GCT Adagio river cruise ship

[seagopher]

Planning on taking the great rivers of europe 2008 river cruise. Any information would be appreciated.

I am a celiac (no wheat, barley or rye) to eat. How is GCT in taking care of person with a special diet? Also, are there any discounts, none seem to be on their site? How are the side trips? What cabins would you recommend?

I have never taken a river cruise before. Thanks in advance.

[emmylou]

Seagopher,

If you know someone that has traveled with GCT before you will get something off.This is our first experience personally with GCT but we have a friend that has done a land tour with them and was quite satisfied.

I would absolutely make them aware of your medical problem and what you can't eat.I would also inform the Matre Di and back that up by asking to speak to the head Chef.I don't think there is a cruise company around that would want to put you in harms way or themselves in jeopardy of a lawsuit.This is our first riverboat cruise as well.I will be doing a review when we get back.I always try to get in the middle of the ships.Hope this helps

emmy

[cmthomas]

Hi Seagopher - looks like we are neighbors! We took the GCT river cruise from Vienna to Amsterdam waaaay back in 2002 and we have also taken the one from Antwerp to Basel in 2004. Loved them both! I think that you have selected a great itinerary for your first river cruise.

 

Since you are nearby maybe you would like to chat over a cuppa coffee and look at our pictures in person. The earlier trip is on snapshots in an album and the photos of the later are digital and on the computer (but I can burn them to a disk for you if you wish).

 

How about sending me your name and telephone number in an email to ClarenceThomas3@gmail.com or you can just look me up in the phone book and give a call.

 

Clarence:)

[CPT Trips]

We just recently returned from the "Great Rivers" cruise Vienna to Amsterdam on the River Concerto.

I can't say how pleased I was with everything on the trip (except for the flights, but that's not GCT's fault). The program directors were fantastic and the entire crew was great . . . from Captain and Hotel manager to the cabin staff and "sailors." You will have a very enjoyable trip.

I can't address diets as that was not an issue for us. But I'm sure if you call their toll free number you will get a straight answer.

[rogerdawhip]

I have been on 6 GCT river Cruises, the most recent being the Rhine and Mosel this past July. I would recommend the cabins on the top deck with balconies. I never spend much time in the cabin but the floor to ceiling window is great. I usually sat out on the balcony after a tour and have a drink watching the other passangers board the ship. I can't say much about special diets. On one trip a fellow passanger was allergic to dairy products and they took care of this even making special deserts with soy milk. GCT does not do deal until the last minute. This past July and August they had half price trips on most of the river cruises. If you can wait and book 4-5 weeks prior to the trip you can save money. On my recent Rhine & Mosel trip I save almost $2000. The only problem with this late booking is the air arrangemetns. They are not the best.

[dlhamlten]

:)

Planning on taking the great rivers of europe 2008 river cruise. Any information would be appreciated.

 

Also, are there any discounts, none seem to be on their site? How are the side trips? What cabins would you recommend?

I have never taken a river cruise before. Thanks in advance.

 

As a past GCT traveler, we are given Vacation Ambassador Coupons that will give YOU $ 100 Instant Savings off the price of your First Trip. The referring traveler also gets credit on a future cruise. You must have the Coupon as you are making your Reservation for a 2008 Trip. GCT does not use Travel Agents the way other Cruiselines do since they employ their own. Therefore, there are not a lot of Discounts and OnBoard Credits etc offered.

 

If you would like one of my Coupons, I will need your EMail Address and eventually your Street Mailing address. I would be happy to send you one. My Email is Dlhamlten@comcast.net.

 

Did we enjoy our GCT Nile River cruise ? Yes and we immediately scheduled a Holland/ Belgium Trip for April 2008 !

[CPT Trips]

I have been on 6 GCT river Cruises, the most recent being the Rhine and Mosel this past July. I would recommend the cabins on the top deck with balconies. I never spend much time in the cabin but the floor to ceiling window is great. I usually sat out on the balcony after a tour and have a drink watching the other passangers board the ship. I can't say much about special diets. On one trip a fellow passanger was allergic to dairy products and they took care of this even making special deserts with soy milk. GCT does not do deal until the last minute. This past July and August they had half price trips on most of the river cruises. If you can wait and book 4-5 weeks prior to the trip you can save money. On my recent Rhine & Mosel trip I save almost $2000. The only problem with this late booking is the air arrangemetns. They are not the best.

 

We booked a last minute trip with GCT (about a week in advance) for a substantial savings. While I did not like our air arrangements, they were identical to another couple who booked well in advance.

 

Just an FYI on the balcony cabins - the space for the balcony is taken from the cabin, so your balconey cabin is actually smaller than the rest of the cabins by some 15-20 sq ft.

[JerseyGem]

Hi Seagopher- I just posted the first part of my review of our trip on GCT's Concerto- for the Great Rivers of Europe. I'll post more soon. You're going to love this cruise! As DH (CPT Trips) said in the last post, we did get a deal by booking at the last minute (although getting everything ready in 7 days was hectic). If you can be flexible, keep an eye on their site (and here, since we saw a posting about the last minute specials in a thread here).

 

As far as special foods, I recommend caution. I don't know too much about your condition, but if you have special meds that will be needed if you eat the wrong thing, I'd make sure you have them with you. Also, maybe consider bringing acceptable snacks with you- in case you're hungry at a time that nothing appropriate is available. I'm not sure how familiar a non-American chef will be with your situation. And maybe try to find out what your condition is called in other languages. The breads, pastries, etc were all wonderful- so sorry you can't enjoy them at all. But I would worry about hidden grain products in other foods (soups?, gravies, etc?); I imagine you are constantly on the look out for forbidden ingredients. I did speak to the chef about artificial sweeteners- it took a little extra explaining before he understood that I needed to know what foods had them because I can NOT eat them, not just which foods were low-calorie as if I was dieting. Different cultures are part of the joy (and onus) of traveling.

[Misgivings]

:cool: We're taking the same ship on the Danube. Any tips about the the Adagio, the ports of call, etc?

Misgivings

[Carhut]

I've taken 4 river boat trips with GCT and my friends and I all agree the Great Rivers was the best. They were all great trips, but really liked the itinerary and scenery on the Great Rivers. We even talk about repeating it some day.

As far as the Adagio, we were on it for another trip and it's a very nice boat. It was the biggest one of the 4 we've been on, as it holds 160 passengers. Don't see how you could go wrong with this cruise.

As far as diet goes, I have a several food allergies, and one has to be diligent oneself. They do try to accomodate you as far as special foods go. They would often fix me something different that I could eat. But sometimes you have to remind them. I had one maitre'd that was great. The others were so-so.

[TIMAS]

We just did the Burgundy & Provence on July 30, 2007. It is an excellent cruise except the M/S Chardonay is listed in their information as going into service in 2000. That is true except the ship (tub) was built in 1956. We spent an entire week in France in August with no air-conditioning. The system is filled with mold and can be very dangerous.

The three previous occupants of our cabin registered the same complaint. GCT did nothing for us except to put two small fans in the cabin. We were on the top deck, but France has a lot of bugs and mesquitos on the river.

[Captb]

Seagopher,

We can give you our first hand experience in dealing with my wife's celiac disease and milk allergy.

 

First you must mention this numerous times to the Customer Service Rep at GCT and the Airline. Our experience is that the home office & Airline tend to lose this information even though they constantly assure you.

 

Yes the Concerto was notified and the Chef and Maitre 'd both personally addressed the diet. When in doubt they changed or offered a different meal. This will usually result in a different appetizer/soup and dessert. Due to their few options ( they did attempt to get gluten free bread - unsuccessfully) we ended up with a salad, consume & for desert a fruit plate or sorbet/ice cream. During the last dinner with Baked Alaska the chef prepared a special one with sorbet and no cake. Surprised us and was delightfully presented. We became very friendly with both the head chef and the maitre 'd throughout the cruise. In fact the normal routine was for either one or both to confer with us at breakfast to plan the days' meals. They really put a great deal of effort dealing with this problem.

 

In spite of all their great intentions, we highly recommend that you take some of your gluten free snacks or purchase some in the small town markets to supplement your needs. Sometimes there is a long stretch between meals.

 

Re. the upper deck of the Concerto - we did have a 400 level room and would not recommend it. We consulted with several of our neighbors and we all agreed that it was much too noisy as it is the main access to the dining room. Fellow passengers going to early breakfast tend not to be the quietest. Also people walking on the upper deck (our ceiling) made it almost impossible to take a nap - or sleep late. The 300 level away from the kitchen would be a better option!

 

Hope this was helpful as we know traveling with such diet restrictions can be stressful. Just to pass this along from other personal experiences - we found the Australians to be the most knowledgeable and helpful with the Brits coming in a close second in regard to diet issues.