corpkid Posted March 20, 2019 #1 Share Posted March 20, 2019 Hi all, Long time ocean cruisers here who took a river cruise up the Rhine last summer and *LOVED* it so we decided to do it again this year, but on the Danube! The itinerary we are looking at is a 10 day Vienna round trip on Crystal with Passau being the end of leg 1 and then Budapest being the end of leg 2 (again departing and returning to Vienna). We are debating which dates to choose and have the following embarkation options: Sept 10 Sept 20 Sept 30 The Sept 30 embarkation is substantially less than the other two so we are leaning in that direction as we do want lower crowds and don't mind a chill in the air (and the savings will basically cover our airfare). That said, is early October a good time on the Danube? We really appreciate any feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cary Cruiser Posted March 21, 2019 #2 Share Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) Being Floridians, we actually prefer the cool air. We did our Danube cruise toward the end of October and loved it, (and we saved some money too). Edited March 21, 2019 by Cary Cruiser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted March 21, 2019 #3 Share Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) We cruised the Danube in late October this past year - loved it! Only had 2 days that were chilly and, those days, not terrible chilly. It was actually warm in Budapest in November! We much prefer the shoulder season as the crowds are not as intense as during the summer months. Last year the issue was lack of rain - low water levels in the Danube. Fortunately, we made it all the way to Budapest but others sailing in August and September were not so fortunate. Edited March 21, 2019 by dogs4fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted March 21, 2019 #4 Share Posted March 21, 2019 1 hour ago, dogs4fun said: We cruised the Danube in late October this past year - loved it! Only had 2 days that were chilly and, those days, not terrible chilly. It was actually warm in Budapest in November! We much prefer the shoulder season as the crowds are not as intense as during the summer months. Last year the issue was lack of rain - low water levels in the Danube. Fortunately, we made it all the way to Budapest but others sailing in August and September were not so fortunate. Last year was however unusually hot in much of Europe. I'm not sure that you can take that as proof that sailing at that time of year might not be quite chilly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted March 21, 2019 #5 Share Posted March 21, 2019 29 minutes ago, gnome12 said: Last year was however unusually hot in much of Europe. I'm not sure that you can take that as proof that sailing at that time of year might not be quite chilly. Right you are. We were actually expecting much colder temps in Hungary - a pleasant surprise as temps were in the mid 60s. We travel to Europe each year and always during the shoulder season. We have been in Russia during the months of November/December (2017 - downright cold), Poland, Germany (2016), etc. We found the temps in Germany and Poland a bit nippy some days (October) but, all in all, a much more pleasant experience than during the height of the tourist season. We are accustomed to a colder climate as we live in the Rocky mtn region - cannot handle the hot mediterranean weather in the summer (Israel in 2005, late October, especially at our apt in Ashdod overlooking the sea - too hot for us). Temps in the 50s and 60s are near perfect. 40s and under feel chilly to us but we travel prepared for the weather. The upside of river cruising during the later months is a nice reduction in price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpkid Posted March 21, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Thank you all for your help. We are going to go with the Early October option as the savings are just too good to pass up and the dates work well for us. I'll second that hot summer last year in Europe. I was in Oslo in July and it was hotter than back home in FLORIDA (92 F / 33 C)! Had to laugh how every hotel I went to that trip had these super plush down comforters - as if! Thank you all again and happy travels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted March 21, 2019 #7 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Early October SHOULD be lovely. Enjoy! 1 hour ago, corpkid said: Thank you all for your help. We are going to go with the Early October option as the savings are just too good to pass up and the dates work well for us. I'll second that hot summer last year in Europe. I was in Oslo in July and it was hotter than back home in FLORIDA (92 F / 33 C)! Had to laugh how every hotel I went to that trip had these super plush down comforters - as if! Thank you all again and happy travels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #8 Share Posted March 22, 2019 I just found out that we won the Romantic Danube 7 day river cruise on Cruise Critic.. It says it included everything but tax's, port fees, and airfare. Now we are checking on prices .. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Jazzbeau Posted March 22, 2019 #9 Share Posted March 22, 2019 5 minutes ago, thunter1224 said: I just found out that we won the Romantic Danube 7 day river cruise on Cruise Critic.. It says it included everything but tax's, port fees, and airfare. Now we are checking on prices .. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #10 Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) it says it includes all food, drinks, shore excursions .. Edited March 22, 2019 by thunter1224 forgot to add something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpkid Posted March 22, 2019 Author #11 Share Posted March 22, 2019 1 hour ago, thunter1224 said: I just found out that we won the Romantic Danube 7 day river cruise on Cruise Critic.. It says it included everything but tax's, port fees, and airfare. Now we are checking on prices .. That's amazing! Congrats and have a *WONDERFUL* time! 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted March 22, 2019 #12 Share Posted March 22, 2019 1 hour ago, thunter1224 said: I just found out that we won the Romantic Danube 7 day river cruise on Cruise Critic.. It says it included everything but tax's, port fees, and airfare. Now we are checking on prices .. Congratulations! I've never seen anyone post that they actually won any of the CC drawings. Have you ever river cruised? Roz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #13 Share Posted March 22, 2019 No.. and we are checking into what the fees will be. Since we have a cruise set for Dec. on the NCL Bliss .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #14 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Dogs4fun.... Do you have pictures of your Danube river cruise you took in Oct. ? Could you send me some.. to convince my better half that we need to take this cruise at Thunter1224@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted March 22, 2019 #15 Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) 32 minutes ago, thunter1224 said: Dogs4fun.... Do you have pictures of your Danube river cruise you took in Oct. ? Could you send me some.. to convince my better half that we need to take this cruise at Thunter1224@aol.com Sorry - they are all on my phone. I honestly take very few pictures anymore - I am quite a poor photographer & don't enjoy taking photos. Love to look at photos taken by others though. Edited March 22, 2019 by dogs4fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #16 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Well I will try and find some pictures that another cruiser took 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpkid Posted March 22, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, thunter1224 said: Well I will try and find some pictures that another cruiser took 🙂 Start here... 🙂 https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3175 https://cruisemaven.com/danube-river-cruise-review-bucharest-to-vienna/ Edited March 22, 2019 by corpkid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #18 Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) That is Amazing .. I so want to figure out how to do 2 cruises in the fall .. I hope to find many more pictures 😎 Edited March 22, 2019 by thunter1224 Need to add a question to this post 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #19 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Also we have passports from the USA ..will we need anything else ? Like a visa ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted March 22, 2019 #20 Share Posted March 22, 2019 49 minutes ago, thunter1224 said: Also we have passports from the USA ..will we need anything else ? Like a visa ? Nope - your valid passport is all that is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted March 22, 2019 #21 Share Posted March 22, 2019 24 minutes ago, dogs4fun said: Nope - your valid passport is all that is needed. True until 2021 when you will need ETIAS for the Schengen area. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 22, 2019 #22 Share Posted March 22, 2019 That's OK .. the cruise we won has to be used before the end of the year.. We will be setting up an appointment at the Cruise Critic Office in N.J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpkid Posted March 23, 2019 Author #23 Share Posted March 23, 2019 18 hours ago, gnome12 said: True until 2021 when you will need ETIAS for the Schengen area. I'm hoping as an annual visitor to Europe this isn't going to be a big deal. We will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted March 23, 2019 #24 Share Posted March 23, 2019 56 minutes ago, corpkid said: I'm hoping as an annual visitor to Europe this isn't going to be a big deal. We will see. I think the ETIAS is good for 3 years. Also, it is completely online so probably not a big deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunter1224 Posted March 23, 2019 #25 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Can any of you past Danube River cruisers help me decide on a good time to take the cruise. so the river will be high enough to take the boat for most of it .. From Vilshofen an der Donau to Budapest.. we are looking into late Sept. thru the end of Oct. .. We will be on AMA WATERWAYS . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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