Danube river cruise...eastbound or westbound?

[david46]

Hi thinking of a 2022 Danube river cruise and was wondering if it matters if  we go  eastbound or westbound. Is the river any different which way you go?

We were thinking about an Avalon river cruise in October 2022.

Any idea? Thank you

[sbjornda]

It's more a matter of upstream vs. downstream. When sailing upstream you are slightly more likely to experience engine noise and vibration as you sail against the current, but unless there's a flood going on, this is likely not to be very significant. Folks on the lowest deck or nearest the propulsion system are more likely to notice. When sailing downstream with the current you often travel faster; if you're on the top deck trying to photograph things as you sail past, you'll have less time to compose the shot. I would say the average passenger won't notice the difference unless it's pointed out to them.

 

The river itself is no different either direction. It meanders enough that sometimes you'll have the sun on your side of the ship and sometimes you won't. If the scenery is a major attraction for you, you'll likely be in a lounge or top deck so you can see both banks of the river rather than in your cabin. There's good stuff on both sides. When docked, the captain usually points the bow upstream; if you have to "raft" alongside another ship in dock it really is up to chance whether the ship you're rafted to is on your port or starboard (or maybe both).

 

The other factor is where you want to spend your time before & after the cruise itself. If you're traveling directly from home, you may wish to consider flying a few days early to a) start adjusting to the time zone and b) give yourself a cushion in case your air travel is disrupted. Then the consideration will be which city you want to spend some time in. Similarly at the end of the cruise, are you flying straight home or spending more time in Europe? That may help you decide where you want the cruise to end. 

[Daisi]

We are booked on the Budapest to Prague Avalon cruise for May of this year.  I have strong feelings we will be changing it to next year.  We chose to do Budapest first only because we wanted the extra time to see the city.  Our flight should arrive in Budapest by mid morning, so that gives us 2 1/2 days to explore.  If we had gone from Prague to Budapest, we would lose that time.

 

We did the downstream trip Amsterdam to Basel and didn't notice any engine vibration or noise, but that is the only other cruise we have done so may have been lucky.  We were on the middle deck.  

 

Loved our Avalon tour.  I see that they are now saying that cruises for 2022, if canceled, can also be transferred to not only 2022, but 2023.  

Edited January 9, 2021 by Daisi

[gnome12]

What part of the Danube are you sailing? If it is east of Budapest you will want to consider whether you want to travel from the more Soviet era to the more Western, or the reverse. Many people prefer to sail westwards on this stretch of the Danube. 

[Sir William]

We've done the Rhine both ways on Christmas Market cruises between Amsterdam and Basel.  The main difference I noticed is the time available to spend in various towns changed slightly.  On our southbound voyage, we enjoyed spending the afternoon into the night in Cologne, but on the northbound trip we had a morning into mid-afternoon.  

 

We are also planning another Christmas Market cruise on the Danube, Vienna to Nuremberg, and selected the Westbound because we want to spend more time in Vienna.  Given the dates we could sail, we wouldn't have time to do that if we ended in Vienna.  

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, Sir William said:

We are also planning another Christmas Market cruise on the Danube, Vienna to Nuremberg, and selected the Westbound because we want to spend more time in Vienna.  Given the dates we could sail, we wouldn't have time to do that if we ended in Vienna.  

Vienna is a gem and requires several days 🙂 

[caripoo]

End up in Budapest....You cannot imagine what it is like sailing into at night......Do a post in Budapest.

[SM77]

We loved sailing into Budapest at night as our final port - it was a wonderful end to a great cruise from Passau. And it is worthwhile to spend extra days in Budapest before going home.  It is such a vibrant city.

[Sir William]

On 1/10/2021 at 10:25 AM, Coral said:

Vienna is a gem and requires several days 🙂 

I lived in southern Austria for a year but haven’t been back since 1978.  Looking forward to visiting Vienna again, one reason we’re spending some pre-cruise time there.

[QueenofEverything]

We have done both and added days onto both ends the second time.  Direction made no difference.