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I had a lot of back and forth with customer service before things finally got resolved but it was better than my experience with TAP Air Portugal at the start of the pandemic.

You’ve got some competing interests there. The cruise does go through Geirangerfjord in the Spring and Summer itself but that’s also when the major lines show up too. We did it in January, skipped the Geirangerfjord excursion and never felt like we missed anything. You will sail through fjords throughout the entire trip.

When I had to be rebooked last year due to Polaris not being released, it took over a month to resolve everything. They did eventually reimburse me for flight changes but it was done through a bank transfer. It’s a small office so it might take time for them to get through everything.

Viva Cruises posted one that’s either a category upgrade or a 20% single supplement.

Just looked at the first one. 50% of a specific Grand European sailing Bucharest to Amsterdam. Bootable to the end of the promotion period.

Golubac Fortress…. Stopped there on my Viva cruise after visiting Lepenski Vir. It was blazing hot but the fortress was a sight to behold with a clear blue sky.

My Lidl normally has pasteis de nata in the bakery section on a regular basis.

My Viva cruise last year was on the Thomas Hardy and I really enjoyed the ship. She’s sailing for Riviera this year.

On my cruise it was both. There were a lot of $25 Amazon costumes, including mine, that night.

I will put in a vote for Viva Cruises. When comparing costs, I found them to be competitive and they’re all inclusive except for excursions which worked fine for me. It is German oriented but I still had a great time. Uniworld would be my second choice.

I did the train from Passau to Freising then bus to airport earlier this year. It was easy to do but the bus was very crowded. If you can get a train directly to the airport station, that would be my choice.

I only tip if I feel the guide was spectacular. On my cruise, it was only our guide in Passau who was an opera singer and stopped to give us spectacular renditions of “Ave Maria” and “The Sound of Music”. In Linz, I was intending on giving the guide a tip until she brought us into the large cathedral where there was a funeral occurring and kept bringing the group closer to the parishioners. I felt this was really disrespectful and left the building early.

It’s a shame you missed that portion of the Danube. It is a pleasant sailing and I really do like Bratislava.

Was it near a Lidl? Both my Viva and Uniworld cruises docked there.

Having lived in China, anything beyond Paris would be considered off the beaten path.

Had completely forgotten that an acquaintance is on a Viking Bucharest-Amsterdam cruise right now. He just posted that they’re making a ship swap but it also sounded like they’ve been bussed around a bit.

In April, I had the same issue especially after traveling to Dallas for work but it turned out to be strep.

As someone that did Danube cruises on both the Maria Theresa and the Thomas Hardy, I’ll take the Thomas Hardy every single time. I found the Maria Theresa’s furnishings overdone and, except for the bed, uncomfortable. Someone described the Maria Theresa decor as “Liberace threw up all over the ship” and that’s a pretty fair statement. It was especially annoying trying to find the door to the public restrooms the first time due to the decor.

Looks like Riverside bought them all according to the article below. They mention itineraries for all but the Bach and Mahler so Riverside must have already started looking for a buyer at the time of the article. Riverside Cruises Acquires Former Crystal River Fleet

It’s definitely interesting, however, my funniest visit was when one of the local company employees decided to organize a group dinner wishing the ruins when our Chinese engineers visited. They did not know what to make of the Roman food and, honestly, neither did I.

Are you near Xanten? I visited there a few times when I was employed by a company based in Wesel.

The S.S. Victoria will join the Uniworld fleet in 2024 while the S.S. Elisabeth will join in 2025. They’re the former Crystal Bach and Crystal Mahler. Uniworld Announces Two New Ships Coming To Its Fleet

I expected the Russian Border “visit” to be very similar to my experience in Nara, Estonia except there’s two castles across a river there.

Art Nouveau Walk in Ålesund - Was great for us as we had a hectic trip to get to the boat so the thought of 8 more hours to Geirangerfjord was just too much. It’s a walk around town and then a museum visit in the old apothecary. Guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Trondheim by vintage train - Was fun to ride in the trolley. You do go through more residential areas and you take it to the end where it turns around and comes back part way. You board a bus to get to it and then from it takes you through the city to the cathedral for a short stop then back to the boat. It wasn’t a bad trip. Experience Bodø and Saltstraumen - You board a bus and drive through Bodø to get to the Saltstraumen. You walk down underneath a bridge to see the swirling water. Would not do again. Just didn’t see the value. Dog sledding in Tormsø - Our favorite excursion but it is not cheap! Bus takes you to the dog sled center where our group was split in two. First group went out for the ride while the second got to learn about and meet the dogs. Then vice versa happens and everyone gathers for cake and hot drinks before returning to the boat. North Cape - Bus trip to the northern most point. It was a nice visit with a little museum after you brave the winds to get your selfie with the monument. Hammerfest Town Tour - It’s a bus ride through the town with a stop at a point overlooking it. If I recall correctly, there’s one other stop you get out at on this tour but it’s mostly sitting in a bus for an hour. You do this one southbound where there just aren’t many options for excursions. In other ports, we did get off and walk around. Biggest one for us was Kirkenes because our excursion choice, Russian Border, was cancelled due to lack of sign ups. We were also somewhat restricted because I was working in the evening.

jpalbany, is South African not operating non-stop from JFK? That’s how I got down to SA when I did my safari near Kruger. My family’s up by you but you’ll appreciate what my brother and his family went through to get to Seoul. They decided to fly out of PHL because it was significantly cheaper than ALB and I could take them down to the airport. Their route was PHL-YYZ-ICN but after 14 hours they had only made it to BOS as the PHL-YYZ was delayed enough that they missed their connection and BOS was the only place they could rebook them to for a flight to ICN. So, they wound up flying PHL-YYZ-BOS-ICN-YVR-YYZ-PHL. I have quick access to PHL for short trips to Europe as well. Love spending a long weekend in some of my favorite places.