River Cruise Itinerary Questions

[cruisingmimi]

We are contemplating a Danube river cruise in October starting in Bucharest and ending in Budapest. The ship is the MS Symphony & I don't know anything about the cruise line either. It looks like a nice itinerary and we have not been to either country b4. I have not seen many posts on this itinerary and wondered if anyone had done this itinerary and their comments or reviews about it and the ship as well.

 

The itinerary is:

 

embark ship in Cernavoda, Romania, remains overnight and offers an optional tour to the Black Sea Coast;

 

next day bus tour in Bucharest and lunch at a Romanian restaurant, transfer to Rousse, Bulgaria where ship will remain overnight.

 

Next morning cruise of lower Danube, noontime arrival at Nilopol, Bulgaria and sail that evening. Sailaway that evening.

 

Next day, Danube cruising to Cataract stretch (or "Iron Gate") where Danube rises through Carpathian Mtns. and foothills of Balkans.

 

Belgrade city tour next day. Rejoin ship in Novi Sad and daylight sailing next day. Farewell dinner that evening. Disembark and fly home from Budapest.

 

The tour operator for this itinerary is Gate One Travel and that is my concern. I have read a lot of negative reviews about the company. I know that you have to take things like this w/ a grain of salt and I pretty much can do that. Just wanted to know if anyone else had used Gate One Travel for any type of river cruise. The price is right and airfare through them is excellent also. It seems like a win/win situation.

 

The only other concern I have been reading about is the water level being high. In 2 months I am sure it could recede but if there is a lot of rain, then it could also remain high. I know that this would mean being bussed at some destinations.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

Mary

[Carhut]

Started reading your post and thought that sounds a lot like the Grand Circle trip I took a few years ago. It was the least favorite of my 6 river cruises, but interesting and glad I took it. Would I do it again? Probably not. Outside of the Iron Gates area, the Danube isn't that pretty on that end. There are sure a lot more pretty places to see on the Rhine, Mosel or Wachau Valley of the Danube. When we went the water was kind of high but we had no trouble with bridges. Weren't that many as a lot had been bombed and the ones rebuilt were higher.

[cruisingmimi]

Thank you for your input! Think I'll keep looking and see what else is out there. We already did Nurnberg to Vienna so want something different to see.

 

Mary

[pacmom]

I don't know how to pull up another thread, but I did a review of the MS Symphony just a few weeks ago. It is now on the second page of threads--look for Luftner's MS symphony. I have heard good things about Gate 1 travel-- it is the boat I would be leary about. If you want something different look at Viking's Elbe River trip. It is Berlin-Prague with time in both cities. Pat

[Talisker92]

I would recommend you also look at Vantage Travel They have 2 cruises-one that starts in Vienna and one that starts in Budapest. We have done 3 river cruises with them and were very happy on all 3.

[npphotog]

For your information we are leaving in 21 days with Vantage starting in Bucharest and ending up in Budapest. Taking the Transylvania pre tour. Plan to have a review when we return on September 11th. You might check the Vantage web site to see this tour. Had been on three trips with Vantage before and quite pleased. Willard

[nebraskagal]

We are looking at the Eastern Europe & the Black Sea cruise through Vantage. Would you please give me your critique of this Tour Company? We have not done a River Cruise in Europe. Thanks

[npphotog]

This will be our 4th trip with Vantage. Been very pleased. Cannot comment on other tour companies. When you search for tours and tour companys make sure you check what each offers and what they include in tours within each country/villages/towns. Some companys have lower prices but have too many optional tours. Vantage includes most of the tours. I am sure most are good and those who have used them are quite pleased. Do your homework, mark down what's included and what is offered as options. Do the math, add up the cost for all then make your choice. You will find that most posters here have favorite tour companys - that's fine. Willard

[Carhut]

I'm posting a link so you can see some of my pictures from the EAstern Europe river cruise. If you click on "My Photos" you can view some other cruises. Check out the Rhine and Mosel pics. There are two of them. My email is in my profile if you want to ask questions. Also I have information to save you some money if you book a Vantage or GCT cruise for the first time.

 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/Carhut/EasternEurope#

__________________

Carole

[cruisingmimi]

Thanks for sharing your pics, Carole. They are wonderful & make me want to leave on a cruise right now. We have done a GCT already but not Vantage. I will check out the Vantage website to see what they offer. We were on River Aria on GCT and really liked that ship.

 

Willard, thanks for the info on Vantage. I believe they are a Boston based company also, same as GCT is. Please do a post when you return about the itinerary. I will look forward to what you report.

 

Mary

[crim442]

We also booked a Vienna to Nuremberg holiday cruise with Gate 1 travel. I think it's a somewhat new ship called the MS Elegant so we will see how that goes. This will be our first river cruise. Did you enjoy the Vienna to Nuremberg trip?

[cruisingmimi]

We did the reverse itin - Nuremberg to Vienna. We loved the itinerary! Every port was spectacular w/ something different to see. The Christmas Markets were much fun. The only thing we did not like was that the ship didn't dock Vienna til around dinner time so we didn't get a chance to take a tour of the city or do any sightseeing. We did pay for an optional tour to a Musical Night. This was a wonderful evening - orchestra playing mozart, danube waltzes, 2 ballet dancers, 2 opera singers. It compensated for arriving in Vienna so late. We flew home the next day. We could have done the post-cruise stay of 3 days in Vienna but we didn't want to spend the extra money because it was close to Christmas.

 

Do a post when you return and how Gate 1 Travel worked out.

 

Mary

[Carhut]

Thanks for sharing your pics, Carole. They are wonderful & make me want to leave on a cruise right now. We have done a GCT already but not Vantage. I will check out the Vantage website to see what they offer. We were on River Aria on GCT and really liked that ship.

 

Willard, thanks for the info on Vantage. I believe they are a Boston based company also, same as GCT is. Please do a post when you return about the itinerary. I will look forward to what you report.

 

Mary

 

Mary, we are going on a Vantage cruise Nov. 2, Danube Odyssey. Kind of late in the year but the price was too good to pass up. The nice thing about this cruise it only has one optional tour. Where as GCT has way too many optional cruises anymore. When I first started cruising with them, they didn't have so many. Most tours were included in the price. Another reason I'm jumping cruise lines. A nice feature about the cruise I'm going on is it is docked two days at Vienna, so we'll get plenty of time to see the sights. The concert in the evening is included. And yes, Vantage is based in Boston. The two companies, Vantage and GCT are owned by brothers.

[rayandjean]

You will love the Danube Odyssey-we did it in June with Vantage. Lots of time to see the sights and they take very good care of you. The program managers are excellent and like you said there are very few extras as most everything is included. That's why I have 3 more trips scheduled with them. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask...Valerie

[Carhut]

I would like to know where to find Vantage boats for countdowns. They have every other boat one could think of in the list, but no River Navigator. At least that's the way it is on my computer.:(

[Tom47]

I would like to know where to find Vantage boats for countdowns. They have every other boat one could think of in the list, but no River Navigator. At least that's the way it is on my computer.:(

 

My wife and I have taken 2 Vantage river cruise trips: Budapest to the Black Sea and Amsterdam to Budapest, both on the River Navigator. We enjoyed both trips and would recommend Vantage. If you go to Budapest, buy some paprika.

Tom:)

[Carhut]

My wife and I have taken 2 Vantage river cruise trips: Budapest to the Black Sea and Amsterdam to Budapest, both on the River Navigator. We enjoyed both trips and would recommend Vantage. If you go to Budapest, buy some paprika.

Tom:)

 

Thanks Tom. We are really looking forward to going with Vantage. I have been to Budapest and have bought paprika. It's the best.

[rayandjean]

I would like to know where to find Vantage boats for countdowns. They have every other boat one could think of in the list, but no River Navigator. At least that's the way it is on my computer.:(

I think I went in and used another name and then back-spaced and put in the name of the ship I wanted. You just have to mess with it to get what you want. I forget how to do it each time and have to re-figure it out again. And yes, I agree the paprika is wonderful-be sure to get some of the sweet and some of the hot. I made Hungarian goulash when we got back and it was so tasty...Valerie

[Carhut]

I think I went in and used another name and then back-spaced and put in the name of the ship I wanted. You just have to mess with it to get what you want. I forget how to do it each time and have to re-figure it out again. And yes, I agree the paprika is wonderful-be sure to get some of the sweet and some of the hot. I made Hungarian goulash when we got back and it was so tasty...Valerie

 

Thanks for the idea. It worked!:)

[Nelly2]

Could you give a detailed explanation of how to find the countdowns? I'm not finding it. Thanks. Sailing on Vantage's River Odessey on Oct. 11 on Eastern Europe and the Black Sea cruise.

[Carhut]

Could you give a detailed explanation of how to find the countdowns? I'm not finding it. Thanks. Sailing on Vantage's River Odessey on Oct. 11 on Eastern Europe and the Black Sea cruise.

 

If you scroll up to the top of the page, you'll see Countdown Clocks. Click on it and follow directions. Found out some time ago that I couldn't download it on Firefox though, so I used Internet Explorer and got it to work.

[rayandjean]

Could you give a detailed explanation of how to find the countdowns? I'm not finding it. Thanks. Sailing on Vantage's River Odessey on Oct. 11 on Eastern Europe and the Black Sea cruise.

There isn't a countdown for Vantage so use a different one and then as you're making it backspace through the name of the ship and add the name of the one you'll be on. I forget how to do it each time but keep messing with it until I get it figured out. Good luck!

[Carhut]

There isn't a countdown for Vantage so use a different one and then as you're making it backspace through the name of the ship and add the name of the one you'll be on. I forget how to do it each time but keep messing with it until I get it figured out. Good luck!

 

Sorry, but the Odyssey and Explorer are on the list, but the Navigator isn't.

[frammiss]

Booked July cruise Switzerland, Heart of Rhine & Moselle aboard River Navigator which I can't pull up many references to on this board. Can't do Countdown Clock either, won't backspace into field for ship name. Ayone with any feedback on this boat or similar Vantage travel, please post! We have taken Vantage National Parks ('08) - spectacular! Extremely happy with that trip! This is Vantage 1st cruise. Usually travel on Holland America, Carnival, Celebrity... all good.

[LHT28]

Booked July cruise Switzerland, Heart of Rhine & Moselle aboard River Navigator which I can't pull up many references to on this board. Can't do Countdown Clock either, won't backspace into field for ship name.

There is a thread on Vantage ..may not be on the ship you are sailing but will give you some insight on the company

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1424066