Dock locations, and the independent traveler

[BlewWater]

We are considering our first river cruise; looking at some Amsterdam - Bucharest itineraries.

Although I'm sure we would do some of the included tours, we frequently enjoy exploring areas on our own (and having some meals ashore) rather than with the group.

Are most dock locations amenable to those who wish to explore a port independently?

Will we be able to simply walk off, and easily get to the main areas?

Do some river cruise companies have better dock locations than other companies?

 

Is there a "typical" time schedule for a day on a river cruise? I'm trying to compare it with a cruise ship, where, for example, you might be cleared to disembark at 9:00am, and all-aboard is at 4:00.

 

Perhaps it varies from port to port. Here's a list of stops that a Tauck boat makes:

Amsterdam

Koln

Rudesheim

Rothenburg

Wurzburg

Bamberg

Nurnberg

Regensburg

Passau

Melk

Vienna

Bratislava

Budapest

Kalocsa

Vukovar

Novi Sad

Belgrade

Bulgaria

Constanta

Bucharest

Thanks in advance!

[Wocket]

We just returned from Istanbul-Prague. Here is what I can tell you about the ports that we were at:

Vienna- has more than one port, the one we were at was a 10 minute walk to the underground, then a four stop ride to the historic center. Very easy.

Bratislava- Docked right in town, walked everywhere.

Budapest-Docked on the Buda side about a half hour walk over to the Pest side for pedestrian mall and historic center. Walked over the Chain Bridge. Absolutely do Fisherman's Bastion, very nice and great views. Don't miss the city at night. We did take an extra tour with Uniworld that took us to a folk show then up to see the view from Gallant Hill. It's a stunning city.

Vukovar-Not much to see there. Was quite a distance by bus to visit a school and a home hosted lunch visit ,which we thoroughly enjoyed. Ship tour took us to Osijek for these activities.

Belgrade-docked right in town and walked. We had friends there that picked us up and had a great time.

Bulgaria-this was our first port and it was a 2 hour bus ride to Veliko Tarnovo and Arbernassy. I thought if this is what a river cruise is I hate it. That was the worst day on a bus. We did enjoy the sights though. We had a fabulous guide that had lived under communism, she was very interesting.

Bucharest-We just had a drive through the city, as Uniworld picked us up at the airport coming from Istanbul. Not impressive. The port was not in the city.

I, too, prefer to book my own tours but the things we did do with the ship were well done. The only thing I did not like were the Hungarian Cowboys. I hope you found this helpful! Have a wonderful trip.

[Wocket]

I was very surprised that river boats dock next to each other, tied together side by side so the people on the outer boat have to walk through the lobby of the closer boat. Not good for views. Times on and off work like ocean cruising. I did not find times in any of the brochures before I went so Uniworld did email me a detailed itinerary. Probably Tauck would do the same. Pretty much we were cleared between 8 and 9 am and had to back on 15 minutes before sailing. It was much more casual than an ocean cruise. There is not much to do on the ship but mostly I was just there to eat and sleep. I was shocked at how small the rooms were and the French Balcony was nowhere near as enjoyable as a real balcony--especially when another boat was tied up next to you! However, this is a great way to see cities that are not on the coast! I hate living out of a suitcase so this worked out perfectly.

[beverlyjack]

We have only cruised with Grand Circle calling in most of the listed ports from Amsterdam to Budapest. Most of the lines dock in the same area in each port.

 

Amsterdam. The docking area id at oosterdokskade, out the back door of the central train station and maybe a quarter of a mile to the east. This is the heart of the city. Canal boat rides and trams , or walking can get you around the city.

 

Koln. Right near the Cathedral in the heart of the city.

 

Many ships stop in Koblenz, The dock is in the mouth of the Moselle, right in the heart of the old part of town.

 

Rudesheim is a small town right on the river, so the dock should be in the heart of town.

 

Some ships stop in Mainz. The dock is on the edge of town, but easily walkable everywhere.

 

Some ships stop in Frankfurt. They dock near the old part of the city.

 

Rothenburg is on the Tauber, which is not navigable by the cruise ships,. You bus to the town. I don't remember what was in the area of the dock.

 

Wertheim. The dock was in the center of this small town.

 

We stopped in Wurzberg, and the town was walkable, but we took a bus for an included tour.

 

Bamberg, I believe that we docked in an industrial area and had to be bused.

 

Nurnberg. We docked in an industrial area and had to be bused.

 

Regensburg. The docks are in the heart of the town.

 

Passau. The docks are in the center of town.

 

Melk. The dock is really just for the abbey. You generally take a bus up to the abbey and back and leave.

 

Vienna, as Wocket said the docks are about a 10 minute walk to the Ubahn. There are restaurants and shops in the dock area.

 

Bratislava. The docks are in the heart of the old part of the city.

 

Budapest. You may dock on either side of the river, on the Buda side or the Pest side. You will want to visit both and there are plenty of bridges to cross. There are trams and a metro.

 

Some stops may also be "technical stops", just to drop you off for a bus tour to, for example Salzburg, where the ship continues and you rejoin it on your return at a different stop.

 

Grand Circle does put arrival and departure times on their web site. It is http://www.gct.com. The times may vary, however, as lock transit times are under the control of local authorities, and water levels can affect navigation.

 

You really need to know how much time you will have in the various cites, so that you can make an informed decision on which cruise you want. In general, you don' t have time for all the possible stops, and some stops leave little free time.

 

Depending on the port, sometimes you do raft up, having to cross through or over other ships, some time inboard, sometimes outboard and sometimes in the middle.

 

You can get a good idea of the convenience of the docking areas, if you use Google Earth or Google Maps to look at the cities.

 

Each of the cruise lines is different, with different amenities and, similar but different itineraries. All have their faithful followings. If you go through a travel agent, there are at least 2 companies that they won't mention, Grand Circle and Vantage, as both only do direct sales.

 

Have fun doing your research. I'm currently researching a trip to India and finding out how much I don't know about the country.

 

Jack

[caviargal]

We spend our time in port independently about 90% of the time and have never had an issue getting around from where the boat docks. Sometimes we can walk, sometimes we catch a ride with those going on a tour and get off at the first chance (we ask the tour leader ahead of time if that is ok), sometimes we take public transport.

 

We have done this in the following cities that were on your list:

 

Amsterdam

Koln

Rothenburg

Wurzburg

Bamberg

Nurnberg

Regensburg

Passau

Melk

Vienna

 

I do think that Tauck is a great choice for those who prefer to have everything scheduled and done for them and you pay a premium for that. Perhaps you should consider a line that does not offer so many inclusions, unless budget is not a consideration.

[paul929207]

Be careful, sometimes the ship drops off passengers for an excursion and then moves. The excursion meets back with the ship 10 or 20 miles away

[alexandra cruiser]

doing a 7 day one first,,with extra day or more in first and last city...

 

I ve been on 8 so far,,and while I love them,,am ready to get off after 7 days,,,remember,,they are quite small, can get a little regimented as far as eating,touring,etc.....

 

Give it a trial run,,,perhaps just Danube portion..can always book another later.

 

On this one(Prague to Budapest) I just got off of...had 2 couples who were upset it wasnt as "luxurious as an ocean cruise" and would have been miserable to go full 15 day cruise..so just a heads up..

 

As far as touring,,,we usually go on city tour and tell guide we re going on own either during it or after...then make our own way ,,in our own time,,back to ship..Do remember,,,it WILL leave without you,,so be on time.PS..also,,hard to plan on FIRM docking times,,,due to locks on river,,,etc...so hard to plan independent guides...unless very flexible and can be reached by cell..(Have learned this the hard way,,,and NEVER pay up front..)!!!!:rolleyes:

[CleoV]

We did the first half of the same cruise Wocket was on (Bucharest to Vienna) and while we always did the bus tours we also spent a fair bit of time walking on our own. It was very easy to get to the cities from the ship either walking straight into town or using the underground, which was safe and easy. We also walked from the ship to the Market in Budapest, which took about 25 minutes but was a pleasant walk with a lot to see.

 

There were also a couple of days (Pecs, Hungary comes to mind) when we were on a walking tour that ended with a visit to a museum or a church, but we opted out of that part and just walked the city on our own. Each time we were given a meeting point by our guide, and we just met up with the group later. Many travelers did this, and it was all very easy and very organized. You really don't have to spend every minute with the group if you don't want to.

 

We loved our first river cruise and will certainly be doing it again as soon as we can. The local guides and local entertainment set it apart from ocean cruising, and we found that very appealing.

[Wocket]

Yes, Pecs! I was less than thrilled with the 2 museums they were offering although the town was charming. I ended up going to the Zsolnay Museum against my better judgement and ended up loving it. The history behind the porcelain was fascinating and I was very glad that I went but sorry I missed the beautiful cathedral. Sometimes, there is just not enough time.....

[BlewWater]

Thank you for all your comments...very helpful!

[CPT Trips]

Melk - we took a bus to the Abbey, but decided to walk back down to the town and the ship. It was definately doable.

 

Nurenburg is not walkable

 

As for eating ashore, I'd say half of our evenings involved departing before or during dinner aboard.

[Jesterscourt]

I remember being disappointed that Nuremberg was not walkable. We had arrived there in the afternoon and had free time, but the boat was docked in an industrial suburban area on the outskirts of the city. If you wanted to go into town, they would have to call a cab for you as you would not really have enough time to take the bus or train. However, it was nice to walk along the river promenade where many locals walk, bike, or jog, etc.

[caviargal]

There is a bus that leaves not far from where the boats dock in Nuremberg that goes into the center. Otherwise, a taxi was 15E.

 

On our second cruise that stopped in Nuremberg, we took the train to Munich and spent the day as we are not big fans of Nuremberg and had already spent 1 1/2 days there on an earlier trip. It is an easy hour to Munich and a city we really enjoy - we had a great day and were back in time to have dinner at a favorite local spot in Nuremberg and a night cap at a local pub before heading back to the boat.

[tvmovielover]

As you were told above, many of the stops leave around dinner time-except for places like Rudesheim where many eat in town or go for wine so dinner off the boat is a sometime thing to enjoy. Along the Rhine, if there is a town you want to see as opposed to what the included tour offers, it is pretty easy to take a train (most are near or an easy walk from the docks) to another town and then come back or meet the boat in the next town (we skipped Heidelberg because we had been there recently, and got back on the boat at the town further up the river where the boat went while people were on the tour). The cruise director or others can help you with train schedules, etc-they just ask that you tell them if you are going on your own and warn you that the boat will leave on time with or without you making it your responsibility to get back to the boat somewhere further on if you miss it. Researching on your own before you go is a good idea and the recommendation of a day in Munich is a good one. You could also do your own thing on the Danube. The main street of Melk is interesting though small and not that far from the boat docks if you ask how to get there (it is easier to come down from the abbey than to go up but both are doable). Also research several river cruise companies. Tauck sounds a little too rigid for what you like to do.