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Early September or October for Danube Cruise?


corpkid
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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.

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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 by dogs4fun
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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.

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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. 

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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!

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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!

 

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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!

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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!  🙂

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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

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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. :classic_unsure:

Edited by dogs4fun
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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

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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 .

 

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