burtonnm

I have to interject here to give a raving review for the Marriott Millennium Court. We actually stayed there June 1-3 at the conclusion of our river cruise. We were sad to leave our comfortable cabins aboard AmaDolce, that is until we saw our rooms at the Marriott! They were so spacious and comfortable! It was like moving into a mansion after being on the river boat! The front desk ladies were also wonderful. There was no "concierge" per se, but they made dinner reservations for us and gave us advice when we asked. The hotel is very close to a stop on the blue line, and one on the yellow line, as well as the #2 tram. It is so close to where the AmaDolce docked we actually took two trips (walking) from the boat to the hotel to bring my Grandparents bags for them. It took us less than an hour to walk to and from the hotel twice, and check-in! And it was so affordable we couldn't believe the price. Four of us shared the two-bedroom apartment and it was around $50 per person, per night. Can't beat that!

How about the hair dryer? Is it any good or should I plan on buying one once I get there?

Please tell me how your dual-voltage flat iron works! Can you also tell me what brand it is? I'm crossing my fingers you're using the same one I am! And how are the hair dryers that AMA provides in each cabin?

We considered using Travelcell to rent one, but ended up going with Tep Wireless instead. Travelcell only rents blackberrys for Europe and I had never used one before. I wanted to use my own iphone and just put the sim card in. With Tep we're renting a pocket wifi device. Basically it gives us wireless internet everywhere. We can use our own iPhones, and even more than one device with the same pocket wifi. iMessage and FaceTime will work with wireless, and so will all apps like google maps and facebook. Only problem is the pocket wifi doesn't work in Austria. But we'll still be able to use the river boat's free wifi on the days we're in Austria.

If you have an iPhone and the people you're calling/texting have an iPhone, you don't need any extra apps to text. iMessage already works using wi-fi rather than cellular. You just need to be sure to disable any option that automatically sends it via SMS in absence of wi-fi. You can also make free phone calls over wi-fi using FaceTime audio.

Has anyone used FaceTime audio on a river boat? I'm not sure how good the connection needs to be to use it, so it may be difficult on a river boat.

I'm 25 and I am going with my 57 year old Mom, and 83 year old grandparents. River cruises definitely aren't marketed towards my age group, but that doesn't scare me. I think you're the only one who could make the call on whether your child would enjoy it. If they are uncomfortable conversing with people of other generations, don't appreciate history, beautiful scenery, or intelligent conversation with strangers, then it's maybe not for them. But all the advice here about it being too "slow-paced" is a little misguided. I enjoy a wild night of drinking and dancing with my friends most weekends, but that doesn't mean a night slowly cruising along the Danube river with a deck of cards and a string quartet doesn't also appeal to me. Give them an accurate picture of what it will be like and ask them if they would like it. Managing expectations will be half the battle. They will almost certainly hate it if they go into it expecting it to be like an ocean cruise.

I have an American chip and pin card. It is through USAA. It also has a magnetic stripe so you can use it with either method.

Do the cruise lines ever ask you to take your passport with you off the boat? Or can you leave it in your safe the whole time? I want to know whether to purchase a travel wallet that holds my passport or not. I know it's safer to leave it in the safe in your room, if possible.

I've heard rumors that AMA provides passengers with "seat canes" upon request. Can you tell me if you've seen or heard anything about these? thanks!

Thanks for the advice! I'm going with AmaWaterways on the Danube-Prague to Budapest. Unfortunately, they don't have an organized Parliament tour option so I will have to try one of the sketchy methods you documented so well in your thread. Maybe I'll post on there if one of them worked for me so someone in the future can be the fortunate benefactor.

I had done some research on the weather and your comments confirm my research. It seems to be pretty unpredictable that time of year, and can change even within one day. Sounds a lot like where I live. I was hoping you would tell me it would be sunny and warm everyday... Oh, well.

Sorry to hear about some of your more uptight fellow passengers. I hope I don't experience any of that! Although like you said, there should be enough friendlier people to avoid the unfriendly ones. Maybe I'll get lucky and meet another 20-something! I'm not counting on it, though :-)

I happened upon a post of yours from before this trip where you asked the best way to reserve Budapest Parliament tour tickets ahead of time. I was wondering which method you went with and how it worked out? I have EXACTLY the same question so it was wonderful to find your thread about it!

Also, I will be cruising about the same time of year as you did. How was the weather? How did you dress for it? Did you need a jacket or rain coat?

I also saw you are in your 20's! Me too! Any advice for being the youngest on the boat? (I don't see this as being a problem, just wondering if you have any anecdotes about it)

For W. Caribbean: Does anyone know if/when we change time zones on the ship? I know that in Grand Cayman we don't change times (even though technically we're in a different time zone) but what about Cozumel?

Can anyone help me with three questions:

1) Does the juice bar "squeeze" cost extra?

2) I've heard some say that Johnny Rockets serves breakfast for free. Is this true? How early is it open?

3) Does anyone know anything about booking a spa treatment on Labadee? How long is it? What does it cost? How do you sign up for it?

I was wondering which souvenirs people have purchased in the Caribbean and what you would recommend for others to purchase while they are there.