner: On the first night and the night of the Optional concert excursion in Vienna, dinner was a buffet. On the Welcome Dinner night and the Farewell Dinner there was a special 5 course menu. Every other night dinner was a 4 course meal served to the table. There was usually 2 choices for appetizer, soup, 3 choices for Main course ( always one meat, one fish and one vegetarian) and 4 choices for dessert ( generally a cake/torte/strudel etc, fresh fruit salad, a special ice cream dish and a cheese platter) It sounds like a lot but the actual serves were very small, so I had no difficulty eating 4 courses most nights. We noticed one table ordered an extra plate of chips every night. The food was always presented beautifully and was generally well cooked and tasty, however I would have to say that it was a little on the unexciting side when it comes to stronger flavours. The soups in particular had a tendency to be a bit bland.

 

Evenings: On 5 evenings they converted the pool area to a cinema and showed a movie. On these nights there was no entertainment in the lounge other than music by the resident musician ( who was very good). On 3 nights there was a trivia or game activity in the lounge, these were well organised and lots of fun. On one night the Crew put on a show and there was also a Disco Night which was very popular.

 

Daily activities: Every day there was a walking tour or , in Vienna and Budapest a bus tour with stops. They always had a "gentle walkers" group and on a couple of occasions an "active walkers" group. The guides varied but were generally interesting and informative. We found sometimes the walking tours were a bit slow and so we tended to break off and do our own thing.

 

Extra Excursions: My husband did the Brahaus tour which he thoroughly enjoyed. We also did the Schonnbrun Palace tour and the Evening concert in Vienna, the concert was one of the highlights of the trip for us. A couple of our friends did the Cesky Krumlov day trip and enjoyed it, we visited Cesky Krumlov after the cruise on our driving tour and also loved it. Three of our group did the Bike Ride in the Wachau Valley and enjoyed it, they are all fit and regular riders and had no problems but there were others that found it a bit too challenging.

 

Boat Bikes: The Bikes for the Organised bike tour were NOT the boat bikes, they were brought in specially for that tour. The boat bikes don't have gears and would not really be suitable for anything other than a gentle ride along flat ground.

 

Laundry: When you board there is a laundry bag and price list provided. Wait a few days and they will have a special offer that is worth using. As many clothes as you can cram in the bag, washed, ironed and folded for 24 Euro, or Washed and folded for 19 Euro.

 

Alcohol: We found the wine served at dinner was mostly fine. We didn't purchase any additional alcohol packages, just paid out of pocket for a pre dinner drink in the bar or in the lounge in the evenings if we wanted one. For us this was better value than any of the packages.

 

Hope that helps anyone looking for information. I'm happy to answer specific questions too.

 

Andona

Thank you so much for your details review...am looking forward to our 2018 Lisbon to Nice cruise.

Really excellent review of your Emerald trip. We cruised Emerald in 10/15 from Amsterdam to Basel and had the same basic experiences. We're now considering a Danube cruise in July 2018. After reviewing options offered by AMA, Avalon, Viking and Emerald, we're thinking Classic Prague and Danube Delights on Emerald is the right choice for us. We feel it's an excellent value. We like that Emerald has a mix of Australians, British and North Americans. Do you remember what the cost was for the all-inclusive drink package?

Pretty sure it's euro 19.90 per person per day. But you can start when you want and I assume finish the same if you change your mind

Happy to help! We also wrestled prior to the cruise with the "dress code" question.

On most nights there was a mix from a few fairly casual people to "casual chic". Generally the majority of people changed for dinner but for most nights that just meant a collared shirt and trousers or jeans for the men and nice trousers/pretty top for the ladies , or on the warmer days there were some sundresses worn. On the two specials nights the majority of women wore some blingy jewelry or dressier top and some of the men wore jackets ( but a minority, I'd say only about a dozen?)

 

I only took a couple of "dressy" tops and On several evenings I just dressed up a nice t shirt with a pretty silky scarf or a colorful necklace. ( I took a few scarves, they weigh next to nothing and were a great way to change the look from day-to-night with my shirts) I took a couple of pairs of trousers that I rotated for dinners but also wore nice jeans a couple of nights.

I did take heels but only wore them once, mostly I wore a pair of pretty flat shoes, much more comfortable!

 

 

Hope that helps :)

 

Andona

Absolutely agree this

Is... on our cruise, I often wore the same pants that I had worn during the day and just changed the top...yes the scarves and jewellery help the look... smart casual is the go.. hubby was pants/ jeans and a shirt only...no coats or ties to be seen

:eek:

Two of us will be on the similar Bucharest/Budapest voyage by the "Star" in the cool October this year. The river drought should be over then. Are there different tours to participate per port? Are all tours start in early morning (around 9:30 am) or there are afternoon ones on certain ports? Are the ports scenes touristic enough to explore on our own with ease? (Louis)

We cruised from Budapest to Bucharest...

It certainly is different from Amsterdam to Budapest, but equally good..we DID have some hour long bus trips but I loved seeing how the other half live, so to speak.

There were a few towns that you could get out and wander to your hearts content...amazing to see the war damage done to some of these towns..

Take the chance, it is worth the visit

:eek:

 

 

We cruised from Budapest to Bucharest...

It certainly is different from Amsterdam to Budapest, but equally good..we DID have some hour long bus trips but I loved seeing how the other half live, so to speak.

There were a few towns that you could get out and wander to your hearts content...amazing to see the war damage done to some of these towns..

Take the chance, it is worth the visit

Thanks for the insight.

Andona - Thank you a million for the awesome review. Emerald should employ you as their on-line concierge.

I taken the liberty to share it with the couple we will be traveling with for their information too.

You have answered everything I needed to know for our Oct 11 Amsterdam to Budapest cruise.

BUT of course my wife has just one more question - are their irons on board to touch up her clothes ?

Thank you in advance.

Jerry

I'm sure UNIWORLD is one of the few river cruise lines that have a guest laundry on board. It was fabulous and such a help. Other lines seem to charge a fee to wash and iron.

[There are no irons in the cabin, nor can you bring a travel iron. The ship provides laundry/ironing service for a fee.quote=JRice;54216667]Andona - Thank you a million for the awesome review. Emerald should employ you as their on-line concierge.

I taken the liberty to share it with the couple we will be traveling with for their information too.

You have answered everything I needed to know for our Oct 11 Amsterdam to Budapest cruise.

BUT of course my wife has just one more question - are their irons on board to touch up her clothes ?

Thank you in advance.

Jerry

Thank you so much for posting this information, Andona, particularly the daily ship bulletin . We leave this week for the same cruise on the Emerald Dawn and had a number of specific questions about itinerary which you answered.

This isn't unique to Emerald. There are low bridges, so the wheelhouse needs to be lowered and the side railings on the sundeck brought down to deck level. When this happens they close the sundeck. I don't know how they decide whether to leave them down between bridges or bring them up and put them down again at the next bridge, but it takes time and effort, so they likely leave them down.

Do you remember where on the river they closed the top deck? Was it 6 days in a row?

Do you remember where on the river they closed the top deck? Was it 6 days in a row?

Sorry, I don't remember how many days in a row it was, or exactly where it was either.

Perhaps I can help a little. On the Amsterdam to Budapest route it appears to start when you enter the Main at Mainz, i.e. a few hours before you get to Frankfurt or thereabouts. Along the Main and into the Main Danube Canal (whole or part of it) and possibly a short stretch of the Danube. This I deduct from what past cruisers have reported. Not on the Rhine and not from Passau to Budapest. 6 days in a row sounds a bit long but perhaps a past cruiser can recall how long it was. It would certainly be too much effort for the crew to deal with the sundeck before and after every bridge...

notamermaid

Some of the cruise lines (Avalon is one) have two sections of the sundeck so that one--usually in front of the wheelhouse) is lower than the main section. While it won't accommodate everyone, it does allow some of the passengers to sit up top in river sections where the bridges are low.

Our Uniworld ship had a forward deck (not called a sundeck) that could at a squeeze accommodate most of the passengers outside. The alternative venue for viewing was the lounge on the same level; not outdoors but with good visibility. If I remember correctly, we have about 100-110 people on board, with a potential complement of 132 (I think).

There were times that we could almost touch the bridges above us, it was so low. We were told not to stand in certain spots.

I don't recall exactly but 6 days sounds about right as described above. There were times when a portion of it was open. In port for example and once when going through one of the really deep locks in the evening. Frankly I was surprised how little the sun deck was used other than by the smokers. Even when it was closed, there was usually room outside in front of the lounge.

Thank you so much for this excellent review. I am in the early planning stages for a river cruise with my group of travelling friends (probably in 2019). We have done ocean cruises but none of us have done river cruising. Looking at Cruise Critic sparked my interest in Emerald and your review really has me leaning toward them. Your file with the daily itineraries was perfect! Thanks again.

Thank you so much for starting this thread Andona and to all others who have contributed to this. Has been very helpful with all of the added links for planning our May 2019 river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. Nice to hear that the evenings aren't too "dressy". As we will be away for 8 weeks, are looking at the "E" class cabins and wonder if anyone has stayed there, what they thought and if any of the "E" cabins are better than the others or would "D" cabins be worth the extra money.

Thanks.

Thank you so much for starting this thread Andona and to all others who have contributed to this. Has been very helpful with all of the added links for planning our May 2019 river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. Nice to hear that the evenings aren't too "dressy". As we will be away for 8 weeks, are looking at the "E" class cabins and wonder if anyone has stayed there, what they thought and if any of the "E" cabins are better than the others or would "D" cabins be worth the extra money.

 

Thanks.

Sorry but I can't help with the D or E cabins because we stayed in an A cabin on the second (which is the main) deck.

Our cabin was well appointed, had plenty of storage and was enjoyable to be in, day or night.

We enjoyed being on this deck because it was fully above the water level.

The D and E cabins are partially below river level so you may feel claustrophobic because you only have a small upper window.

Also, the second level housed the dining room and was the level at which you embarked and disembarked. (Except for a few times when we had to dock next to another ship).

The lounge/bar/coffee bar is on the third level.