OnTheJourney

What month did you go? We are going in April. Maybe that makes a difference in the current and how rough the water is.

Hi

I have been reading about how many people get sick on the ferry from Cozumel over to Playa del Carmen. I would not have expected this channel to apparently be as rough as it is based on reviews, and neither did I expect to hear about a ferry in the Caribbean rolling enough that people get really sick on it. It is said that the staff hands out little bags to everyone. And then with it being hot yet...so....since I am prone to motion sickness I was wondering about just staying on Cozumel and going to the ruins at San Gervasio. It sounds pretty nice and would avoid the 3.5 hours of travel over to Tulum.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Keith

Hi,

Going to Cozumel in a few months on the Grandeur. Which excursion would you suggest? It looks like CI is considerably farther than Tulum. Thanks for any suggestions.

Keith

It sounds like you did have an atypical reaction as the Stemetil should have stopped the nausea. Did you start taking it before you felt sick or after?

Buy the little bottle of Divertigo...I'll bet that you will NOT get nausea. If it works for otoconia attacks, I'll bet it would work on a cruise ship also. I never travel anywhere without it.

And yet for me the sea band works as it reminds me that I will not get sick.:D

LOL! I think I have to agree with this moreso than the idea that looking at the sea bands reminds one of the potential for seasickness, etc. I hadn't thought of that! I just don't like using those meds. I've found that what is often labeled as a "non-drowsy" formula winds up being just the opposite.

I am surprised that very little mention was made about wearing sea bands. I am very prone to motion sickness and yet enjoy cruising. To be quite honest, I hate all those types of medicines that make you drowsy. For me, even in pretty rough water, the sea bands are all I really need. I have used bonine on trips already, and didn't care for it since then I feel like I have to push myself to keep going on activities, etc.

All that being said, I am booked on a cruise to Antarctica and so am thinking that depending on how things are in the Drake Passage, I may well use dramamine along with the sea bands. There is also an excellent product called Divertigo. It is a mixture of essential oils that gets placed behind the ear. I am prone to otoconia attacks and it really helps to prevent nausea and vomiting, etc.

Don't rely solely on advice about there being relatively little motion just because you are on a big ship. The level of motion for the most part - especially in calmer waters - is certainly nothing like on a small boat, but don't be deceived by this. For many people - including me - the more gentle motion of the ship - the subtle yet perceptible pitching and rolling - is what can make me sick if I don't prepare myself for it. I don't take any chances. My wrist bands are on all the time whenever the ship is moving. I grew up in a family that went power boating nearly every vacation, and that sort of motion on a smaller boat never bothered me, even when lake water had white caps and the boat was really rocking. But the more subtle motion encountered on a cruise ship is, for me, far worse. Before my first cruise, other family members who had cruised told me.."you don't even know you're on a ship...."...IMHO this is simply not true. Except for being in port, I am constantly aware of the motion of the ship, even in the Caribbean although that is probably some of the calmest water around. I might advise caution about attending shows in the ship theater. Since most of the theaters I have been in are all the way forward (but I suppose they could be aft as well), there is much more motion encountered. Definitely be prepared for that. I have had to leave shows only once or twice and go back to my room, but not often. Again...in the theater, for me, I can't see the waterline and so it presents more of a problem.

Also, I agree totally about the mid-ship location being better, and probably a lower deck is a good idea too. But since I never cruise without at least a verandah room, I wind up on a higher deck anyway. I need to see the horizon and water since I think that helps my brain to reconcile what I'm feeling with what is actually going on. I don't think I'd fare very well in, for instance, an inside room where I can't see what's happening outside. I love having a balcony for that reason.

Anyway, don't let it stop you from going. If you follow all the advice you're getting here, you'll be fine.

Regards and bon voyage...

Keith

More interesting itinerary plans. Actually, I'm planning this already for next year. So are you flying into Prague initially and then renting a car? Or just using trains?

Ural guy,

That sounds like a great plan for your trip. Thanks for the input. I have used Tauck for a few land trips and always found them to be an excellent company to travel with, so I'm sure we'll be pleased either way as you mentioned.

This is a bit off-topic, but thought I'd throw it in anyway. I recently did a Baltic cruise and toured SPB with Alla Tours for the 3 days that we were in port. They are an excellent company to work with. Our guide spoke fluent English and our group only had 11 people. So I just thought I'd add this in the event that, no matter what ship you wind up taking to Russia, perhaps knowing about good and reputable tour companies - if you would have need of any - would be worthwhile. Good luck with everything. SPB is a pretty amazing place.

Hi,

I am trying to decide between this cruise and a considerably longer one (that goes all the way from Amsterdam to Black Sea). A few suggestions I have gotten in another thread is to split the trip up into two segments (Amsterdam to Budapest, and then the remaining eastern section).

The cruise I like for the Budapest to Black Sea is with Tauck and is only 7 actual cruise days and 12 days overall. So I'm looking for suggestions as to which one I should go with and, if I decide on doing the Budapest to Black Sea as a separate trip - how best to extend that trip to make it a bit longer. Maybe just add extra days in Budapest? The trip already includes some days sightseeing in both Budapest and Bucharest. I don't care to fly all the way to Europe for less than 2 weeks. Thanks for any ideas or recommendations. I have never river cruised before and so some here have suggested that perhaps a shorter one initially might be a good idea.

Another factor is that the Amsterdam to Budapest is available many more months than either the real long one I am considering (only spring / summer). Also, Tauck only runs the B to B cruise in spring and summer. Tauck Amsterdam to Budapest is 15 days overall, and the longer one that does the entire trip 24 days.

Keith

One thing to note regarding Tauck's river cruise insurance is that if you cancel your cruise prior to full payment only your deposit is refunded. The insurance you paid for when booking the cruise in nonrefundable.

Well....the actual cost of the insurance is never refundable to the best of my knowledge. Is that what you're saying? My concern is that the total cost of the trip, including air, is protected. I don't worry about "cancel for any reason" although that is certainly a nice 'peace of mind' feature.

Got2Cruise....yes...I used that 'insuremytrip' site last year when comparing quotes. It was really helpful. Thanks for mentioning it.

Host...yeah, really. LOL about the 'old geezer' rate from Allianz! I used to always go with Allianz for any trip we did, through our TA, and then once we crossed over into the next bracket, the price went through the roof. So for one of our last trips I went with the CSA Custom Luxe policy. Their price seemed very competitive and actually I had better coverage than with Allianz.

Thanks for the additional thoughts! Pacmom...that encourages me to go for the entire journey. On the flip side, Hydrokitty....that IS a great advantage in splitting the trip up..to add extra days in Budapest. I have another cruise in February 2017, so the May grand cruise is so close to the other one. If I could move the 2017 cruise out to 2018 (there are dates available for that...not sure about the cabin availability though), that would work out well. Oh well...the planning (and sometimes juggling things around a bit) is half the fun anyway!

Hi,

Just wondering. I usually shop around for my own insurance for a trip, although did go with Celebrity's insurance for an upcoming cruise.

Thanks,

Keith

In looking at these trips some more, it really boils down to the grand cruise only being 9 days longer than the shorter (Amsterdam to Budapest)...26 total days versus 17 (I am figuring in both a pre-day and the overnight flight date for either trip). So, for the sake of only 9 more days and being able to save the airfare to fly over there to complete the additional 7 cruise days from Budapest to Bucharest, I'm thinking maybe just go for the entire trip....have to look at the 3 itineraries (Grand, Amsterdam to Budapest, and Budapest to Bucharest) to really see how they compare.

Hi,

I have been looking at the Tauck Amsterdam to Budapest cruise and would like suggestions on when is best to go. The trip runs May through October.

Thanks for any thoughts..

Keith

Hydrokitty,

Funny about mentioning that there is always "room on the bus"! We were on a RCL excursion in Latvia and actually got left behind by our tour group leader. She left with the rest of the group and went back to the ship! Unbelievable! I made enough noise about that until I finally got some OBC towards our next cruise. Otherwise, they would have done nothing even though we made mention of it several times during the remainder of the cruise. We wound up going back to the ship with another tour group that had 'room on the bus'. Still...it was a bit alarming. We were not pleased that she did that. All day long during the excursion she NEVER counted her group members. Our guide in SPB (we used Alla Tours) was fantastic and ALWAYS counted his group members. Thanks again for more great advice. It sounds like perhaps October might be just a tad late in the season.

Even though it might seem "good on paper" to go from one end to the other, you might end up with sensory overload, and in the end all the magnificent experiences blended into one. Also, as previously pointed out, you might not enjoy a river cruise as much as you imagined. A better idea is to add pre and post cruise stays on either side of your river cruise.

 

Then next time, you can either do a long one, two short ones, or even a river cruise and an ocean cruise together.

Great advice! Thanks. I really needed to come here for some good suggestions.

Bill and Mary Ann,

Thanks for the encouragement to keep the Antarctica trip! I am hoping for some of those smooth waters.

@3500 cruise days, you say? That is pretty amazing and is like spending nearly 10 years on the water!! You must REALLY love cruising.

Hydrokitty,

That is great information! Thanks so much! You pretty well have me convinced that splitting into 2 separate trips is the way to go. Funny you mention the ballet in Russia...we did that on our Baltic trip. It made for a LONG day but was so worth it. The performance was absolutely stunning. We saw Swan Lake. As to insurance, lately I've been getting our own. I price around and see what comes out best. I always used to get it through our TA...the name of the company eludes me just now...but what happened is that the price of it went up drastically due to our ages having moved into the next bracket...that is when I decided to look around.

Would you suggest October or May? The Amsterdam to Budapest runs more often than the Budapest to Bucharest. The latter is only available May-August, but I could get the former in October. We already have a cruise booked for February 2017, and so May is only 3 months out...a bit closer together than we usually book cruises. And yet almost everything is sold out for October 2016 already, so I may have to go into 2017 either way.

LOL about your car trips and the pre-planning. I thought only I was so obsessed with booking everything ahead of time. I just also would not feel comfortable with 'winging it'...the total pre-planning started when my daughter was quite young and I didn't want to have to worry about finding places to stay by the time late afternoon came along each day. Also, then we're free to just follow the schedule and KNOW where we're going each day!! Kind of like an organized land tour only for 2 people!! Oh well, smaller groups are nicer anyway....:)

BTW...how did you find the Moselle trip? My TA always used to tell me to try and include the Moselle on a river trip, that it is so beautiful...

We have similar items on the bucket list...although I have my heart set on a land tour of AU / NZ....same problem...the one I like is 28 days. And to split THAT trip up means so much money AND time for air travel. Better to do both in one shot.

I just went back and counted up the cruise time on the Amsterdam - Budapest Tauck trip. There are at least 3.5 days of just cruising, out of 14. Mostly half days, one full day. That sounds great to me.

 

But in general, ..., if someone thinks that a particular river cruise (or ocean for that matter) is too port-intensive, one can just skip a port and be at leisure. There's nothing or no one that says you have to do every excursion!

Wendy...yes...the Amsterdam to Budapest really looks great. That is probably one of the most popular river trips out there. But I'm also intrigued by what lies west of Budapest. I just love the idea of going all the way from one sea to the other...just sounds like such a neat way to see so many countries in one fell swoop. Tough decision! As you said, one can always skip a few excursions. The way DW and I travel, though, is to generally try and do as much as we can. Even with a road trip that I set up, the itinerary is locked in place with all hotels already booked along the way - so I approach a road trip more like a pre-set itinerary that one experiences in an escorted land tour. I know this sounds really weird, but I don't want the indecision of how far we're going to go each day and where we're staying at night, etc. By figuring it all out ahead of time, I can pre-decide how much time we want to spend at each attraction before moving on...usually works out really well. I do the same with cruises...having all excursions chosen and paid for well in advance of the cruise. I would never want to be one of those people all crowded around the explorations desk during a cruise trying to pick excursions. The downside to that, of course, is that I can't use OBC to pay for ship excursions.

CruisingAlong -

You're right...in looking back I did say about all the yard work in spring and so prefer the fall, but from what others are saying I can see now where May would be a much nicer time. I like how the shorter, western segment is offered in more months than the grand cruise, and yet the eastern segment is only May - August also. I have done some longer trips - around 3 weeks or more - that I really enjoyed, but that was back in the day where I had family members to take care of pets and also did not have a pool. Thanks again for your replies. I really appreciate it.

Good Morning! Similar to you' date=' I struggle with the notion of long trips due to home issues, specifically, the care of my dog. I won't put her in a kennel so finding a house sitter, assuming I don't have a relative or friend nearby, is always a problem. We're scheduled for an 18 day trip in September - a river cruise (with extensive pre and post trips) and its giving me tremendous angst knowing we'll be gone that long. However, I was able to find a sitter (a 40-50ish couple and the husband's job allows him to telecommute) that will stay in our home and take care of our dog, house, plants, mowing, etc. This particular couple do not charge any fee in that they're looking to travel and see the states and its their way to do so without any financial burden (they sold their house and their kids are grown and have their own homes in case they need a place in between sitting gigs.) While I didn't find them on a particular website, I know there are quite a number of web sites with similar people. One that I've looked at is LuxuryHouseSitting.com. You may be able to find someone there or via one of the several other sites out there in google land. I do believe that most people will charge for their services....we just got lucky with this particular couple. I hate the idea of any pet in a kennel. As someone who worked in the dog industry for several years, I know there are kennel owners that should be out of business. (I'm not saying all are bad, of course, so please everyone, don't go crazy on me.)[/quote']

 

The couple you found sounds great! That will really help take away alot of worry when being away from home. I think more and more about moving into a 55+ retirement community at some point. That would make things so much easier to travel! No extensive yard, probably no plants, no pets, etc. Close the door and go.

 

We do have a great kennel for both the cat and dog. I take them to separate kennels since the one I use for the cat is really good, and same for the dog. But the place where I take the dog is not very nice for cats, and vice-versa. I know..sounds a bit over-the-top and it does make for about 90 minutes in travel time including dropping off and picking up. But it is just one of those things that has to be done in order to go away. What always strikes me is how planning for a 5-day trip is really just as complicated as for a 2-week trip! I pretty much have to do the same level of preparation, with the exception of more or less food to get ready for the pets while boarded.

Let's see if I have this right:

1. You don't like to be away from home for more than 2 weeks.

2. You don't want to pay for airfare for a trip that is less than 2 weeks.

3. You've never done a river cruise but you are looking at one which is 24 days long.

4. At the end of your 2 week Baltic cruise you were exhausted and don't want to repeat a port intensive cruise again.

5. You don't like when the Grand Cruise is offered.

 

What do you like about this trip? Sound like this is not the trip for you. You have nothing good to say about the prospect of the trip. Why are you even asking? I've done long trips and they are wonderful. I personally wouldn't go on a vacation that is less than 3 weeks. I get a house sitter and don't worry about anything. I can completely disengage from the normal trivia and hassles.

I tolerate lots of things in order to travel, and so don't rule out any trip. For example, I am quite prone to motion sickness and yet don't stop myself from cruising. In fact, I have a cruise booked to Antarctica and yet am aware that I may get really sick from the Drake Passage crossing. But I will take that chance since Antarctica has been a dream trip of mine for a long time. Traveling in general is a passion of mine that I hope to continue for quite some time yet (although things don't get any easier now that I am in my sixth decade of life!). So, yeah, I am concerned about the pets being in the kennel but I do it since it is part of what needs to be done in order to travel. While I do worry about things at home while away, that does not stop me from traveling. I am not one to 'take it easy' on a trip (although DW and I often ask each other...when is one of these trips going to be relaxing?!). We find car journeys to be the most relaxing of all, but enjoy cruising and escorted tours as well. I have no problem with when the Grand Cruise is offered and don't recall saying that. Quite the contrary, May is ideal for me. I have no problem paying for airfare but just don't consider that I'm getting full value to pay for flights to Europe and then only being there for under 14 days.

What I like about the trip is: 1) Have never river cruised, heard great things about it from other family members and so want to do it 2) Love the itinerary. If it's some place I've not yet been to that sounds interesting, I'm up for it 3) Have traveled with Tauck twice already and loved it and so would like to see how their river cruises are 4) Have been to Europe on several occasions and loved it every time, so always looking forward to going back for more 5) Have done a day cruise on part of the journey (around Durnstein) - loved that and so am ready to see more.

All the above being said, you raise an excellent point when you say that I've never river cruised and yet am looking at doing 24 days. Somehow it seems much better to try a shorter one since I have read around the boards that many people who have done ocean cruises do not necessarily like river cruising. So I thank you for your observations. I am sorry to have appeared so negative. I really wouldn't be here asking so much about all this if I truly didn't want to go, but it probably seems a bit odd given everything I've mentioned. The hang-up about not wanting to travel during the swim season is just something I have to deal with. It comes from 34 years of only getting to travel in June, July, or August! You also raise an interesting point about getting a house sitter. That is something I've never done before but it might be worth looking into. The thing there is, your really need someone you can trust. Obviously a relative or family member is ideal.

Hydrokitty,

Sorry to hear your HAL Alaska didn't go as well as you would have hoped. We also went with HAL on the Veendam, sailed north and loved it. The scenery just kept getting better and better as the cruise continued.