HDS

To ensure seeing the best professional company, I would make my own arrangements. Sadly the Mariinsky season was over and the Bolshoi theatre was being renovated when we were in Russia in 2008.

Our (Viking river) cruise included a visit to a "classical ballet theatre" in St Petersburg. It was a young company in an old but far from magnificent theatre. "Charming", "showing a lot of promise" were the kindest verdicts.

Thanks JP and Chris.

HDS, I found it for you ;)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1650505&page=4

H2Ostr, thanks but that's not the full review. I posted an extensive review to River Cruising after this response because in 2013 CC would not accept reviews for Pandaw in the Reviews area.

My extensive "review" does come up if one searches HDS Pandaw and scrolls down.

We cruised the Irrawaddy almost to the china border with Pandaw in 2013 and loved it. Pandaw's guide, their destinations and the crew's concern for passenger comfort and interests was outstanding.

I posted a comprehensive report here in River Cruising on my return. I'm not smart enough to "send a link" but it should come up if you search HDS.

Pandaw's enthusiasm for getting off the beaten track is amazing and I have looked with interest at the cruise you are considering but our first choice is the upper Mekong from Laos into southern China.

Great website and tip about translations. Thank you.

A river that is "high" but still within its banks and not technically in flood can still be a problem for cruise boats fitting under bridges, navigating in strong flows or docking.

Earlier this month the Seine in Paris stayed within its banks, ie did not "flood" but the city cruise boats could not move for a few days. I'm not sure if the longer river cruises to Normandy were disrupted.

I found lots of information on Trip Advisor website http://www.tripadvisor.com for our Prague visit in 2014. The Czech experts warned that taxis hailed in the street, including outside the airport, were much more likely to take the scenic route and seriously overcharge than those booked by phone through the central booking agency.

We booked a meet and greet from the airport and otherwise used the excellent public transport from the periphery of the old city. The old city is a vehicle free zone, serious walking. You can download and print maps from the internet.

The TIC near the old clock was a great source of information on tickets, routes, tourist passes etc.

My husband took a Segway tour, I took a "tip me what you think I'm worth" walking tour and we were both happy.

Agree with both of the above. Silver Explorer is our kind of cruising. We cruise for destinations, good guides, frequent ports/landings.

Read the reviews of Silver Explorer on Cruise Critic, it doesn't suit everybody.

A leisurely two day visit shows a perspective of any town that is very different to the quick "flybuy" offered on a tourist bus trip, ie rush through the history, glance at the view but linger in the gift shop.

Any town is better without the tourists. We stayed two nights in Cesky, DIY. We expected and we saw tour groups during the day, and enjoyed chatting over lunch with two day trippers. Cesky's beauty and history is in the buildings rising from the river away from the very commercial main street.

This medieval town (vehicle free) is at its best before and after the tourist hordes. We dined very well by the river with a gypsy band playing on the bridge and a fisherman casting for trout in the river. The gurgle of the stream lulled us of to sleep, a light breeze from the stream drifting through the window. Next morning we strolled the river bank with the mist rising and watched the town come to life.

We had time to do the castle tour and also the excellent audio-guide walking tour of the town from the TIC in the town square.

Don't judge a town by its tourists, let it speak for itself.

We did Transylvania with a private guide in 2008, staying in two delightful mountain villages and in Sighisoara, which was just delicious. Sighisoara is supposed to be the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler whom some liken to the Dracula of Bram Stoker's fiction.

Wish we had ventured a little further to the painted monastery at Mamures. would love to return.

dabear, I haven't been to Salzburg so can't compare it to Cesky.

We were driving ourselves so didn't encounter the bus drop-off point above the castle. I did walk up to the gardens above the castle to enjoy the views over the river.

My recollections from June 2014 are cobblestones, narrow streets quite crowded while the tourist buses are in town. We walked up a moderate slope to enter the castle. There were stone steps and staircases inside the castle. We don't descend stairs rapidly and would have steadied ourselves with a handrail or the wall.

It's not flat but it's not a mountain climb. I haven't been to Sicily so can't compare it to that.

We bought an English language tour at the ticket office and sat on a wooden bench till the tour was ready to depart. I can't remember if we found out the times of tours from a website or another source or just turned up.

I don't know where the tour buses park but I suspect you will have to walk a considerable distance on cobblestones from the drop-off point to town centre. I didn't see a taxi; vehicles are seriously discouraged from entering the town area.

That said Cesky Krumlov is one of my most treasured travel memories. Recalling the castle ballroom which we saw at the end of the tour still makes me smile.

Trip Advisor forum is a good source of information on land transport and cities. In 2014 we chose bus (Student Agency) rather than train and travelled very comfortably on the Prague-Budapest route. Airline reclining seats and free wifi. We didn't try the food and drinks for sale on board Our trip was only half-way Prague-Brno and return.

The bus stations were above ground and easier to access with luggage than train platforms.

If this is a river cruise, you might get response in the River Cruise section.

your doubts might be well founded. I did a bit of research in the German-speaking world of river cruising and found the Swiss Ruby. Another "Scylla"-ship chartered by a Swiss operator and sailing the Elbe

During the low waters of 2014 the Swiss Ruby was moored in Dresden, next to our Viking boat, without passengers or crew. It didn't move, nor did we but the paddle-wheelers were still doing day trips upstream.

Azmini, this is the response I posted a few days back to your thread on the river Roll Calls board which asked the same question.

"River levels look good now.

"Try this website www.rivercruiseinfo.com/content/river-levels"

Alberta Quilter, did you spend any time in Macon on the Saone/Rhone cruise? I understand the 2016 itinerary differs slightly from the 2015. Our 2016 itinerary spends a night and a day in Macon; the morning (included) tour is a bus trip to admire the countryside and visit a winery. The rather pricey optional afternoon tour is also a bus trip, to Cluny Abbey.

Can you tell me where the ship docks in relation to the town and if we can fill an afternoon pleasantly wandering the town?

Haven't found much on Trip Advisor or on the website of the Macon tourist office.

Orion was doing it, visiting mainly the Australian territory in Antarctica, may be no longer. I think they have been taken over by National Geographic???

Main downside for us was 72 hours of potentially rough ocean crossing each way from Hobart, rather than 24 hours each way across the Drake passage from Ushuaia to the Antarctic peninsula.

When we travelled in 2012, QANTAS ran a direct flight Sydney-Buenos Aires which made it very easy for us.

Cruises with landings in Antarctica are very expensive. The cruise by no landing voyages by the large passenger ships like Celebrity Infinity are much cheaper. I'm glad we had the landings.

We did a similar river cruise Amsterdam to Bucharest with Uniworld in 2008. I was taken by the idea of crossing a continent by boat, dipping my fingers in the North Sea at Zandvoort before the cruise and in the Black Sea at Constanza after the cruise.

You may get more response if you post in the River Cruising section and also in the River Cruise Roll Calls. With only 120 or thereabouts passengers on river boats, it's rare to find anyone else on the same trip, which is what the roll call boards are intended to do. Both sections do have information about this route from time to time.

Thanks Karaoke Queen. Are you considering this cruise?

frickwg, I have the same question about the cruise on Silver Explorer from Iceland to Greenland in August this year.

In Antarctica, the long rubber boots (muck boots/wellingtons/galoshes) were needed for wet landings. I didn't much enjoy them on ice or snow but that may be my inexperience of walking in snow and ice. I'm still searching for an appropriate boot for our post-cruise Iceland tour.

Zitsky, we are cruising Lyon to Avignon the week before you. I understand that the boat usually moors in Tarascon 10-12km (6-8miles) from Arles. Too far for most passengers to walk back comfortably after a day sightseeing. I hope Viking run a shuttle for passengers who want to spend the entire day in Arles.

There is an earlier thread here or in River Cruising Roll Calls that describes the docking locations in relation to transport and city centres.

Cesky remains one of my top favourite memories of travel over seven continents. The ballroom, visited at the end of the castle tour is glorious and hilarious, an absolute highlight. The TIC (across the river from the castle, then up the hill to the town square) offers an excellent walking tour of the town.

We stayed overnight in a delightful hotel beside the river. Dining on the river bank with a gypsy band playing on the bridge above was a joy.

I haven't been to Salzburg.

Viking granted us an extension of time to select a cruise to use some vouchers and I am grateful for their flexibility.

Welcome to the passengers and crew of the Silver Whisper visiting Newcastle, Australia today. We enjoyed watching your entrance.

We were very happy with our Pandaw cruise on the Irrawaddy.