tarheel423

We were on Tauck Treasures in July from Bucharest to Amsterdam. The upper deck was closed 5 days due to low bridges - beginning the morning we docked in Regensburg. It reopened when we got to Rüdesheim. The area in front of the wheelhouse remained open.

One final note on our Black Sea to North Sea cruise before signing off:

According to our captain’s farewell remarks, we covered 2,030 miles, 72 locks, 300 sailing hours, and 3 rivers.

I don’t know if you are staying on an Avalon extension or on your own. We enjoyed seeing Peleş Castle but that was an option on our cruise. On our free day in Bucharest, we went to see the Palace of Parliament. You can only get tickets 24 hours in advance. I had contacted our hotel’s concierge in advance and she was able to get the tickets for me. If you go, just be sure to take your passport with you - you will have to show it to enter.

We’re home now having traveled from the Black Sea to the North Sea. No issues on any of the rivers.

This may be the ship. We’re approaching Regensburg. 

To Steamboats - where are you? We’re in Budapest today having come from Constanța and yesterday was the first cloud we’ve seen and it wasn’t very big. It’s gotten a little hazy here in Budapest. As might be expected, there are LOTS of riverboats in Budapest. We tied up next to the dock then another ship tied up to us. Now the positions are reversed. As I understand it, the ship that will be leaving first will probably be on the outside. Also, the ship that is disembarking passengers and their luggage will be against the dock. As for the heat, AccuWeather tells me the feel like temp is 102°. The issue is there is no respite. None of the buildings/churches have air conditioning and the AC on the excursion buses is weak.

It’s been about 100° F (with the heat index a little more) every day. It looks like it will be cooler as we approach Germany. We’re almost to Budapest now and the forecast is for mid-90s. In Mohács yesterday for Pécs. Viking Rinda was with us and both of us could tie up to the dock so easy exits.

In Vukovar today along with Viking Ullur. We had easy exit this morning and Viking folks had to cross over both sundecks to get out. Our ship repositioned to another dock in the afternoon to resupply and when we returned from our afternoon excursion, our ship was on the outside and we had to go up and over the sundecks. Still VERY HOT.

We were in Belgrade yesterday. We were tied up to AMAVerde and exited through their lobby. Uniworld Beatrice was also docked and by afternoon there were two other riverboats (that I didn’t recognize) tied up to her. To get from the dock to the street level required walking up a slightly steep ramp to a promenade, and then on to some broad steps (there was also a switch-back ramp) up to street level. It continues to be VERY HOT. The river looks high to me, but I’m told it was much, much higher a few weeks ago.

On our way now from Constanța to Amsterdam. We were in Rousse, Bulgaria, yesterday and are on our way to Vidin today. So far, no issues on the river. We’ve had clear blue skies and SUN, lots of SUN (read heat). There was a V longboat docked with us in Constanța but I haven’t seen it again. Actually, I haven’t seen any other riverboats - yet. I will post about docking situations when we get to the larger cities.

We leave a week from today for Bucharest and will be boarding our riverboat Jul 7 for a Black Sea to Amsterdam cruise. I haven't posted here for many, many years, but on behalf of all of us who read these threads but don't participate, a big thank you to not a mermaid for keeping us up to date on conditions on the Danube - and the Rhine. I imagine what started as a casual post has turned into a 2nd part-time job for you. All of us really appreciate your gift of time spent on this topic.

Thanks for the info. I'll look forward to your additional posts.

I'm really enjoying hearing about your trip since we will be there in May. I think you mentioned taking one of the optional excursions. I would be interested in hearing what you (or other passengers) thought about the optional excursions. I'm trying to decide if we want to take any of them.