Black Sea Voyage

[H2Otstr]

Has anyone on here taken this cruise? Any comments?

[EmsMom]

If this is the one that goes from Budapest to Istanbul, we did it in August 2010......I wouldn't recommend it. The river in that area is pretty boring---not a lot going on and many of the ports require a bus ride and are not the most interesting port in the world. The ones in Serbia and Croatia have a lot of bombed out buildings and a lot of political animosity. We got off in Russe as we wanted to take a land tour of Transylvania which was one of the highlights of the trip. I wish we had gone the other way from Budapest as I think it is a more interesting itinerary.

[MotherP]

We went on the AMA Black Sea Voyage from Istanbul to Budapest last Fall and absolutely loved the cruise. We spent several days in Istanbul, which were wonderful and then two days crossing the countryside and border into Romania and Bulgaria. It was not a dramatic trip but crossing the border was an event and we saw a part pf the world that was still unspoiled and not touristy. We picked up the boat in Rousse and proceeded down the river. This part of the river has only been open to tourist travel for a few years, since they were able to remove the barriers and let the boats sail down. I am sorry but I can't remember the exact year. Therefore it is not like the Danube above Budapest. It is quiet, real, and not filled with multiple boats and tourist spots everywhere you dock. You don't cross over other boats to get off your boat because there aren't other boats sailing with you. There was very little to buy. We saw towns that were left just as the Russians left them and visited war torn cities in Croatia. There were no "spectacular" spots but we saw prosperity and pride

everywhere and people very welcoming and proud of their homeland. We loved it and would do it again. Our entire group stated that they would advise going

from Istanbul to Budapest as each day was better than the one before. We have traveled the Danube and the Rhine and I feel this was the best trip of them all because it wasn't the typical "here comes another riverboat" trip. If this is you first riverboat cruise, do the popular tourist ones first and save the best for last!!!!

 

AMA did a superb job on this cruise.

[HDS]

We enjoyed very much a similar river cruise from Vienna to Rousse (Bucharest) with Uniworld. Post cruise we did our own private tour in Romania, not the Uniworld extension to Istanbul. Uniworld flew passengers to Istanbul instead of the long bus trip.

 

The riverside is not the picture postcard, souvenir shop, geranium-facaded tourist towns of the Rhine and Moselle. Several days involved a bus trip to see the sights and meet the people.

 

The countries are rebuilding after being torn apart by civil war and massacres only 20 years ago, so it was often a sobering and reflective experience. The bombed buildings and land mine warning signs on the fences were reminders of those days; the cynic in me wondered if they were left there for that reason.

 

Guides were willing to talk about changes since the collapse of the communist bloc and their war-time experiences, often giving different perspectives on the same conflict. One highlight was lunch with a Croatian family in their home and a visit to a school. Great opportunity to learn about the lives of the lunch hosts, the children and teachers.

 

I agree with Mother P that the cruise was a great experience. Like her we saw pride and prosperity as well as optimism and enthusiasm in the young but also poverty and, especially in older people, a longing for the past.

 

The tour visited the Black Sea only on a day trip from Rousse. (Like EmsMom we loved our (private) tour of rural Romania after the cruise.) We saw a lot more of the Black Sea on a Dnieper river cruise which visited Yalta, Odessa and Sebastopol as well as travelling up the Dnieper River to Kiev.

 

It depends what kind of experience you want from your cruise.

[Rikka]

We just got home from this trip last week. I agree with the previous posters on this one. We actually did two cruises back-to-back. We started in Amsterdam and ended in Istanbul. We went from chocolate box pretty to much more basic in just over three weeks. We learned a lot, and enjoyed every minute. We were on a riverboat in Russia last year and we were prepared for the less manicured scenery in Eastern Europe. You are certainly going to see a more unspoiled and less touristy part of Europe on the Black Sea voyage tour. However, it is as comfortable way of seeing this part of the world as is possible.

 

We really enjoyed it.

[alexandra cruiser]

just thinking about,,,have AMA in May from Prague to Budapest,,,but not sure if I should book river boat,,,or ocean cruise ,,,for Black Sea area,,,only a few ports would be similar,,so guess I just have to chose.But the positive reviews seem to help...maybe an apples and oranges choice..then again could do one and do another later...??Decisions,,,etc...:confused:

[Shorex]

This particular itinerary on AMA was our first river cruise -- and we loved every minute.

 

This thread from a few years ago gives a very detailed description of the itinerary. You might also search for other posts by WIT, he was a great resource on river cruising.

[alexandra cruiser]

odd,,I used search function before and this one DID NOT come up,,maybe too old?

 

But really great,,,and lots of details,,,this one is definitely on my "bucket list".:)

[GiannaD]

Has anyone on here taken this cruise? Any comments?

 

We completed an itinerary from Bucharest to Vienna earlier this month.

I agree with the posters who recommend this cruise but it is not for everyone. You can read my comments under Vantage on the Other River Cruise Lines on this forum.

 

Someone really needs to reformat this board so it is not so difficult to find information.