Where to Next????

[deec]

I have received SO MUCH terrific information on this board from well traveled people. The information for the most part is honest, straightforward and frank. We have taken 2 river cruises Viking's Amsterdam to Budapest (with 8 friends) and Vantage's Irrawaddy River (by ourselves.). we like the french balcony and the ability to OPEN the windows....

 

Can't compare the cruises since the Rivers and their cities, cultures and people were so different. But we were very happy on each....as many of you warned we are now hooked on traveling by riverboat or Vantage's small ship.

 

The age and therefore the mobility of the passengers on the Vantage cruise was significantly older than the Viking group. We at 64 were the youngest...the problem was some on the cruise did not pay heed to the Vantage warning that good health and mobility were important! How often have others found this to be true. Sometimes they slowed down the group.

 

We are trying to decide WHERE to go next. Been on safari and the Galapagos (both great trips)...Anyone done the Dalmatian Coast with Vantage?? Are the seas/waves a concern for the small boats?

the Duoro, or France from Normandy to Avignon, Danube from Budapest to Bucharest. How about the Amazon and Machu Picchu ....looks like Vantage charterers a beautiful boat. My husband loves taking photos!

 

Any strong recommendations, other suggestions or NAYS....we like to travel in the fall.

thanks for the help...

[rogerdawhip]

I have not done the Dalmation Coast with Vantage but I've done it twice with GCCL, once in the summer and once in the winter. They have a small 50 passanger ship. The seas were pretty calm in the summer but we had quite a few sick people on the winter trip due to rough seas. I hope to do the summer trip again next year.

Edited January 4, 2015 by rogerdawhip

[H2Otstr]

Deec, we did a yacht cruise with Vantage last year and really enjoyed it. We did the pretrip to Lake Bled, Slovenia, then toured Slovenia, Croatia and cruised to Venice, Italy. It was a great trip and both Slovenia and Croatia were beautiful.

Edited January 4, 2015 by H2Otstr

[CPT Trips]

We did Hidden Gems of the Dalmatian Coast with Grand Circle. Athens overnight in a hotel, then ship for 10 nights to Split, then two nights in Zagrab.

 

We ran into rough seas from Pireus to the Corinth Canal and then, due to a storm, more rough seas from Hvar to Split. We were supposed to be on Korcula for a day and then Hvar for a day. The storm led the Captain to decide to do one in the morning, the other in the afternoon and get to Split a day early. We woke, docked to high winds and rain. That day was so windy that the ferries stayed docked.

 

Due to the change, GCT provided an additional excursion to Trogir . . .

 

If you want more info on some of the stops or the GCT ship, just ask.

[deec]

CPT what month did you experience the rough and stormy weather?

[Hydrokitty]

CPT what month did you experience the rough and stormy weather?

 

Only suggestion I'm going to make is do the most strenuous trips first while your legs can handle it.....you can tour the Louvre in a wheelchair but you need to be able to walk to the Parthenon and the Pyramids!

[CPT Trips]

CPT what month did you experience the rough and stormy weather?

 

It was early November. According to Captain, a little on the late side. We had warm weather until that front came through.

[deec]

h2o

were you on the Harmony?

was there enough deck room for everyone to enjoy the out doors

Literature suggests that the swim platform can be used at "anchorages in small bays" however we could not tell from the itinerary how often or where this may have been available.

 

I also must smile when they advertise 2 bikes aboard...must not be very popular.

 

Thanks for the information

[Host Jazzbeau]

Dont assume that the Adriatic will be calm seas. On our ocean cruise from Istanbul to Venice the only time the ship had to change plans because of weather was in Dubrovnik. We stayed in port to ride out the storm, and AIDAaura (a very large ship) made an unscheduled stop to avoid it.

[CPT Trips]

h2o

were you on the Harmony?

was there enough deck room for everyone to enjoy the out doors

Literature suggests that the swim platform can be used at "anchorages in small bays" however we could not tell from the itinerary how often or where this may have been available.

 

I also must smile when they advertise 2 bikes aboard...must not be very popular.

 

Thanks for the information

 

Most places we stopped were not conducive to biking, flat roads along the shoreline, but otherwise kind of hilly. Except for Dubrovnick we docked within walking distance . . .

 

No anchorages for us on GCT, but it wasn't swim/beach weather.

 

Our ship, we lucked into a balcony

 

[H2Otstr]

h2o

were you on the Harmony?

was there enough deck room for everyone to enjoy the out doors

Literature suggests that the swim platform can be used at "anchorages in small bays" however we could not tell from the itinerary how often or where this may have been available.

 

I also must smile when they advertise 2 bikes aboard...must not be very popular.

 

Thanks for the information

 

Yes, we were on the Harmony G. There was enough deck room. The lounge is where we had most of our meetings and it was quite large. The "deck" was not a standard deck, more like bolted down tables and benches, chairs. It really wasn't used that much.

We never had the opportunity to use the swim platform. We never really docked in the sea.

 

There were two bikes available and only one couple used them one day. We really did not have enough time to bike around. We were kept quite busy.

 

We went in late May and the weather was beautiful, quite hot on some days. The dining room was so hot at times it was almost unbearable at dinner time.