GCT Eastern Europe to the Black Sea

[MGS13]

This will be our first river cruise and I don't know what to expect. We are going the beginning of November. I welcome suggestions re clothing, activities etc.

[Carhut]

Our last river cruise started Nov. 2, from Nuremburg to Budapest. I think we were lucky because we had very nice weather. We wore sweatshirts or light weight jackets. Of course they say layer your clothing. We had sunshine and no rain, but the cruise following us had quite a bit of rain. So it's hard to tell you. Just be prepared. I'm from northern Ohio and the weather was much like what we have here at home in Nov.

[MGS13]

Thanks very much for the quick reply, Carole. What about inside the boat? Is it cold, what is typical dinner attire? Do you need to take anything special for certain evenings? What about after dinner activities since the boats don't seem to have any entertainment?

[Barrheadlass]

Grand Circle has a forum on its website, and you'll find it very useful. I haven't traveled with GC, but with OAT, owned by the same company. There will be entertainment in the evening, at least some evenings.

[sk8teacher]

We have sailed with GCT once, and the attire onboard is very casual. Slacks/skirt with blouse for the ladies and slacks/collared shirt for the men. You will even see jeans worn at dinner.

 

We found it quite comfortable inside the boat as far as temperature. After dinner activities are slim and none. You may have a local group/person come aboard during your cruise; usually though it's limited to a crew member playing the piano.

 

Our only complaint with the ship we were on was the beds. They were pullman style that pulled down from the wall at night. We personally found them quite uncomfortable, but did not let that stop us from enjoying the cruise overall.

 

Cheers,

[beverlyjack]

We have taken 5 Grand Circle river cruises, Egypt & the Nile, The Blue Danube, Russia Revealed, The Great Rivers of Europe and The Seine: Paris to Normandy, in that order. The exact names may have changed. I did blog on the Seine Cruise. It will give you an idea of a Grand Circle river cruise. The blog is http://jackthetravelingman-seine.blogspot.com. All of their cruises are similar, so it will give you an idea of what to expect.The Grand Circle ships are less ornate and opulent than many others, but they are well appointed and spotlessly clean with excellent meals. River cruises will not have the menu options of an ocean cruise, due to size of the ship and kitchen, but they will always have choices in addtion to the 2 or 3 on the menu for the meal, and they can adjust to any specific dietary restrictions. Entertainment on board is minimal, sometimes provided by the crew and other time provided by local entertainment. After the days activities, a port talk and dinner, there isn't that much of the evening left, and the days are busy enough that most people can use the rest.

 

The clothing is casual, with no reason to dress up, unless you wish to. Your day touring wear if OK for dinner, but you can bring some dressier clothes. Given the location and the time of year, plan on layers of clothing, with at least a windbreaker/rain jacket and a fleece jacket. A brimmed hat for sun and rain, lightweight slacks, comfortable shoes or walking sandals, etc would be good for day wear. Evenings on deck can be cool, but the ships temperatures are comfortable with individual temperature controls in the cabin.

 

In general Grand Circle will spend more time in port than most, emphasizing the places visited above shipboard amenities. There generally is one home hosted visit or meal, where you will meet with locals, contracted to Grand Circle to provide such accommodations, and a school visit. We have not taken this particular itinerary, so we can't give specific answers. If you go to http://www.gct.com, you can get traveler's reviews and this trip as well as go to Travel Forums under Community.

 

If you have spefic questions, we would be glad to try to answer them, either on this forum or by Email at jackthetravelingman.gmail.com. We leave soon for a vacation in the western mountains of Maine, with limited internet access, so responses may be slow.

 

Jack

[Carhut]

This will be our first river cruise and I don't know what to expect. We are going the beginning of November. I welcome suggestions re clothing, activities etc.

 

Send me your email address and I'll send you some pictures that will answer a lot of your questions. I've done 6 GCT and 1 Vantage river cruises.

My email address: caesker@hotmail.com

 

Carole

[CasaM]

We did the Nuremburg to Budapest Nov. 12 last year and the weather was quite cold. We had hats, gloves, scarfs, layers, and some folks had boots. We saw some flurries, but not much accumulation of snow. I personally don't like the cold, but dressing properly made it very bearable.

 

I think layers are key. Some women had heavy sweaters on in the dining room and were roasting, so better to have a shirt or top with a lighter sweater on that you can peel off if you get too warm. In any event, dress was very casual.

[Carhut]

We have taken 5 Grand Circle river cruises, Egypt & the Nile, The Blue Danube, Russia Revealed, The Great Rivers of Europe and The Seine: Paris to Normandy, in that order. The exact names may have changed. I did blog on the Seine Cruise. It will give you an idea of a Grand Circle river cruise. The blog is http://jackthetravelingman-seine.blogspot.com. All of their cruises are similar, so it will give you an idea of what to expect.The Grand Circle ships are less ornate and opulent than many others, but they are well appointed and spotlessly clean with excellent meals. River cruises will not have the menu options of an ocean cruise, due to size of the ship and kitchen, but they will always have choices in addtion to the 2 or 3 on the menu for the meal, and they can adjust to any specific dietary restrictions. Entertainment on board is minimal, sometimes provided by the crew and other time provided by local entertainment. After the days activities, a port talk and dinner, there isn't that much of the evening left, and the days are busy enough that most people can use the rest.

 

The clothing is casual, with no reason to dress up, unless you wish to. Your day touring wear if OK for dinner, but you can bring some dressier clothes. Given the location and the time of year, plan on layers of clothing, with at least a windbreaker/rain jacket and a fleece jacket. A brimmed hat for sun and rain, lightweight slacks, comfortable shoes or walking sandals, etc would be good for day wear. Evenings on deck can be cool, but the ships temperatures are comfortable with individual temperature controls in the cabin.

 

In general Grand Circle will spend more time in port than most, emphasizing the places visited above shipboard amenities. There generally is one home hosted visit or meal, where you will meet with locals, contracted to Grand Circle to provide such accommodations, and a school visit. We have not taken this particular itinerary, so we can't give specific answers. If you go to http://www.gct.com, you can get traveler's reviews and this trip as well as go to Travel Forums under Community.

 

If you have spefic questions, we would be glad to try to answer them, either on this forum or by Email at jackthetravelingman.gmail.com. We leave soon for a vacation in the western mountains of Maine, with limited internet access, so responses may be slow.

 

Jack

 

WOW!!! I just looked at your Seine river cruise and you did a very thorough review. I did that one a few years back with some differences but thought it was a wonderful trip. That looks like Jean Pierre in the pic of the TAs. He was ours and he is amazing. Speaks 5 languages and was a lot of fun.

[Carhut]

We did the Nuremburg to Budapest Nov. 12 last year and the weather was quite cold. We had hats, gloves, scarfs, layers, and some folks had boots. We saw some flurries, but not much accumulation of snow. I personally don't like the cold, but dressing properly made it very bearable.

 

I think layers are key. Some women had heavy sweaters on in the dining room and were roasting, so better to have a shirt or top with a lighter sweater on that you can peel off if you get too warm. In any event, dress was very casual.

 

We took hats and gloves and "cuddleduds" and never wore any of those things. We actually sat at an outside cafe and had brats and beer on Nov. 4. Like I said we were lucky. We had an abundance of sunshine and nice weather.

[beverlyjack]

Carhut,

 

Yes, that was Jean-Pierre.. He was our PD for the post-trip. Audrey was the PD for the pre-trip and our main trip. The other PD was Jean-Ives. They were all distinctively different personalities, but they worked exceptionally well together.

 

Jack